Byrd Nash shows how three siblings got over their troubled past in her book, A Spell of Rowans, a mystic, magical realism about family, dark magic, and murder.   

    The author brings us to a small town unknowingly gripped by the surreptitious, evil business run by Rachel Rowan. When she died, the Rowan siblings returned, and this made the authorities questioned not only her death but also harked back to the issue of the old cold case murder of their father, Victor. It had been going around town that the three siblings had something to do with it. This aggravated the emotional turmoil in the family.    

    These many challenges that the Rowan siblings faced stirred a lot of emotions in me;  anger at how their mother treated them when they were still young; sympathy for the siblings who had to deal with difficult situations because of the death of their parents; fear that the justice would not be on their side; fascination about the power of an empath; curiosity about their neighbors’ reaction and reception to the siblings’ power;  and hope that everything would end up well for the family and for the town. With all these emotions that I felt while reading, I could say that the book is difficult to forget.    

    Another thing that I liked which surprised me was the romantic part of the story. We have this word in Filipino that describes romantic excitement or the feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you see your crush or someone being romantically sweet to another person. The word is “kilig”. The romantic story definitely has a kilig factor for me. The author was able to fuse this part into the main story well.   

    Also, the twist in the story was unexpected. I didn’t see it coming until the author revealed the person who started all the chaos in Rowans’ lives. 

    On the other hand, there’s one thing that I wished to know, the history of their mother. I wanted to understand why she became wicked not only towards her children but also to their neighbors. 

    I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this book. If you are into magical realism, this book is for you.

    I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you Byrd Nash and Book Siren. 

In his book Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results. Larry Kendall, one of the founding partners of The Group, Inc., a real estate company in Northern Colorado, outlines the principles of a system that guarantees success not only in selling but also in other fields. Kendall believes people can become the best version of themselves, and make their organizations the best as well.

Kendall compares customer-centered, humble, world-class sellers to ninjas, the covert army of emperors in ancient Japan who used ninjutsu or the art of stealth in protecting the empire. They are “quiet, unassuming, talented people who got results without ego.”

In order to be a ninja seller, you need to have the right mindset, master the four principles, and use specific selling strategies.

Some Takeaways

• There are four principles in ninja selling:

Principle 1: Personal Mastery.

Principle 2: Stop Selling! Start Solving!

Principle 3: Ninja Business Strategy.

Principle 4: Connect and Communicate.

• There are four quadrants of emotional energy: low positive, high positive, low negative, high negative. To perform well, a seller must stay in the high positive and low positive quadrant.

• At the base of the brain is a group of cells called the Reticular Activating System that operates as the central processing unit of a computer. It only has two pathways: negative and positive. “The quality of my life will be determined, in large part, by the amount of time I spend on the positive pathway of my RAS.”

• Solving, serving, and giving value add up to a picture of a true ninja selling.

• The regularity of interaction that is called flow with customers keeps a business alive.

• A successful real estate agent has skills that help customers make good decisions. In this book, these skills are applied with the Ten-Step Buyer Process and the Sixteen-Step Seller Process.

Thoughts…Thoughts…Thoughts…

I got this book on Amazon Kindle because it’s only $0.99 and I thought why not give it a try. On the cover, it doesn’t say that it’s actually all about selling houses. Half of the book was so useful for me; the other half, I couldn’t relate to. For sure, aspiring and full-fledged real estate agents can find this book useful.

The idea that brought a greater impact to me is the power of PIE time. Time is categorized into three: productive, indirectly productive, and everything else. The seller, customer, and a contract make the productive time. At an indirectly productive time, the seller works on creating P time by making customer service calls, real estate reviews, and running your three-per-month auto-flow system, for example. Lastly, E Time is for everything else: watching soccer games, sleep, family time, and other activities that do not include the customer, directly or indirectly.

