blrobin2's reviews
550 reviews

The Lost Art of Listening, Second Edition: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships

Michael P. Nichols

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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The only "self-help" book I recommend to everyone, no matter where you are in life.

Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation

Del Close, Charna Halpern, Kim Howard Johnson

3.5

funny informative reflective medium-paced

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I get why people dislike this book — it's less a how-to manual than an advertisement for iO. Also, the language it uses is pretty dated (not in an offensive way, but in that improv schools have updated terminology these days).

Still, if you want something simple to guide you on stage, this book gives you just enough to encourage exploration. But there are more thorough and up-to-date books on the subject, which I intend to read next.

The Social Skills Guidebook: Manage Shyness, Improve Your Conversations, and Make Friends, Without Giving Up Who You Are

Chris MacLeod

4.0

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Horror Film and Psychoanalysis: Freud's Worst Nightmare

DID NOT FINISH: 18%

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The chapters are just dudes arguing with papers they've read over the legitimacy of Freudian theory when applied to horror films. I don't need an argument for it — I'm curious about the actual practice itself.

Paradise Rot

Jenny Hval

3.5

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I wish it kept some of its symbols more opaque and interpretative

H Is for Hawk

Helen Macdonald

4.0

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation

Larry Rosenberg

5.0

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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Everything needed to practice vipassana is in this book, but all of it must be experienced firsthand through practice in order to be understood 

Total Cat Mojo: Everything You Need to Know to Care for Your Favorite Feline Friend

Mikel Delgado, Jackson Galaxy

DID NOT FINISH: 3%

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I hated the structure and impractical opening and first few chapters. I could tough it out until it gets to the practical stuff...

Mindfulness in Plain English

Bhante Henepola Gunarantana

4.5

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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I understand why the author mentions things like psychic phenomena (mostly to tell new students not to worry about it). Still, I think it will turn off folks to an otherwise brilliant introduction to vipassana meditation.

Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection

Julia Kristeva

4.0

challenging dark informative slow-paced