|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
my rating |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0593350804
| 9780593350805
| 0593350804
| 3.95
| 2,163
| Nov 16, 2021
| Nov 16, 2021
|
really liked it
|
Right away I loved the cover art and font of this book and love a lot of things Aubrey Plaza is in so I was excited to buy and read this and its seque
Right away I loved the cover art and font of this book and love a lot of things Aubrey Plaza is in so I was excited to buy and read this and its sequel. Christmas and Halloween are also my favourite holidays so I love that this combines both and is perfect to read in November. Plus, there's a map, which I love to see in fiction books. The illustrations are beautiful throughout and as I learned from reading a Christmas atlas, this story of Santa's twin sister is actually loosely based on European Christmas witches as well as the history surrounding witches. I also like that it can appeal to older children and that the story is more complex than just a few words per page. One thing I will critique is the tiniest editing mistakes and also illustrations not always reflecting the writing, like there being eight reindeer named (what about Rudolph???) but only six illustrated. But otherwise, I love the concept and I can see this being a movie someday (maybe starring Aubrey?). I won't spoil the story but overall I recommend this book for all of its imagination, magic and penguins!
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Nov 10, 2024
|
Nov 10, 2024
|
Nov 11, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0762470399
| 9780762470396
| 0762470399
| 3.78
| 209
| unknown
| Oct 06, 2020
|
liked it
|
Christmas is my favourite holiday so I love to learn about traditions that countries have around the world (also why I love the short "Olaf's Frozen A
Christmas is my favourite holiday so I love to learn about traditions that countries have around the world (also why I love the short "Olaf's Frozen Adventure"). In Hispanic countries like Mexico and Spain, it seems to be celebrated similarly to Halloween in North America, with kids asking for treats and going door to door to reenact Joseph and Mary looking for an innkeeper who would take them in, called posada; similar celebrations occur in other Christian countries like Austria and Germany. Sinterklaas Festival, which begins in November, is mentioned next, which is similar to what I experienced going to Polish school as a kid when we were visited by Santa and given sweets weeks before actual Christmas. Next, is "Weihnachtsmarkte" or "Christmas market" in German, in which the oldest still-operating market is in Munich but the largest is in Nuremberg, and apparently the markets in Germany are some of the best though I still want to go to the one in Tallinn instead; Germany is also responsible for (or at least popularized) advent calendars, Christmas trees adorned with decorations and presents, and mulled wine. I do wish there were more pictures in this book like of Santa Lucia, because the image of a girl with candles on her head always looks magical. I learned of the tradition of burning a yule log, which in Latvia starts by dragging it to various houses for it to collect negativity and misfortune, before burning it at a bonfire. I'm sure versions of this happen in other countries too, just as 'colinde', which the author attributes to Romania and Moldova as a caroling tradition, occurs in Poland as 'koledy' and I'm sure many other countries. I didn't know that here in Canada there's also the unique tradition of mummering, where people dress up in white bulky rags and disguise their voices while greeting people at their doors, before they perform music and have the hosts try to guess their identities (popularized by the song "Any Mummers Allowed In?" by Simani). Some traditions sound more suited to Halloween than Christmas, like Mari Lwyd in Wales, which involves a poetry-reciting horse skull on a stick. I was surprised that even Hong Kong celebrates Christmas with its annual WinterFest, which looks as nice as traditional Christmas markets around the world. I also love the mention of Christmas witches, including the well-dwelling, wagon-driving Frau Holle in Germany and La Befana or literally the Christmas Witch in Italy, who is basically the female Santa Claus (she is also similar to the Russian Baboushka). Then comes mention of the Christmas demon Krampus (similar to Belsnickel which reminds me of the hilarious "The Office" Christmas episode), which I already knew about, but there is more detail about its backstory in here, as well as troublemaking elves among others. My favourite part of this atlas is probably the third, covering Christmas activities and food. Activities include lighting a yule goat (wooden of course) in Sweden, decorating with lanterns in the Phillippines and covering Christmas trees in silver and gold cobwebs and spiders in Ukraine, which also seems more fitting for Halloween. I love the tradition of the Night of the Radishes in Mexico, where sculptures are made out of, you guessed it, radishes, depicting different scenes, the day before Christmas Eve. And of course there's mention of Christmas crackers, which I want to do at least once at Christmas (we've always followed Polish traditions more), which is popular in commonwealth countries and especially England. Finally, this book mentions the numerous traditional dishes served like king cake in Spain, wassail or the similar but more popularly known mulled wine, barbara in Muslim countries where Christmas is celebrated, kutya in Ukraine, poppyseed milk in Lithuania, kadeh in Iran and chin chin in Nigeria. Having celebrated Polish Wigilia my whole life, I would expand on the "general meal of fish, potatoes and pea soup" that is stated here and say that we also follow the 12-course meal of Slavic countries, including potato/vegetable salad, cucumbers with sour cream and dill, pierogi with potatoes and cheese or mushrooms and sauerkraut, bread, barszcz, cakes including poppyseed (makowiec, which looks similar to the Yule log dessert), gingerbread, cheesecake, etc. This atlas doesn't claim to be comprehensive but hopefully readers know that it's not telling the full story of any of the traditions listed either. Overall, it's a fun read though again would have loved to see more pictures and of real people and things rather than all in one style, and it's not completely accurate. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Nov 09, 2024
|
Nov 09, 2024
|
Nov 09, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0593350839
| 9780593350836
| 0593350839
| 4.00
| 335
| Oct 11, 2022
| Oct 11, 2022
|
really liked it
|
Kristoffer (now Santa) and Kristtörn are older in this one as much time has gone by. Once again, there is a map, which automatically gets a star from
Kristoffer (now Santa) and Kristtörn are older in this one as much time has gone by. Once again, there is a map, which automatically gets a star from me. The illustrations are once again gorgeous. This time, the villain is the Kringle Corporation, which is clearly meant to symbolize the overcommercialization of Christmas. I don't love the story as much because of the modernization and at certain parts, it kind of reminded me of the depressing feeling of being forced by my aunt to go to the Christmas store in Frankenmuth this past summer, when Christmas is for winter only in my head and the baubles there were mostly of very cheap, overpriced and unsentimental quality. Also, I didn't love the flak that plastic Christmas trees get in the illustration here when real trees are so environmentally damaging and aside from their smell they really aren't all that better and make way more of a mess. But that aside, I do love how this book ties in with the first story and the familiarity of the Delaware setting to the authors. It also introduces a new set of twins, Poppy and Peter Piper, who oddly share similarities to the original twins, which was fun. And it still has plenty of Christmas magic, plus I love Kristtörn's new look even more, and the ending is lovely with a great message for kids (much more positive than the first). So, once again, I give it four stars.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Nov 12, 2024
|
Nov 12, 2024
|
Nov 03, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| B01AU710DI
| 3.13
| 162
| Jan 01, 1930
| Jan 19, 2016
|
liked it
|
This is so refreshing to read after the salacious gossipy books I've been reading, with its lush and vivid descriptions of the surroundings only the g
This is so refreshing to read after the salacious gossipy books I've been reading, with its lush and vivid descriptions of the surroundings only the greats like F. Scott Fitzgerald could muster. I always enjoy reading/watching wedding-themed books/movies/shows. I also love reading about what life was like in the Roaring Twenties as well as old wedding traditions. Of course, I don't think most people back then partied as much as the circles he wrote about. The protagonist, Michael Curly, has been invited to the wedding of Caroline Dandy, whom he had previously dated (or should I say courted in old-timey speak) and who had broken his heart, and Hamilton Rutherford, in Paris. He runs into them in the street and Hamilton invites him to their "bachelor dinner". Michael attends one of the many pre-wedding parties they throw, where he is determined to win back Caroline's affections; they dance and he takes the opportunity to share his feelings, to which she responds that she's over him. The rest of the story is basically him trying to sabotage the wedding, which is quite bold, and he has probably been emboldened by the large inheritance he has fallen into because of the death of his grandfather. Probably the most interesting takeaway for me was the attitude that even back then, some men felt like they were already being emasculated and cuckolded by women, despite the rampant inequality that existed. (view spoiler)[At the bachelor party, a girl in addition to Caroline appears, named Marjorie Collins, looking for Hamilton. Upon hearing the news, Hamilton leaves the bar where they've gathered and then we move on to Caroline meeting with Michael, during which he once again professes his love, only to be interrupted by Hamilton; he generally does not approve of her new suitor (arguing he doesn't appreciate Caroline's sensitivity and that they still share a deep connection as opposed to the aggreeable servant Michael believes Hamilton expects her to be) and it all sounds very Gatsbyesque to me. Hamilton retorts that their love was based on sorrow while his with Caroline is based on hope, which to me is a bunch of baloney, but is apparently supposed to represent the time period of coming out of the Great Depression. It turns out the girl at the bar was intending to blackmail him, but got stopped by the French police. Then somehow Hamilton has lost his fortune according to telegrams he has received - but this is only temporary as he will soon begin a high-paying job again. And then the wedding happens anyway; I loved reading the descriptions (e.g. "...all Caroline's sisters and their husbands and her little nephews in Eton suits, and then a long parade..."). (hide spoiler)] And that's about it. Not much happened in this short story but I enjoyed the descriptions and the peek into the past, including historical places (Chez Victor, Zelli's, George-Cinq, which is now the Four Seasons Hotel in Paris, etc.). It was also quite interesting to read about the backstory on which this short story was based... ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Sep 11, 2024