How can I apply PIE time in my life? I see P time as the time to reach my goal. For example, if I want to improve my writing, my P time would be the writing time, the time I let the words flow my mind into the paper. Setting the time and making writing goals are my I time. Anything unrelated to writing is my E time. I have to be conscious about how I spend my time if I want to become a better writer, if not the best.

Discussion Questions

1. Every time you hear the word ninja, what comes to your mind?

2. What is ninja selling?

3. Do you agree with the author that this book can also be applied to other fields?

4. What have you learned from this book?

5. How would you apply the principles in your life?

Further Information

Title: Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results

Author: Larry Kendall

Genre: Business and Personal Finance

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press (January, 3, 2017)

Publication Date: January, 3, 2017

Print length: 345 pages

ASIN: B01MTR49WK

Quotes

⭐⭐⭐🌠☆ 3.5 

    The Thousandth Floor, the first book of The Thousandth Floor series by Katharine McGee, revolves around the lives of five teenagers– Avery Fuller, Leda Cole, Rylin Myer, Watt Bakradi, and Eris Dodd-Radson– coming from different social classes, enmeshed in friendship, love, betrayal, and controversy. The series is regarded as the “futuristic Gossip Girl” set in the year 2118.  

    Even though I am not a big fan of teen dramas, I still enjoyed the other components of the novel. I am fascinated by the futuristic world that McGee created that showcases new technology, food, transportation, business establishments, and residential spaces that can be found inside the Tower, a 10,560-feet skyscraper with 1,000 floors, in New York City. It’s almost like 4 Burj Khalifas placed on top of each other. According to her website, McGee based the concept of the mega-structure on vertical urbanization, “the idea that cities of the future will grow upward rather than outward.” Aside from being a sustainable and high-tech habitat in 2118, the tower marks the social classes of the people living there— those who live on higher floors belong to a higher class. The Tower is an incredible setting that keeps the story in motion, displays the proclivity of the characters, and increases my emotional experiences as a reader. 

    As for the story, the pace is mainly influenced by two emotional drivers: forbidden love and unrequited love. These forces weave the paths of the teenagers into a web of lies that eventually leads to an unexpected, unspoken, reluctant agreement to keep their secrets from the authorities, their family, and friends, or else their lives will be destroyed. Told from different perspectives,  the story was overwhelming at first as I followed the narrative of different characters but I was absorbed and intrigued by the characters eventually despite their teenage idiosyncrasies. 

If you enjoy teenage drama and science fiction, this book is for you.

Discussion Questions

1. How many main characters are there in the story? What do you think about having multiple main characters?

2. The story is told from different perspectives, how does it affect the story?

3. Who among the main characters do you identify with the most? Explain. 

4. What makes the relationship among the main characters complicated? Why?

5. What is your opinion about the ending?

6. The Tower is an unbelievable mega-structure where you can find houses, restaurants, parks, hospitals, and other important establishments. What do you think about this vertical urban city?

7. What can you say about the new technologies described in the novel? Which one is your favorite and why?

8. How do you imagine cities in 2118? Cite specific examples. 

9. What emotions were evoked as you read the novel?

10. Who would you recommend this book to?

Further Information

Title: The Thousandth Floor

Author: Katharine McGee

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; Reprint edition (June 6, 2017)

Publication Date: June 6, 2017

Print length: 496 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062418602

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062418609

Loic Ekinga Kalonji, a Congolese poet, storyteller, and a screenwriting student, expressed the ebb and flow, the pain and pleasure in his life in this book, How to Wake a Butterfly. The author wrote about “the different stages in life, from childhood memories, trauma, heartbreak, and new-found love.”

His poetry and fiction sheds light on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of being human with the use of a surrealist approach to storytelling. His works appear in Type/Cast Magazine, Ja. Magazine, Poetry Potion, and The Kalahari Review. He received an honorable mention award from JK Anowe for Praxis Magazine Online for his chapbook Twelve Things You Failed at As A Man. He currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. (How To Wake a Butterfly – Odyssey Books, 2021)

My Thoughts 

Life is a series of ups and downs, love and loss, endings and new beginnings. This is the realization that came to my mind after reading How to Wake a Butterfly. The free verse poems that are composed of carefully-chosen words awakened sentimentality and acceptance of the verities of life that make Loic’s poetry engaging. 

