I should probably read this again and actually read it rather than listen in order to follow the arguments more closely. The discussion on piety at thI should probably read this again and actually read it rather than listen in order to follow the arguments more closely. The discussion on piety at the beginning was fascinating having just read Ovid and is further reason to me that I'm glad I don't serve such fickle and contradictory gods.
Merged review:
I should probably read this again and actually read it rather than listen in order to follow the arguments more closely. The discussion on piety at the beginning was fascinating having just read Ovid and is further reason to me that I'm glad I don't serve such fickle and contradictory gods....more
This has been a helpful read while going through a transition time at work. Very thought provoking and encouraging towards excellence. I highly recommThis has been a helpful read while going through a transition time at work. Very thought provoking and encouraging towards excellence. I highly recommend this to anyone who works in customer service (which, if you think about it, is really all businesses...if you don't have a customer, you don't have a business.)...more
Any review I write of a cookbook really ought to be taken with a grain of salt (pun unintended, but here we are) since I have a weird set of allergiesAny review I write of a cookbook really ought to be taken with a grain of salt (pun unintended, but here we are) since I have a weird set of allergies. For example, I think there might have been like 3 recipes in this cookbook that I could have made without substitutions. The vast majority would have required significant substitution to the point of being unrecognizable as the same dish. So my rating has absolutely nothing to do with the recipes themselves and everything to do with entertainment value. In this case, I do appreciate that the author has put in a lot of effort to learn to love her region and share that love through these stories and recipes. Eastern North Carolina is a very different culinary world than what I'm used to and it was interesting reading about that. (I don't find it particularly appealing, but again I can't eat most of it anyways.) All in all, though, it read kind of like a Hallmark movie, which isn't my preferred form of entertainment. Maybe that's right up your alley, in which case by all means, enjoy!...more
**spoiler alert** This book is very well written and fun to read. Unfortunately, it also has the potential to be very dangerous if you're not reading **spoiler alert** This book is very well written and fun to read. Unfortunately, it also has the potential to be very dangerous if you're not reading with your guard up. For example, she does a fantastic job actually leaving after finding out Rochester is already married. She has her eyes open enough to see where their relationship would be headed if she decided to stay and be his mistress and she runs. She builds a new life. She finds a family. And then she goes running back because she thinks she hears him calling her name. A lot of ladies want to say this is fine because his wife is now dead and he has been humbled, but she doesn't know any of that. She thinks she's walking back into the same situation she left. Instead, it conveniently turns out she now gets to play savior to the guy who lied and manipulated her. It's the same "I cAn ChAnGe HiM" garbage that plagues stories aimed at and cherished by women even though they know these stories never end well in real life. Side rant, it rather drives me crazy that people turn it into a she must marry Rochester OR St. John situation when she easily could have just...not married either. Given that her cousins both successfully met and married other men, I think it's safe to assume they probably had friends they could introduce her to? They weren't the only men in England? Anyways, it is very well written and enjoyable, but I'd only recommend it if I knew the reader would read it thoughtfully....more
I thought this was...fine. I could see where she was coming from (I mean, how could I not? It's a slightly more extreme version of the world I live inI thought this was...fine. I could see where she was coming from (I mean, how could I not? It's a slightly more extreme version of the world I live in,) but it felt a little heavy-handed to me. I did like how it ended, though, and there are definitely people I would recommend it to....more
Bought this on a whim and it turned out to be a nice, cozy read! Lots of nostolgia built in, which can be a bit much for some readers, but I found it Bought this on a whim and it turned out to be a nice, cozy read! Lots of nostolgia built in, which can be a bit much for some readers, but I found it to be a fun quick read. Perfect for curling up with a cup of tea on a rainy day!...more
This is very well written and I hated it. Now, I think I was supposed to hate most of the characters, but that doesn't draw me to the book. I do kind This is very well written and I hated it. Now, I think I was supposed to hate most of the characters, but that doesn't draw me to the book. I do kind of wish that I had read a physical copy rather than listening to it as I think there were some things that seem long, boring, and extraneous that probably would have made more sense if I had had time to stop and think about them instead of being pulled along by a recording, but I don't wish that enough to read it again. I also don't recommend this recording as I don't think Maggie Gyllenhaal does a particularly good job of portraying the actual tone the characters are taking when speaking....more
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