|
Sep 11, 2024
|
Sep 11, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1464223319
| 9781464223310
| 1464223319
| 3.88
| 658,192
| Jun 11, 2024
| Jun 11, 2024
|
liked it
|
It's decades later in this book after the first two and Enzo and Millie Accardi have married and had two kids, a daughter named Ada and a son named Ni
It's decades later in this book after the first two and Enzo and Millie Accardi have married and had two kids, a daughter named Ada and a son named Nico. The book begins with them moving into their first and dream house on Long Island from their apartment in the Bronx and Millie finally working as a social worker at a hospital. It certainly sounds like the dream life so far. She notices weird movements in one of her neighbour's houses and Millie didn't buy blinds when they moved in so she feels exposed, which definitely seems like foreshadowing. I'm not crazy about the descriptors Freida proceeds with especially considering Millie's been cooking for rich people for years by now and yet maybe because she's so "poor" she doesn't know that you start from outside in when using multiple cutlery or that you boil water first when you boil an egg and then you plop it in quickly for 12 minutes so it really doesn't take hovering around the maid - who's trying to clean the kitchen - like she does, or that green juice exists, which most rich people have for every breakfast and even non-rich people do too sometimes... and there's also miraculous ways to make green juice healthy but not taste gross too. I'm also frankly bored of some of the hyperbole Millie uses (even if she has lied to the police a lot she hasn't collected nearly enough dimes to pay off any kind of mortgage). I also find it interesting that Freida writes about social work involving elderly patients making Millie cry less than with children, because on the one hand, innocent children being harmed is very sad, but on the other, elderly patients being neglected by their families and not having enough help to me is even sadder after the work they put in their lives to contribute to society. There are also a few things that don't get addressed or at least right away like about her and her mother being estranged and Enzo's past in general, which is kind of frustrating when by the time they do I've stopped caring. As others have said, this one leans heavily into the "Dear Diary" format and much less into a directional mystery. Anyway, it seemed like the big mystery/twist would surround the rude neighbour, Janice, and her son Spencer or her other rude neighbour, Suzette, who had a housemaid named Martha, along with some mysteries in their own house - I was guessing it would be a combination of the three. Sure enough, the murder (view spoiler)[happened in Suzette's house (hide spoiler)], (view spoiler)[Ada and not Nico as I initially thought was (mostly) responsible (it turned out to be almost the same twist as the show I just watched so I had a feeling) (hide spoiler)] and (view spoiler)[Janice was an indirect witness so she was kind of involved too. I like the way Ada talked about how she liked their old apartment and sharing a room with her brother but I doubt that's how most kids in those situations feel, as I for one am glad to have had my own space. I also like the little inside joke Freida included about the third book in a series not being as great (probably true in this case but not all the time by any means which I know a lot of Harry Potter fans would disagree with (hide spoiler)]). I was mostly satisfied with the ending except for some little things left unresolved for me like where Suzette had gotten the bracelet from that she was bragging about to Millie and any information about Millie's parents, but since it was about as good as the previous ones I give it the same rating. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Sep 08, 2024
|
Sep 16, 2024
|
Sep 07, 2024
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1837901317
| 9781837901319
| B0BGXYL3BZ
| 4.21
| 1,179,440
| Feb 15, 2023
| Feb 20, 2023
|
liked it
|
I thought I would move onto the long list of books I wanted to read but after reading the first in this trilogy, I was curious about how the character
I thought I would move onto the long list of books I wanted to read but after reading the first in this trilogy, I was curious about how the characters progressed so I gave this one a go and will read the third to cap it off. Millie is still a housekeeper - hence the title - but is also now a university student pursuing a bachelor's in social work. She has continued cleaning the houses of snobby rich people, including having to babysit impromptu, which interferes with her classes. She also has a boyfriend named Brock who seems fairly normal although he doesn't seem to know her beyond the surface. There's an update on Enzo, that he and Millie became close friends (view spoiler)[and then a couple (hide spoiler)] as they (view spoiler)[helped women get out of abusive relationships, before he returned to Sicily to help his mother who had had a stroke (hide spoiler)]. I find some of the descriptions a tad repetitive like the men always talking out of the sides of their mouths, crinkling their noses and having chocolate brown hair, and the women always throwing their heads back to laugh (who does that outside of cartoons?), even though at least in this case, it's mostly from the same character's perspective. On the other hand, I do enjoy that she answers most of my questions that I get before the twist in the revealing part. After that, the main story unravels similarly to the first book and the twist is much easier to predict, which apparently is usually similar in all of her books. (view spoiler)[That is, only after she gets attacked by her neighbour Xavier who flips it on her having attacked him. I'm not super crazy about this storyline because yes, DARVO exists, but it's not always a man against a woman and women can use DARVO too. Plus, self-defence laws exist in the States, and she would have been allowed to give a statement about what happened in full which likely would have made her a lot more believable than talking to a male cop who interrupted her (and that goes for all of the incidents that involved men coming on to her and her defending herself), but it still wasn't completely unbelievable (and it was probably also on purpose to make the twist of the book less obvious) (hide spoiler)]. So with that said, I once again give it three stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Sep 07, 2024
|
Sep 08, 2024
|
Sep 07, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1803144378
| 9781803144375
| B09TWSRMCB
| 4.31
| 2,290,245
| Apr 26, 2022
| Apr 26, 2022
|
liked it
|
I decided to read this after getting my monthly Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ ad with this author's new book listed and despite reading reviews that this particular book
I decided to read this after getting my monthly Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ ad with this author's new book listed and despite reading reviews that this particular book is 'junk food' literature. It is definitely addictive and yet simple and quite outlandish (Nina Winchester leaving her house in such a state of disarray that it takes 7 hours just to start cleaning it and yet she is on the PTA board but also doesn't have a job and only one child to take care of). It was entertaining though to listen to how spoiled and stereotypically snobby she was as a character. Then again, we're led to believe she's absolutely unhinged so it's not that hard to believe and having watched countless seasons of Below Deck with filthy rich people acting disgusting, it's even easier to believe. One thing I would have done differently from Millie though is taken pictures of all of the things she was experiencing and backed them up somewhere safe. I also find it stupid that Millie calls Nina jealous when she's thinking about her husband naked and acting inappropriately with him and she would be even if Nina wasn't vocalizing her jealousy. Her situation is not the easiest with that said, considering Nina acts more and more unhinged as time goes on; on the other hand, it is kind of satisfying to see how the tables turn after what Millie does. I won't go into more detail because there's a twist halfway which is quite illuminating in answering the questions that come up in the first part. Overall, the characters are believable and the story is interesting enough despite mostly reading like a salacious soap opera with little actual substance given a lot of the descriptions are so vague, among other things - though that is a little harsh to say once everything unravels in the end and it's a little frustrating that my review won't reflect that main crux of this book without spoiling anything so I guess I'll spoil it here a little, that (view spoiler)[powerful men (and women) like Andrew get away with literal murder all the time because they have money and the power of gaslighting (probably taught to them by their abusive parent(s) in a cycle of abuse) and it does take a lot for the victim to be believed in those situations, which makes the important message I take away from this book that if someone is in distress and acting horribly there is usually a deeper reason under the surface and compassion is likely warranted (hide spoiler)]. I'm also slightly annoyed that there are rumours this entire story was plagiarized. So, I give it three stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Sep 05, 2024