Written during the lockdown, Loic was compelled to reflect on his life and transformed his emotions into words. I am thankful to have read his poems because it made me contemplate on my life as well. My dreams, heartaches, laughter, tears, challenges and achievements came before my eyes. What has become of me? 

I appreciate this book so much as it is a reminder that despite life’s pain, there is beauty and freedom; I just have to find it in myself, struggle until I make peace with my past and my flaws, emerge from the chrysalis of change and self-discovery, and fly like a butterfly. 

Among the poems in the book, the most memorable one for me is entitled “Mutilate” , which is about his mother leaving them.

“I’ve found no comfort, son.

I left for you, because sometimes, 

To save the hand, you cut off a finger.”

The sacrifice of a mother is painful but necessary for the well-being of her children. In turn, seeing the children turn into successful individuals is a great blessing. I saw the video of his mother that Loic posted on Twitter on May 31, 2021. In the video, her mother’s love and gratitude  could be felt.  Also, it goes without saying how proud she is for her son. 

“The day has come. God blessed me a lot. I got a copy of the book my son wrote… When you read this, you’re gonna get tears on your eyes.”

Kudos to you, Loic Ekinga, for making your mama proud. 🙂

My Rating: 5/5

Discussion Questions

1. What did you learn from this book?

2. Has this book changed the way you see yourself?

3. Discuss some of the questions this book raises. 

4.How did the author express his emotions through words?

5. Which passages of the book are the most gripping? Why?

Thank you Odyssey Books for the chance to review this book. I understand that I would give it an honest review.

Further Information

Title: How To Wake a Butterfly

Author: Loic Ekinga

Genre: Poetry

Publisher: Odyssey Books (May 26, 2021)

Publication Date: May 26, 2021

Print length: 89 pages

ASIN:  B095MG2DRB

Quotes

References: 

How To Wake a Butterfly – Odyssey Books. (2021, March 23). Odyssey Books. https://www.odysseybooks.com.au/titles/9781922311306/

Loic Ekinga on. (2021, May 31). [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/1stLoicYouKnow/status/1399286831380930564

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

INTRODUCTION

Jason Fink wants to be a force for good in the world. To fulfill this, he uses his knowledge and influence as a writer even though his attention deficit disorder (ADD) is holding him back. He prefers writing short stories as novels take time; he tends to jump from one project to the next. Under his belt are several books with short stories. One of his books, Selected Stories,  contains stories from different genres from sci-fi to romance.

OVERVIEW

Learn how to compose captivating short stories quickly with this book as you are guided through the writing process. 

You are also going to be equipped with the right skills in coming up with story ideas and improving your craft. 

The guide gives practical and effective tips and tools.

It is for everyone, regardless of writing experience. 

The bonus section at the end of this book is a must-read for writers who are struggling with ADHD.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Short stories are a powerful form of storytelling that can have a profound impact on readers. They can be used to explore complex themes, develop characters, and create a sense of suspense or surprise. Short stories can also be used to reflect on the human condition or to provide a glimpse into a different world.
• The five-day writing plan gives you tools and techniques to develop your own unique style and voice as a writer. 
• Writing short stories have a lot of benefits:
• This is an excellent way to practice and improve your writing. You can experiment with different writing styles, genres, plots, characters, and settings. 
• You can build your writing portfolio. 
• It is therapeutic. 
• The use of AI chatbots can hasten the process of writing and overcome writer’s block. 
• Everyone’s writing journey is unique. Some writers find success quickly, while others take more time.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

1. What are the five steps in writing a short story? Is it doable? Why or why not?
2. What are the most important tips that the author gave? Why?
3. How can you apply what you learned from the book to your own writing?
4. What challenges writers could encounter in following the five-day plan?
5. What do you think about using AI chatbots in writing short stories? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages.
6. Do you think AI chatbots will replace short story writers? Why or why not?
7. How has the book changed your thinking on the use of AI and writing stories?
8. What questions would you ask the author?
9. What are some of the things you agree with the author on?
10. What are some of the things you disagree with the author on?

