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Rachel G. (roach808) - - Reviews

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The 7 habits of Highly Effective People : 15th Anniversary Edition
Review Date: 12/23/2015


Of course, they're great concepts. I honestly think I got the most out of the updated anniversary edition part where Stephen Covey answers some questions. It was refreshing to hear that he still struggles with many of the 7 habits regularly. Really, we're all human and these are great ideals to strive for. I can jive with that. Was my life changed? Nah, but will it help me remember how to help myself and my relationships with others? Sure!


Accidents of Nature
Accidents of Nature
Author: Harriet McBryde Johnson
Book Type: Audio CD
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 5/19/2015


What an interested "read!" While there were a couple parts in the end where I felt it could have ended at a nice place, it was overall a heartfelt read. I really felt connected to Jean and Sarah and the gang. As a kid who always went to camp myself, I totally got it and it really drew me in.


After Cancer Care: The Definitive Self-Care Guide to Getting and Staying Well for Patients after Cancer
Review Date: 12/9/2015


This is a really well written, easy to read book. The format is clear, there isn't unexplained jargon, and these doctors get it. Now, I've never had cancer, but I was interested in this as a book to pass on to others. I received it free from the publisher through GoodReads Giveaways for a review.

I'm actually pleased to review this book. As someone else mentioned in their review, this is a good book to read even if you don't have cancer and hope to do as much as you can to prevent it - knowing that you can't really ever have 100% prevention of cancer.

The authors are doctors who know that their kind can sometimes be uppity, defensive and have a sense of superiority. They help explain why that is sometimes evident in client care and how you can still work with your provider to both be happy. They give some really good and useful tips on WHY you should eat or not eat certain things -- giving explanations that those health magazine articles and slideshows on major websites don't give. And yet, they were able to explain it in a way that made sense.

Now, there is a lot of repetition in this book - and for good reason. We humans need to hear the same things many different times and in different ways to start to make changes in our lives. I can't promise I'll do all that I need to do to be healthy and hopefully prevent cancer -- but this did five me some motivation that something is better than nothing and some small changes that I can start to make right way to be more healthy.

Will definitely pass this one on.


Aleutian Sparrow
Aleutian Sparrow
Author: Karen Hesse, Kim McGillivray, Karen Hesse, Kim McGillivray
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 3
Review Date: 6/5/2014


I do love Alaskana, even though it's often a difficult, sad, and trying history. Hesse has an amazing ability to share such a rich history in such few words. Though this is actually fiction, there is so much truth.


Armageddon in Retrospect
Armageddon in Retrospect
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 10
Review Date: 8/3/2014


Well, that was different. Different, but good. If you love Vonnegut for who he is and what he writes you'll enjoy it. Yet, these short stories are different. Published posthumously they're not necessarily the normal stories you'd see -- perhaps he'd never meant for them to be published. Yet, I'm glad they were and to see this side of Vonnegut.


Baby's First Felony (Cecil Younger, Bk 7)
Baby's First Felony (Cecil Younger, Bk 7)
Author: John Straley
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 11/11/2018


While there were parts that moved too quickly (glossed over things that seemed important), the style of speaking to readers made for a more interesting read, and living in SE Alaska, the familiar places made it heartwarming despite the tragedies found within.


Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Author: Atul Gawande
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 44
Review Date: 1/29/2018


I sure enjoyed the ways that Gawande made me think about aging and dying and how to have the hard conversations early. I think my daddio would appreciate this as a hospice chaplain.


Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions
Review Date: 3/3/2018


Yup, a solid 3 stars. I liked it. It was interesting, fascinating even. But, as many have noted, the title is a misnomer. I was expecting some really extreme religions and more variety. I also wasn't really expecting these women to all be writers. Nevertheless, I appreciated this book, the intent of it, and the voice that these women gained.


Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
Author: Susan Kuklin
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 4
Review Date: 12/1/2019


It's awkward to give a rating for this. I so much appreciated this book -- my 4 (vs. 5 stars) is that some of the stories were just logistically challenging to read and follow. Kuklin had a difficult job ahead of her to pull stories that make sense to others who weren't there, and unfortunately it just wasn't there for me in every single story.

Photos, glossary and resources -- ALL AMAZING.


Beyond the Bear: How I Learned to Live and Love Again after Being Blinded by a Bear
Review Date: 7/3/2021


Real, authentic, valuable, and also he manages to answers all the questions in the back of your mind that feel rude to ask.


BirthCONTROL: A Husband's Honest Account of Pregnancy
BirthCONTROL: A Husband's Honest Account of Pregnancy
Author: James Vavasour
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 8/12/2015


First, let me be clear that by reading this book I am NOT pregnant, nor do I want to be. However, I am fascinated by people who do want to be parents and the whole process. I advocate for honesty and truthtelling when you get into parenthood and pregnancy and humor is a great vehicle for it. Vavasour is definitely a funny guy and I really appreciated that this was short, readable, and yet still packed with tons of legitimate information. Overall, it had a good fun factor and was satisfying.