|
Sep 06, 2024
|
Sep 05, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0008305552
| 9780008305550
| 0008305552
| 4.00
| 373
| unknown
| Jan 01, 2018
|
really liked it
|
I found out about this book from Victoria's YouTube channel and was interested in her take on how fashion has changed in the digital age. The book is
I found out about this book from Victoria's YouTube channel and was interested in her take on how fashion has changed in the digital age. The book is decently edited (aside from the excessive hyphenation) and well written enough to have kept my interest. I like these kinds of books that have a sort of gimmicky way of presenting history because it's far more interesting than the traditional presentation. It's a nice quick afternoon read and I learned quite a bit like that about a quarter of all purchases are now made online and ASOS was originally an 'as seen on screen' brand. I definitely have a passion for fashion having sketched 100 outfits over the years. I already know I couldn't make a career out of it for myself though, so some of the fashion history in here was also cool. However, if you are reasonably versed in fashion you will probably already know about most of it, apart from maybe some new brand mentions, and there are some outdated myths in here that make me roll my eyes because I see them all the time like that designer automatically means more ethical, longer-lasting or better quality or that it's where all ideas for all clothing come from rather than fashion being cyclical not only in terms of repetitiveness but in terms of being inspired from all stations in life, that fur is so horrible but leather (which is a million times worse) is totally not even mentioned as wrong and that apparently size 12 or higher is 'plus size' when it is actually the size of many (usually taller) people who have a completely normal weight according to their BMI. For the organization, comprehensiveness and style of this book I give it 5 stars but because the info is not quite new 4 it is.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jun 16, 2024
|
Jun 16, 2024
|
Jun 16, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1668009048
| 9781668009048
| 1668009048
| 3.84
| 532,712
| Oct 24, 2023
| Oct 24, 2023
|
it was amazing
|
INTRODUCTION --- I should preface this by saying that yes, I have been a huge Britney fan since I was a kid, but I also do not write reviews based on
INTRODUCTION --- I should preface this by saying that yes, I have been a huge Britney fan since I was a kid, but I also do not write reviews based on how much I like a person but on the quality of their writing. I give this five stars not because it's Shakespeare or because I'm biased but because this relatively short memoir for celebrity standards has more information and emotion in it than most I have ever read and the messages were delivered loud and clear for those willing to open their eyes and their ears. I also love that the chapters are short because it allows for little glimpses into moments of her life as well as some respite from the darker and more depressing chapters which she has had a lot of having gone through so much turbulence. UPBRINGING --- She starts off by proving that she has always been a real artist and not the blonde brainless bimbo that the media have always painted her as; not only has she written many of her songs but she was also the mastermind behind many of the concepts used in her music videos and concert tours, including for ...Baby One More Time, which was the song that skyrocketed her career. She went into the industry not for fame and money but because it was the only way she could truly express herself, especially growing up poor in the Bible Belt of Louisiana, with two narcissistic parents who were beyond controlling and only offered conditional love. Despite the abuse she has suffered her entire life, she still managed to hold back and maintain some understanding for how vile her 'father' is because she knows how abusive her paternal grandfather was and that it was inevitable given how her 'father' was raised with impossible standards as well, which is just more evidence of her intelligence and maturity. I also love her explanation for why she uses a British accent as being an homage to her maternal grandmother (as well as being part of her amazing personality), who was British, and who she clearly was very close to. Of course the media twisted one of many things in the section on her upbringing including that she would sleep with her brother Bryan until she was 12 not because they had a weird relationship but because their 'father' would push him as hard as he did Britney during her conservatorship and she wanted to comfort him (which he sadly did not reciprocate when it was Britney being abused by him). CAREER --- Britney Spears started working when she was 8 years old at a seafood restaurant to help her family and at a much earlier age in terms of going to rigorous dance lessons and other extracurricular activities. She even did off-Broadway as a child actor, which I don't think many people know about and I didn't. She was performing for the The Mickey Mouse Club and dancing in malls soon after that. She had 'handlers' before she was even 15. She was also never too proud to work, which many people cannot say honestly. I don't think people understand that her Instagram dancing is not just a way for her to release the crazy that she has repressed for so many years but also probably because her body has literally worked practically her entire life so consistently without stopping that I don't even think it can function without some kind of daily release. Britney Spears made, including during her 13 years of her conservatorship, over a billion dollars, had multiple Vegas residencies, world tours, television appearances, hosting gigs, broke so many records and will always be one of the most iconic pop performers of all time. Pretty amazing for someone who was supposedly so 'mentally unwell' she couldn't decide for herself what to eat, drink, who to talk to, where to be at any given time, anything to do with her reproductive health, what lawyer to have, to drive whatsoever, what medication to take, what therapy to receive, or even to have conversations in private (recordings of which were made without her knowledge that were completely ILLEGAL). It's even more amazing that she can somehow do all of those things now (because the conservatorship was a setup). JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE --- Her relationship with Justin Timberlake was probably one of the worst traumas in her life, despite already having witnessed terrible parenting from her unfit traitors for family. I'm not surprised at all that Justin cheated on her probably way more than she did on him but of course, as with Kevin later on, she got all the flak and villification as the literal devil for it, while Justin got to parade around Hollywood and soak in all the praise including his music video directly putting her on blast. It was peak 2000s misogyny and peak media hypocrisy, on the one hand oversexualizing Britney at every turn but then criticizing her as soon as she showed any sexual freedom. I admire her for being grateful that Justin openly discussed their sex life because it meant she could finally shed her ridiculous virginal image that of course was built around her by the hypocritical religious zealots dictating her life. It's also not surprising that she found solace in Justin's family and that losing that also probably was part of the grieving process. On top of all of that, she was coerced into an abortion and then grilled by Diane Sawyer who once again echoed all of the crap that was being flung at her by the world. She is so strong for having gone through that interview and actively chosen not to bad mouth Justin because she actually respected his privacy. I think Justin is ultimately the real loser and she pointed out how he would put on a blaccent and profit off of black artistry which some have continued to do to this day (and which Michelle Williams hilariously parodied in the audiobook); he also cheated on his current wife so it just goes to show that he has never actually changed. PARENTAL ABUSE --- It's rich that her own family has profited off of her while going along with the rest of the world's criticism of her sexuality when the fact that she carved the power for herself in being able to choose when to showcase it should be celebrated; how many violent acts have occurred because of repressed urges? I also find it rich that her 'mother' especially criticized her for drinking when she literally introduced her to alcohol and made it a regular thing she would allow her daughters to partake in notwithstanding the fact that their 'father' was a bankrupt (morally too), abusive alcoholic and that her 'mother' continued to drink anyway. I fully believe that her whole family is a bunch of narcissists and I do not use that word lightly: (1) aside from expecting Britney to pay over half a million in her legal fees and so many other things, Lynne had the audacity to publish a memoir divulging about all of her daughter's embarrassing and what should have stayed private information to the world, while also shaming her along with people who didn't know her; (2) Jamie Lynn fully supported Britney's conservatorship, blamed Britney for her situation and told her to just accept it while profiting off of her; (3) Bryan is like a mini-me of his dad also having profited off of the conservatorship and essentially referring to Britney as a commodity, sex object and cash cow of the family in interviews; and (4) Jamie the 'father' who was behind this whole fraudulent scheme continuing for 13 years in the first place. She talks throughout the novel about being too nice as being part of her downfall and I totally agree and have always thought so