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labyrinth_witch's reviews
508 reviews
Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge by Lisa Jensen
5.0
This was a wonderful and original reimagining of the beauty and the beast tale. First, the author is marvelously attuned to the lore of wisewomen and accurately depicts the witch. She also imagines the beast as the beginning of the green-man and pan lore, which was such a wonderful conclusion to the story. I love that she made the candelabra female and the main character of the story. And while she didn’t use the name Gaston, I love that she combined the arrogance of the character and the softness of the beast into one being. So much about this story that I love. The enchantments, the idea of beauty being corrupting, the difference between cruelty (inattention) and love (attention), about the power of hate and love to cause transformations in people, about action and consequences, about the power within each of us to affect our own person transformation. Such a good book.
The Book of Hygge: The Danish Art of Contentment, Comfort, and Connection by Louisa Thomsen Brits
4.0
This was a succinct cultural synopsis of the Danish principle of Hygge. Exploring the concepts of simplicity, clarity, and connection I felt I had a new perspective on intentional living and a different way of orienting to life. No checklists, no ten essentials, no recommended stores will be found in this book. It’s about a way of being, not having. You literally cannot buy a prepackaged hygge experience. That’s the point of the book.
Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century: 32 Families Open Their Doors by Jeanne E. Arnold
5.0
I discovered this book by reading several Pinterest-blog posts on decluttering that cited it. When I checked it out and discovered it was an ethnographic study of modern American materialism- specifically of two-income households with young children. Nothing could make me happier. With a background in Anthropology, it was refreshing to read an entire study written by anthropologists. But rather than being a dry academic piece, the book is fascinating in its analysis and provides succinct infographics to convey the statistics.
Such revelations as Americans only bear 3.1% of the world’s children and yet we purchase 40% of the produced toys. Makes you think twice about birthday and Christmas shopping. The study explores the psychological stress of clutter on families, explores how rooms are used and perceived, and how trends have shifted over the last decade. Another fact that I had observed personally, and discovered to be true through the study is that 80% of remodeling budgets are spent on the outdoor spaces but 97% of the parents in the study spent 0% outside. Another area that people spend a lot of money on is the master suite, yet it is a little used room.
The study also found a correlation between how many items are on the frig with how many items are in the public rooms. 80+ items on the frig will result in 1,300+ items in your living room. In light of other minimalist movements such as the 100-thing challenge, this sort of analysis really makes you stop and look around your space.
The study also notes how much money is spent on advertising and how many products are then transferred to landfills. It puts into perspective how you consume- the lifecycle of your own purchasing habits and how you are influenced by advertising.
With a plethora of photographs, succinct analysis, and infographics its a quick and easy read for anyone interested in material culture and reorienting themselves to clutter from a mental standpoint. Highly recommend.
Such revelations as Americans only bear 3.1% of the world’s children and yet we purchase 40% of the produced toys. Makes you think twice about birthday and Christmas shopping. The study explores the psychological stress of clutter on families, explores how rooms are used and perceived, and how trends have shifted over the last decade. Another fact that I had observed personally, and discovered to be true through the study is that 80% of remodeling budgets are spent on the outdoor spaces but 97% of the parents in the study spent 0% outside. Another area that people spend a lot of money on is the master suite, yet it is a little used room.
The study also found a correlation between how many items are on the frig with how many items are in the public rooms. 80+ items on the frig will result in 1,300+ items in your living room. In light of other minimalist movements such as the 100-thing challenge, this sort of analysis really makes you stop and look around your space.
The study also notes how much money is spent on advertising and how many products are then transferred to landfills. It puts into perspective how you consume- the lifecycle of your own purchasing habits and how you are influenced by advertising.
With a plethora of photographs, succinct analysis, and infographics its a quick and easy read for anyone interested in material culture and reorienting themselves to clutter from a mental standpoint. Highly recommend.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
5.0
This was an excellent read about racism in all its forms and for many different groups. It was also a great primer on emotional intelligence - for example, her discussion of prioritizing someone else’s safety over your comfort and her blunt statement that “if you find yourself using ‘I’ or ‘me’ for most of the conversation, there’s a good chance you’re making it all about you.” She has entire chapters covering police brutality, cultural appropriation, micro-aggressions, and so much more.
I came away thinking very critically about who I feel comfortable around and why, how I purchase items, how aware I am of where things come from and who is profiting off them, and all the ways I could have supported efforts to lift up everyone but didn’t because of my choice to remain unaware. And slowly but surely I’m starting to wrap my mind around cultural appropriation, which has been hard for me to conceptually understand. Probably one of the most revealing moments in the book was learning the history of the American Police Force. I had no idea. Just no idea.
I want to start advocating for school curriculum reform. It’s ridiculous that I’m almost 30 and have never learned any of this. And it’s ridiculous that so many people have had to go through the school system with their experience and narrative completely erased or distorted.
I came away thinking very critically about who I feel comfortable around and why, how I purchase items, how aware I am of where things come from and who is profiting off them, and all the ways I could have supported efforts to lift up everyone but didn’t because of my choice to remain unaware. And slowly but surely I’m starting to wrap my mind around cultural appropriation, which has been hard for me to conceptually understand. Probably one of the most revealing moments in the book was learning the history of the American Police Force. I had no idea. Just no idea.
I want to start advocating for school curriculum reform. It’s ridiculous that I’m almost 30 and have never learned any of this. And it’s ridiculous that so many people have had to go through the school system with their experience and narrative completely erased or distorted.