QUOTES

Short stories are a powerful medium that can convey a wide range of emotions, ideas, and perspectives. – Kindle Location 121

By following this five-day plan, you will have a completed short story that you can be proud of. Along the way, you’ll learn valuable writing skills and techniques that you can apply to all of your future writing projects. – Kindle Locations 166-168

Writing short stories can bring many benefits to writers of all levels. First and foremost, it is an excellent way to practice and improve your writing skills. Writing short stories allows you to experiment with different writing styles, characters, and plot structures, which can help you develop your own unique voice and writing style.– Kindle Location 148

WHAT I LOVED

• All the important things that a short story writer needs to know are all packed in this guide. From character, setting, and plot development to writing mechanics and publishing, the author made sure that he left no stone unturned. I appreciate the last part which is about how to create a writing habit if you have ADHD. 
• There are so many things to learn from this book. One of the things I learned is writing is a process. I’m too embarrassed to share this but I thought writers just write compelling stories in one sitting. I thought that a good writer comes up with stories quickly. I didn’t know that it involves a lot of planning, pondering, knowledge, and skills. This book changed my perspective on writing. 
• The five-day plan for developing and writing a story is easy to follow. The author put together the steps, ideas, and tips for each day. 

WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE

• The author did a great job in explaining the steps and giving helpful tips, however, he didn’t put much of his personality. I also wanted to know his journey in writing short stories. 
• It would’ve been nice if the author demonstrated the use of AI chatbots in generating ideas, characters, settings, and plots. 

SUMMING-UP

I’ve always wanted to learn how to write short stories that’s why I grabbed the opportunity to read the advance readers’ copy (ARC)  of this book. True enough, this book is best for beginners. 

The book is a quick read, but it is packed with valuable insights on how to create well-developed characters, settings, and plots. These elements, including the tips and tools, are all essential to the five-day process of writing a story.

The inclusion of the use of AI chatbots like ChatGPT adds to the relevance of the book at the present time since AI has been a hot topic not only in writing but also in business, education, and marketing. The book looks into the possibility of using AI as a tool not only for generating ideas but also for overcoming writer’s block. 

I was initially excited about the book, but there were other things that I didn’t love. The author did give examples to get his message across but it would’ve been more helpful if he also shared his own journey in writing short stories. In this way, I could relate to him more and the book would have more personality. The book sounded instructive but practical. 

Jason Fink’s How to Write a Short Story in Five Days is highly recommended to those who have just started to write short stories. It contains all the important things that a writer needs to know. Even though the author didn’t share much about his own journey as a short story writer, he still gave helpful tips on how to write compelling stories quickly and effectively. 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Book Information:

How to Write a Short Story in Five Days (How to do stuff) by Jason Fink Published on March 8, 2023

145 pages (Kindle)

Find it here:

Goodreads 

I wish I hadn’t done that. 

These lines are familiar, aren’t they? 

They echo in our minds, resounding the regrets from the past – regrets about things that we didn’t do or things we wish we hadn’t done. They can bring us down and hold us back from living our lives. 

What if we could return to those moments, make different choices to correct our mistakes, or grab missed opportunities?

Matt Haig explored this idea in his book, The Midnight Library, combined with the themes of existential crisis, depression,  hope, acceptance, and courage. Following the story of Nora Seed who had limitless chances to relive her life, Haig courageously articulated the verities of mental health challenges and life itself. He invites the readers to see the beauty of life with its imperfections.  

Haig wrote several books with similar themes of mental health, hope, and resilience including How to Stop Time, Reasons to Stay Alive, and The Comfort.  

More than 10 million copies sold, The Midnight Library is The Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller. 

Book Description

“Between life and death there is a library.