about her. She was a people pleaser and unfortunately let people take advantage of her left and right which is ten times harder when you're rich and famous and people "want a piece of [that]". It's also comical that as a woman in her 20s, her parents acted like she was still a schoolgirl with no responsibilities or independence when she chose to drunkenly get married in Las Vegas and as if having the marriage annulled would have somehow hidden it from the world or from their lord and saviour in the sky - the same parents who were already divorced and already scrounging off of her hard-earned money. It's also ironic that her horrible treatment at the hands of her religious zealots for family is what made her question her own faith. Her 'father' would also regularly call her fat when she has been tiny her entire life, a disgrace, not let her have any creative control over her concerts despite the fact that it was her songs and she wanted to switch things up, and tell her that "[he was] Britney Spears" as a terrifying reminder of the complete and utter control he had over her. One of the worst things they (including Kevin the pothead with children from 3 different women who used Britney for fame and his joke of a career) could have possibly done to her was dangle her children in front of her like carrots to a rabbit during her conservatorship and leveraged them against her to perform non-stop, which is not only emotionally traumatizing on its own but also the main reason she didn't see them enough and why they are now estranged, as well as paradoxically the reason she put up with the conservatorship sham for 13 years. Her 'father' even had a restraining order placed against him after he was violent with her son and he STILL remained as her conservator while she was not allowed to see her sons. She finally stood up for herself during what was supposed to be her next Vegas residency announcement after having just completed her previous one and a world tour with only a 3-week break by refusing to participate. Her 'father' punished her in what she said was the worst trauma of her life: she was falsely held against her will at a 60k/month facility for FOUR MONTHS, placed long-term on lithium like her grandmother had been before her, which she said made her feel crazy and sick, and kept isolated away feeling like a criminal. It was only when a nurse showed her the online support from the Free Britney movement that she was getting that she even knew anyone cared, because her family certainly didn't. In fact, she believes they tried to kill her, and I fully believe so too because if she wasn't going to perform for them like a good little robot and 'keep sweet' then if she was dead they could at least drain the rest of her money. It's an absolute joke that her 'doctor' was dictating her use of energy supplements prior to her forced confinement and mentioning her 'insubordination during rehearsals' for HER show. She was already spending an insane amount of time and emotional energy going to AA meetings despite not being alcoholic, psychiatric evaluations and hours of therapy a week. Only when the four months were over, was she finally courageous enough to call 911 on her evil 'father' for conservatorship abuse, which FINALLY got the ball rolling toward her freedom followed the day after by her equally courageous deposition to the probate court through which you could hear her desperation and anger, and finally she was able to connect with her current lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, to firstly eliminate her depraved 'father' as the conservator of her person and her estate, until she was finally free of her conservatorship entirely soon after. Her conservatorship was a patent sham, an illegal cash grab and everyone from her parents, to her conflict-of-interest court-appointed lawyer Samuel Ingham (who the lawyer who Britney had tried to hire, Adam Streisand, had pointed out early on in the conservatorship was just another player in her conservatorship racket), to Loucifer Taylor (who BJ from That Surprise Witness can explain the true extent of her evil far better than I can deign to), to Kevin Federline the deadbeat loser who tormented her by keeping her sons from her (her grief over which was the real reason behind her shaving her head and attacking the paparazzo's car with a baseball bat after he had been egging her on and asking about her not seeing her kids), deserves jail time even though most will ridiculously not even have to pay her back a cent. SAM ASGHARI --- I am still divided on Sam. The critics argue that given the insane amount of control that her 'father' had over everything from illegally recording her every conversation (which was only exposed by her former security guard Alex Vlasov), controlling her reproduction, who she could talk to at any given moment (including her friend Felicia and her cousin Alli Sims who both had previously worked as her assistant and spoke out against the conservatorship before being threatened to stop), giving her an allowance of her own money, not letting her drive, not letting her drink or eat what she wanted to, etc., that he somehow allowed her to pick her boyfriend and then husband. He was also chosen initially to be her 'chef' which I don't know if I believe he ever really was and people think he was really always her handler. On the other hand, I don't think he is an evil person and out of all of her exes, I genuinely believe he is the best option, because even now he continues to state his support for her (for the most part at least) and defend her character. I think he brought her some happiness beyond all the suffering and for that I am thankful to him even if their marriage is now over. WHY I LOVE HER --- I respect Britney Spears for so many reasons. As a kid, I looked up to her not because she wore skimpy outfits that I wanted to emulate, but because she was the epitome of a strong and powerful woman who was completely fearless (boa constrictors and all), independent, vulnerable, shy and multi-faceted. I appreciate that she doesn't paint herself as an innocent victim of all of her circumstances, admitting to her unfortunate smoking habit and underage sex the latter of which wasn't necessarily wrong but in her case involved skipping school and not using protection. She admitted to being mean when she was pregnant and controlling after giving birth. She even owned up to her erratic behaviour following her divorce but before the conservatorship was set in stone, despite having so many reasons from her aunt's death, to her postpartum depression and what I would characterize as post-traumatic stress disorder from the multiple times her disgusting family sent SWAT teams after her. I admire her intelligence, for having graduated high school despite not having needed to, and even in having written this memoir instead of doing an exploitative and skewed interview with Oprah or someone else who would have twisted her words out of context; I also don't think that she needs to write anything else because this book is enough of a legacy on its own. She is also so smart in knowing that right now all she needs to do is rest and replenish her soul and her critics can just shut up already. I don't think she could be more self-aware if she tried and understands what happened to her better than any pathetic journalist smearing her could ever imagine. She understands that having her atrocious 'father' controlling her every move for 13 years made her retreat to her former childlike self (and because she was being treated like an actual child) and she lost the "woman in [her]". She even has sympathy for her 'sister' Jamie Lynn despite her 'sister' having clearly blamed Britney for everything including in her own book - following in her exploitative 'mother''s footsteps; Britney's compassion is amazing. Most of all, she is a genuinely kind person, which is so utterly rare, unique and wonderful in such a cutthroat and inauthentic industry such as Hollywood. I also feel connected to her because we have very similar mental issues which for me are also a result of letting people walk all over me, guilt, shame, etc., and I also suffer from migraines as she now does; I really hope that she has a doctor who actually has her best interests at heart and can prescribe her medication like the Cambia that I take because it has helped me to not be as debilitated. CONCLUSION --- Knowing everything she has gone through from all of the whistleblowers in the Free Britney movement, the Framing Britney Spears documentary and this book, I am both deeply angry and saddened for her. What she went through was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional but I am also in continuous awe and have so much pride that she went through so much crap from so many people for so many years and yet still wakes up every morning, chooses to try to be positive and continues to fight to live. Nothing angers me more than people saying "she is not well" or "things won't end well for her". No shit Sherlocks she is not well. She has been chewed up and spat out by the world, grown up with social anxiety probably inflicted by her parents' impossible standards and conditional love, likely has PTSD from numerous moments she was either scared for her life or of losing her sons and depression from having to accept the fact that most of the people in her life have used and abused her. The worst part of it all is she should be a billionaire living on top of the world, and yet despite her wealth and certainly because of it, she was exploited and falsely imprisoned while the world was holding a microscope to her every move and a huge chunk of her well-deserved fortune has gone to absolute parasites who have fraudulently taken credit for her achievements and her existence; her life should also be a lesson to all that far worse things happen to conservatees who are not celebrities and they are even more powerless to stop it. It is a miracle that she continues to fight. This book has a lot of dark moments but there are many times that I chuckled and smiled because despite it all, she can still laugh at herself and her crazy life. I will always support her and those who have advocated for her including Adam Streisand, Alli Sims, Felicia Culotta, Alex Vlasov, BJ Courville, Paris Hilton, Madonna and, of course, Mathew Rosengart, without whom her freedom would not have been granted after 13 years and who is still fighting to bring the people who so egregiously wronged her to justice. Finally, it's so sad how much she obviously loves her boys and has been alienated from them despite having carried them, birthed them and single-handedly financially supported them; it's even more frustrating when the paparazzi absolutely hounded her and literally caused situations that made her appear as an unfit 'mother' when they were incessant and bound to have caused an accident as they did with Princess Diana. I really hope one day they realize how lucky they are and reach out to her. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Oct 25, 2023