The Troubadour's Romance by Robyn Carr
4.0
I really enjoyed this book for several of its feminist themes- a woman coming into her own as a clever, wise, and capable woman; earning the love and respect of her people by her own instincts and intuition; coming to an equal and trusting relationship with her husband; forming constructive and supportive female relationships; being independently wealthy. It depicted a healthy romantic relationship, healthy parental relationships, and healthy sibling relationships. It contained an interesting commentary and portrayal of the concepts of trust, loyalty, diligence, and demonstrating your personal worth and contribution to the people around you. Also the idea of rising to the challenges dealt you.
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
4.0
This was a tough book to listen to, but well worth the discomfort. I absolutely saw myself reflected in much of what she was talking about. I liked that she discussed the racist=bad/not racist=good binary that white people get hung up on, protecting our “good person” identity. Other things that struck me was how people join equity committees not to challenge their own racism but because that’s what “good people” do. How we have been conditioned not to experience a lack of cross racial relationships as missing anything of value. Her discussion of white woman tears. Most of all- her premise that everyone is racist. It’s not a question of “if, but how our racism manifests.” This was illuminating and I recommend it to all white people, particularly those who claim not to be racists.
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg
4.0
Loving-kindness walks readers through the four Brahma-viharas and their foundational concepts. Which is to say, you learn the philosophy of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity and their foundational concepts of karma and right action. In some ways this piece was more dense than other Buddhist authors, and in other ways she had great stories that illustrated these concepts in ways that helped me remember and apply them to my day-to-day loving.
One feature I particularly liked about the structure of the book was that she offers 1-3 exercises or meditations at the end of every chapter. I wrote them on sticky notes and lined them up in my cubicle, and as I made my way through the material I did feel my practice expand as I stepped my way through each exercise and built on the one before.
I was fascinated to discover that much of the loving-kindness material resonated with the concept of “Post-Traumatic Growth” that is only now being explored in Western psychological practice. This is supposed to be the step beyond post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Consequently, I found her exploration of the concept of forgiveness to be the most illuminating discussion I’ve read on the topic- and I have spent years, including many years in therapy, attempting to wrap my mind around it!
She explains that when a person is hurt, the mind narrows and fixes- so much so that the situation and people involved seem unchanging. Consequently you tell the story the same way, feeling the same emotions each time as if there is solidity to this reality. Forgiveness then is expanding the mind and entertaining the idea that the person has changed and that you have changed. Not in a naive sort of way, but in an “opening your mind to what you may not know or understand” sort of way. Proceed with caution, but stay open and curious to things not aligning with the regular narrative.
I found this to be immensely helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in moving beyond their trauma and/or is working on building healthy relationships in general- particularly if you have some familiarly with Buddhist philosophy.
One feature I particularly liked about the structure of the book was that she offers 1-3 exercises or meditations at the end of every chapter. I wrote them on sticky notes and lined them up in my cubicle, and as I made my way through the material I did feel my practice expand as I stepped my way through each exercise and built on the one before.
I was fascinated to discover that much of the loving-kindness material resonated with the concept of “Post-Traumatic Growth” that is only now being explored in Western psychological practice. This is supposed to be the step beyond post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Consequently, I found her exploration of the concept of forgiveness to be the most illuminating discussion I’ve read on the topic- and I have spent years, including many years in therapy, attempting to wrap my mind around it!
She explains that when a person is hurt, the mind narrows and fixes- so much so that the situation and people involved seem unchanging. Consequently you tell the story the same way, feeling the same emotions each time as if there is solidity to this reality. Forgiveness then is expanding the mind and entertaining the idea that the person has changed and that you have changed. Not in a naive sort of way, but in an “opening your mind to what you may not know or understand” sort of way. Proceed with caution, but stay open and curious to things not aligning with the regular narrative.
I found this to be immensely helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in moving beyond their trauma and/or is working on building healthy relationships in general- particularly if you have some familiarly with Buddhist philosophy.
The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman
5.0
This book makes me laugh, it makes me feel happy, and it makes me want to cultivate a more playful orientation to life. First, it’s brilliant. I may be one of the few who usually reads intros to books and it makes me happy that Neil Gaiman essentially collected all of his introductions together and made a book out of them. And it’s all worth reading. I laughed out loud when he discussed an article about how poorly history was taught in Britain because the people polled thought Winston Churchill was myth but Sherlock Holmes is real. Rather than be indignant like most, he simply responds “what about Dracula!? How many think he is real? I do.” I laughed out loud when he reads snippets from ghost stories, “we called and her voicemail simply said, “I think I’ve been murdered, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you” and she did.” This collection also includes his make good art speech- which is inspiring in its whole. Overall, this book should be read or better listened to (Neil Gaiman reads the audio book) because then you can experience his passion for everything and everyone he’s talking about, and his childlike wonder at the absurd world we live in.
After reading it, I found myself to be less judgmental. Instead of encountering people and relating them to myself, I found I would respond like him - “what an interesting, peculiar person-make a story!” Hahaha.
As he says, “Read Books.”
After reading it, I found myself to be less judgmental. Instead of encountering people and relating them to myself, I found I would respond like him - “what an interesting, peculiar person-make a story!” Hahaha.
As he says, “Read Books.”
New Minimalism: Decluttering and Design for Sustainable, Intentional Living by Cary Telander Fortin, Kyle Louise Quilici
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. Most of all the archetypes of how you relate to your material objects. I discovered I’m a cross between energetic (scattered) and frugal (can’t let go of things that cost money). And it helped me understand why I can clear out certain rooms without blinking an eye and other rooms paralyze me with indecision. I also really enjoy the furthered discussion of decluttering by category. I’ve always done it by room, but I do see the logic of decluttering by category. This will be my spring project. While I had hoped for a little more substance from the design principles, it was an interesting discussion of what “full” means and space. Overall a helpful read.