studiomikarts's reviews
65 reviews

Hojoki: a Buddhist Reflection on Solitude, Imperfection and Transcendence by Kamo No Chomei

inspiring reflective sad

4.0

This was an interesting book, providing the original Japanese text side-by-side with a new English translation of a 13th century Japanese hermit's writings. I loved how there were endnotes and interior figures adding historical context, making it easy to sympathize with the original author. As an intermediate student of the Japanese language, I first tried reading the Japanese as I went along, but the older pronunciations and unknown kanji made that difficult. That, on top of how interesting the story itself was--I just wanted to find out what happened next!

Happily, when I finished reading the English translation, at the end of the book there was a link for audio files, which were free to access! I immediately went through and listened to each chapter in Japanese, doing my best to read along. It's awesome that this resource is available because it's WAY easier to follow this old style of writing with a narrator to guide you. The inclusion of furigana would have been welcome to me, but I could see it being annoying for higher level Japanese readers (just how Romaji is annoying to me) so this seems like the best way to make the text accessible to all levels of Japanese language students.

As for the author and the text overall, it's not as deep or profound as I expected. It's actually quite pitiable. It's the experience of a man who saw countless horrors and turned his back on the world in despair. I feel sympathy, not inspiration, even when considering my own life of horrors. However, I did pluck a couple lovely and useful quotes from among the disaster and darkness, which I will share here:

If something needs doing,
Why not be your own servant?

True, it requires effort,
But it's better than being obliged to another.

When you need to go somewhere, walk.

I exert myself,
But never to excess.

So even when fatigued,
I'm not distressed.

Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This was an excellent continuation of the Temeraire story but all I can think about after finishing it is how violent and abusive the story is to non-human, non-dragon animals. It makes it really hard to sympathize with the plight of the dragons (much less their human masters) when you see how horrific life is for the animals suffering at their hands. It wouldn't have been a problem if the book seemed to be trying to make a point about this, but I did not get that impression. This bad aftertaste has made it very hard to get myself to read the next volume. I wonder if this is why I ALWAYS end up quitting this series around this point. This is my third-plus attempt at a full read-through...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, and War

This is Vegan Propaganda: And Other Lies The Meat Industry Tells You by Ed Winters

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Every time we eat, we have the power to radically transform the world we live in and simultaneously contribute to addressing many of the most pressing issues that our species currently faces: climate change, infectious disease, chronic disease, human exploitation, and, of course, non-human exploitation. Every single day, our choices can help alleviate all of these problems or they can perpetuate them.

This book is so well-written, so deeply informed, it felt best to let it speak for itself before I begin my review. The author expertly managed the content so that it is relevant to existing vegans, veg-curious folks, and pre-vegan skeptics, all at once. It's the number one book that I recommend to anyone wanting to know more about veganism. It covers every topic, from the darkest and most harrowing why's, to the laugh-out-loud ridiculous why-not's, and no good-hearted and level-headed reader won't be moved by what they read. If you're wondering what the deal is with veganism, whatever your experience with it until now, please read this book. If nothing else, you will learn why it's the most important movement in human history and how our exploitation of animals affects everything from the animals themselves, to human health, the creation of pandemic diseases, our accelerating global climate catastrophe, and more. I'll end with another powerful quote, food for thought:

Some people believe that to be vegan means you have to be an animal lover or be someone who goes out of their way to be kind to animals. But it's not an act of kindness to not needlessly hurt someone. If we walk down the street and don't kick a dog, that's not an act of kindness. In the same way, avoiding forcing animals into gas chambers and macerators and onto kill lines isn't an act of benevolence — it's an act of justice and respect for the basic moral consideration that all animals deserve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

funny informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

I admit I had my doubts about this book, based on my only experience reading Stephen King, Rose Madder, but so many other writing books, writers organizations, and writers that I admire recommended it that I finally gave it a shot. Thank goodness I didn't let preconceived notions hold me back! This book was awesome! For one, it was gut-bustingly funny and a total page-turner. I seriously didn't expect to be laughing out loud while reading this, especially not half the time! It was very easy to read, too, with the chapters focusing on the author's life being so riveting they could have been a book unto themselves. But the writing tips, sandwiched in the middle, completely lived up to the hype that led me to this book in the first place and were indispensable. In some ways, they reinforced things I was already doing, and in other ways, they opened my mind to new possibilities that made the occupation of writing long-form fiction seem even easier and freer than other writing books I had read before. More than anything, this book gave me confidence and affirmed my choice to become a professional novelist. Any writer will benefit from reading this book, and long-form fiction authors will feel it's especially relevant to them, but I think any reader would enjoy this book, even if they don't consider themselves a writer of any kind. There's very good reason this book is universally recommended! And as for Rose Madder? The author himself considers the story to be one of his weakest, which only encouraged me to give his fiction work another shot! I'm thinking The Green Mile next; it seems like a story I'd enjoy 🤔

To finish, here are some of my favorite quotes from On Writing:

The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time.

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.

Description begins in the writer's imagination, but should finish in the reader's.

Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.

Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen
Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.

