Reviews

A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention by Rebecca Schiller, Rebecca Schiller

cmhorgan's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.0

If you are a nature enthusiast, you may enjoy this a lot more. I appreciate her perspective, honesty & vulnerability in sharing her story.  I personally lost focus with all the details of the farm. 

_renreads's review against another edition

Wasn't a fan of the writing format.. got bored tbh

michaela_cooney's review against another edition

3.0

I came into reading this book interested in understanding a bit more about how I see the world. I didn’t have a lot of hope that I could find some of my own struggles with getting through day to day life reflected by someone with ADHD. But even through just reading the first few pages of this book, I realized that I do very much have something in common with women with ADHD. And in the dozens of different quotes that I highlighted in my Kindle version, it felt as though it was something I might have written myself if I had could only get away from my head a bit more and gain a bird’s eye view. For the understanding of myself that she gave, I loved this book

I’m interested in small scale sustainable farming so her discussion on that aspect was interesting to me. But I think if I was coming in with a different perspective, I’d find that she’s simple going off on tangents often beyond relating the reader to her lifestyle and what led her to her understanding of her mental health struggles. But again as somebody who relates to her view of the world, I can see why her thought processes bring her to tangents like these. Doesn’t mean I didn’t have to skip a page or two.

theuntrainedlibrarian's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

zoediane's review against another edition

3.0

Gosh, this book wasn't what I was expecting. It was therapeutic, a whirlwind, chaos, and calm all at the same time.

ashhowland's review against another edition

4.0

This unflinching and visceral portrayal of life before, during, and after a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis is a poignant journey to understand and appreciate the brains and experiences we have. Woven into the neurodiverse experience is the story of returning to the land, of smallholding with flora and fauna, and of connecting to our truest selves, in spite of what we are taught we should be or do or want. It is brutal and beautiful; expansive and focused; historical and time-luminous.

I received an ARC from the editor - Thank you!!

heidirgreen's review against another edition

3.0

Bit of weird one this, isn’t it? Part of me loved this book, and part of me hated it. The first few chapters, I really enjoyed, but then the writing seemed to spiral off on tangents that didn’t really fit the story. Having read on and found out that the author received a diagnosis of ADHD, those tangents do make sense, and they make you feel like you’re in her frantic mind, but while reading it just pulls you out of the reading experience completely. Parts of the writing were lyrical and beautiful, parts needed a really good edit as they weren’t needed and ended up making me disengage. Yeah, not great but not also not a totally unenjoyable read.

miked's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

sarawithanh's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

cheriekg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.5

This was an intense read. You get taken on a ride through Schiller's deteriorating mental health and homesteading experience. She is a beautiful and brilliant writer and while there are pieces that didn't quite work for me during most of the book, the explanations arrive at the end.