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lory_enterenchanted's reviews
506 reviews
Thursday's Child by Noel Streatfeild
adventurous
inspiring
3.0
Nonstop action in this late Streatfeild, with a feisty orphan battling a horrid orphanage Matron, long-lost aristocrats, journeying on a canal boat (this was my favorite part), and ending up in a traveling theatre. I enjoyed it though I wonder why nobody offers to strangle Margaret with her stockings when she keeps on and on about her "three sets of everything, all of the very best quality."
Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum
adventurous
lighthearted
4.0
After a number of disappointingly random or repetitive stories I find this is one of the stronger entries in the series. There is a solid reason for the characters to go on a journey -- trying to bring peace between warring peoples -- even if one wonders why the all-powerful Ozma took so long to become aware of this, and why when she gets there her magic turns out to be so useless. But never mind, if she really was all knowing and all powerful there would never be any Oz stories at all.
The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum
adventurous
lighthearted
2.5
A middling Oz book that has a few striking images but also a lot of repetition of motifs from earlier books.
One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer's Art and Craft by Susan M. Tiberghien
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
I spent a year reading through this book with a partner and doing some of the writing exercises. I found it really helpful and inspiring and will come back to it again.
The Wicked Boy: An Infamous Murder in Victorian London by Kate Summerscale
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
3.5
Read for the True Crime category of Nonfiction Reader Challenge, a genre that I usually don't gravitate to. I appreciated that Summerscale stayed with the facts for the most part, though she did slip in a certain amount of speculation. It's hard not to, as the historical record does not have any explanation for why this murder was actually committed. It is most intriguing that the murderer ended up giving refuge to another boy who was suffering domestic abuse, and it's plausible that he did so in empathy out of his own experience. But we just can't know what really happened, and that is a bit frustrating.
Summerscale rounds out the story with information about the time and place that is often quite interesting, but sometimes goes a bit far off topic - seems like stretching to fill pages.
Summerscale rounds out the story with information about the time and place that is often quite interesting, but sometimes goes a bit far off topic - seems like stretching to fill pages.
What You Wish For by Katherine Center
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
3.0
Another variation on the KC formula. Bad things happen to good people, and then the power of positive thinking and other pop psychology ideas help them and they overcome unnecessary obstacles keeping them apart and fall in love and melt into each other with warm, soft kisses. There are also bad people who don't get to heal or find out the reasons behind their behavior. I'm not sure I'll read more of these.
Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma by Mariel Buqué
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
3.0
Not as good as the description sounded. Lots of repetitive language, not much information I didn't know from other books. For someone who is a beginner to the topic it might be helpful.
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
3.5
Another quick and uplifting read, nevertheless those who are triggered by descriptions of serious trauma (here, death and maiming of loved ones, as well as a cancer scare) may not find it soothing.
I liked reading a story about writers, though I did not understand the re-writing situation, they were both just sitting and working their separate computers? How did that come to a single coherent rewrite of the script?
I liked reading a story about writers, though I did not understand the re-writing situation, they were both just sitting and working their separate computers? How did that come to a single coherent rewrite of the script?
The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage by Richard Rohr
inspiring
reflective
3.5
Love the central theme of the book, which could be summarized thus: "In the prophetic texts, God, like the prophets themselves, evolves from anger and fear to tears to love, and on to a deepening relationship based in trust and truth, not threat and fear. Mature religion and good prophets make sure that this growth happens." (from Chapter 10) The prophets serve a process that disrupts an order which has grown dysfunctional, encouraging movement into "good trouble" and "holy disorder." Out of that disorder can arise a new, healthier order -- a three-part process reflecting the sequence of anger, sadness, love/joy/praise/gratitude.
This is a fascinating observation that can bear good fruit in many ways. But though I love Rohr's generous perspective and his friendly voice, I wish his written style were less rambly and more intellectually rigorous. There is a fair amount of tangential writing and filler in this short book, rather than sticking to and filling out the subject in a coherent way. He also tends to make sweeping statements that seem untenable, such as that never in world history has there been a weeping God before Jesus. Does he really have complete knowledge of all world mythology to ensure this is true? Somebody needs to fact-check the book better.
That said, there were a lot of quotes that I highlighted.
Just from the Introduction:
This is a fascinating observation that can bear good fruit in many ways. But though I love Rohr's generous perspective and his friendly voice, I wish his written style were less rambly and more intellectually rigorous. There is a fair amount of tangential writing and filler in this short book, rather than sticking to and filling out the subject in a coherent way. He also tends to make sweeping statements that seem untenable, such as that never in world history has there been a weeping God before Jesus. Does he really have complete knowledge of all world mythology to ensure this is true? Somebody needs to fact-check the book better.
That said, there were a lot of quotes that I highlighted.
Just from the Introduction:
Once we lose the prophetic analysis, most evil will be denied, disguised, or hidden among the rules and the rituals of religion and the law itself. This is how truth is "discerned" in a dualistic world: by winning the purity and identity contests.
Waking up is often devastatingly simple. It all comes down to overcoming your separateness and any need to protect it.
For the untransformed self, religion is the most dangerous temptation of all. Our egos, when they are vaildated by religion, are given full permission to enslave, segregate, demean, defraud, and inflate--because all bases are covered with pre-ascribed virtue and a supposed hatred of evil. This is what the prophets expose in their wholesale assault on temple worship, priestly classes, self-serving commandments, and intergenerational wealth.
When we lack self-knowledge, we will unconsciously project our disliked and unknown self onto others, condemning them for the very faults we share...René Girard wrote that the Bible is unique in all world literature in spotting this universal human avoidance of our own dark side..."the scapegoat mechanism."...The undoing of this tendency would be the task of any would-be savior for humanity and our continually fragile history.
All transformative religions are, each in their own way, trying to defeat the imperial ego and reveal the always camouflaged shadow self. Yet we need to be bathed in the assurance of infinite love before we can risk such ego deflation. The prophets gradually move us toward and through such divine assurance.
In the prophets, religion--and indeed, humankind--appears to be slowly morphine from code, creed, and cult to a kind of mutual presencing, a gradually learned "nakedness and vulnerability" that require deliberate and focused attention, receptivity, and positive awareness on both sides.
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
3.0
From the two books I've read and a third I've sampled, Center's formula seems to be: rare medical conditions, plus family loss and trauma, plus romance with misunderstandings keeping the lovers apart. Oh, and a pet that is adorable but also has issues. I liked the MC in this one, overall, although her reason for concealing her condition was silly (but then, she was also suffering from unhealed and untreated trauma). Really quite some heavy themes for such a light book.
A point of implausibility: how did the MC manage to pay for BRAIN SURGERY and regular neuropsychology consultations when she couldn't even manage rent? Not to mention blood transfusions for her dog. Is this all covered by Medicare?
A point of implausibility: how did the MC manage to pay for BRAIN SURGERY and regular neuropsychology consultations when she couldn't even manage rent? Not to mention blood transfusions for her dog. Is this all covered by Medicare?