When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?”

Source: The Midnight Library. (n.d.). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52578297-the-midnight-library 

Discussion Questions 

1. Describe Nora’s life in the beginning.

2. Describe Nora’s old friend who was her guide at the Midnight Library.  

3. What are the rules at the Midnight Library?

4. What was the first book that Nora opened and why did it give her a lot of pain? 

5. How many lives did Nora live?

6. What is the role of Nora in the creation and destruction of the Midnight Library?

7. How is the real-life version of the relationship between Nora and her brother and the book version of this relationship the same? How are they different?

8. Why do you think the author chose a library as the central hub of the story?

9. Was Nora frustrated with how her alternative lives turned out? Why?

10. What might have happened if the Midnight Library didn’t exist?

11. How relevant is this book nowadays?

12. Millions of people are suffering from mental health disorders according to the World Health Organization. What is the implication of this problem for society?

13. What lessons did you learn from this book? 

14. What questions would you ask Matt Haig?

15. Would you recommend this book? Why or why not?

• I love the story’s themes, including mental health, self-awareness, and personal growth. They resonate with me. As humans, we are always trying our best to make the most out of our lives but there are just bumps along the way that could make or break us. When things don’t go our way, it’s natural to feel stuck in the mud but the most challenging part is how to get out of the murky situation. The book also touches on existential crisis and depression and how these help us grow to accept the imperfections of life and thrive by changing our perspectives. The story of Nora provides us with clues as to what we can do to survive and flourish when our lives are full of regrets. 

• The book transported me to the magical Midnight Library. Haig’s skills in painting vivid places through words added to the excitement of reading the book. I was fascinated by the mechanisms of the library and the rules it follows. I could see and hear the movement of the shelves and the books as Nora was about to dive into a new version of her life. The idea of a huge library with limitless shelves and books just blows my mind. 

• The characters are interesting and memorable. Nora was relatable. I could feel the pain from what was happening with her, especially in the first part of the story which revealed the depth of her struggles and the heavy feelings that she had been carrying. This struck a chord with me. Another character that I liked is the librarian who helped Nora navigate the library. She somehow calmed Nora down when the latter became scared or hopeless. Haig was able to create the librarian as someone whom Nora dearly knew and someone who was part of the Midnight’s Library’s mechanism. Then there’s Hugo who could see through Nora. He knew that Nora was jumping from one life to another. This increased the excitement of the story, and I was fascinated by how things would turn out for Hugo. But his story was not continued after the episode in which he appeared. I was hoping to see more of him.  

• In one of his interviews, Haig shared that he also experienced challenges when it came to his mental health. He wrote some self-help books to share his thoughts and the lessons he learned from his experiences. In The Midnight Library, he incorporated some ideas about life and important truths about our mind through Nora who had a degree in Philosophy. Nora and the Midnight Library were like conduits of Haig’s life principles that are truly thought-provoking and life-changing. I love self-help books and books that talk about mental health, however, readers may find the parts when Nora and other characters expound on regrets, choices, acceptance, and life in general didactic. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Regrets are like open loops in our minds that never stop calling us by causing us pain. The moments of regret from our past seem to be always knocking on our painfully tender hearts, begging us to do something about the wrong decisions we made or the opportunities we missed. The most painful thing about regrets is they can’t be reversed, which leaves us hurt and stuck in the past.

But what if we could go back and choose a different path? Would it make things better?

Matt Haig courageously wrote about the great truths of regrets, existential crisis, and mental health through his book, The Midnight Library. The story is about Nora Seed, a 35-year-old Philosophy graduate whose life went crumbling down because of the things she couldn’t control. She decided to end her life but a few minutes later, she was transported to this magnificent library called the Midnight Library that had endless numbers of shelves and books. She was guided by her friend, someone she had known for many years, and the latter explained that Nora could go back and redo her choices. Each book that she opened showed the life that she wanted. But, to her surprise, it wasn’t what she expected. She tried several versions of her life to find the one that was best for her but she always failed. The question was would she be able to erase her past regrets and move on to her best life?

