Reviews

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

welikenicethings's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

mayagoer's review against another edition

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4.0

3.75 stars

megh4's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

3.75

amybookyhands's review against another edition

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5.0

Recommending a book with the title 'Wintering' seems strange given the bright blue June skies currently outside my window. However, this is a book that isn't just about literal Winter but rather periods of life where (voluntarily or not) you have to withdraw from the world.

2020 saw almost all of us weather our own 'winters'. Shut away and stripped of daily routine, I found adjusting to the pace of lockdown life very difficult at first.

Reading this book made me appreciate the fallow seasons in life and gave me ways to embrace them and I would hugely recommend it as an accompaniment to the dark and cold days we have to face each year.

lindseygwilson's review against another edition

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3.0

I found parts of this book relatable, and worth pondering. I enjoyed the parts where she described experiences more than philosophy, though. I was sometimes a little confused as to whether this book is about weathering hard/sad/depressing times, or about literally getting through a cold, dark winter (something we have very little of here in Texas). I know it was a little of both, with the emphasis on the winter being a metaphor for hard times, but there were extended parts about actually dealing with cold temps (sauna, polar bear swimming, etc). Those were interesting to me, but not really something I can incorporate into my life.

emilykathleenwrites's review against another edition

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3.0

I wanted something from this book and in many ways I got it. I like the idea of "wintering," allowing yourself to feel pain, confusion, uncertainty, and to care for yourself with rest and retreat rather than push on through. The chapters where she talks to people who have been through personal winters of their own with illness, mental and physical really resonated with me. The parts where she tries to stay in the sauna remind me of Liz Gilbert in Eat Pray Love trying to meditate in India. I like how she describes grief as "a yearning for that one last moment of contact that would settle everything." or in my case change everything.

But some chapters felt flat like the parts about wolves and singing, and she seemed a little judgy of the Pagans and hippies. I was left wondering where we were going with all this? I wonder if the book would have been more powerful if it were shorter?

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I know I will be thinking about it for a long time.

espindler's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

kat_the_nat's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

seakelsread's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

september12's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0