theseasoul's reviews
456 reviews

|| 3.5 ⭐️ ||

This is a fun, easy read for wintry days, and in a lot of ways a great early fantasy for middle-grade aged kids just getting into the genre. At the same time though, there are a few issues with it that would prevent me from recommending it to a kid who is still learning discernment, including nods to evolution, magic/spells, and the whole ordeal where the main character does a lot of rebellious things she wasn’t allowed to do and doesn’t really have to face consequences or punishment for them because everything “turned out alright in the end” and “she had the right intentions”. 

|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||

Remarkable book on “ancestral” movement. I’m pretty well versed in ancestral nutrition at this point, but movement is an area that I have not explored extensively yet. So every little bit of information presented in this book was totally, mind-bogglingly new to me. I learned so many new things about how modern furniture leads to sedentary muscles and bones, and gained plenty of tools for developing a healthy posture, standing and sitting stance, walking gait, squat, and ultimately just increasing my range of mobility. I had no idea how stiff and shrunk some of my muscles were until going through some of the assessments. But I’m now looking forward to expanding my mobility little by little.

My limited knowledge of muscle anatomy did have me confused at some points, no matter how well she tried to explain it for the layperson. Katy Bowman is incredibly knowledgeable in the field of biomechanics and practically a genius. It was difficult to understand some of the movements from just reading descriptions and looking at images… video explanations might add a lot of value here.

I’m very interested in reading more of Bowman’s books, especially Whole Body Barefoot since I’m already wearing minimalist shoes and would like to nerd out on that subject a little more. I just feel like there’s so much to learn from this woman!

|| 5 ⭐️ ||

Such a great resource for equipping readers with some of the knowledge and biblical wisdom helpful in engaging with today’s progressive culture. Stuckey does an excellent job of breaking down many of the common arguments and discussion points brought up around the issues of abortion, transgenderism, gay marriage, illegal immigration and social justice. She lays out what the Bible says about each of these things, giving special attention to God’s character as revealed through His word and the innate dignity that each human being possesses as an image-bearer. A great read for anyone with progressive friends or anyone on the fence themselves about these issues.

I listened to this on audiobook because my library system doesn’t have it available yet and I couldn’t wait! But I’d definitely like to buy a copy for my physical collection.

|| 2.5 ⭐️ ||

This was recommended to me a while back, but unfortunately I found it kind of dull and predictable. Not the worst contemporary book by any means, just not very entertaining or engaging.

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

Delightful little book! From the cover I was expecting a very western or exclusively British perspective on tea, and that’s not what this was at all. Not only did the author delve into each tea type (including yellow tea!) and how it is produced, but she also took the time to explain some of the different sub-categories within those. I was fully convinced she knew what she’s talking about when she addressed the fact that herbals technically don’t qualify as teas. She talked about gong fu brewing and other traditional brewing methods, and went through various countries with rich tea-producing histories. There were so many thoughtful details included in this book, making it an excellent one for tea beginners to have on hand. Surprisingly thorough and all-inclusive for such a short and straightforward book!

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

As a Gen Z reader, I found this incredibly insightful, horrifying, and unsurprising. I already recommended it to a teacher friend of mine who has been overwhelmed by the surge of phone use in school and what it’s doing to kids’ brains and learning capacities. This is not the first book I’ve read that deals with this topic, and it’s always interesting to gain more insight into how screens & social media are moulding children’s & teens’ brains as they did my own.  As this is coming from a secular author there were certain things I didn’t agree with, but I thought most of his ideas for taking action were reasonable and doable. I enjoy books that clarify things with graphs and visuals, and this was one of those. I think it’s great that this book is reaching a wide audience at the moment, as awareness is key in the battle against screen-induced brain-rot!

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

Fascinating study of discomfort through the ages and how it leads to human resilience, combined with a memoir of the author’s extreme, month-long hunting trip in rough Alaska. I learned a lot about how various discomforts benefit us, such as silence, physical exertion, boredom, weather extremes, etc. His thoughts on each of these topics was intriguing, and he interviewed knowledgeable people in each of the fields to enhance and broaden our understanding. I leave this book with a desire to allow discomfort into my comfortable modern life a little more often than I currently do, now that I have some more specific ideas to focus on.

The downside to this book is of course that the author writes from an evolutionary perspective, which bleeds into much of his research. I also recall not necessarily agreeing with some of the chapters on hunger and food, but I’m used to that. I just found the heavy emphasis on fibre kind of strange considering the ancestors he so often referred to for everything else tended to consume more animal food than plant food (though most people groups were still omnivores to an extent, climate allowing).

|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||

Read for Sheologians book club this past month and was surprised by how much I loved it! I’m very familiar with the various movie renditions, having watched them dozens of times growing up, but the book is even more full of character. Maybe I’ll start a tradition of reading this every couple Christmas seasons along with, or even instead of one of the films. Scrooge is ridiculously well-written in every phase of his heart transformation. Turns out Dickens is amazing at portraying subtleties of character. I was thoroughly gutted by some of the more emotional moments in the story, despite knowing they were coming. The last chapter certainly did not disappoint. Fantastic book.

Bedroom scene, and hints of more in the future

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

This was a very fun read, rich with cosmere references (which I’m finally starting to get more often, now that I’ve worked my way through more of the cosmere. It feels great). Loved the Asian setting with all the unique fantasy concepts brought into it—it’s a whole new feel for Sanderson in many ways while retaining what his books are known and loved for. Sanderson’s secret projects have been such a superb way to unwind, and I just have one more to go!