Read this alongside my doula training program. Very easy to absorb information that doesn't overwhelm. The medical parts are not overly tedious, and IRead this alongside my doula training program. Very easy to absorb information that doesn't overwhelm. The medical parts are not overly tedious, and I could see this being reassuring to new expecting parents. If any parts are not in-depth enough, it will at least act as a guide or starting point for further research.
Very inclusive language, though not consistent (flip-flops between "birthing person" and "woman"). My one complaint would be the jokey tone. It's a little corny/dated with all of the hashtags, though it was only published a couple of years ago....more
Some of the more useful-sounding stuff still sounds a little anecdotal vs scientific, despite the book's title, so it's hard to tell what the main takSome of the more useful-sounding stuff still sounds a little anecdotal vs scientific, despite the book's title, so it's hard to tell what the main takeaway should be. This could have been condensed into a book about half the size, focusing on the facts without the storytelling. But again, it's hard to tell what the facts actually are. As other reviews have noted, this feels more new-age than scientific. Make of that what you will.
Some of the instructions for the breathing exercises are hard to visualize. I was excited about the section on scoliosis, but I couldn't figure out what the stretches actually looked like.
Also to note, there are some descriptions of people and ethnic foods that are a little off and unnecessary. Calling real people he interviews "rail-thin" or referring to certain flavours of a non-American candy as "gross" as if everyone would agree....more
One of the most riveting stories I've read in years, and to think it's someone's real life. I would recommend this to everyone and anyone.One of the most riveting stories I've read in years, and to think it's someone's real life. I would recommend this to everyone and anyone....more
This is an impactful primer for people [like me] looking for an accessible start to discussing the topic of race. It would be impossible for a book ofThis is an impactful primer for people [like me] looking for an accessible start to discussing the topic of race. It would be impossible for a book of this length to delve too deeply, but it covers a wide variety of subtopics that can act as starting points for further reading and research elsewhere. Ijeoma Oluo provides personal insight into some of the things that you may not have thought hard enough about when it comes to privilege and the way you conduct yourself in conversations about race. Or even in conversations that you might not have realized were about race.
It feels almost sad to say I learned a lot from this, but I think most people could....more
I like some of The Financial Diet's YouTube videos, but this book misses the mark.
To start off, I want to point out that this book has a Yikes, okay.
I like some of The Financial Diet's YouTube videos, but this book misses the mark.
To start off, I want to point out that this book has a few lines of good advice in it that are worth pulling out for future reference. However, I wouldn't recommend anyone to read it just for those tidbits, because I think the rest of the book is both useless and full of misinformation. I'll leave a few of my personal recommendations below for books that I feel are better starter personal finance books.
This is a book targeted towards young women who may be starting out in their careers, and only just learning to get a handle on their money, their wardrobe, and their kitchen.
The main issue with this book is that the experts who wrote in for it, or Chelsea's sections herself, don't give enough information on how to actually do the things mentioned. The chapter on budgeting simply tells you to budget, and tells you how to put it in a spreadsheet, but doesn't tell you how to stick to it. The chapter on investing is so empty of practical advice that I don't think it would help anyone who hasn't already begun to invest. I think there is also some misinformation about what low-risk investments are.
The chapter on cooking was contradictory, hilarious, and probably wastes more money than it saves you. Several times Chelsea mentions cutting out or back on meat to save money, but when it gets to the recipe section, about half of the recipes contained meat. I also think the list of essential kitchen tools should have been more... essential. Not everyone needs tongs and a rolling pin.
The chapter on wardrobe had one piece of good advice, to spend a little bit extra on pieces that will last longer, followed by others that made little sense and don't fit into a financial "diet". For example "tons of black, and basic designer items." Why are we talking about buying designer clothes as a way of saving money? Or shelling out for a flashy pair of flats, or a bag that conveys "just the right amount of personality". The parts of the book that make this specifically for women are also the parts that I couldn't stand.
The chapter about home buying was one of the ones I was most interested in reading, but there wasn't a lot to latch onto. A 3.5% down payment also sounds both improbable and illogical to me, but maybe I'm just not that familiar with mortgages and home-buying.