The book was a great reading experience for me as I love the themes that it included – books, life’s verities, mental health, philosophy, and personal growth. Let’s admit it. Life is difficult. However, life is bearable because of the stories of the people who overcame struggles and the books that provide us with insights into these struggles. As I was reading The Midnight Library, there were several times when I had to stop reading and reflect on a passage in the book. One particular statement hit me the most because I am such a true blue homebody. It says that if I stay in one place for too long, I will forget how vast the world is, and it can truly affect my mental health. The book calls me to go on an adventure, explore new places, and see that I am part of this magnificent world. I felt seen by Matt Haig. 

Another thing that I love is the use of magical realism in the story. I really enjoy this genre. In the book, Haig beautifully describes the magical library with its limitless shelves and books. As I read, I could hear and see the movements of the shelves and happiness just washed over me. The idea of a library that is so vast with an infinite number of books is mind-blowing. 

The characters are also memorable. Aside from Nora and the librarian, the character who stood out to me the most was Hugo. I was thrilled when he told Nora he knew what she was doing. Nora was not alone. Several others were also hopping from one life to another using different hubs besides the library. I was hoping to read more about Hugo but his story ended after Nora left the world he was in. 

Haig was open about his mental health issues and he decided to write about it. His books such as Reasons to Stay Alive and The Comfort Book delve into his personal experiences with depression and anxiety, exploring the message of hope, resilience, and finding comfort in difficult times. This message is also evident in the story of Nora. The Midnight Library is a novel with a hint of a self-help book which others might find didactic. For me, these parts are thought-provoking. They invite us to reflect on our lives and do something to make it more meaningful. 

Overall, The Midnight Library is a good read. Some parts sound instructive but they fit the general message of the story. So, if you are looking for an eye-opening, magical story, this book is for you. 

Further Information 

Matt Haig’s website

Twitter

Book Information:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Published on May 9, 2023 by Penguin Books 

304 pages (Paperback)

Find it here:

Get your book here.

I was hesitant to write this book review for several reasons. 

I am not an American. 

I don’t live in California and I’ve never been there.  

I was not born in the 60s. 

And I am not a writing expert. 

I am not in a position to comment on people, events, counterculture, and other prominent issues mentioned in the book nor criticize this book’s writing technicalities. 

But I could share one thing for sure…

How this book made me feel while and after reading it.  

The first time I heard about Joan Didion, I was watching a video lesson on writing. The coach showed her favorite books and one of the books was Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Curious, I took note of the author, and when her book, The White Album, was on Kindle Deals, being the frugal bookworm that I am, I grabbed the opportunity to buy it. In my mind I said, finally, I could read her after many months of waiting.😅

Going back to Joan Didion, I learned that she was an American writer and journalist who was one of the trailblazers of New Journalism characterized by using first-person narrative, immersive reporting, literary techniques, and subjectivity.  She started her career in the 1950s after she won an essay contest sponsored by Vogue magazine. 

Throughout her career, her essays appeared in major magazines such as Esquire, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker. 

Some of her major achievements were the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005 and being a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for The Year of Magical Thinking. 

She received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in 2013. 

New York Times An “elegant” mosaic of trenchant observations on the late sixties and seventies from the author of Slouching Towards Bethlehem (The New Yorker). In this landmark essay collection, Joan Didion brilliantly interweaves her own “bad dreams” with those of a nation confronting the dark underside of 1960s counterculture.   From a jailhouse visit to Black Panther Party cofounder Huey Newton to witnessing First Lady of California Nancy Reagan pretend to pick flowers for the benefit of news cameras, Didion captures the paranoia and absurdity of the era with her signature blend of irony and insight. She takes readers to the “giddily splendid” Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the cool mountains of Bogotá, and the Jordanian Desert, where Bishop James Pike went to walk in Jesus’s footsteps—and died not far from his rented Ford Cortina. She anatomizes the culture of shopping malls—“toy garden cities in which no one lives but everyone consumes”—and exposes the contradictions and compromises of the women’s movement. In the iconic title essay, she documents her uneasy state of mind during the years leading up to and following the Manson murders—a terrifying crime that, in her memory, surprised no one.   Written in “a voice like no other in contemporary journalism,” The White Album is a masterpiece of literary reportage and a fearless work of autobiography by the National Book Award–winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking (The New York Times Book Review). Its power to electrify and inform remains undiminished nearly forty years after it was first published.  

