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wordrevel's reviews
156 reviews
Avocado Anxiety: and Other Stories About Where Your Food Comes From by Louise Gray
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Looking at the content page, I expected each chapter to solely focus on the origins and health of each crop listed but Avocado Anxiety turned out to be so much more! Yes, each chapter focuses on one crop but each one also ties in important topics related to food.
Through interviews, anecdotes and studies this books examines how culture, politics, businesses, globalisation and science impact food production, farming practices, nutrition, the environment, food security and our attitudes towards food. With this approach, there is a laudable balance between breadth and depth. This is further underscored by the various solutions the author puts forth to address the various problems that she raises, such as the carbon footprint of our food choices, our propensity for monoculture, our expectation for perfection, and more.
By the time I was done, I wished I could read more yet was surprised by how densely information-packed this deceivingly small hardcover is with its 288 pages. Needless to say, I highly recommend picking up this book!
Through interviews, anecdotes and studies this books examines how culture, politics, businesses, globalisation and science impact food production, farming practices, nutrition, the environment, food security and our attitudes towards food. With this approach, there is a laudable balance between breadth and depth. This is further underscored by the various solutions the author puts forth to address the various problems that she raises, such as the carbon footprint of our food choices, our propensity for monoculture, our expectation for perfection, and more.
By the time I was done, I wished I could read more yet was surprised by how densely information-packed this deceivingly small hardcover is with its 288 pages. Needless to say, I highly recommend picking up this book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence
There are a couple pages that examine the links between witch hunts and foraging. In describing the history, methods of violence employed against women are outlined, explaining methods of capital punishment enacted in the past.
Genesis by
I'm holding off any rating because it doesn't feel right to add one for a book of the Bible but I wanted to add a note about this edition specifically.
The design is beautiful and you can tell a lot of care has been put into it. The pages alternate between a page of scripture and a blank page with a faint dot grid (dots are smaller and not as dark as in bullet journal notebooks). The dots are perfectly aligned with the text on the reverse page of each sheet, so that any notes taken line up nicely as well.
Pages are definitely thicker than in traditional Bibles, so pens don't bleed through as much. Though I still wrote with a pencil to be sure. There is a lot of space for annotations with additional blank dot grid pages at the back of the book.
The text is set in a single column and there are no footnotes. This is useful for undistracted reading of words from the Bible only, or if you prefer to use other supplementary material with the ESV translation apart from notes printed by Crossway in other editions.
The binding is paperback, not hardcover but the cover is made of slightly thicker card stock. The cover keeps its shape well if you want to carry it around with you in a bag.
The design is beautiful and you can tell a lot of care has been put into it. The pages alternate between a page of scripture and a blank page with a faint dot grid (dots are smaller and not as dark as in bullet journal notebooks). The dots are perfectly aligned with the text on the reverse page of each sheet, so that any notes taken line up nicely as well.
Pages are definitely thicker than in traditional Bibles, so pens don't bleed through as much. Though I still wrote with a pencil to be sure. There is a lot of space for annotations with additional blank dot grid pages at the back of the book.
The text is set in a single column and there are no footnotes. This is useful for undistracted reading of words from the Bible only, or if you prefer to use other supplementary material with the ESV translation apart from notes printed by Crossway in other editions.
The binding is paperback, not hardcover but the cover is made of slightly thicker card stock. The cover keeps its shape well if you want to carry it around with you in a bag.
The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
I lost track of how often I restarted the audiobook—three, four times? Somehow I can't find a hook to help me understand and picture what's going on, who's who, etc. I'll probably need to try the ebook if I want to make any progress beyond this.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
Struggled to keep characters and the plot introduction straight while listening to the audiobook, even though I listened to the beginning twice. I might read the ebook instead since a few friends recommended this book to me.
The Prayer of Protection: Living Fearlessly in Dangerous Times by Joseph Prince
2.0
Initial thoughts: Recently had a conversation about prayer and angels, so picking up The Prayer of Protection was pretty timely. Gave me quite a good starting point on Bible passages to look up such as Psalm 91 and 103, as well as the stories of Caleb, Job and Daniel. The book addressed some of my ambivalence about angels and their place in the Christian faith. I’ve always believed in their existence and their protection in the name of God but I’m not been sure what to believe beyond that.
For me, this book did give give more insight and concepts to explore but I am wary of taking answers from it at face value. For one, the author constantly brings up testimonials about the power of his preaching specifically. And while the Bible can be up to individual interpretation, there are core truths that aren’t up for debate. Since quite a few of his opinions (several of which he doesn’t identify as such) are enmeshed with what he claims to be teachings from the Bible I can’t say I was wholly assured of the biblical soundness of this book.
For me, this book did give give more insight and concepts to explore but I am wary of taking answers from it at face value. For one, the author constantly brings up testimonials about the power of his preaching specifically. And while the Bible can be up to individual interpretation, there are core truths that aren’t up for debate. Since quite a few of his opinions (several of which he doesn’t identify as such) are enmeshed with what he claims to be teachings from the Bible I can’t say I was wholly assured of the biblical soundness of this book.