Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this. Great for fans of Harry Potter, YA, or romance.

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Candida by George Bernard Shaw

Candida by George Bernard Shaw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very original play. Looks into the inner workings of a marriage through a strange love triangle (a bit of a love square even).

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just reread this, and I'm impressed by how nearly perfect it is. It's amazing that I read this for the first time as a teen and that it's also perfect to read as an adult.

It's upsetting that we haven't come further than we have in 50 years. Progress is too slow.

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Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't love it. I wanted to love it. I've been reading a lot of scientific research on mindfulness, self-compassion, self-improvement, and happiness lately, and this just doesn't stand up to a lot of the other material that I've been reading. (If you're curious just look at mindfulness list.) I think that if this were the first or only such book I read I would have appreciated it more.

This one is mostly just about self-compassion and self-love. The way to convince yourself that you are worthy of love is by engaging in courage, compassion, and connection. Hard.

Update 1/2018: I read it again and liked it much better this time. I'm not sure why. Maybe I wasn't considering each of her points separately and completely before. Maybe because I've read more feminist writing since then? Technically, this isn't specifically feminist because she discusses how the same issues of vulnerability, fear, and shame corner men, but it still resonates with feminist themes. (And expecting men to act in gender-conforming ways is also part of what feminism opposes.)

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