Books Read Last Week

​13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do: Take Back Your Power, Embrace Change, Face Your Fears, and Train Your Brain for Happiness and Success
by Amy Morin

I read this on my phone, so it was like having a therapist in my back pocket for a few days.  This book does inspire one to be their best self, to act like an adult, to quit being an idiot in general.  The author generally steers away from buzzwords and annoying psycho-babble, but I did have a belly laugh over her description of what mindful eating looks like.  I loved her stories of household names who were able to overcome obstacles, find mental strength, and be successful. 
Thumbs down on her sneak preview of 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do.  The first book is universal and solid.  Throwing a second book out there specific to women feels like wringing as much money as possible out of what was basically a listicle fluffed into a book.  It’s like when Sex and the City was a great TV series, and then it was an okay-ish movie, and then it was just a crap movie sequel.  Stop while you’re ahead, I say.
Pair with:  Something healthy like baby carrots, and eat them mindfully.  

We Have Always Lived in the Castle                       
by Shirley Jackson

This whole book felt like someone’s hazy dream to me.  While I can certainly appreciate a concise story, I felt that this was so sparse that I didn’t have a firm grip on what was going on at any given time.  I can see why my book club opted for this story as a perfect creepy Halloween tale.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the others thought.  I’m seeing a lot of 3 star reviews from them on Goodreads, and I concur.
Pair With:  A cup of tea, hold the arsenic-laced sugar.  Sip while imaging walking on the corpses of people who terrorize you when you go into town.
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That's it for last week!  Currently I'm reading a 600+ pager about nuns and am halfway through a family saga that involves all of the best characters dying horrific deaths.  

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