Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

11 reviews

hgbush's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Child death, Alcoholism, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Addiction

Minor: Child abuse

singalana's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.25

Bird by Bird is a beautifully written book about writing. Even though it's originally written in the 1990s, the book doesn't feel dated in my opinion. Anne Lamott shares the wisdom she has accumulated over the years, and the book feels like a long conversation rather than a set of instructions. If you're looking for a gentle approach to writing and what it means to be a writer, this might be the book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Child death, Chronic illness, Cancer, and Alcohol

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

1.5

Several people had recommended this to me to help with my writing journey as it had helped them with theirs. I’m really glad this book was useful for them, but it was definitely not for me. Unfortunately, reading through this was a miserable experience for me. Overall, I felt like I got maybe two good pointers from this book.

I think that the points the author was trying to make would have come across just as well, if not better, had they been listed out in a small blog post. It felt that a majority of the book was filler; nonsensical and sometimes borderline cringey or distasteful jokes that the author threw in to be “funny”. It was full of self-depreciation and unnecessary analogies that really distracted from the overall point of the writing.

I hope others will give this book a chance and possibly find it useful for them. Sadly. It was not a match for me.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Cancer, Death, and Ableism

amaezone's review

emotional funny informative inspiring

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Death

kquixotic's review

funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

The edition I read is outdated, and includes some language and perspectives that I haven’t aged well. But, as someone who isn’t a writer but has a sense of being filled with stories that don’t know how to make their way to a page, I found Bird by Bird to include helpful inspiration. And beyond writing, there are, indeed, many helpful lessons on how to simply survive the cruel world we live in. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent and Child death

heydebigale's review

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Anne Lamott hilariously writes about life and how to write. A few things in this book haven’t aged great and it’s a fairly privileged/white perspective, but still very enjoyable. 

The reason it took me so long to finish was every time I read a chapter I’d have to go out it down and write for hours. Which was a good thing! It’s a very inspiring book if you have writers block. But also a bad thing because I felt like I couldn’t read unless I had time to write.

So if you need writing inspiration I’d highly recommend this book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Minor: Alcoholism

loxeletters's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Cancer, and Mental illness

becksusername's review

funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

I feel so inspired to start writing again, and even have a better idea of how to actually make a habit of it

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Terminal illness

purecomedy's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

This book is like sitting down with a friend who gives you a lot of no-nonsense advice about writing. It both celebrates the process of putting the words down and honestly talks about the tricky parts of creative work. I'll definitely keep returning to some of the insights while working on my own writing.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

kingorgan's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Child abuse and Alcoholism