My copy was autographed too!


Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration
Review Date: 3/21/2022


Disclaimer 1: I was given a copy from the publisher through GoodReads giveaways.
Disclaimer 2: I am a white woman.

I put my name in for this because it sounded like the kind of read that someone who's working on their allyship could benefit from. And, I agree. Though it isn't written for white people, I appreciated the way that Lewis-Giggetts talked about trauma in some really eloquent and also creative ways.

Another key takeaway that I found helpful was to frequently reference that Blackness is not monolithic. There are nuances galore that mean no one person can speak for everyone else; and yet . . . yet, there's still this need for a book that gives a group of people permission to seek, experience, and feel joy because there is a collective experience that has made this a challenge. It's a hard thing to write a book for a wide audience and also point out that it can't be everything for everyone. Overall, Lewis-Giggetts did a nice job with this balance.

Another thing I enjoyed was how she spoke about her hometown of Louisville. I didn't know this before hand and while I didn't identify with everything she talked about in relationship to that; growing up in Kentucky, where I no longer live, I felt connections as she talked about that indelible thread that keeps you drawn to where you grew up.

From the essay The Right Kind of Chili, "There isn't one way to be Black. Yet, at that same time, I'm incredibly curious about the thread that binds those collective differences together. The thing that makes Blackness so identifiable no matter where you are in this country or the world. And Lord knows, it can't just be struggle. Our struggle cannot be the sole thing cementing our identity and linking me to other Black folks across the Diaspora."

And again, I'm reviewing it, because I'm supposed to, but this is not a guide for white people to learn how to be allies. That's not to say there isn't an aspect of this book that includes it; but this is a personal collection of essays. It's current and relevant (#pandemiclife) and is admittedly her own story. While this isn't a keeper-on-the-shelf for me, it is absolutely a passer-on-er.


Blonde Indian: An Alaska Native Memoir (Sun Tracks)
Blonde Indian: An Alaska Native Memoir (Sun Tracks)
Author: Ernestine Hayes
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 5/26/2023


This book is part memoir, part novel and part nature essay with a little poetry thrown in. Some parts are beautifully written and very poetic, but overall I think it's really inconsistent, repetitive and jumpy.


The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love
The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love
Author: Sonya Renee Taylor
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 7/9/2019


If you have a body, you need to read this. It's not just about being cognizant of size and fat shaming; it's about body terrorism in general. Able-ism, ageism, all of it.


The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things
Review Date: 5/17/2019


While I got the book for myself, I ended up bringing it to work and reading a little section of it for my co-workers at the end of a relatively boring meeting each week. It became a bit of a tradition and everyone ended up looking forward to our reading from "The Book of Awesome."

I appreciate books like this for the place they have in this world to uplift and bring joy.


The Book of 'Unnecessary' Quotation Marks: A Celebration of Creative Punctuation
Review Date: 9/11/2014


Wondermous for entertainment. Tragic for humanity.


Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
Review Date: 7/7/2014


Endearing. A similar sort of vein as "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" but it gave the more real feel because it is. It's legitimate and wholesomely honest. I mean, sure, there were times that I skipped over the mathematical schtuff, but it still gave it the feel that it was his life and how Daniel thinks. Overall, I dig it.


The Boy in the Snow (Edie Kiglatuk Mysteries, Book 2)
The Boy in the Snow (Edie Kiglatuk Mysteries, Book 2)
Author: M.J. McGrath
Book Type: Audio CD
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 2/19/2019


Though this is the second in a series, it was my first Edie Kiglatuk mystery. I found it at my local library on Audiobook to work for the PopSugar Challenge prompt #30:A book featuring an amateur detective and appreciated that it was set in Alaska, though McGrath is not an Alaskan.

I felt like the narrator did a pretty good job with pronunciations overall and then got weird with words like penitentiary pronouncing it peni-ten-she-airy like I've never heard it pronounced before.

I had a hard time keeping track of all of Edie's friends and their significance and relevance, maybe it wouldn't have been so hard for me if I wasn't stepping in to book #2?

But, I thought the mystery was good, Edie's amateur detectiving was good, and it suited me just fine!


Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone
Review Date: 11/20/2017


I own another Brene Brown, but haven't read it yet, so this is my first one. I find her to be very real and able to be non-partisan and speak to just about everyone (though I'm certainly not everyone). I will certainly be using the BRAVING acronym in my life in the future.


Brooklyn Follies CD
Brooklyn Follies CD
Author: Paul Auster
Book Type: Audio CD
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 2/15/2015


So, honestly, I bought this to trade on PBS and I got it cheap at the bookstore on 75% clearance rack. But, what I found was a real gem. I'd read Timbuktu from Auster before and I very much enjoyed his character, Uncle Nat, Tom, Aurora and of course Lucy. The hijinks and humor fit into Nat's life among just a year or so is unique, interesting and fun to listen to with the author reading the audiobook.


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