actuallyitsember's reviews
97 reviews

Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

I found the FIRE movement years ago, and it made me the rich auntie of my (decidedly poor) family by the age of 21, but I hadn't gotten around to reading this book yet. Because of that, it was a lot I already knew and had already put into practice, but it was a very good refresher nonetheless.

What you need to understand ahead is that this is mainly a mindset shift. That is the thing that will change your life, and most of the more specific suggestions(other than the actual assignments) are really to feed the imagination. Lifestyle and financial decisions will always be very different from person to person as we all have somewhat different needs, values, and circumstances. This will definitely be in my short list of recommendations for people trying to get a handle on their finances. 

A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert M. Sapolsky

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

4.25

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

adventurous informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed this. It made me think a lot about communities and relationships I'm a part of and how we use similar language/tactics for positive effect, but also made it clearer where the line is between positive or neutral use and potentially dangerous use. Also, just really interesting and written in a way that I think would hold most people's attention reasonably well. 

Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon

adventurous hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.5

Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon

inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative by Austin Kleon

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

slow-paced

1.75

First, a major red flag for this book, and the author, is that Nassim says autistic people have no capacity for empathy. This is an objectively false stereotype, yet he states it as fact and inserts it when it isn't even necessary to make his point. This was the instance that really stood out to me, but there were a few sweeping statements made in this book that were not backed up and are unlikely to be true, as well as some that contradicted earlier ideas, which is something he attacks other people for, so worth mentioning. 

While there are some interesting points touched on in this book, they could pretty much all be boiled down to common sense (Nassim also acknowledges this, so it isn't news). That's not to say it's completely unhelpful to point out, reiterate and reframe common sense, but there are probably much better means of delivery for that than this book.

Nassim jumps around a lot in a way that makes it frustrating to read. He also just has a bad attitude; He is extremely arrogant and petty throughout the whole thing. It didn't need to be a full length book by any means, and it was mostly unpleasant to read. I honestly think this is the worst book I've ever finished.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and War

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

Sustainability and thrift/vintage shopping are big areas of interest for me so, while I was excited for this book, I was little worried it would just be a longwinded rewording of things I've already read or heard, but Adam actually dispelled a few of the commonly believed myths around secondhand items and markets in a compelling way.  This was an enjoyable and informative read. It makes you want to tidy up and become a better consumer, even if you already knew a fair amount about secondhand markets. 

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.25

This was so fast paced, not a single tear had the chance to roll down my cheek before Jennette moved on to another point, but it was really good. It was funny, thoughtful, and really relatable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

4.25

I had a good time reading this book. It's light and fun, but still interesting as I expected.