This book had my full attention until it talked about eating meat as if it was no problem. Until that point, I felt I had found a true teacher, someone who had stripped away all the mysticism and dogma of Buddhism, but everything collapsed when I realized this was yet another instance of the blind leading the blind. Ironic in a book whose main message is about seeing. There's no way one should trust a teacher who is so uneducated that they do not understand the most basic implications of eating meat. No one will reach enlightenment or awakening by following this book's path.

Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals: The Future of Food by Roanne van Voorst

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

This is one of the best books about veganism that I've ever read. It's the only book that is brimming with hope. No guarantees about outcomes but assurance that if humanity chooses kindness over greed, and goodness over ease, the future will be a better place. It's also a page-turner, very well written (and translated; I read the English version) and hard to put down. In the end, it's the only book about veganism I've read so far that made me break down bawling, not from the usual horror and sorrow, but from the flame of hope being lit in my heart. I recommend everyone read this book; pregans will learn why veganism is the way and vegans will be uplifted, knowing they're already part of the greatest revolution in human history.

The Garden of Vegan: How Plants Can Save the Animals, the Planet and Our Health by Cleve West

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This was an excellent book about veganism from an ironically unique standpoint: gardening. The author was extremely knowledgeable about everything covered, providing moments of both gut-busting humor and heartbreaking reality. Like the author, I find it difficult to see the light when there is so much darkness, especially knowing the darkness is purposefully hidden so that it may continue unabated. But I resonated intensely with the author on many points in this book, including his thoughts on so-called pests, favoring fully-vegan establishments, and humanity's overgrown ego. You don't have to be a gardener to appreciate this book, either, which is one of the best things about it. It starts with an introduction to the author and his vegan journey, moves on to explain why veganism is the answer to basically every human problem, and then shows us gardening for food and beauty through a vegan lens. It's definitely worth reading for anyone interested in helping make the world a better place (or at least interested in no longer contributing to the worst parts of it). Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

Most vegans were more self-righteous as non-vegans believing that we had the right to exploit the lives of others for our own enjoyment. 

As an ex-sportsman who had studied nutrition at college and a gardener who had worked with plants for much of his life, it's odd - and slightly alarming - that I didn't know there was protein in an apple. 

There was the realization that not only have you unwittingly been contributing to suffering on an unimaginable scale, but also the consequences of your choices as a consumer are contributing to a number of ongoing environmental catastrophes around the globe. If that wasn't enough, you then have to deal with family, friends, and colleagues who not only refute, ignore or ridicule the plight of enslaved animals being tortured, raped, experimented on and murdered, but who also seem ambivalent to the negative effects that these actions have on the environment, health and a number of human rights issues. At this point, when your values (based on compassion, kindness and altruism) are being called into question by people you love and trust, the world can suddenly seem confusing and even hostile.

Have you ever noticed that when a shark kills a human it's reported widely as a shark attack, but when a human hunts a shark it's called sport?

I've since spoken to several doctors, each of whom confirmed that nutrition isn't taught in depth during their 7 years' training: about twenty-four hours in total at the most. The stark and slightly alarming fact is that a vegan who has taken time to do a little research on diet may well know more about nutrition than the average GP.

Many people think that giving up consuming meat and dairy products is the hardest part of being vegan. It couldn't be further from the truth. The reality is that it's actually quite easy. The most difficult aspect of being vegan is navigating your way in a world that all of a sudden seems disconnected and exploitative and where violence pervades almost everything you interact with. The risk of alienating friends and family is real. It's frustrating and, at times, sad when the people you are closest to won't listen or don't share the same values of honesty, respect, equality, kindness and compassion: values that you were taught during childhood. It's a price that many vegans pay, but is offset hugely by the knowledge that you are part of a movement that addresses so many of the world's problems and that collectively your small actions can effect positive change, even though it may not occur during your lifetime.

A Man and His Cat, Volume 2 by Umi Sakurai

emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This manga continues to be absolutely adorable and totally on point! You can tell the author knows what it's like to live with a cat! It's also surprisingly heartwrenching at times, drawing a tear to the eye just as easily as a smile to the face 🥲 Highlights from this volume: a scene that was just like my cat, playing with my pen when I'm trying to work, and my dog, Chappie, practically making a cameo at the end!

Hope - How Street Dogs Taught Me the Meaning of Life: Featuring Rodney, Mcmuffin and King Whacker by Niall Harbison

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

4.0

If you love animals, especially dogs, keep a box of tissues handy as you read this book. It made me misty eyed and weepy on several occasions 🥲 The book is full of hope, but also despair. Happy endings and unhappy ones. The book itself doesn't mention this, but I couldn't help thinking of all the animals being killed to save these street dogs. The evil done to the street dogs. The evil done to the animals sacrificed to save the street dogs. It's all done by human hands. While this book did end up being a story of hope, I still question the value of hope bought at the cost of another's life. There is enough to go around for all, if we're open to it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Master of the Grill: Foolproof Recipes, Top-Rated Gadgets, Gear, & Ingredients Plus Clever Test Kitchen Tips & Fascinating Food Science by

This book was a holdover from my carnist days. While there were some delicious vegan recipes (like glazed tofu, which I made multiple times) and easily-veganized sides, such as grilled cole slaw, ultimately the book was focused on cooking animals, so it wasn't worth continuing to give it space on my bookshelf.