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35075917-the-white-album 

1. Why do you think the author chose the title of the book?
2. What are the key themes of the books and how are they reflected in the essays?
3. Analyze the significance of the first essay. 
4. Which essay is your favorite and why?
5. What can you say about Joan Didion’s writing style?
6. Share a line or a quote that left a lasting impression. What meaning do you find it?
7. Who needs this book in their life?
8. How did you feel immediately after reading the book?
9. Did your feelings towards the book change as you read it?
10. How did the author structure the book, and did it help you understand the book more?

• The book intrigued me so much that I researched the momentous events, famous people, and culture in the late 1960s to early 1970s and perused them to get more context about what Joan Didion shared in her essays. Fortunately, we can check them through Google and YouTube. Before reading, to feel the vibe of this era, I even listened to The Beatles’ The White Album, from which the book’s title was derived, and other songs by The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Eagles, and The Doors. I was transported to an era of social revolution, political turbulence, and artistic freedom. One highlight of the book happened on August 9, 1969, when, according to the book, time stood still in Los Angeles after the news of the murder of the actress, Sharon Tate, together with four other people. The horror pervaded the city and the sense of not being safe terrorized the residents. 
• As I jumped from one essay to another, Didion’s voice and writing style unfolded, revealing her admirable characteristics as a person and writer. Her sharp observations about her surroundings amazed me as she noticed even subtle details such as the number of knobs in a mixing board in a recording studio, what was inside the paper bag owned by a musician, and the type of flowers that she saw outside the radio station on one snowy evening. I think the specificity of these details shapes Didion’s unique voice.
• The book made me realize this – despite the decades that separate us from the 1960s, there are commonalities between the things that happened during that time and the things that are happening now – social upheavals, political issues, and creative explorations. The differences are the means of doing things (technology is more advanced now) and some social conventions such as how people display their emotions and how society perceives celebrities. Didion showed me how to look at these events and understand their impact on my life, encouraging me to evaluate every piece of information and to choose which ones to take and which to throw away. In essence, the book teaches you how to think. 
• The book is a journey inside the mind of Didion or into the mechanism of the nervous system or into people’s thoughts and demeanors or through the processes of massive infrastructures or around big wide spaces. Through her words, you can hear the conversations among musicians in the studio, see the blue Pacific Ocean through the Royal Hawaiin Hotel room, smell the perfume or cologne at a Jaycee convention, feel the heaviness of her luggage when she went on a book tour with her daughter, and even taste the Colombian version of Coca-Cola. Unlike a novel that contains only one general story, The White Album takes you to different times and spaces with different people from different backgrounds. The book brings you to a memorable reading experience – intriguing, poignant, and filled with sentimental curiosity. 

• Who loves challenges? In terms of reading, I do love challenges, but I can’t deny it’s uncomfortable. Reading Didion is intimidating but I still pushed it through. She inspired me to think but sometimes I glazed over difficult parts that I wasn’t familiar with, especially those with layered meaning and intricate sentence structures that were difficult to follow at times. The White Album can push you out of your comfort zone. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Reading Joan Didion is intimidating for me as I was not born in the 1960s, I don’t live in California and I’ve never visited it, and I’m not a writing expert. But there is one thing that I held on to that helped me navigate through the book — my emotions. My guiding question was “How does this make me feel?”

