Tag: Goodreads

Sleeping a lot more as we get towards the end of chemotherapy … according to GoodReads, I’m still ‘currently reading’ 49 books, but here’s the four I finished in February:

The Angry Chef: Bad Science and the Truth about Healthy Eating by Anthony Warner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that I’ve turned down quite a few pages at the corners to return back to. It’s clear, even in the writers own words, that he is seeking some ‘shock tactics’ to get this content out into the public domain, fighting the tide of celebrity bloggers with limited credentials who are flogging ‘clean eating’ and other unhelpful plans that feed into disordered eating behaviours. Underneath the humour and occasional strong language there’s evidence of a decent amount of research, repackaged for a general audience.

On occasion it feels like he’s having too much of a bash at G Paltrow, but much of the rest is an interesting collection of insights into a range of diets – highlighting why many of them SEEM to make sense, then demonstrating how they don’t. There’s a constant emphasis that correlation and causation are not necessarily the same thing, and that the plural of anecdote is not evidence.

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve never read a Terry Pratchett novel, and I know people love them. I found it a combination of slightly bonkers and gently enjoyable – as I tried to work out what was real and what was a dream world! I found it fascinating some of the ‘real world’ kind of explanations for people’s superstitions.

Building Mr. Darcy by Ashlinn Craven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Free book I downloaded onto Kindle. I like some regency stuff, And I was fascinated by the idea of an AI being built to be like Mr Darcey, though to be honest I don’t know Pride & Prejudice inside out. Some interesting questions about AI, morals, feelings, etc from an author who knows her context – in amongst the somewhat Mr D/Lizzie storyline of the main characters.

The Little Book of Self-Care by Mel Noakes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I debated about whether 4/5 stars, because I think this book puts together well a range of simple things that people can try to shape a better life for themselves. There’s a few things I disagree on (tech detox anyone, though worth looking at habits), but more that I think is helpful, simply put and ties in with a lot that Beyond Chocolate has given me over the past few years.

View all my reviews

I’m keeping my #EmptyShelf18 reads simple this year. I’ll read, post short reviews on Goodreads (which shows that I currently have 49 books on the go, and over 700 on my shelves awaiting reading), and then once a month, post a digest of reviews on my blog. Aiming for 40 full books this year…

How to be Champion: My Autobiography by Sarah Millican
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy watching Sarah Millican on stage, love her Christmas hashtag, want to listen to Standard Issue podcast … and tempted to use an audible credit to listen to this in her own voice!

I found it a little slow to get going, then really enjoyed zooming through it – lots of short chapters, lots of relevant thoughts about being a woman in 21st c life, esp if body image and lack of desire for children is a thing for you! Don’t be surprised at the swearing …

Women and Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has been highly recommended in many circles, so I purchased it. It’s very short, based upon two lectures for the London Review of Books, but there’s solid material to get you thinking (along with some ideas of where to go next).

As a historian by training (rather than a Classicist, as Beard is) I’ve always argued that where we are now is a result of ‘the past’, and that cultural change is hard work because norms are so deeply embedded. Beard highlights this, demonstrating roots right back to Greco-Roman times, bringing it right up to date with Trump/Clinton/May and Twitter trolls. She indicates at the end that she hasn’t greatly changed her (2014/2017) speeches as reflections of the time, but gives an afterward with a few extra thoughts.

One of the things that really appeals to me is the questioning of ‘what is power’ – what are women often trying to achieve in ‘breaking glass ceilings’, etc., and the sense that women need to ‘lower the tone of their voices’ and ‘wear trousersuits’ to fit with a patriarchal type of power, rather than defining a new kind of power… but that centuries of cultural normalisation are hard to challenge.

I have read/written this not long after #chemotherapy round 3, and it’s still v accessible!

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wrote a review of this, and Goodreads seems to have swallowed it … bought this book for 99p on Kindle, having seen the film (and the fuss) the year before re euthanasia (the storyline that really stood out from the film).

I enjoyed the book, there were things to laugh at, to enjoy, and to be sad about … and I look forward to reading the others in the series.

After You by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finally had given in and read Me Before You, and was curious how Lou would develop post Will’s death.

I enjoyed this as a story on its own terms, how Lou has got herself stuck back in a difficult life, some of the new story plot lines are a bit daft, but perfectly fitted the mood for a story that didn’t demand too much of me.

My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven’t read a lot of Chick lit recently, but I’ve enjoyed reading the shopaholic series more than once … and that’s what I was in the mood for …

Perfect read for a post chemo recovery, and a good reminder that there’s often a lot more going on in people’s lives than they’ll let on in public .. so don’t be so swift to judge! Enjoyable story set in both London and Somerset – in the mix of the Marketing/branding world, and of course a little confused love story!

View all my reviews