Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting look at how marketing is affecting very young girls and how recent these developments have been. My daughter is 4 and she's obsessed with pink and princesses. We didn't have any idea where it was coming from. My favorite color as a child was crayon green and I was obsessed with Smurfs and Gummi Bears. My mother actively hated pink as a child. We don't even have television shows with commercials in our home since the kids mostly just watch Netflix. She also always got her brother's hand-me-down toys in addition to some more girly toys her family gave her. I think she just got signals from her toys and other little girls?

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The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was considering giving up on this book for the first 150 pages or so (out of 600) but then I finally got into it and ended up loving it. At first I thought it would focus on Penelope’s children who were unlikeable to different degrees, but finally, the story settled on Penelope- her present and her past during World War II. I loved the book. It was enjoyable and romantic without being silly or saccharine.

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A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I actually liked the character of Ignacious. He's pompous and super weird and very likely mentally ill but he's so ... himself. I also liked his sweet patient mother. Nonetheless, reading this book was a huge chore. I gave it an extra star because I interpreted the ending as a happy ending.

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The Hoarder in You by Robin Zasio

The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life by Robin Zasio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was okay. Sort of like watching an episode of hoarders with more context. Lots of little reminders that even healthy people share a lot of thinking patterns with hoarders. I've been reading a lot of organization books because I'm packing and reducing for a big move to the Midwest.

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The Trial by Franz Kafka

The Trial by Franz Kafka
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Reminds me of The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol, but I liked that one better. While I appreciate the message about how insidious bureaucracy is, and there was something interesting about the dream-like quality of this novel where nothing exactly makes sense and things happen as if the protagonist conjures up the next act. Still, it simultaneously felt meandering, dull, and absurd.

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The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Best fantasy book series ever. This was the fourth book in the series and it was perfection.

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The White Album by Joan Didion

The White Album by Joan Didion
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely all over the place. Some infinitely more interesting than others. Strange to read one essay about Black Panther arrests without any meaningful context, and then read about water treatment in California.

I especially liked Didion's essays, "The Women's Movement," "Georgia O'Keeffe," "In Bed," and "On the Morning After the Sixties."

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Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the beginning so much but it fizzled out a little. There were amazing sentences and thoughts throughout. A mentally ill author (a fictional interior voice which I’m sure resembles Vonnegut but is not quite him- and oh hey was this also Kilgore or no?) writes about the breakdown of his mentally ill character, Dwayne.

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Getting Things Done by David Allen

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this as part of the GW alumni book club. It’s good advice, basically: write down everything you have to do and how you are going to do it. My inbox is at zero this morning and I have multiple project lists now. Let’s see how I feel about it in 6 months as Allen recommends.

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The Power by Naomi Alderman

The Power by Naomi Alderman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I liked about it: 1) the point Alderman is making with the story power, which is that power itself might be the problem not the gender of those with power, 2) how unique the story was.

What I didn't love: 1) how violent the story was, 2) how it got kind of confusing towards the end regarding the potential apocalyptic plans.

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Lighten Up by Peter Walsh

Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier with Less by Peter Walsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a combination of home organizing advice and financial advice which I love. I did Konmari in 2015 and it led me to organize my financial situation (and to Dave Ramsey books to do so). So I've thought for a while that these two issues are definitely tied together. Peter Walsh is very experienced in helping clients organize their lives and you can tell from the insights he provides in this book.

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A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey

A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book that every American should read in order to consider the difference between the American values we should all honor, and partisan politics. Comey makes a clear case that integrity and honesty should be our most dearly held values and I agree with that because the inverse-corruption and dishonesty- are effective tools of oppression.

This is not a Republican book or a Democratic book. This is an interesting look at how challenging it is to separate oneself from the quagmire of American partisan politics, and how important that separation can be, especially in law enforcement.

Most of all, this book is very well-written, very entertaining, and very educational.

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Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita (Translator)

Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short quick read. Has a lot of interesting thoughts. Equal parts: Marie Kondō, Minimalism, behavioral economics research, Fight Club quotes. Doesn't pack the life-changing punch of Marie Kondo, in my opinion, (and here's another minimalist without children), but certainly has more information and advice than MK.

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The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima

The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Don't let my one missing star fool you, I loved every minute of this book and I FLEW through it. The only reason I held back one star is that it was a "middle book." The second book is also in the middle of the series, but I got so much more from it than from this one. (I want to go study at Oden's Ford.) I"m super excited to read the last book in this series and Chima's other books.

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A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger

A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a really interesting and responsible account of one murder that took place during the reign of the Boston Strangler, written by the author of The Perfect Storm.

Everyone should read this book: 1) as a reminder not to open the door to a stranger, ever, seriously, I don't; 2) to understand one account of how the grinding wheels of the legal system can trap a (potentially?) innocent person; 3) how systematic racism can be quiet, insidious, harmful to all, and deadly to many; 4) because the book is riveting generally.


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White Teeth by Zadie Smith

White Teeth by Zadie Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like the main characters and I like the *idea* of the interactions between the main characters: Alfred Hortense Archibald Jones, Clara Jones (especially Clara), Irie Ambrosia Jones, Samad Iqbal, Alsana Begum, Magid Iqbal, and Millat Iqbal. The first family is part native English and part Jamaican immigrant, the second family is Bangladeshi-English. And Smith writes really well. So right at the beginning, it seems like this will be an amazing book.

But then the story starts meandering, and then more and more characters and relationships get piled on, and suddenly we're exploring genetically-altered mice. And I just wanted it to end for so many pages.


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What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: How to Achieve More at Work and at Home by Laura Vanderkam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I appreciate that this book is short. Vanderkam gives advice, good advice, and doesn't waste your time with filler.

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Euclid's Window by Leonard Mlodinow

Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace by Leonard Mlodinow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The beginning is a history of geometry. Then it becomes more of a popular physics and history of physics book. It’s difficult to understand and often boring.  (The section on Hypatia was so interesting though. I'd love to read more about her.) It’s interesting in its focus on why geometry is important to physics and to our greater understanding of the world. But it is not a roaring success as a book for laymen. Glad to have a geometry book in my science collection though!

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Rightsize . . . Right Now! by Regina Leeds

Rightsize . . . Right Now!: The 8-Week Plan to Organize, Declutter, and Make Any Move Stress-Free by Regina Leeds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book probably won’t change your life dramatically but the author is an organizing professional and it shows. The book has lots of good ideas and tips.

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Pandemic by Sonia Shah

Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond by Sonia Shah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of the more interesting science books I've read in a long time, and one of the most important. I strongly recommend it to everyone. I'm also going to try some of the books recommended below.

The author does spend too much time on cholera history in the middle of the book- interesting but not the only focus of the book so it feels belabored. Power through it, it's worth it.

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The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am really enjoying this fantasy series. It’s like a cleaned up, vastly more enjoyable, and less repetitive Game of Thrones. Or maybe it’s like Harry Potter crossed with Game of Thrones. That the one. I pretty much love all the characters even the bad guys, except of course Lord Bayer, who really doesn’t give us much to work with except a bunch of murderous sprees.

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