I had no idea what the chapter on relationships and money was trying to communicate, besides "talk about money". The message got a bit lost on the page dedicated to Sex and the City. I haven't seen it, so I didn't understand what point was being made in relation to it.
One of the things I liked that Chelsea mentioned was the idea of using less than 30% of your available credit. I haven't heard that mentioned enough in other places, and it's an easy way to keep your credit score healthy. She also gives advice on how to check your credit score without damaging it.
I also very strongly agreed with this thought: "I used to follow the standard advice offered by most personal finance experts, which is to save a percentage of your income first and then spend the rest. But the big problem with that is it gives you permission to spend a lot of money you could probably be saving." I think having auto-savings is a good idea, combined with still trying to spend as little as possible and putting the leftovers into savings, rather than spending the leftovers.
The section on dreams costing money and how you always deserve to try at something, be it a new career of hobby, was very well-written and encouraging.
A decent mix of informative and anxiety-inducing. If anything, I think this book will most likely function as many self-improvement books do: as a quiA decent mix of informative and anxiety-inducing. If anything, I think this book will most likely function as many self-improvement books do: as a quick burst of motivation that is eventually mostly forgotten.
It's hard to say, as a twenty-something myself, whether this book contains good or bad information, as I'm not yet out of this "defining decade" to know. Some of it felt biased, especially the sub-chapter on sticking it out at a crappy job where the boss sounds almost emotionally abusive. I couldn't really agree with that advice, though who knows if I'll look back later in life and wish I had taken it with more than a grain of salt.
There were a lot of interesting statistics on marriage and fertility but I found myself wanting to double check everything with other sources. There is a lot of contradictory information out there so my results were inconclusive.
The most interesting and useful chapter to me is right at the beginning. The author does a good job of hammering home the importance of identity capital and has some opinions on certain kinds of part-time jobs that are worth considering....more
Second Edition. A good finance book to read after starting with The Wealthy Barber. Very accessibly written, but still packed with numbers and good inSecond Edition. A good finance book to read after starting with The Wealthy Barber. Very accessibly written, but still packed with numbers and good information. If you've started investing recently, or are about to, the chapters on mutual funds versus investing in index funds on your own (or with a robo investor) would probably be really valuable to you, like it was to me.
Not as valuable to me as the first was. The final quarter has some new information which I diligently took notes on, but the first bit feels really loNot as valuable to me as the first was. The final quarter has some new information which I diligently took notes on, but the first bit feels really loose and not the most helpful.
I appreciated the humourous style (though this one isn't told in a narrative format like the first one), but some sentences had me questioning his seriousness and integrity. Did he write this book for the sake of writing another book or does he truly live and stand by this advice? It was hard to tell in places.
“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, a “It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly.
The first half of this, detailing the author's firsthand experience of the Holocaust, is some of the most powerful and poignant non-fiction writing I've read. The second half, which goes into his psychotherapy approaches, is mildly interesting with a few useful tidbits, but is a bit dry and full of psychology jargon.
3.5 [insert pun here about this book being cheesy.
Part of my Book-A-Week Nonfiction experiment.
This book is all about moving with things as they chan3.5 [insert pun here about this book being cheesy.
Part of my Book-A-Week Nonfiction experiment.
This book is all about moving with things as they change, letting the old go to be able to seek out the new, getting over the fear of searching for the new, etc. The "cheese" represents anything that makes you happy or is important to you like a job, relationship, money or hobby. Sometimes these things are taken away from you or no longer make you happy. This book is about moving on from those things.
Some useful tidbits:
The more you get out there and start looking for the cheese (job, love), the less afraid you become of the search. The quicker you let go of the old (when it disappears, is taken from you, leaves you), the sooner you can find the new. Smell the cheese often to know when it is getting old- noticing that your current job/relationship/bank account is becoming stale/lessened before it becomes a big problem can help you adapt to bigger changes down the line. Picturing yourself enjoying the new cheese allows you to move more quickly towards it (versus wallowing in the past). ...more
Good message in a cheesy package. Not the most helpful, but I did feel a little bit lighter after reading it. Book a Week Nonfiction Challenge: Week 9
Good message in a cheesy package. Not the most helpful, but I did feel a little bit lighter after reading it.
