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Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
18 reviews
annelihghh's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Grief
bdmcinturff's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Mental illness
linneak's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Bullying, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Gore, and Mental illness
kathrynreading's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
If you are grieving and travelling through your own winter this book will make you feel seen so deeply. Crucially it also provides a framework for care, compassion and hope. A beautiful book that honours parts of the human experience that we so often hide.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infertility, Pregnancy, Death, and Mental illness
butlerebecca's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Mental illness and Pregnancy
overbookedmama's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
This was the perfect book to begin a new year with. May looks at winter as periods in life where struggle exists. Where she excels is her vignettes of nature. I enjoyed her beautiful reflections on difficult times in her life and how she weathered those seasons with grace.
Notable quotes:
“That’s what you learn in winter: there is a past, a present, and a future. There is a time after the aftermath.”
“In the cold, I find I can think straight; the air feels clean and uncluttered.”
“The starkness of winter can reveal colours we would otherwise miss. I once watched a fox cross a frosty field, her coat shining against the gloom. Walking in the bare winter woodland, I am surrounded by astonishing foxy reds.”
“Sleeping is my sanity, my luxury, my addiction.”
“Sleep is not a dead space, but a doorway to a different kind of consciousness—one that is reflective and restorative, full of tangential thought and unexpected insights.”
“Happiness is our potential, the product of a mind that’s allowed to think as it needs to, that has enough of what it requires, that is free of the terrible weight of bullying and humiliation.”
“In the wolf, we are offered a mirror of ourselves as we might be, without the comforts and constraints of civilisation.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Chronic illness, and Infertility
lochnessvhs's review
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
2.0
The title of this book is clickbait.
I truly felt as if someone handed me a book and completely lied to me when telling me what it was about. While May uses the term "Wintering" throughout, she uses it in multiple ways - not just the season of winter, but also as a colloquial word meaning 'a challenging time in life'. However, the subtitle, "The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times"? It is not until the March chapter "Survival", near the end of the book, that rest and retreat is really discussed. A quick discussion of staying home and knitting. And then we move on.
If this is what rest and retreat is, I am not interested. The vast majority of this book is about being outside of your home, doing things, meeting people, trying new experiences and learning from them. Which, yes, is a very important part of life. But that is not what the book promised me. When I want to rest and retreat I don't think about flying to Iceland or jumping in freezing water or visiting Stonehenge at 6am - I think about staying home and taking care of myself.
More noteworthy disappointments were the chapter titled "Midwinter" (the aforementioned Stonhenge trip) which is a strange dump of othering as the author is clearly trying, and failing, to toe the line of being respectful while at the same time othering and making fun of groups of people whose actions don't align with her own. And near the end of the book, the chapter "Cold Water" where she interviews a woman who claims to have cured her Bipolar Disorder with taking ice baths. Not just a laughable concept, but an incredibly dangerous one to put in print.
There is some substance here. The author's own journey with cold sea bathing and her introduction to saunas both were lovely stories - and I intend to find myself a sauna this winter as a result. But overall this is not the book that the blurbs, nor the title, promised.
I truly felt as if someone handed me a book and completely lied to me when telling me what it was about. While May uses the term "Wintering" throughout, she uses it in multiple ways - not just the season of winter, but also as a colloquial word meaning 'a challenging time in life'. However, the subtitle, "The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times"? It is not until the March chapter "Survival", near the end of the book, that rest and retreat is really discussed. A quick discussion of staying home and knitting. And then we move on.
If this is what rest and retreat is, I am not interested. The vast majority of this book is about being outside of your home, doing things, meeting people, trying new experiences and learning from them. Which, yes, is a very important part of life. But that is not what the book promised me. When I want to rest and retreat I don't think about flying to Iceland or jumping in freezing water or visiting Stonehenge at 6am - I think about staying home and taking care of myself.
More noteworthy disappointments were the chapter titled "Midwinter" (the aforementioned Stonhenge trip) which is a strange dump of othering as the author is clearly trying, and failing, to toe the line of being respectful while at the same time othering and making fun of groups of people whose actions don't align with her own. And near the end of the book, the chapter "Cold Water" where she interviews a woman who claims to have cured her Bipolar Disorder with taking ice baths. Not just a laughable concept, but an incredibly dangerous one to put in print.
There is some substance here. The author's own journey with cold sea bathing and her introduction to saunas both were lovely stories - and I intend to find myself a sauna this winter as a result. But overall this is not the book that the blurbs, nor the title, promised.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Pregnancy, and Chronic illness
booksandstarss's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Chronic illness
jkamler's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
Overall I found this book difficult to get through, I almost DNF’d several times. It’s an interesting form of hybrid memoir but ultimately I don’t find the author’s story that compelling, and I walked away without any concrete examples of how to endure hard times, except for having the privilege to take voice lessons, travel to see the Northern Lights, or go for a dip in natural hot springs. I also think it’s worth noting that the Anglican vibes in this book are strong and somewhat unexpected, which I guess is understandable since the author is British, but at times I felt alienated by it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness and Mental illness
book_fish's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
Tldr: We learn to winter by wintering, it's gonna be new every time and we get a little better every time.
Honestly, I found the author annoying and the book slow. If you're a white collar white straight woman, you'll resonate with her biggest problems. Otherwise, it might seem trivial. It's very full of extra side information but not as deep as I wish she'd gone on some of the practices. Would not recommend.
Honestly, I found the author annoying and the book slow. If you're a white collar white straight woman, you'll resonate with her biggest problems. Otherwise, it might seem trivial. It's very full of extra side information but not as deep as I wish she'd gone on some of the practices. Would not recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness