It has been a while since we spoke about Non Fiction books here, hasn’t it? In the May’s edition of review shots I am going to talk about three different kinds of non fiction – a poetry from a new age poet that I love, a comic about us, and a world war II memoir. Did I pique your interest? So let us get started!
Disclaimer
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sharing a copy for review and it no way affected my unbiased and honest opinion.
I am sure Lang Leav is no stranger to any of us. And in her sixth book she has brought her magic back. I kept underlining her and highlighting so many of her lines, especially the ones about abuse in relationships and being a strong woman.
When my best friend told me
she was in love
my first thought was,
‘I hope he is good to her.’
And it suddenly occurred to me,
what I held in my heart for her
was hope, when it should
have been expectation.
I love that her prose/poetry has always been easy to read and relate. I have felt in her earlier works she talks a little too much about heartbreak and being in love for my taste, and there is nothing wrong about that and it is just me, not her. But she has proved herself as a matured writer in this one.
Final thought: Though monotonous at times, the author moved past from the heartbreaks to more mature subjects.
Recommended to: If you liked her previous works, this should be on your list as well
Have you ever thought about the crazy things that you been doing as a bookworm? Of course I would not blame you because I do them as well. And this book is for you. I can’t recommend this enough to anyone who loves books.
Book love kept me grinning throughout the book because it was all true. And it was as if someone took a peek into my life and just drew them but in a less clumsy way.
Though it would hardly take an hour to finish this one, I would suggest to go through this book slowly and enjoy taking a laugh at yourself.
Final thought: Catch yourself smiling at the quirky bookworm habits
I read The Zookeeper’s Wife for the A-Z reading challenge last year and I have no idea why I had not reviewed it until now, other than the fact that I forgot to. And there is a well known movie as well adapted from this historical drama.
The invasion of Germany into Poland and the consequent bombing affected not only the people but also the animals that were held in the Polish zoos. The zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski save Jews by letting the stay in the empty cages. The Zookeeper’s wife follows the life of a ‘sorta’ family that socializes with ‘guests’ after the dark and caring for the animals during the day.
I love reading the Holocaust and WW II novels so I quickly jumped at the chance to read this one. But I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to. There were more interesting parts, like where Jan tries to help the prisoners escape than the zoo life at home.
Final thought: Interesting premise even if it is slow and dragging at places
Recommended to: History buffs.
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Have you read any of these books? Do you read poetry as much as you like to? What is your feedback ratio on Netgalley? Let us talk.
There are a few perks of being a person (that’s me!!) who reads all the genres of books. The best thing would be being able to switch from a super cute YA romance to a feminist masterpiece without much ado. Once in a while it helps me to move away from the fictitious world to the more serious real world. And this week I will let you know what I thought about three non fiction books that were sent to me for review.
Let us quickly get on to this week’s review shots, shall we?
Tanya’s poetry on the plight of women all over the world in the form of poetry would move you to tears. Taking a leaf from her own and others’ lives she reflects on everything that drives women or oppress them. She talks about motherhood, womanhood, feminism, sexuality, Christianity and racism. I am glad that she speaks about the strong and loving men in her world as well.
My personal favorite would be “Raising Cane for its Sugar” that talks about the preference for male child, which is still a thing that happens in Indian culture as well. It would be hard to read Every Watering Word without the truth hitting hard.
Final thought: Bitter truth
Recommended to: Anyone who calls themselves feminist and lovers of poetry.
It has been a while since Chris sent me a copy of his book but it came at a right time when I was contemplating my move to a self hosted website (yes it seems a long time ago) and / or stepping up a business for myself. Internet Business Insights is a wealth of information for anyone who is thinking of or has already set up an online business.
Chris has insights from 101 successful entrepreneurs who have made it already in the internet business world. He asked them questions on what works and what doesn’t. Sure it gets repetitive over a while, because there are patterns and those patterns are the ones you need to watch out for. Internet Business Insights is not a book that you can read at a stretch, you should do what I did – take it one at a time.
