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labyrinth_witch's reviews
549 reviews
New Minimalism: Decluttering and Design for Sustainable, Intentional Living by Cary Telander Fortin, Kyle Louise Quilici
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. Most of all the archetypes of how you relate to your material objects. I discovered I’m a cross between energetic (scattered) and frugal (can’t let go of things that cost money). And it helped me understand why I can clear out certain rooms without blinking an eye and other rooms paralyze me with indecision. I also really enjoy the furthered discussion of decluttering by category. I’ve always done it by room, but I do see the logic of decluttering by category. This will be my spring project. While I had hoped for a little more substance from the design principles, it was an interesting discussion of what “full” means and space. Overall a helpful read.
Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood by Karen Maezen Miller
4.0
This was a very helpful book with short chapters that helped me realign myself with the concept of mothering. I most enjoyed her reflections on the story lines we tell ourselves about our children- how we feed them our anxieties whether we mean to or not. Ultimately our storylines about them are our storylines about ourselves made external. That was really eye-opening for me.
I Gave Birth to My Heart: A Collection of Poems about Motherhood, Reimagined by Ashley Hanna Morgan
5.0
I stumbled across this little book of poems while searching my local library for books on motherhood. Pregnant with my second child, I became absorbed in the poems. The book is written for new parents struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety, but I found myself resonating with each poem even at this stage of parenthood- parenting a three-year-old and expecting a second child. I found comfort in many of the lines and relieved to feel the universal experience communicated in the verses. I think I will include this book in every gift-basket for expecting parents (regardless of the which number child they are expecting). There is just something that poetry can convey that prose cannot.
Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
4.0
A bizarre extreme representation of our reality? Maybe. Love that the baby narrates it.
Taking the Leap by Pema Chödrön
4.0
Favorite quotes:
“Sanity is permanent, neurosis is temporary.”
“sit. stay. Heal.”
“Sanity is permanent, neurosis is temporary.”
“sit. stay. Heal.”
Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes
5.0
I really appreciated this book- for diving deep into the physiological changes of pregnancy while contextualizing them in the larger policy/societal gap where our support should be. I also enjoyed her talking about things that people do not talk about postpartum. Overall, it made me consider why I’m making the choices I’m making and what pressures I’m feeling on how to be a “good mom.” (Yuck). It also made me want to be less opinionated on things just because of the singular way I experienced pregnancy and childbirth. It resonated particularly because the way I’m feeling pregnant with my second baby is totally different than my first pregnancy- absolutely teaching me to be humble about what I think I know. I also really appreciated her perspective of traditions and expectations from a diverse standpoint.
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
5.0
This is a beautiful book- a fictional biography of sorts. The detail is exquisite. The characters are complex and there is no “traditional” arc to them. The main character for example is not a stereotypical beauty and her life doesn’t encapsulate a neat series of happily ever afters. Indeed, it is more dynamic and deeply felt than such a trite storyline would have provided. Gilbert does an incredible feat of making the reader aware of all the “issues” that abounded at that time- the advent of public health consciousness, the start of pharmaceuticals, the frequency of miscarriages and how it impacted women’s lives, the growing interest in mental health and the advent of asylums, abolitionism, colonization, the eruption of the civil war, the invention of the term “scientist” and the emerging awareness of evolution. All of this is filtered through the lens of botany and the great botanical gardens that ruled the academic scene of the time (and which we now take for granted). I felt introduced to new words and concepts, felt appreciation for scientific fields that I have not historically cared for, and felt a whole new sense of wonder for the world I inhabit and how inattentive I am to it. I thought about myself and how I would be characterized by the characters, and I thought about the subtle conversation about cultural differences that played out through her complicated characters from all over the world. Most importantly, I learned a great deal about myself in this grander context. And all through the ordinary, but quite wonderful life of an early female scientist who simply lived- stubbornly struggling to endure life for as long as possible.