Loving Kindness by Bram Barouh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This book was supposed to be a meditation guide. The reader does a decent job, but there’s way too much to think of if I’m trying to relax. I didn’t find it useful at all.
CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE SOUNDSCAPE by Gordon Hempton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was another freebie I got in the effort to find mediation and relaxation books. I was a little nervous about the possibility that the water sounds might activate my bladder, but they didn’t. It did make me sleep, though.
I spent a little time wondering why I didn’t hear any seagulls. I will need to look up if deals are only on the west coast or why there weren’t any during the recording. Something to do later, I guess
The Perfect Swing by James McGirk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I picked this up as a free meditation book on Audible. I was skeptical about it being calming, because it’s a baseball story. Something about the reader’s voice and the way he read the story put me to sleep almost immediately. Three different times!
It was an interesting story, so I’m not sure why it worked, but it did. I had to go back and listen to it when I wasn’t sleepy at all. Great story with great information, told beautifully. But, it does double as a sleep aid.
Goodnight Smartphone by Arianna Huffington
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The story was great, in theory. It’s about turning off devices before bed. It starts out with an author’s note, explaining why. That part was fine. Unfortunately, a lot of the reasons why are repeated in the story, so it doesn’t flow as nicely as it should.
The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book. I knew going in that it was going to be a difficult subject, but I had no idea! I am very unfamiliar with Canadian history, so I found myself looking things up as I went along. One of the benefits of historical fiction is that the facts are researchable.
I didn’t know, up until the very end, where the story was taking the reader. It was torture, but it got me to the point where I couldn’t put the book down. It was definitely worth reading.
Idiot by Laura Clery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I recently discovered the author of this book by her videos on Facebook. She is funny and I truly enjoy watching her. When I discovered that she’d written a book, I just had to read it!
The book was humorous, but touched on some rather difficult parts in her life. I am very glad that she wrote the book. I know several people who would be helped by hearing her story. It stopped abruptly with the birth of her son. I hope she writes a second book about parenthood. Her videos about it are funny, and I can only imagine that the stuff that comes with raising children would be just as humorous.
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was kind of a heavy story. I wasn’t going to read it since the bookclub meeting for it was cancelled. It arrived from the library when I didn’t have other holds coming in, so I decided to read it anyway.
The first half of the story was on the slow side, but was enjoyable. Halfway through the book, the entire feeling of the book changed. It became an adventure that I wasn’t expecting. Many parts of it were stressful, but I needed to know what happened, so I finished it. I am glad I did.
I wasn’t thrilled with the way it ended, but I was kind of expecting it to end that way.
I don’t know that I would pick up other books by this author, although she wrote beautifully. It just wasn’t my usual genre.
