I guess I was expecting something... different from this.

This book spends very little time actually outlining HOW to set up a bullet journal. There are a few good ideas about lists, calendars, tasks, goals, and habit trackers, but not many.

The book is almost completely enveloped in a philosophical message about being your best self, and staying true to your real goals, with a ton of cutesy sayings and quotes from Ghandi and Benjamin Franklin.

I wanted a much more practical guide to using my BuJo, but instead this is a lengthy treatise on how to change your life and motivate yourself to reach your goals. I mean, that's fine. But it's written so condescendingly, that I was rolling my eyes through half the book.

It's way too long. The best parts of this book could have been condensed down to 100 pages if you took out all the little personal stories about the time their apartment flooded, and anecdotes of random people who lost weight, quit their jobs, and moved to Costa Rica to teach yoga.

It's okay to have anecdotes to illustrate a point, but there were WAY too many.
It's wonderful to have inspirational quotes and sayings to show how writing out a list of goals with clear, actionable tasks CAN change your life, but there were WAY too many.

This book has good material, but too much of it. A concise version of this book would have power, but this is so stretched out that it is drivel.

I got three good ideas from this book. Out of 300 pages, only three things spoke to me or even mildly interested me.

One was The 5,4,3,2,1 Exercise, where you list your goals in groups of goals you want to accomplish in 5 years, 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, and 1 hour. I thought that is a good way to organize what is most important, what will take longer to finish, and what needs to be done immediately.

Another one was the idea of Task Sprints; self-contained projects that further a larger goal, but don't overwhelm you.

And the third idea that I liked was Rubber Ducking; explain your problem in detail to an inanimate object, and the solution might come to you, because you are forced to change your perspective as you explain it to someone else who has no prior knowledge of the situation.

I would not recommend this book to people just starting out with a new BuJo. You'll get much better info and ideas just from Googling "Bullet Journal" and looking for ideas on Pinterest.

If you do want to read this book, it DOES have some good stuff, but I would borrow it from a library.

Ardwin is the youngest in his family, cursed with one arm that is a swan's wing. He is feared and reviled by the world, and sets out to seek an adventure that will lead him to his true home. But he will never find peace until he learns to accept himself, wing and all.

This is a continuation of the fairy tale of the brothers who are transformed into swans and saved by their sister who weaves shirts of nettles to break the curse. One little brother's shirt is unfinished, missing a sleeve, and that arm remains a swan's wing.

I loved Ardwin's character! He's a very deep thinker, and he puzzles through many ideas about identity, instinct, belonging, love, and hate, and forgiveness. There are so many wonderful themes that he wrestles with, but he ultimately finds where he truly belongs.

The plot is wonderfully fantastical, full of wizards, enchantresses, talking animals, deep earth magic, and impossible plot twists that kept me guessing and wondering and perfectly in awe.

I did not like the plot line involving the enchantress Evron. She was too strange and mysterious, and I never quite understood her purpose in the story.
I also did not like how quickly and neatly everything was wrapped up in the end. Much too Deus ex Machina. But still... a good ending.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and it made me think deeply about some interesting issues. It's a beautifully complex story with many shining characters. Any fantasy reader would love this one!

I loved how this book was organized. The writing style is clear and concise with a dry humor that kept each chapter interesting. I appreciated how the author carefully explained each concept with Biblical precepts and spiritual laws that are direct from Scripture.

I really enjoyed reading it, and now I want to read more from this author!

Jane and her siblings live with their mother, a famous poet, in a small house by the ocean. A preacher woman, Nellie, ropes Jane into helping her distribute Bibles, and a local woman blackmails Jane into babysitting five children. Jane is pulled into the town drama, and discovers one of her mother’s past boyfriends might be Jane’s father.

I LOVED the writing style in this book! It’s beautifully poetic and insightful with poignant little observations.

But I did not like the story or the characters. The story is weird. Nellie, the preacher, thinks she has the power of energy healing and drags Jane into her quest for supernatural power. That whole storyline was idiotic and made no sense with the rest of the plot.

Jane’s mother has several boyfriends from her past who show up, and Jane wonders which of them fathered her and her siblings. But that storyline is never resolved, and both Jane and the reader are left wondering.

Jane herself never DOES anything. She just stands around waiting for things to happen to her. Only one time in the entire book does Jane actually take a decisive action. The rest of the time she waits for other people to do things, say things, and make the decisions. She is such a boring character.

But the writing! It’s just so entrancing and whimsical and poignant.
It almost makes up for the boring characters and random plot. Almost.

Nick runs away from his abusive uncle, only to fall into the hands of an evil wizard! Nick is forced to become Smallbone's apprentice, but the old man refuses to teach him any magic. Unraveling the secrets of the Evil Wizard Bookshop and the mysterious town of Smallbone Cove, Nick will have to outwit his master before an even more evil wizard, Fidelou, terrorizes and destroys the entire town.

I am delighted with this whimsical tale of wizardry! I love the enchanted town of Smallbone Cove and the rich history of the people there. I love how grumpy and enigmatic Smallbone is, because we slowly discover that he has a heart of gold underneath. I love the twisty plot with all kinds of weird surprises. I like the writing style too! There's a lot of dry humor and snappy dialogue.

And I like the main character, Nick. He's stubborn and rude and scrappy. He acts tough, but can also be gentle and kind. He gets bored and impatient, but also knows how to work hard. He has some good character development, and I enjoyed discovering the magic system along with him.

Such a fun read!

A little more character development in this volume and some wonderfully funny situations. I’m enjoying it more than I did the first volume. Still not as good as the original series tho.

This volume was so sweet and tender! I loved revisiting this story from a new perspective and seeing how the rest of the time line plays out. The characters are just so adorable, and there are a lot of emotional scenes. Love it!

This book took so many tangents into unrelated topics that I couldn't wade through all the extras, and didn't finish the book. The pretentious writing annoyed me. The author adds in anecdotes about Aristotle and Nietzsche just so he can sound intelligent for knowing anecdotes about Aristotle and Nietzsche.

This book could have been much shorter if the writing would just stick to the main topic. I don't need to read a chapter on the entire history of clocks to know that the invention of the clock changed how society viewed time. A couple of paragraphs would have sufficed.

I was really disappointed in how the information was laid out in this book. It's not organized very well, and jumps between various topics that are barely related to the main subject material.