|
Nov 08, 2023
|
Oct 24, 2023
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0553213695
| 9780553213690
| 0553213695
| 3.89
| 1,295,982
| Oct 1915
| Mar 01, 1972
|
really liked it
|
I read this mostly while on trains around Europe so it was funny to read Gregor complaining about travelling as a travelling salesman since my packed
I read this mostly while on trains around Europe so it was funny to read Gregor complaining about travelling as a travelling salesman since my packed itinerary due to my own slightly too ambitious planning left me with similar feelings from having to miss breakfast to getting a cold. I imagine this story is so popular because it is so relatable in depicting Gregor as not meeting his family's expectations placed upon him and his family not understanding the metamorphosis that he has undergone despite it partially being a result of their treatment toward him. I suppose it's also a hopeful story about how life can go on without the person that holds everyone together.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
not set
|
Jan 2023
|
Aug 08, 2023
|
Mass Market Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1524798622
| 9781524798628
| 1524798622
| 4.20
| 1,724,912
| Mar 05, 2019
| Mar 05, 2019
|
liked it
|
I didn't want to read this at first because I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction since this is technically so as it's loosely inspired by Stevie N
I didn't want to read this at first because I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction since this is technically so as it's loosely inspired by Stevie Nicks' life as part of Fleetwood Mac, but listening to the audiobook kept me interested. I do like the concept of all the band members sharing their different perspectives, which you don't usually get with documentaries, in which the lead singer or main member of the band tends to do most of the talking. I'm also eager to watch the miniseries now because I love Riley Keough, and she is the perfect Daisy Jones, and that was another reason I gave this a listen. It seemed like either the author or her characters are a little snobby which was kind of annoying (like not wanting Daisy to end up like Olivia Newton-John as if she wasn't also a music legend). There's the usual plot lines you'd expect for people in a band like infidelity, drug use and groupies; I do like the names of things like the band, song, album and character names and the realism of this book (and the audiobook actors did a great job), so I give it three stars.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 21, 2025
|
Feb 21, 2025
|
Aug 08, 2023
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0593138090
| 9780593138090
| 0593138090
| 4.03
| 19,446
| Apr 26, 2022
| Apr 26, 2022
|
really liked it
|
Having already read Tom Bower's newest book and skimmed Lady C's, I wanted to read this as a final book that I waste any time on to find out any gossi
Having already read Tom Bower's newest book and skimmed Lady C's, I wanted to read this as a final book that I waste any time on to find out any gossip I might not know about the British monarchy. I like that it is an overview of the last half of the past century up to now, including Prince Philip's upbringing, Princess Margaret's romantic history and Edward's life after abdicating the throne to marry Wallis. It's also very fair, maybe a little too fair, by giving both points of view while exposing questionable behaviours and excuses for behaviour. The first thing I would argue against however is the monarchy as an institution not having enough diversity. If its current status is around 8% and the ratio of minorities in the UK to non-minorities is only about 10% then I really don't see a huge lack of anything other than logic. If the institution already reflects the diversity in society, then I don't see why more diversity hires are needed rather than hiring based on excellence. It's also now clear that some things were inaccurate considering how, for example, Prince Edward did become Duke of Edinburgh on his birthday, which was a tradition of the Queen's to give out titles on special occasions and something that seems to have long been planned by Charles. The first interesting tidbit is that there seems to have been a period between Diana's death and the Wales princes growing up when the monarchy was dowdy and lacked the glamour of previous times, although I think the Queen was always glamorous and comforting even into her 90s. Apparently she said that someone like Diana must never happen again though I find that hard to believe as she seems to have approved of Catherine, who has arguably spearheaded bringing back life and vigour to an archaic institution, as well as of course Meghan in polar opposite ways. It's also funny that the show The Prince seems to have been way more accurate than I thought with for example the Queen's reluctance to even speak to Camilla let alone see her in person and her early distance from and later avoidance of Charles even when she had free time; it actually almost makes me sympathetic to Charles that he not only grew up with an initially distant mother but then wasn't allowed to marry who he wanted to, along with facing the high expectations of his father. It was also surprising to find out that Prince Edward was actually one of the first to try to cash in on the family with his production company that he definitely would not have gotten without his position in the family. There seems to be massive hypocrisy with this family when it comes to preaching about morality and yet accepting 'donations' from dictators and saying they don't want to make The Firm a brand and yet allowing certain royals to cash in on their positions and not others. It is sort of ironic that for all the trouble she's caused, the media circus around Harry and Poor-Me seems to have only invigorated support for the monarchy, including my own as I admit I actually didn't see the appeal or point of it until I realized that it's meant to represent the people separate from the government and that taxpayers pay only a little more than a pound a year for it to continue. That said, I still don't really care if it persists or not, besides my love for Catherine's fashion since even before the wedding and more importantly who she seems to be as a person because she is very much more than just a clothes horse (she and William have also always made a handsome and healthy couple that I aspire to be with my significant other and their wedding was absolutely beautiful), as well as my general curiosity around the pomp and circumstance of their various ceremonies and events which do give the UK a unique cultural element and represent living history. I do like the acknowledgement of things like Princess Anne doing far more engagements than a lot of the family members and yet receiving a lot less attention and praise for it, which Christopher Hitchens also pointed out when criticizing the hysteria surrounding the global mourning of Diana's death, which I also somewhat agree and disagree with, as a large part of being any kind of successful public figure is your ability to draw people in even though she has proven her commitment and consistency. It seems like even though highly stressful, the British monarchy actually thrives from the kind of drama that people like Wallis, Diana and Megaliar bring to the table (though it is quite sad that the woman gets all the blame when Edward always wanted to abdicate, Charles was no saint and Harry is probably the worst of the bunch). The negativity that they brought seems to have always shone a positive light on the rest of the family by comparison, emphasizing the semblance of generosity, mystery and virtue that it has maintained for centuries. It's also quite eerie to compare those three women in particular and their similarities, including their cunning toward public relations and the press, their lifelong victimhood, their unusual glamour and their questionable motives. It's also nice to see an acknowledgement of the harassment Camilla received by the media (this book makes me dislike her even more with that said), because none of the women entering the family was spared, despite Megalomaniac's downplaying of their experiences compared to hers. Ultimately, I personally fail to feel sorry for really any of these people when they do go through hardship because they have always had the best teams and resources to help (even Diana despite her claims to the contrary) and a lot of them, especially those with second son syndrome, squandered the multitude of opportunities they had with their bad behaviour. I also think the great mystery around Diana's death still remains because though I'm inclined to believe it was just a terrible accident, the white Fiat Uno, one of the paparazzi who chased her being found dead only a few years later in a burnt car and the motive there would have been to kill her will probably always give me an ounce of skepticism. Given that so much was summarized well by this book, better than Lady C's in my opinion, but that this book is not as enthralling as Tom Bower's (though finding out random tidbits like that Diana pushed her stepmother down stairs and took pleasure in it was quite shocking and explains Harry's violence - she really wasn't a very good mother, parentifying William while giving Harry explicit permission to be as "naughty" as he wanted to be as long as he didn't get caught), I also give it four stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Apr 25, 2023
|
Dec 31, 2023
|
Apr 18, 2023
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0061767581