Final thought: Massive number of Q & A about making it in the internet business world
Recommended to: Anyone who has or going to set up an online business.
It has been a while since I laughed this much at something I shouldn’t be. Oh, okay not so long ago because I was laughing at this same book about 3 years ago. Alli Brosh is my kind of person. By that I mean someone messed up but in a good way. Okay not so good. Whatever.
If you are a person who has ever been on the internet you should have see Allie’ website Hyperbole and a half. No? Then you should have at least seen this drawing that has been around the web for a while now. Yes that is Allie’s work.
See you know her! And you need to read her book, if you have not already.
Even if you have never heard of her or her drawings, you should read it.
Okaye seriously, I have not read any online comics that has made me giggle as much as Allie has. She talks about serious stuff lie depression, loneliness and cake and all I can think of is how awesome she is. I am giving up. I don’t think I can do a proper review of her book. Just go read it.
Final thought: You HAVE to read it or at least check her blog out.
Recommended to: Anyone and everyone
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Let us chat
So what do you think of this week’s choices in the review shots? What genre you do not read at all and why? Let us talk.
Remember that new shiny thing we started last month? Not the Flyaway Friday feature, I know it is a fabulous. But the other one – yeah my way to overcome the long pending backlog of review books.
Oh yes, we are making that regular feature based on the comments I saw on that post. So every month the first Monday review edition oh Elgee Writes will have the bite sized edition of book reviews and the other Mondays will continue to have long (and longer) review (rather book rants) as usual.
If any of has seen my social feed you will know that I have an unhealthy obsession (for an adult) over cartoons and comic strips. So when I saw that the Sarah Andersen publication was offering Herding Cats for review at Netgalley I downloaded it before I could even read the blurb. Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen was the last book I read in 2017, and to be precise on 31 December 2017 after 10 PM. Yes it was worth staying in cuddled with my e-reader instead of partying on the New Year’s Eve.
Herding Cats is a very short (100+ pages) collection of Sarah’s depiction of her love for cats and other pets, autumn as well as her trying to adult. It is the third part of the Sarah Scribbles series. Every one I know will be able to relate to her cartoons and it will sure leave a grin on their faces. It is one of those books that will make you feel ‘Glad I am not the only weird one’ and wish it was longer.
But if you are looking for a common thread of cartoons (like the others in the series), you won’t find any. It is seemingly a bunch of random cartoons (that we love and are fabulous) by Sarah strewn together.
Final thought: Loved it.
Recommended to: All book lovers, millennials and cartoon lovers.
You all know how craft challenged I am, and my last water coloring project made me question all my ‘sensible shopping’ techniques. So when I stumbled across Everyday Watercolor by Jenna Rainey in Netgalley, I decided I will give water coloring a final try. And Jenna Rainey delivered exactly what it promised. NO I didn’t turn out to be an artist but now I at least now I can make a not so messy painting (which is by itself a grand achievement).
Everyday Watercolor teaches simple techniques to paint right from brush strokes and increasing the complexity day by day (in 30 days). I liked Jenna Rainey’s encouraging tone and attention to small details while teaching. I definitely will not throw my water color supplies yet.
Final thought: Perfect starter pack for learning water color.
Recommended to: Anyone interested in learning water coloring.
Find Your Awesome is an entertaining step by step instruction workbook that will help you introspect and learn to love yourself. This book is in the form of a 30 day challenge, but you can shorten or lengthen the period according to your need. I took more than 30 days to do some and I didn’t even do those challenges in that order (which probably is not how you should do).
If you are looking for a life changing piece of advice, then Find Your Awesome may not be your book. But you will definitely love it if you are up for fun and encouraging challenge to do. The book has place for you to write your lists and goals (like a journal) but I ended up using the good ol’ pen and paper.
Final thought: Entertaining way to introspect and accept self love.
Recommended to: Self help lovers who are looking for a monthly challenge.
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Let us chat
Do you like reading these tiny non fiction books? Should I continue with these review shots? Let me know whatever you think.
