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mackenziewrites's reviews
162 reviews
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.25
After reading this book (well at different points throughout), I immediately began decluttering my house. I started with the sock drawer, and the keepsake box, then the filing cabinet and junk drawer, then my kitchenware, etc. The spaces I decluttered kept getting bigger. His outlook offers a unique perspective that makes you question why there are so many possessions surrounding you. I appreciate his take on the mental load that all of these possessions create and the freedom you’ll have without them. One of his 55 tips that rang particularly true for my family was: “50. Don’t but it because it’s cheap. Don’t take it because it’s free.” I tend to stock up during sales and my husband loves a good Facebook Marketplace steal or curbside score. What it really means is our basement filling up with stuff that we only use occasionally or “will get to use someday”. When our basement is full of stuff so is our mind. He also refutes that I idea of someday, making the point that you only have the present. I even sent a few screenshots to my mom who is currently trying to go through my deceased grandmother’s belongings as he shares his thoughts on that.
However, his perspective is male-centric in terms of what one needs. As a mother, I disagree with many of the things he says about minimizing. One example is this line from his ‘Less time spent doing chores section’: “Own fewer clothes and you’ll be doing less laundry.” I disagree, no matter how many clothes I own, I am going to be washing them when they are dirty. And with a toddler that is often. I get the notion of less things = less things to clean, but it doesn’t apply to absolutely everything. Similarly, the concept of getting ready to leave the house in 45 seconds. I don’t even wear make-up or do my hair and I can’t get out of the house in 45 seconds – between brushing my teeth, cleaning my retainer, putting in my contacts, taking my morning medication, putting clothes on… all of that takes more than 45 seconds.
While I don’t agree with the book wholeheartedly, it is a read where you can take what serves you and leave what doesn’t. Among other things, this book had me cutting our dog’s toys in half and donating them to the local animal shelter and taking my baby’s stuff that I “might” give to a friend that gets pregnant someday to a domestic violence shelter instead. Reading this book helped me accomplish the following:
1. Reduce my mental load
2. Reduce my visual clutter
3. Reduce my cleaning load
4. Part with things that brought me stress of grief
5. Serve others in need in my community
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
I picked up this book because I had just finished binge-watching Gossip Girl (which I started thanks to a bad case of RSV). One of the main characters, an aspiring writer, Dan, incessantly brings up Joan Didion as the greatest writer of our time. As someone who had never read any Joan Didion but is also an aspiring author, I had to see what the hype was about. When I saw this on display at my local library, I decided to try it out.
Unprepared is an understatement. In this memoir, Didion recounts losing her husband and grappling with her daughter’s sudden, inexplicable, and life-threatening illnesses. She takes us on a journey as she notes the strange things that grief makes us remember, do, and feel.
However, she does this using a stream-of-consciousness writing style that likely will leave readers confused. Who are we talking about? What time period are we in? Where in the world are we right now? She jumps from New York to California to Hawaii and back more times than I could keep track of. There is a lot of name-dropping that doesn’t seem necessary to me, but who am I but an uncultured member of the proletariat, it seems? (The elitism in the book can be quite nauseating at times).
For someone searching for a relatable book on grief, this might be a total win. For the average reader, this is a tough one to get through. But if you’re committed, you will learn about the gut-wrenching unfairness of life and just how quickly we can lose everything for no apparent reason.
**Potential Spoilers** - Didion has since passed away and I did some further research on her and her daughter after this book was published and the story just gets worse.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was so excited to read this book after coming across it in an Instagram video, I began seeing it everywhere but I had no idea what it was about. It sat on my shelf for a few months, the bright green and blue cover calling my name every day. This was my first time not reading reviews, synopses, or spoilers and I think I want to continue to do that moving forward. It worked out so well for me with this one!
The first thing I noticed was the author’s choice to not use quotation marks for the dialogue. It threw me for a loop for the first few pages, but I got used to it.
One review from The Washington Post says “A novel that demands to be read compulsively in one sitting” and while I didn’t do that, I found myself constantly wanting to read more about Marianne and Connell and what happens next in their story.
