katiekarnehmesh's reviews
686 reviews

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling

funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.25

The Year of Magical Thinking: The Play by Joan Didion

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

Joan Didion is my favorite writer. This production reminded me why. 

Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet by Meggan Watterson

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.0

Liked: I found the information on Mary Magdalene and female disciples/saints/early church with really interesting. 
Disliked: I wanted a more careful unpacking of the theology and early church history, rather than what seemed to be imaginative leaps connected to the author 's personal narrative. 
-i would have liked more of the author 's narrative that wasn't as wrapped up in the theological conclusions she makes. 
-one could make a drinking game out of the number of times she wrote "drenched" ,"eyes locked", or any number of cliches. The language was too overwraught for me personally. 

Joshua Tree: The Complete Guide: Joshua Tree National Park by James Kaiser

informative medium-paced

4.75

Really helpful mix of information about visiting the park, its geology and ecology and history, and what to see and do. 

Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry by Joy Harjo

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Girlhood by Melissa Febos

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.75

I loved this book, and Febos' writing. I've read her essay "Kettleholes" (collected here) many times, and find it devastating and beautiful every time. But her final essay in the book might be my favorite. 

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

challenging informative medium-paced

4.25

Good Bones by Maggie Smith

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Probably my favorite book by her.

The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland's Border by Garrett Carr

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

This is a really interesting book about Ireland's border and the experience of walking, paddling, and camping along it. Really good read for anyone who wants to better understand Irish history and Irish present. 

Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change by Maggie Smith

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

Sometimes the self-help, instructive tone annoyed me, but there were some gems of wisdom in here. I'm glad I read it.