The Valedictorian of Being Dead by Heather B. Armstrong

The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live by Heather B. Armstrong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I started reading this, I didn't remember at first that this was the mom blogger of Dooce fame. I started reading it purely because of the novel mental health treatment. I was also hoping for a little bit of death philosophy, but there was none of that here. The memoir was very interesting, but a little repetitive, and not at all literary. I know she's written other books, and I would love to read a memoir from her in the future that is more inclusive of her entire life story, including an abridged form of the part of her story in this book. She's extremely interesting and has been through a lot in her life, but I would also like her to have some deep thoughts about what these major life events have meant: leaving her church, the growth of her blog, separating from her husband, the decline of her blog, getting experimental treatment for depression, facing the idea of death.

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Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes my reviews say that I really wanted to like something because I love the author or I loved the idea, but this was the opposite, I expected, even wanted, to dislike it because I felt like the author has no special expertise. I wasn't wrong in my assumptions, her only qualification here is that she's been successful building a business, and that doesn't count for much outside of business books, which themselves are not so thrilling or important to me.

That said, her book was really entertaining and enjoyable to read and came from a really good place -- she's honestly trying to help people I think, and there is some valuable stuff in this book. I especially enjoyed her particular brand of Christianity which focuses on actually doing stuff of help, and sharing in Jesus's acceptance of all people, instead of the brand that I often encounter which is sometimes a vehicle of oppression. I was also fascinated and horrified by her account of the foster system. So yes, there are a lot of cliches about magical thinking that I think you should actively disregard, but there's also things of value in here. I liked it.

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Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin

Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I appreciate that this book was short. I remembered a lot of the advice from the first book, Happiness Project. In general, I prefer the Marie Kondo book on decluttering and organization which Rubin did reference at the end.

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