Sally Rooney draws you into a seemingly mundane story set across years about characters who you become completely invested in. Sometimes you just want to shake them and tell them to open their eyes. The book illuminates the power in the small moments between two people, the said and the unsaid, the line between love and friendship. If you’re looking for a quick or easy read that will engross you and pull at your heartstrings while also bringing up core memories from your own life, pick this one up.
Content Warnings
Minor: Physical abuse
The Women by Kristin Hannah
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Women follows one young, naïve Army nurse into the throes of combat medicine during the Vietnam War. We watch her navigate her new surroundings with the help of fellow nurses and surgical mentors as she learns about life, love, and loss. She returns from war only to find out that home is neither what she remembers nor what she expected it to be and now has a new set of challenges to navigate as a female veteran.
I hadn’t read Kristin Hannah in over a decade when I read Firefly Lane by my parent’s pool one summer in college. I knew this book had serious undertones and I wasn’t sure what to expect but it blew me away, grabbing my attention from the very beginning. I used to work at an Army Hospital in Hawaii and am a Navy wife so I certainly felt something special for the characters and their experiences. I cried throughout the last 100 pages and a few times before that as well, so if you’re a crier, be prepared to have tissues nearby.
This book is EVERYWHERE right now so it was hard to avoid reading other people’s thoughts on it. One comment I saw after the fact was that the main character was unlikable. I thought on that for a bit, because at first, I could see where someone might think that and lose faith in her. But I think the author does an incredible job creating a character based on her background, privilege, and experiences and walking her through life realistically, not just catering to what the audience wants. I think that this makes the character more relatable. I know I made some of the same mistakes she made when I was in my twenties.
This was a riveting look into what it was like to be a woman and a veteran in the sixties and it left me wanting to talk to my parents and grandparents about their war experiences. Would recommend this book time and time again. Now I’m off to find more books set during the Vietnam War.
I hadn’t read Kristin Hannah in over a decade when I read Firefly Lane by my parent’s pool one summer in college. I knew this book had serious undertones and I wasn’t sure what to expect but it blew me away, grabbing my attention from the very beginning. I used to work at an Army Hospital in Hawaii and am a Navy wife so I certainly felt something special for the characters and their experiences. I cried throughout the last 100 pages and a few times before that as well, so if you’re a crier, be prepared to have tissues nearby.
This book is EVERYWHERE right now so it was hard to avoid reading other people’s thoughts on it. One comment I saw after the fact was that the main character was unlikable. I thought on that for a bit, because at first, I could see where someone might think that and lose faith in her. But I think the author does an incredible job creating a character based on her background, privilege, and experiences and walking her through life realistically, not just catering to what the audience wants. I think that this makes the character more relatable. I know I made some of the same mistakes she made when I was in my twenties.
This was a riveting look into what it was like to be a woman and a veteran in the sixties and it left me wanting to talk to my parents and grandparents about their war experiences. Would recommend this book time and time again. Now I’m off to find more books set during the Vietnam War.
Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I listened to this audiobook after a recommendation from @PelotonMomsBookClub and shout-out to whoever shared it. I had just finished watching Pam and Tommy on @hulu and realized that she had no part in that so I wanted to hear her own version of her life and that series of events. Spoiler alert – the show gets the timeline all wrong.
I was apprehensive at first because Pamela narrates it herself and her voice is very breathy and at the time I was fighting an ear infection and my hearing was muffled. I stuck with it and am so happy I did – she is such an interesting person. She didn’t have the best childhood – relatable. She was constantly oversexualized and scrutinized by men which continued even after she decided to own it – also relatable. Her slow simple life living in a trailer park watching her boys surf every morning is exactly the kind of mom I aspire to be. Her work in activism standing up for the planet and all of its living creatures is such an admirable use of her celebrity status. Her scene-writing is so descriptive, letting you easily conjure up the visuals in your mind. Super happy with this audiobook that left me wanting a lavender lemonade.