maddness22's reviews
715 reviews

The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The millennials (me) crave community. This was charming! I fell in love with the heart of the ensemble cast and the relationships they built with each other from their lonely worlds. It offers an interesting conversation about authenticity and what it actually entails if someone is allowed to define their own authentic nature. I wasn't a huge fan of the third act and thought it dragged out for too long (especially with the romance that didn't make much sense) but the community building aspect and the fact it faces the messier parts of life without apology were really compelling.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

adventurous inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A darling quick read that is a tremendous love letter to books and the heart of reading. The magical realism is well done and I enjoyed the takes on the fast fashion of modern publishing and how books add fulfillment to our lives. I didn't enjoy that it very much is very anti-"easy reading" as I think there's still benefits to "easy" reads that don't necessarily challenge a reader but can still entertain them or provide additional insight. Still enjoyable for anyone who loves books though

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.

Not really for me. I thought all of the characters were remade to be incredibly entitled and the reviews I'm reading spoil that it gets incredibly transphobic down the line. I've heard great things about Curtis Sittenfield and was hoping to add another book of hers to my collection, but this one seems to be a miss. I'll keep trying with her other works since I did enjoy Prep.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

hopeful informative relaxing medium-paced

4.75

A brilliant and validating read! My therapist recommended this to help me gain more confidence with my introverted identity and interests and it didn't fail in this mission. I really enjoyed the in-depth studies on how introversion is a benefit in our world in various aspects of society. Some sections are better articulated than others, but overall this is a wonderful love letter to introversion that reduces a lot of shame associated with it and shines light to how our extroverted society could benefit from more introspection. 

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.

I technically finished this book because I fell asleep around the 50% mark and it played out until the end without a sleep timer but I don't want to go back and actually finish it because there wasn't any real story in this snooze fest. Don't tell my book club. 

Death by Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I really don't know why I finished this. The characters are flat and insufferable. It's incredibly dialogue heavy, but the dialogue is stilted and sounds the same across every character. The mystery also has enough holes in it to be considered cheese. But I enjoyed the cozy atmosphere and the food descriptions were incredibly delicious. I'm pretty sure I only stuck around to experience more of the foodie scenes because I truly enjoyed them and lingered with those scenes longer than expected. 

Pumpkin Spice Peril by Jenn McKinlay

lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As expected, this was a quick and delightful cozy little mystery. There actually wasn't that much fall theming to this as I expected. But even though I fell into this series 12 books deep, I loved the entire cast and the love they had for each other. The mystery was actually a bit compelling too with plenty of suspects to keep me roped in on the "whodunit" aspect. With how cozy the environment is and the love between the large cast of characters, I'm absolutely going to read the rest of this series as a comfort read slowly but surely as they become available at the library in between my other reads. 

I'm also very inspired for my baking era now. I even put the book down a couple times to check out some recipes for things. 

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

5.0

Life changing. This book was recommended to me several times, but my months long library hold (by some luck) came through right as I was recovering from a bout of mysterious malaise during a somewhat stressful period of my life. It was so fascinating to me reading about how stress hormones impact the body in physical ways and how the common methods for alleviating cortisol relieve that stress and pressure. I felt validated in my malaise that doctors couldn't fully diagnose and empowered that recovery was possible. I'm also stuck seeing how stress and/or anxiety is defining the people around me's actions and behaviors based on the findings through this book. It gets incredibly heavy at times, but I think it's worth it for the insight it provides. 

Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down by Corey Keyes

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.25

Not a bad reframing of common mental health issues. I think it does an excellent job validating the reasons for languishing and offering practical solutions for addressing the downfalls in life that create poor mental health environments. I especially enjoyed the concept that mental health can't be truly healed and it's actually more detrimental to someone's mental health to believe that it can be fully cured because then they feel like a failure for not being able to be "cured" despite trying their best. It's just a matter of managing symptoms and looking for and building for the moments of flourishing in every day life. 

I will also say this book was difficult to listen to as an audiobook. The chapters are incredibly long and presented more as trains of thoughts, which is useful but it makes it hard to pick up and put down the audio version of the book since there are no clear breaks in the narrative. 

Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Alright this was pretty fun. I enjoyed the relationship between the leads and world setting. I found the world building to be incredibly interesting. The author placed a lot of faith in the reader by just casually introducing this supernatural world without much explanation and adding new elements as late as the third act, but it honestly really works for this type of book and kind of added to the fun for me. It's a magical read with lots of fun elements and scenes. I wouldn't mind reading a sequel but I'm probably going to take my time returning to this world.