Even before I read this book, I knew that I am someone who’s the prime target for a gamified life. After all, I spent months trying and failing to get the motivation to re-start exercising regularly. But after I bought a second-hand Apple Watch and downloaded the Lumi app, I started going to the gym.… Read More Book Review: You’ve Been Played by Adrian Hon
I first heard about Der Ling when a friend mentioned that there was a Manchu “princess” who spoke English, Chinese/Manchu, and French. She was given the title “Princess” when she served as Lady-in-Waiting to Empress Dowager Cixi, and she also lived overseas for a significant period of time before and after entering the palace. Her… Read More Book Review: Two Years in the Forbidden Palace by Der Ling
After yesterday’s review of how social media and influencing could harm someone, I thought it would be interesting to review another book on influencers; this time looking at how influencing can harm others. This book is about Belle Gibson, the wellness influencer who was found to have faked a cancer diagnosis (meaning her story of… Read More Book Review: The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano
I’ve followed Claire for a while now because I find her enneagram approach to writing characters to be really helpful (I’ve had alignment sessions with her before as well); it focuses on the core desires and fears of a character and feels a bit more intuitive than deciding what a character’s MBTI is (or however… Read More Book Review: Reclaim Your Author Career by Claire Taylor
Do you play games? I have to admit that if I have time, I prefer to read or watch a show than play a game (the gamification of our lives is a different thing). The only games that I’ve picked up recently are Pokemon Masters (smartphone game) and Magic: The Gathering (card game). Well, neither… Read More Book Review: Seven Games by Oliver Roeder
“Domestic preoccupation is not a sign of the death of love; it is what we start to get involved with when love has succeeded brilliantly.” Someone on bookstagram recommended this as one of her favourite books from the School of Life. Since I enjoyed How to be Bored, I decided that I had to read… Read More Book Review: The Sorrows of Love by The School of Life
This is where I admit that due to my unmanageable TBR list, I have lost track of how I first came to hear about this book. But, I remember why I read it – I really like to read books about writing! Someone told me that Reflections was good and despite me not finishing Howl’s… Read More Book Review: Reflections – On the Magic of Writing by Diana Wynne Jones
I’ve always had a very laissez-faire approach to punctuation; if it looks right, it probably is. Which is also how I end up using too! many! exclamation! points! The Accidental Apostrophe is supposed to help with those problems. Subtitled “And Other Misadventures in Punctuation”, Taggart uses a conversational tone to discuss the uses and rules… Read More Book Review: The Accidental Apostrophe by Caroline Taggart
Here’s another book that has been on my TBR list for a while! I heard of William Dalrymple when This Nook Is For A Book posted about From the Holy Mountain, also by Dalrymple all the way back in 2020! I thought it sounded fascinating and finally borrowed City of Djinns from the library. Subtitled:… Read More Book Review: City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
Earlier this year, I read a book about the history of English magic and wondered, not for the first time, about the relationship between magic/folklore/fairies and the Church. So I was really excited when I found out that my questions have been at least partially answered in this book: Elf Queens and Holy Friars by… Read More Book Review: Elf Queens and Holy Friars by Richard Firth Green