alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

The Lottery is by far the best story in this collection. I still love Shirley Jackson for how she communicates subtle comparison and unease among women, but most of the stories here are just slice of life and end abruptly. They are not what she is known for--Haunting of Hill House or We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Fav author anyways!!!

I really like the characters BUT I think the series itself is kinda boring. Best thing is the Watson Holmes Ship which barely even sails soooo..

PS avoid the audio because Holmes and Watson have oddly mature adult voices that really took me away from the story.

After Margot's parents discover that she went on a shopping spree with their credit cards, Margot finds herself working away her summer at her family's supermarket in the Bronx instead of partying in the Hamptons with her prep school friends. The supermarket is full of family and neighbors that Margot would rather pretend didn't exist--they are way too loud, nosy, and Puerto Rican for the image she has been cultivating at her prep school. But she has one goal in mind--an end of summer party at her crush Nick's house--and will do anything to make it there.

The voice of this book is very teen. The language is of the moment and even plot development seems like a teen contrived it (there were a lot of "That escalated quickly" moments). The cover is gorgeous and made me think the book was going to be a bit more literary or indie, but it totally isn't. Would be appropriate for readers who want to read without worrying about tough vocabulary.

I wish I hadn’t watched the movie first. This book was still a nice thriller even knowing the hook of the mystery, but it would have been better if I hadn’t known what Dr. Mengele was up to.

PS did some Wikipediaing and it turns out that the real Mengele was running around Greater São Paulo until his death in 79. Weird to think about.

This is a fantastic introduction to practicing contemplative prayer and Christian mysticism. I must say that some of those old Christian mystics are hard to understand, but as this is a contemporary book, it is quite easy and practical.

I think as meditation is growing more popular in western circles (search for "meditation" in the app store to get an idea) because of all of its significant impacts on health and creativity, Christians might also be interested in practicing meditation. But we should be aware that Christianity has a long and well-documented history of practicing meditation that is based on entering in communion with God's Spirit and resting in God's Presence. So if you are curious about that, this book is a great place to start.

This book can be found online with a quick search, and I have listed the chapter order below because it is not quite clear on the website.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Introduction
What Contemplation Is Not
Dimensions of Contemplative Prayer
The History of Contemplative Prayer in the Christian Tradition
First steps in Centering Prayer
The Sacred Word as Symbol
The Ordinary Kinds of Thoughts
Birth of Spiritual Attentiveness
The More Subtle Kinds of Thoughts
The Unloading of the Unconscious
Summary of the Centering Prayer Method
The Intensive Centering Prayer Experience
Methods of Extending the Effects of Contemplative Prayer into Daily Life

I LOVED choose your own adventure books as a kid, so it was fun to read an adult (very adult) one! This book, no matter which storyline you choose, is so over the top cheesy that it is pure satire of the bodice ripping genre. So be prepared to snort way more than anything else.

Interesting to read this book and THE BOOK OF MY LIFE by Teresa of Avila at the same time. They both describe four stages of meditation and the descriptions are pretty much the same. There are some differences of course: one is from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective and the other is from a Catholic one.

This book is meant for practiced runners who have experienced various levels of training cycles. It draws parallels between the mental tools and training patterns that we use in running and those same tools being used in a meditation context. Same tools, just applied in different ways.

Little Ignacio has two mothers: birthmother Soli and adoptive mother Kavya. Both of his mothers have painful stories. In Berkeley, Soli is a pregnant immigrant without papers and Kavya is on a quest to have a child. Both are fighting for their families, regardless of the price that is asked. This story is timely and full of empathy: as we are watching families be torn apart at the border, children taken from their parents, where will those children go? And if a foster family wants to adopt, what about the birth parents? What would you do if your child was taken because they had papers and you didn’t?

Maybe don’t read this book if you are in the middle of an adoption process. It would be a nightmare to be in the place of either of these parents and reading this won’t ease your fears about “what ifs.”

Mehhhh overhyped and besides, ya’ll know how I feel about unreliable [female] narrators.