Reviews with TLC

The Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman is a sweet story that focuses on Violet, the daughter of Sophie from the previous books. When the story started, I felt a twinge of trepidation about how a grown up Violet would be. I soon settled into the story liking Violet more with each paragraph. Throughout Violet's time in Paris, I was torn between my heart cheering for Violet to go home and pushing for her to build a life in Paris. When she finally feels like she's making a connection, the call that finally pushes her home comes. Hoffman writes Violet's story in a way that had me rooting for her and wishing for her to have both home and adventure. At home, she reconnects with her family and community and even the connection she left behind. The Bookstore Family is a beautiful short story that feels almost magical about love, connection, exploration, and family. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose  by R...

How To Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking by Sönke Ahrens read like a college dissertation. I first listened to (or at least started) How To Take Smart Notes as an audiobook while on a road trip. I didn't feel like I quite got it, so I immediately read the paperback version when I arrived home. While I understood Ahrens's point about the slip-box and its potential usefulness, I kept waiting for a depth into the process that never seemed to develop. How To Take Smart Notes felt repetitive beyond simply being consistent. Ahrens does a decent job of explaining his point, but I never felt excited about what the slip-box or its potential to change my productivity. Having read many, many books about writing techniques, this certainly felt like an option among many options including ones that already work for me. Ahrens claims that the slip-box is the only way to be productive several times and alludes to it even more putting my skepticism...

Pretty Is As Pretty Does by Alison Clement took me on an unexpected journey. Clement lured me into what I thought was going to be a light read only to deftly weave in some heavy issues after I'd gotten comfortable. The main character, Lucy is hard to like, but she's also intriguing enough that I wanted to like her more than I did. At times, her attitude towards other people was infuriating but her seeming naiveté about life, especially beyond her small town, was refreshing in an unexpected way while at the same time being disturbing. I often wondered if Lucy was really as oblivious as she seemed to be because she could certainly be manipulative. Still, my heart often ached for her as she navigated the circumstances of her life and longed for something different. Lucy's family was all too reminiscent of small town families I've known all my life, and I found myself wincing at harmful attitudes, words, and actions. Lucy's seeming detachment from the consequences her ...

We The Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word edited by Fanny Choi, Bao Phi No'u Revilla, and Terisa Siagatonu is a beautifully diverse collection of poetic works that stretched the imagination and grounds the emotions. We The Gathered Heat weaves together differences and commonalities in a tapestry of humanity that serves as a reminder that both our diversity and our commonality offer us the opportunity to build a stronger society and a better world. We The Gathered Heat celebrates both the diversity and the unity of the human experience by sharing myriad voices, points of view, and cultures. Throughout the works by a wide variety of authors, the common thread of humanity never frays. We The Gathered Heat covers human experiences that feel like a trip around the world and back again often exploring the role of colonialization from the point of view of the colonized. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States ...

Combating Cult Mind Control: The Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults by Steven Hassan is an interesting and somewhat disturbing book. I rarely listen to audiobooks and even more rarely review books I listen to as audiobooks because I often don't feel like I can do an audiobook justice. However, Combating Cult Mind Control stuck with me. Hassan's story of becoming indoctrinated into a cult, the Moonies, his experience in the cult, and his eventual deprogramming is fascinating. Combating Cult Mind Control offers insight into the methods cults use while seeming to miss similarities to some groups not considered cults. Hassan tells his story and the story of helping others with a level of compassion and insight that reminded me of the fear of cults and the lack of compassion for the indoctrinated during my teenage years. I had never questioned where those fears or the lack of compassion came from, but Combating Cult Mind Control pushed me to revisit ...

On Zionist Literature  by Ghassan Kanafani (Translated by Mahmoud Najib)is an intense and insightful look at the impact of literature on public opinion and governmental policy. Kanafani examines how movies, books, and other works of art have been used to elicit sympathy and support for Zionist ideology. On Zionist Literature examines not only the stereotypes of the Palestinian people but also the stereotypes of Jewish people that are woven through Zionist literature creating a situation to excuse the oppression of the Palestinian people. Kanafani demonstrates how those stereotypes often harm Jewish people, especially those unwilling to embrace Zionism.  On Zionist Literature is a reminder that literature can be used to influence people all over the world for better or worse illustrating the responsibility people creating literature hold to be mindful in their message and that consumers of said literature need to be mindful of the influence literature can have. Currently Read...

The Guided Meditation Handbook: The Complete Guide To Writing, Leading, & Recording Guided Meditations by Max Highstein is an easy and enjoyable dive into creating meditations. Highstein breaks down the process of writing meditations complete with examples and explanations of those examples. The Guided Meditation Handbook covers many aspects of creating meditations for personal use, to lead, and to record, and to upload to meditation sites. Highstein made writing, recording, and sharing meditations feel feasible. I felt excited about attempting to write a few meditations, recording them, and sharing them by the time I finished reading The Guided Meditation Handbook . Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   On Zionist Literature   by Ghassan Kanafani We the Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word   by Franny Choi, Bao Phi, No'u Revilla, and Terisa Siagaonu (editors) Disclosure: T...