| 9780061767586
| 0061767581
| 3.34
| 26,995
| Jan 01, 2009
| Jun 16, 2009
|
did not like it
|
I was always curious about this since Lauren Conrad is duplicitous, extremely prudish and generally vacuous so of course she took credit for a ghostwr
I was always curious about this since Lauren Conrad is duplicitous, extremely prudish and generally vacuous so of course she took credit for a ghostwriter writing all of her books when all she contributed was making their plots very clearly about her. Jane is Lauren, Madison is Heidi, Scarlett is Audrina physically/Lo personality-wise, Gaby is Audrina, Fiona Chen is Lisa Love, Trevor Lord is Adam DiVello, the pictures released in the second book are her rumoured sex tape with Jason (based on the synopsis), Jesse is Jason, Caleb the 'high school sweetheart' is Stephen, Braden is probably Kyle Howard, and man is she catty and slut-shamey about everyone including her 'best friend.' It's also ridiculous that she thought she actually had a real internship or that she had to audition to be on The Hills when that was all part of the production plan by the crew of Laguna Beach. I always thought she was very controlling and self-centered and this book confirmed that for me. I definitely won't be reading any of her other books.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Dec 12, 2022
|
Dec 12, 2022
|
Dec 12, 2022
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 4.45
| 1,294,667
| Aug 09, 2022
| Aug 09, 2022
|
it was amazing
|
I was definitely intrigued by the title and would not have forgiven anyone for it unless their mother was like Jennette's who controlled her career, e
I was definitely intrigued by the title and would not have forgiven anyone for it unless their mother was like Jennette's who controlled her career, education, housing, hygiene, money, personal accounts, relationships, weight... That's not to say I think it's wrong to be glad someone dies; I'm glad a lot of evil people in history are dead. I listened to the audiobook and it is a straightforward story, well-written, and divided into the time before her mother died and after. This book reminded me of my own experiences with narcissistic adults and people who lack boundaries in general, especially the material and/or psychological rewarding of those who devote their sycophantic attention. I think it's also very useful like Tom Bower's Revenge in showing how different narcissistic women are to narcissistic men like Donald Trump, who tend to be more grandiose and open about their manipulations and scheming. Women are usually more covert in their operations, with research showing they tend to be vulnerable narcissists, and therefore can get away with their actions more often as for example evidenced by the courts giving more lenient sentences to female defendants guilty of the same crime as males, which is why in my opinion they can be just as, if not more, dangerous than men. As I suspected, this book is also so much more fair toward the mother than Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? in that not only does Jennette only explicitly acknowledge that she was abused at the very end of the novel, though it is made quite obvious priorly, she also praises the nice and intentionally or unintentionally comedic moments she had with her mother and the rare but positive things that her mother did provide for her; I don't mean that in the sense that she should be grateful because the abuse she suffered was horrific, but I am glad that she can look at it from an emotionally healthy and balanced way, understanding her mother's intentions and at the same time why it was wrong. Jennette was also extremely candid about basically her entire acting career, what it actually took for her to 'make it' including dance lessons 14 TIMES a week and auditioning for extremely emotionally mature parts at a young age, and the other abusive relationships she had with coercive adults. I'm glad Jennette was able to lift what I imagine was the gargantuan weight of carrying all of her trauma for so many years because she was yet another celebrity on whom her entire family relied financially. This book has probably helped so many people in similar situations and for that I am grateful to her; I also really hope that writing continues to help her heal and grow. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Dec 12, 2022
|
Dec 13, 2022
|
Aug 12, 2022
|
ebook
| |||||||||||||||||
| 1788705882
| B0B6FZJ95Q
| 3.86
| 9,280
| Jun 21, 2022
| Jul 21, 2022
|
really liked it
|
This book is both hilarious and sad for showing how powerful self-delusion can be, and how critical the early years of children are in shaping their p
This book is both hilarious and sad for showing how powerful self-delusion can be, and how critical the early years of children are in shaping their personalities as adults (maybe that was part of the now-Princess Kate's inspiration to focus her advocacy on the early years!). I would give it more stars for being a comprehensive account of a piece of work to put it nicely, but there were so many editing errors and some incorrect information including her having driven a beat up Ford Explorer, which is patently untrue and insulting given that Thomas Markle provided this 'self-made millionaire' with I would estimate almost a million dollars if not more toward her entire education among so many other things. However, it is an incredible study into a narcissist who views people as merely transactional props in her life play. This book is also incredibly important in showing how subjective 'truth' becoming the new Orwellian 'objective' truth, and how prioritizing wokeness over logic and rationality, are infecting the Western world. I mainly blame Russia, Marxist organizations using Russia's subversion playbook like BLM as well as divisive walking contradictions like Princess Pinocchio for it, and I vow to never let it infect my own community because I will advocate for free speech and the actual truth until my last breath.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Aug 07, 2022
|
Aug 11, 2022
|
Aug 07, 2022
|
Kindle Edition
| |||||||||||||||
| 0307401243
| 9780307401243
| 0307401243
| 4.01
| 44,668
| Oct 25, 2011
| Mar 06, 2012
|
did not like it
|
I find this novel quite hypocritical. Jeanette reacts to her mother's intolerance with an extreme intolerance and hatred of everything her mother was,
I find this novel quite hypocritical. Jeanette reacts to her mother's intolerance with an extreme intolerance and hatred of everything her mother was, without a speck of understanding or even sympathy. According to Jeanette, her mother was not only a loser and a nobody who should have loved her father (who was the actual physically abusive one), and hated everything and everyone, but everything she did was wrong right down to having two pairs of false teeth and fly spray in her handbag. It's funny because by honest coincidence, this is the first of two novels I planned to read written by Je(an)nettes of all names that are about the authors' hatred of their abusive mothers, although I have a feeling Jennette's story is very different from this one. I just don't know if I can truly agree with all of Jeanette's conclusions because we don't get to hear from her mother's point of view and back in the 1950s I can't think of anyone who didn't endure corporal punishment or have a slightly stifled mother or have parents who were traditional in their views of romantic relationships so was she really so different from everyone as she proclaims to have been? She uses her adoption (from when she was a baby and could not possibly have known any other household) as some kind of ammunition against her mother that she isn't like her because they don't share DNA as if that means nurture has no effect or that her mother isn't her 'real' mother who she was supposed to have. She basically left the house on her own because her mother deigned to not want her to be having sex as a 16-year-old who should have been focusing on her studies; she could have waited until university and done whatever she wanted to but instead decided to pretend like everything good her mother had done for her (like making sure she had a roof over her head, food to eat, clothes to wear, which some people would kill for) before then was moot instead. It's almost as if her hatred for her mother has clouded her self-awareness when she seems to be exactly what she tries so hard not to be: ordinary. She even says herself that 'her story' in her most famous or should I say infamous semi-autobiographical novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, is "part fact part fiction" so what am I even supposed to believe in this one? I haven't read any of her other books and don't plan on it but another thing I notice with overhyped writers is that if they're constantly referring to other works of literature and it's not just one quote at the beginning of the chapter or something stylistic, then it's usually because their work is extremely derivative and can't stand on its own. I found this with The Outsiders as well, as one example. I also generally dislike her writing style; she likes to start her sentences with numbers, conjunctions and incomplete clauses and the laziness of it all irks me. If the descriptions were more interesting maybe I would be more forgiving or the mistakes deliberate like in The Color Purple, for example, but given the general ordinariness I am unimpressed. She also does an awful lot of diagnosing of her mother and assuming of the reasons behind her sex life among other things and I frankly don't know why that was ever any of her business; I can only assume that, because her mother judged her, she felt entitled to do it back, only the difference is her mother was the one providing her with her house to live in and I tend to abide by the philosophy that you respect the rules that your host has for you when you are staying with them, even if they are family. Overall, this was an annoying woe-is-me read written by a woman who is extremely bitter with very little insights. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Nov 26, 2022
|
Nov 26, 2022
|
Jun 30, 2022
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1487005733
| 9781487005733
| 1487005733
| 4.45
| 2,596
| Oct 16, 2018
| Oct 16, 2018
|
really liked it
|
