avieherman's reviews
111 reviews

Ella of All-Of-A-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Did not finish book.

Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf
Did not finish book.

I found the brain science stuff fascinating, but it’s too deep and slow and dense and heavy for this moment in my life, especially while I’m in the thick of the struggle of coaxing a child into learning how to read. 

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.75

I found the pace of this book a little too slow and reflective for my tastes at the moment. At times the language feels too rich to feel completely immersive and relatable. While I also live a life of privilege, it kind of felt like the author was living on another planet with the flexibility her life seems to afford for all sorts of adventure — I don’t think this would have been irritating if the book wasn’t trying to position itself as being instructive for what we need to thrive. It was interesting and I enjoyed it, but the way it vacillated between the practical and philosophical, it felt ungrounded and trying to do too much, without quite achieving what it seems to have set out to do, so it didn’t quite hit the spot for me.

Broken by Jenny Lawson

dark funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

I enjoyed listening to this. I enjoyed some essays a lot more than others. Her antics kind of stressed me out and I didn’t totally appreciate her humour, but her more serious chapters about mental health really resonated and offered a sense of comfort at not being alone and they radiated hopefulness. 

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

dark emotional funny medium-paced

3.5

The writing is as mediocre as you’d expect. The beginning was entertaining in its understatedness. I’ve never been a huge Britney fan or followed her much, though I like her music and I’ve always felt that she was mistreated and misrepresented in the media. As the book progressed it got more compelling and I really felt for her and all that she was put through by her family and the media. It ended on a very hopeful note and left me rooting for her, hoping that she has found peace and interested to see what she works on next. It also let me appreciate her music and career in general in a new light. 

The entertainment industry can be toxic and the media is a nightmare, but the more accounts I read, especially from former-child stars, the more I feel that their families are often the biggest problems. 

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

funny lighthearted fast-paced

2.75

I enjoyed listening to this while cross stitching and doing stuff around the house.

I liked Wong’s first two comedy specials a lot, but am losing/have lost interest in her. I’m fine with bad language and graphic sexuality, but she often seems gratuitously crass. This book also didn’t age very well, in light of her recent-ish divorce. There is so much about her relationship with her husband that feels sad/ick knowing that the relationship ended. 

In her 3rd comedy special, when she spoke about her divorce, I started to wonder if maybe she was the problem there and these thoughts arose during this book as well… the afterword written and read by her husband was so much more well written and genuine. From what she has said and his own writing, he seems so wonderful and she comes off as selfish and obnoxious…

Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing by Emily Lynn Paulson

funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

Engaging and enjoyable read/listen. I listened to the audiobook over a few days while playing Tetris on the couch with sick kids. 

I liked the conversational tone and hearing it read in the author’s voice. 

This is my first time listening to this genre in audiobook form — I didn’t really like listening to fiction, I think I prefer this kind of memoir as an audiobook and will listen to the author’s other book (Highlight Reel?) next. 

I’m very interested in anti-MLM discourse, but this is my first time hearing it from the perspective of someone who had previously been very successful in an MLM. I enjoyed this fresh perspective and I liked that it was informative, relatable, nuanced, and non-judgemental. 

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

The writing quality was was you’d expect, not stellar and with little levity, but solid and with a strong voice. 

It was a fascinating look behind the curtain and a nuanced telling of a complex family dynamic. 

It didn’t go completely in depth on the family issues and at times there was more “telling” than “showing”, but it still felt very candid and real and I appreciated the line Duggar walked between sharing her truth and maintaining her boundaries. I also appreciate that this book was published in the midst of ongoing family conflict/attempting resolution. I wonder how the book was received, how this informed the ending and how it would differ if it were written in another 5 years/how the dynamic will continue to evolve.

Jane & Me: My Austen Heritage by Caroline Jane Knight

hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

The writing felt a little stuffy and there wasn’t a ton of forward momentum. 

The author painted a strong picture which made the loss of Chawton resonate, but the book felt longer than it had to be. I only kept reading because I wanted to see how she lost Chawton, tried to leave her past behind and then came back to her heritage — an expectation that was set in then intro and then met. The final chapters were the most Jane-Austen-centric, which was what I wanted from the book, but it felt like it turned into a promotion for the author’s charitable organization — notably, the publisher seems to be the author’s own company. 

It was an interesting read, but a bit slow and would have benefited from a stronger narrative arch.

Easy Crafts for the Insane: A Mostly Funny Memoir of Mental Illness and Making Things by Kelly Williams Brown

dark funny hopeful

3.75

Enjoyable and enlightening. I skipped the chapter on her suicide attempt. I appreciated her candour and insight.