Overdue Book Update - Review
Here is a brief recap on some of the other books I've read in 2017 and 2018 (so far!)
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay - Book Review - Dana Chirps
3.5/5 stars
I was really excited to read "Bad Feminist" by Roxane Gay as I thought highly of her book, "Hunger." I liked "Bad Feminist," but I liked "Hunger" a lot more. In "Bad Feminist" each chapter is its own essay, and I think that made it harder for me to get on a roll with reading the book. However, just like her other pieces, I appreciated her literary brilliance. I am always left in awe of her writing. She is gifted! In this book she uses tons of pop culture references to address feminism. I'd recommend any female OR male to read this book. I actually think that men will find this book to be particularly fascinating. The nice thing about the essay format is that you can read a chapter sporadically, as they stand on their own. So if you have limited time, and this subject matter is interesting or important to you, I'd give it a go.
5/5 stars.
Oh. My. Gosh. This book was sooooooo good! I had been reading a lot of books about social injustice (to conduct brand research for a client), so it was great to read something for pure entertainment. "The Couple Next Door" is an easy read, and the story has a bunch of twists and turns. Basically a baby is kidnapped, and it turns into this juicy mystery of who, how and why. But the best part is the very end. It was the kind of book you're so excited about that you tell everyone you know about it, in hopes that they read it so you have someone to freak out with. That being said, if you read it, please tell me so I can proceed to freak out with you! ;)
4.5/5 stars.
I loved "The Couple Next Door" so much that I bought another book written by Shari Lapena. Like "The Couple Next Door," "Stranger in the House" was a can't-put-down type of book. I like how Lapena uses very few characters but is still able to build suspense and drama. "Stranger in the House," also had SUCH a twisted ending which I lovvvved. I definitely recommend this easy, entertaining read!
5/5 stars.
"The Win Without Pitching Manifesto" was recommended to me by my boss. It's a short 137 page read. I would recommend EVERY creative or marketing person that owns their own business/contractor/side hustler to read this book. Every sentence in this book could have been highlighted. However, the most impactful thing for me was reading about the concept of "The Difficult Business Decision" which is choosing your focus. "We are hired for our expertise and not our service," is the end result of positioning one's business. But it was one revelation after another.
4/5 stars.
Hillbilly Elegy was written by a 30-something year old guy that graduated law school from the prestigious Yale University. But that wasn't the story. The story was about J.D. Vance's experience in upward mobility as a dirt-poor hillbilly kid from the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio, and the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky. His anecdotes were a mixture of eye-opening, amusing, and disturbing (because they were real). There were affairs. Drug addictions. Constant conflicts. Screaming. His story really highlights how difficult (and often unrealistic) it is for people who grow up in that environment to better their situation. Eye opening read.