I listened to the audiobook and I so agreed with the opening message of choosing to move forward from blaming all problems in the Anishinaabe communit
I listened to the audiobook and I so agreed with the opening message of choosing to move forward from blaming all problems in the Anishinaabe community on colonialism and the government, which though valid, is not useful for the self-preservation of indigenous cultures. I was also pleasantly surprised that Tanya is part Polish and was excited to hear her ideas. In the first chapter, she describes several First Nations girls who committed suicide in Ontario following a suicide pact, the high rates among First Nations men and Inuit, and how various prevention methods were rejected or slashed by the federal government, including requesting that Health Canada deliver mental health prevention. Other instances of neglect are mentioned such as the death of a five-year-old child, among others, to Strep throat because of the inadequate access to proper medical care on reserves. She extrapolates this to the poor standards of living of indigenous communities around the world and the stereotypes that exist based on colonial European and Judeo-Christian attitudes, continued today by the media and Hollywood, and not helped by the lack of indigenous history in educational curricula. She talks about how the Institute of Indian Studies which is now the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Sudbury is one of the few programs to teach indigeneity. She then extrapolates again to ancient civilizations and calls them indigenous which I suppose they were but she generalizes them in such a way that makes them seem as though they were all separate from 'empires' and that only they brought forth the great histories and ideas on which humanity is built, when many indigenous 'tribes' of the past were also the 'emperors' of their territory (e.g. Mayans, Aztecs, Greeks). I do like that she acknowledged that many if not most Canadian names of places are still indigenous so in that regard at least there has not been complete cultural genocide as a testament to the good relations that occurred between some settlers and indigenous tribes. She also gave some information about her own indigenous background, though I wish she could have talked at least a little about her Polish Canadian father, given that she does make a comparison of the cultural genocide of indigenous communities to the Holocaust, which affected millions of ethnic Poles. The second chapter describes the residential school systems in Canada and how they and reserves came to be in North America (as well as similarly in Australia and Brazil), which often inflicted abuse on the children that were being isolated from their families. She also talks about how the exploitation of resources affects the environment and indigenous communities in Canada, including the boreal forests in the northwest. Again, I am slightly frustrated because that exploitation has led to so much advancement and better standards of living that to expect it to all remain untouched is unreasonable and hypocritical when indigenous communities also exploited and continue to exploit resources. I do like hearing the etymologies of the different languages and the stories although I view them more as religious beliefs than historical record. I find in general that there is such a deification of indigenous customs however and such a separation from non-indigenous people when that separation often doesn't have a leg to stand on (fishing is not just sacred to indigenous people and many also consider it a peaceful and unifying experience, whereas I find it to be cruel and unnecessary in most places, for example). She also outlined the conflicts between the RCMP and the Inuit, including disputed accounts of the slaughter of Inuit sled dogs in the thousands, which has since resulted in reparations in 2019 by the government. The third chapter starts by explaining the customs around childbirth and rearing in Anishinaabe and other indigenous communities. She outlines the sexual abuses around the world carried out by institutions and how they have affected indigenous peoples. The rest of the chapter talks about the broken families that were a result of abuses carried out from the various isolation methods by institutions and how this led to the high addiction, poverty and suicide rates in indigenous peoples. I do agree with one of the solutions she mentions of producing Inuit-specific guides to knowing the signs that an individual is prone to suicide. Chapter 4 begins with describing a youth empowerment group established in Ontario by indigenous members for indigenous members, with cultural aspects of communities included in the headquarters. I very much support these kinds of solutions that allow for community involvement and gathering between like members. It then goes into the mistrust that indigenous youth have in medical professionals, including due to the experiments that were conducted on them in the past. This again irks me because Western medicine is primarily responsible for so many amazing revolutions in health, including the complete eradication of smallpox, the extension of life expectancy by more than 30 years between 1900 and 2013, countless medical devices that have improved the quality of life of long-term patients, and so many more. I recognize that abuse and exploitation occurred in the past, as it did with most marginalized populations including black people, but having mistrust now is not helpful in creating a positive doctor-patient relationship when nowadays, especially in Canada, doctors are held to the highest standards. I of course agree with the final argument that without basic needs being met there will never be reconciliation. The final chapter begins with a personal account of an indigenous student in a Mennonite school and the abuse that he had to endure, followed by a repetition of the points already made and a summary of the suggested solutions including suicide prevention strategies like indigenous-specific guides, more funding and more implementation of indigenous education into Canadian curricula, as well as modelling solutions after the positive solutions for indigenous peoples across the borders like the Sámi in Norway and black South Africans. I'm conflicted by this book and indigenous issues in general because on the one hand, I acknowledge that indigenous problems are real and that there is an entitlement to their own nationhood, but at the same time I can't think of many places in the world that are not dominated by the reigning conquerer and that now benefit greatly by that fact (besides communist dictatorships like North Korea and Russia). Indigenous statistics are almost always compared unfavourably to the rest of Canada in terms of health, education levels, but then by the same token North American history is dismissed unfavourably by indigenous people as all evil, purely greedy and murderous. It's difficult to reconcile the two when there are so many immigrants of all kinds of backgrounds that it's factually untrue to whitewash the non-indigenous part of Canada as lacking in culture and real history or being purely descendants of murderers and slave masters, and the standards of living are empirically better not out of malice but because of colonialism. I don't mean to say that reserves should stop existing and that all indigenous people should just assimilate as they were forced to in the past but it's a very contradictory dichotomy to on the one hand be demanding resources and on the other intentionally psychologically distancing themselves as much as possible from the rest of Canada (e.g. the beliefs that the "Western worldview" is thought to 'hinder' indigenous research, that the "West" views humans as the top of all systems which is not necessarily true and that the "West" tends to look at life in a linear way rather than cyclical which is again not true in a lot of domains including many scientific fields). There's also a general lack of acknowledgement of their own violence within their own communities, which is always blamed on the "racist settlers" and not their own decisions. With that said, this book is a very well-written comprehensive summary of the pervasive issues, and I do believe Canadian indigenous culture is a part of Canadian culture and should be taught in schools. I do also wish more money and resources were allocated to at least meet basic needs on reserves, which would likely stabilize the mental health of residents, but this can only properly happen with the acknowledgement of the many benefits of Western civilization and their own responsibility in the vicious cycles, rather than constantly fighting the reality of non-indigenous Canada. True reconciliation cannot occur without basic needs being met but it also will never happen if indigenous people insist on dismantling colonialism. It will never happen and that is the reality. Stop fighting it and fight for actual issues like access to healthcare, water, transportation, education and jobs; the government should be doing the same and both should want to help each other in combining the colonialist history of Canada with its earlier indigenous history, rather than tearing the former down completely and elevating the latter to undeserved importance, because like Tanya repeated, "this is a marriage, not a divorce". ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Dec 13, 2022
|
Dec 13, 2022
|
Jan 01, 2022
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1626724423
| 9781626724426
| 1626724423
| 3.55
| 1,398
| Apr 02, 2019
| Apr 02, 2019
|
it was amazing
|
I might be biased because of Vera's graphic novel Anya's Ghost that I thoroughly enjoyed but I love the art and message of this book just as much. Kno
I might be biased because of Vera's graphic novel Anya's Ghost that I thoroughly enjoyed but I love the art and message of this book just as much. Knowing that she is an immigrant from the U.S.S.R., I can only assume that this is an allegorical depiction of the consequences of communism, namely that it always fails because a small group of 'Little Guys' (e.g. Kim Jong-un and party) ends up controlling the majority of prosperity. It is a simple failing of human nature, namely greed, that almost always prevents communism from ever being successful. Also the little acorns are so cute!