It's easy to say "think of everything that's right in the moment, rather than everything that's wrong, and focus on the present" but I think it will be a little bit harder than that to actually do so. Going to try to practice.
This is a book on the creative/inspiration side writing, on how to love and trust the process. It doesn't cover the process itself. I think as far as This is a book on the creative/inspiration side writing, on how to love and trust the process. It doesn't cover the process itself. I think as far as books on writing go, this is probably a good starting point. It helps you work out the proper mindset for approaching your creative projects. Outlining and how to actually write can come later.
The most important thing I got out of this: Don't write for anyone but yourself. If your book happens to help someone or someone can relate to it, that's a bonus side effect. Write for yourself; it'll come across as more authentic that way.
Also, you are creatively legitimate by your mere existence. You don't have to go to school if you don't want to....more
Don't judge me for the title. This is probably the book I most needed to read for my Book A Week Nonfiction Experiment. A good blend of practical and Don't judge me for the title. This is probably the book I most needed to read for my Book A Week Nonfiction Experiment. A good blend of practical and inspirational advice, and the most important things I got out of it have nothing to do with wealth.
My favourite chapter is "Can you not do it?" If there's an idea of something you've wanted to do for a long time that keeps nagging at you, ask yourself what would happen if you didn't do it. If you feel like you'd be missing out or have regrets, then go for it.
The first half of the book is more generally accessible, where the second half does begin to take on a more spiritual slant. I'm not sure how I feel about the second half yet but I know I'll at least be rereading the first 100 pages over and over for the next little while....more
I have no intention of becoming a minimalist, and this book doesn't ask you to either. It helped me realize there Book A Week Experiment: Week/Book 7
I have no intention of becoming a minimalist, and this book doesn't ask you to either. It helped me realize there are a lot of things I CAN let go of though. It made me realize how much useless clutter I have, and how much guilt I feel over all of those objects. This week I'm due for a cleaning spree, I think.
The audiobook is also only 4 hours long, though a touch repetitive/full of filler for a book on the subject, in my personal opinion.
Some useful tidbits: - Don't let the cost of something prevent you from discarding it if you don't use it. Feeling guilty every time you see that thing isn't worth it. - The fewer things you have, the more you'll focus on what you do have, and are more likely to use those things- ie that abandoned cello in the corner. - You can always take photos of memorabilia before tossing....more
3.5/5 This was really enjoyable as an audiobook. In fact, it's the first audiobook I've finished and enBook A Week Non-Fiction Experiment: Week/Book 6
3.5/5 This was really enjoyable as an audiobook. In fact, it's the first audiobook I've finished and enjoyed! Maybe I can only listen to non-fiction books...
I read this thinking it might help me improve my memory, which I consider to be quite weak. It didn't really, but it was such an interesting book that I'm not disappointed. The memory championship bits themselves were a little bit boring to me personally, but I found the chapter on the history of reading/writing/memorizing to be really fascinating....more
I think I need to think about my plan for this one going forward. It asks that you read this at least three tiBook-a-Week Nonfiction Challenge: Book 5
I think I need to think about my plan for this one going forward. It asks that you read this at least three times, stating that you might not understand or get anything out of it the first time. I understand that idea in principle, if the ideas are complex, but if you're writing a book it should probably still be useful to people who only plan on reading it once. It's not a short read that you can come back to all the time, especially if you aren't yet sure if it's the best book of its kind, and it's very boring in style. On top of that, most chapters asked that you go back and reread a previous chapter before continuing, so you've already read it twice by the time you get to the end for the first time. Reading it three times would be like reading it six times, so I'm questioning its effectiveness.
The book gives you six steps which could be useful, and I'm going to try them out to see. Besides trying to make you more self-aware, I don't know that the chapters besides the last one, and chapter 2 (which contains the six steps) are particularly valuable to everyone.
Maybe that makes me one of those "unsuccessful" people who missed the point or isn't willing to put in the work, but I feel like I put in way too much work just to get out of it the few things that I did....more
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