I listened to this audiobook in two days because I was spending a lot of time on a data project in Excel that involved a lot of formulas and graphs, so it was a great accompaniment. Not too complex, just lightly mentioned race (once), workplace sexism (a few times), and "what does integrity in journalism mean?" I found the heroine slightly annoyingly timid/insecure at times, but sometimes life really be like that. Overall this was decent.

This is definitely the best of Phoebe Robinson's 3 books, imo! I think she nailed the tone of funny but still serious while discussing the actual issues. In her other two books it seemed as though she was lauded for her deep take on "the -isms" but it felt very surface level to me, mostly on the comedic side whereas in this book she was spot on. A great quote demonstrating this: "Just like how all of Pitbull's songs sound the same (MR WORLDWIIIIDE), this tune of oppression, violence, gaslighting, and inequality is the same dusty ass song America has been playing for centuries. So how could anyone be surprised by the events of 2020?" And then she goes on to discuss the long history of police brutality and how police forces were started as a way to prevent and catch runaway slaves.

I also listened to the audiobook which added to the experience because, as always, her delivery is spot on. My favorite essays: We Don't Need Another White Savior and Yes, I Have Free Time Because I Don't Have Kids.

Really interesting! My favorite section was on caffeine. I didn't expect a book about plants to dive into how during the Industrial Revolution the increased consumption of coffee, tea, and the sugar used to sweeten them both led to an increase in the slave trade to produce more and more sugar cane and coffee/tea production. And how caffeine helped fuel the rise and spread of capitalism.

I only have one critique - in the mescaline section, Pollan talks about how indigenous peoples don't want mescaline to become popular amongst non-indigenous people since it is a sacred plant, which is part of which they don't discuss it with outsiders and want it removed from popular culture in many ways. And yet he doesn't discuss what it means for him, a white man, to describe in depth the plant, the rituals, and his attendance of a ceremony. I would've liked to read about his decision making with his intentions in including this plant in the book, how he feels his work might contribute to mescaline's popularization (and what he has done, if anything, to mitigate this), and how he is profiting off a very important sacred plant to indigenous peoples who have been persecuted for using it.

He does a great job of calling out how these three plants highlight the many racist systems we have in place and how it has (usually negatively) impacted various populations across the world.

All in all, a great read, I definitely recommend.

This was a lot better and a lot more inspiring than I was anticipating! Frequently I find lists of historic/important people a bit dull and easy to put down but not so with these women. I especially liked the use of the word “gutsy” as a defining reason why the women were included because that encompasses so many things. While of course the classic pioneers/advocates were mentioned (eg Harriet Tubman, Marie Curie, and Malala Yousafzai) there was a real focus on women who don’t have the spotlight or contributed in smaller but still meaningful ways. I especially liked learning about those I would call “accidental activists,” who were not out trying to run for office or start a huge movement or anything, but they noticed an issue in their community or experienced some type of prejudice themselves and wanted to make a change. That was the most inspiring aspect of the book, the shear number of women that fit into this category, because it felt like, “Well if they could do it, maybe I could too.”

I don’t know how to be more clear: I loved this book. I read 10 books in January and this was my favorite.

I have actually only ever seen one season of any Bachelor Nation show (Rachel Lindsey’s season, so I had to support the first Black Bachelorette) because I don’t love reality tv and I find the premise implausible, so I’m unclear why I really like Bachelor remix books (eg this and One to Watch) but I really do.

I really liked the focus on mental health all throughout, the struggle that is figuring out your sexual orientation, the ace/demi/grey discussion, and of course the high drama of any reality tv premise. Mental health/depression/anxiety were an integral part of this book and I loved the thoughtful approach. The writing goes really well back and forth from being achingly tender to dramatic and hilarious and then to introspective.

There are so many little enjoyable moments throughout and these are two of my favorite quotes demonstrating this:
“He catches himself mid-spiral. He tries to refocus on things that calm him: excel spreadsheets, quiet libraries, 1,000 piece puzzles, 90 degree angles. Deep breath.”
“And once [Dev] determines this kiss is worth destroying his entire life for, he decides to make it count.”