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Feb 28, 2021
not set
|
Feb 28, 2021
not set
|
Feb 28, 2021
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0425285189
| 9780425285183
| B01G0GD07M
| 3.94
| 153,094
| Nov 29, 2016
| Nov 29, 2016
|
it was amazing
|
I think I started watching Gilmore Girls almost at the end of its run at the age of 8 or 9 (reruns played daily on a Canadian channel so I watched it
I think I started watching Gilmore Girls almost at the end of its run at the age of 8 or 9 (reruns played daily on a Canadian channel so I watched it front to back as a teenager but never in order until I was an adult) and it was my favourite show as a kid and teenager before I got Internet access. I related to Rory on so many levels, having been one of the top students at my schools as a kid (that didn't last past middle school) and having the same kind of temperament. However, Lauren/Lorelai (they are the same person to me with almost the same arsenal of witty references) has always been one of the people who I've actually aspired to be and hope to become one day in terms of not being a mess and staying cool into her 50s. I'd like to think being deemed 'gifted' and reading young as a kid could equate to her skipping kindergarten, having older friends my whole life is similar to her being a year younger than her classes until the end of her first year of university at NYU, I'm 5'10" so we're both tall, I also played the flute in school, I happily choose to remain childless and only have fur babies, and that's about the extent of our similarities so far. When I found out they were rebooting the show in 2016 I was so excited and watching it on Netflix was pure magic for me. I had initially planned to watch each episode with each change of the season (wishful thinking) since each episode is named after each season of the year but I loved it so much I watched it all in one sitting and proceeded to rewatch parts and/or the whole thing for the next 2 years and even sometimes to this day. It was everything I could have hoped for and more and like many am praying to the Universe that it gets picked up as a movie or show in the future like another one of my favourites did (since the miniseries was more like movies I would LOVE a show that focuses more on Rory like the original did) - Veronica Mars with the fan-funded movie and short Hulu reboot. I am pretty positive it will happen but if it doesn't at least it ended with the infamous four last words that the show creator and writer Amy Sherman-Palladino (and husband Dan) always wanted. This book also came out around the same time as the reboot, in fact as Lauren's reflection on being back on the set of Gilmore Girls after almost 10 years and being a long-time fan of Lauren and Alexis Bledel, but especially Lorelai as a character, I had to buy it. I've finally decided to read it this week! This book is in a conventional autobiographical format with a dash of humour on every page. As always, this reads like I'm talking to my best friend because Lauren has always been so humble and kind, at least based on her interviews, so unsurprisingly this was as joyful as the reboot. I loved reading about how she grew up including living in Japan with her grandmother and the Virgin Islands on a houseboat with her dad (who she looks exactly like except for her eyes so I don't know if that was also sarcasm) before settling in D.C. I also loved looking through pictures of her life because like the saying goes a picture is indeed worth a thousand words and I'm not embarrassed to admit they make reading more interesting for me. I wasn't too interested in the acting or writing advice since I've no interest in it myself beyond these reviews but I enjoyed reading about her experiences from her college acting days to Broadway to her Gilmore Girls audition, particularly finding out how one thing led to another opportunity. I also enjoyed the job chapter which included working in a Chicago diner selling cinnamon buns (and unknowingly aiding and abetting a cocaine dealer) and being a dog mascot at a World Cup soccer convention. I respect her for having had so many jobs no matter how small and still giving them her all. My favourite piece of advice is basically the equivalent of Dory's from Finding Nemo/Dory to "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" to "just keep going, keep going, keep going" because that's all we can really do in life. Although her hilarious description of the drugged look that we have when we look at our multitude of screens resembling Gollum's face before his Precious goes in the water comes as a close second; I have also caught myself with that look and it's a good reminder that I really need to get out more. My favourite chapters were of course 'What It Was Like' Parts 1 and 2 about her time on the original and reboot versions of the show I love. I may have also binge watched a bunch of her interviews over the years so I'm including things I learned from the book that I don't recall her mentioning in those even though I learned a lot more than just what I'll be listing. From Part 1, I learned that Lauren and Alexis met in Toronto (not surprising given how many shows are shot in Toronto and Vancouver), the first season of Gilmore Girls shared a time slot with Friends when it started (I personally am not a fan and they're so different that Lauren had nothing to worry about!), she loved the fast pace of the script because she hadn't experienced it since acting school, Luke was only meant to be a 'Cute Grouchy Diner Owner' before becoming a lead role, and she and Alexis were the only cast members to be told the show was ending. From Part 2, a compilation of the diary entries she kept during shooting of the reboot, I learned that after having to literally direct Alexis' body to her mark in the beginning of making the show now she had to have Alexis hold her arm because she was so overwhelmed by being back on the set (I am a sucker for full circle moments), Lauren picked up on the smallest set changes compared to the original like the foyer of Lorelai's house being a tiny bit bigger, she rode to set on her bicycle like she had originally after discovering it was much faster than walking and funner than driving, and the episodes were named and ordered after Carole King's song You've Got A Friend - who sings the famous opening song of the original show and makes cameos in the original and reboot. While some parts of this book didn't really peak my interest, there were so many golden nuggets, like knowing she was freaking out as a judge on Project Runway the whole time and hated having to critique people because it's one of the only times I've heard from her that she's been nervous to speak. I just love Lauren and the whole cast of Gilmore Girls and you can tell she definitely didn't do any of the celebrity ghostwriting shtick because this was written in her voice. So for all that, I give it a solid five stars. I'm definitely one of those girls whose life was changed by Gilmore Girls. It positively inspired me in so many ways, including wanting to be a good student (at least initially), wanting to be well-read, wanting to be cool although I've resigned to the fact that I don't think I ever will be, wanting to have general knowledge of the world rather than just specializing in one subject and being ignorant of the rest, cultivating a sense of humour, waiting for a serious relationship before having sex, seeking a sense of community in my hometown, and having the same sense of adventure as Lorelai and Rory during their Europe backpacking trip and Logan and Rory during all of their Life and Death Brigade antics. After going back and forth between Dean and Logan, I am still Team Rogan like always because even though I loved Dean, he was too controlling and they wouldn't end up together anyway; I think, contrary to what most people are saying, that Dean is actually the equivalent to Luke but the difference is that Rory and Lorelai want completely different lives, which in Rory's case would be better spent with Logan (Rory's Christopher). This is probably the only show I will continue rewatching for the rest of my life as I relate more and more to Lorelai and eventually, hopefully, Emily. I am as devoted to it as I am to the Harry Potter series and plan on visiting Unionville, where the first season was shot, as well as Warner Brothers Studios in LA where I can see elements of the recreated Stars Hollow. I'm going to wait a little first though because I want to remember as little as possible for the next time I watch the show from the beginning and am able to soak it all in again. This also gives Amy and Dan time to write another reboot of the show (ideally in a show format) if they are ever so inclined... ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 15, 2021
|
Feb 21, 2021
|
Feb 15, 2021
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0374480133
| 9780374480134
| 0374480133
| 3.90
| 286,741
| 1975
| Jan 01, 2002
|
really liked it
|
This was one of my little childhood gems that I used to go back to every so often. I love Natalie's whimsical and mysterious writing. In hindsight, th
This was one of my little childhood gems that I used to go back to every so often. I love Natalie's whimsical and mysterious writing. In hindsight, this story is basically a retelling of Romeo and Juliet only with a twist of the magical element that the Tucks have to keep secret in the Treegap woods. I also love that this book explored important themes like following what your parents believe is best for you (which may or may not actually be true) or creating your own path. I was always slightly frustrated by the ending but at the same time understood it to be a reality for most people, though I personally would probably have chosen the other path (trying not to spoil it) because I can't see myself ever getting bored. The book overall was well-written but I think this is one of the rare cases where I actually prefer the movie because it was so beautifully made, the (more appropriately aged) cast was amazing, and the soundtrack by William Ross and simple cinematography are beautiful.
...more
|
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Dec 22, 2022
|
Dec 23, 2022
|
Jan 19, 2021
|
Paperback
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
my rating |
|
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 3.95
|
really liked it
|
Nov 10, 2024
|
Nov 11, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 3.78
|
liked it
|
Nov 09, 2024
|
Nov 09, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.00
|
really liked it
|
Nov 12, 2024
|
Nov 03, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 3.13
|
liked it
|
Sep 11, 2024
|
Sep 11, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 3.88
|
liked it
|
Sep 16, 2024
|
Sep 07, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.21
|
liked it
|
Sep 08, 2024
|
Sep 07, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.31
|
liked it
|
Sep 06, 2024
|
Sep 05, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.00
|
really liked it
|
Jun 16, 2024
|
Jun 16, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 3.84
|
it was amazing
|
Nov 08, 2023
|
Oct 24, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 3.89
|
really liked it
|
Jan 2023
|
Aug 08, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.20
|
liked it
|
Feb 21, 2025
|
Aug 08, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.03
|
really liked it
|
Dec 31, 2023
|
Apr 18, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 3.34
|
did not like it
|
Dec 12, 2022
|
Dec 12, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.45
|
it was amazing
|
Dec 13, 2022
|
Aug 12, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 3.86
|
really liked it
|
Aug 11, 2022
|
Aug 07, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.01
|
did not like it
|
Nov 26, 2022
|
Jun 30, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 4.45
|
really liked it
|
Dec 13, 2022
|
Jan 01, 2022
|
|||||
|
| 3.55
|
it was amazing
|
Feb 28, 2021
not set
|
Feb 28, 2021
|
|||||
|
| 3.94
|
it was amazing
|
Feb 21, 2021
|
Feb 15, 2021
|
|||||
|
| 3.90
|
really liked it
|
Dec 23, 2022
|
Jan 19, 2021
|
Loading...
