"Now that I'm dead I know everything".

I was first introduced to this book in highschool, sometime around 2010, by my English teacher Mindy. She read the opening line to us and raved about how it was one of the best opening lines ever written. Mindy passed away a few weeks ago and I've been reflecting on how much she shaped me as a reader. She mentored me for years, including one on one, and taught me about reading and writing broadly. I owe her my persistence to getting through, and finding value in, books I dislike or don't quite resonate with.

Yes, I've hijacked this review slot to talk about Mindy, but let me tell you about the book as well: this Atwood novella reads like an experiment/writing exercise, but not necessarily in a bad way. I enjoyed it but would only recommend it to those of you who enjoy slightly cheeky and feminist retellings of classic myths (like I do, and like Mindy did). It's a deceptively short book that compels you to read slowly and to reflect on our interpretation of ancient myths.

This was a pleasure to read and, even though it's a decade later, I want to thank Mindy for the recommendation.

Mixed feelings on this one, but overall positive. The book can be boiled down to: chronic emotional repression is sufficiently stressful to increase the risk of physical disease (probably by triggering inflammation). It's a difficult thesis to prove and Gabor does a thorough job collecting evidence and I think I ultimately agree. That said, something just fell a bit short for me.

I was a huge fan of the realm of the hungry ghosts, which told amazing individual stories and paired those with science and advice. One shortfall of When The Body Says No was that the structure as a bit circular and repetitive. Chapters on healing were sparse and underdeveloped, which chapters of each disease references each other and all followed a similar structure.

While this is worth reading, I don't recommend this as a first foray into Dr Mate's writing. I think I would most recommend this to those of you who, like me, need a reminder to actually feel and express your "undesirable" feelings.

If you're at all into cults (even adjacently, let's say via true crime), this is an absolute page turner. The writing is very accessible and fun to read - think a compelling NYT article that features a few compared and contrasted personal stories that together illustrate a concept.

The main drawback of the book, for me, was the structure. The chapters were structured by "type of cult" from more to less extreme, rather than linguistic concept or overarching idea. The balance of the book felt a little off towards the middle, where as much space was devoted to CrossFit and SoulCycle as had been devoted to Jonestown and Scientology. While it remained interesting, this structure led to some repetition that could get a little drawn out.

All that said, I do recommend this book as a "fun" read. It prompts some good reflection on the definition of cults (and the language they use), and provides a nuanced and compassionate lense towards those who fall under those influences. Widely recommended.

This book (long essay?) is exactly what it says on the tin, and is absolutely excellent. Chimamanda is very talented with words and raises excellent points about sex and gender by discussing her experiences and observations as a Nigerian woman. Recommended widely.

Well, this was one of those "I need to finish it and be free of it" type of books.

If you're going to read it, I recommend the audiobook read by Jeremy Irons. What I did enjoy about the book was the prose style, which felt like a well tailored circus performance. This was my first Nabokov, and the man definitely likes experimenting with language. This also makes for an insufferable pretentious unreliable and horrible narrator, which is the /point/ of the book. He's very much not a sympathetic character (although I can see people reading this otherwise...).

I'd recommend this book only if you're interested in seeing how the language affects the way the story unfolds. This is especially true if you're interested in how the narrator uses linguistic tricks to better hide his horrific deeds (no word I reached for did his actions justice). I look forward to never reading the word "pubescent" so many times ever again.

I think I went into this with very high expectations, so I felt very "meh" through this book. It wasn't Evelyn Hugo, although a few parallels were present. I have a nagging feeling I would've much prefered the story if it had been narrated traditionally, especially since the full cast audiobook production felt a bit like an extended podcast interview of a band I don't know.

(But a band that reminded me a lot of Fleetwood Mac...)

This book is basically what it says on the tin. Recommended if you like hearing first-hand accounts of sex (read: relationship drama), drugs (and sobriety), and rock n roll (with tambourines), even if it's from people you haven't heard of.

I thoroughly enjoyed the weirdness of it. I really feel like this plot would've lent itself better to a movie. I enjoyed the slow atmospheric build up along with the nods to classic horror stories. I would only really recommend this to people I know have also at the very least dabbled in some VC Andrews and/or are familiar with classic horror tropes. All in all: fun book.