I first learned about Joan Didion from an author who admires her. Didion is an American writer and journalist who was one of the pioneers of New Journalism that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. New Journalism is marked by using a narrative voice, immersive reporting, literary techniques, and personal viewpoints. Her accolades include the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005 and being a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for The Year of Magical Thinking. She was recognized by Former President Barack Obama who presented her with the National Humanities Medal in 2013.

Her book, The White Album, was published in 1979. Recorded in the book are the memorable events, popular people, and counterculture in the late 60s to early 70s. Every essay brings a reader on a different journey – into the mind of the author, through the nerve fibers of the central nervous system, through the processes of the Hoover Dam, or a tour of The Getty. The reading experience is filled with intrigue, poignancy, and sentimental curiosity.

For me, the book also teaches you how to think. Even though the 60s is more than six decades ago, the commonalities between then and now are noticeable. There are still social upheavals, political turmoils, and other struggles of people, and I think the difference is these days the effects of these issues are amplified by technology, especially the Internet. Above all, Didion showed how to observe these things and glean insights into the human condition and seemingly mundane subjects such as books, water, and Coca-Cola. 

The White Album can challenge you to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to reading. The complex sentences layered with her perceptions about the subject can be tricky, which sometimes made me lose track of what I was reading. Nevertheless, the book is still a great read. 

If you are looking for a unique, thought-provoking read, give this book a read.

https://www.joandidion.org/   

The White Album by Joan Didion

First Published on January 1, 1979, 

Published on May 9, 2017 by Open Road Media; Kindle Edition 

224 pages (eBook)

Table of Contents

1. Overview

2. Discussion Questions

3. Quotes

4. Pros and Cons

5. Summary

6. Further Information

7. Book Information

8. Find It Here

Grief breaks the status quo. Grieving people are sometimes impelled to take unprecedented actions that can either make or break their relationships as they try to overcome pain and uncertainty. Sally Rooney illustrates this in her book Intermezzo, which tells the story of two opposite brothers whose lives are shaken after the death of their father. During this emotional gridlock, the brothers deal with their loss in totally different ways – one holding on to his unyielding nature, trying to control himself and other people around him, the other one quiet, lonely, and unsure how to handle his grief.

Intermezzo received recognition from several major newspapers and literary organizations. It was named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year, and selected as an Essential Read by The New Yorker.

Sally Rooney is a world-renowned Irish novelist who wrote the widely-recognized books Conversations with Friends, Normal People, and Beautiful World, Where Are You. She was hailed as “the first great millennial novelist”.

The brothers, Peter, a lawyer,  and Ivan, a chess master, are caught in a turbulent journey between the death of their father and the search to find their footing in life and love. Their identity, values, beliefs, and desires were at stake. They went through inner turmoils that exposed their weaknesses and fears that could unravel them to the point of giving up on themselves and each other.

Also caught in this heart-rending maelstrom were three women who were also going through internal struggles that refined their respective requisites of a meaningful life. 

Sylvia loved Peter, but something serious happened to her that made her question her real motives in keeping their relationship. Sylvia wanted to let go of Pete, but the latter wouldn’t surrender. While their relationship hung in the air, Peter found Naomi, a beautiful woman who was ten years his senior and a college student who was broke and homeless. She fulfilled Peter’s carnal desires and became the object of his unwritten role as the great provider. Amidst all of it, Peter still loved Sylvia, but he also fell in love with Naomi. Now, Peter faced the greatest dilemma- could she love two women simultaneously? Should he let go of one of them and live a “righteous” life? Was he better off without them?

Ivan, on the other hand, couldn’t take his elder brother’s patronization anymore. The one he used to look up to changed when Peter went away to study. Chartering his own course, Peter was more focused on building his name, his career, and his love life. His relationship with his father and Ivan was getting cold. There was a point when Peter was around, and Ivan had to walk on eggshells. When their father passed away,  the normalcy in Ivan’s life was perturbed. Grief enveloped him, and he was unsure whom to depend on. His relationship with Peter was stained with anger; his relationship with his mother was defined by a quiet distance. Until he found somebody to love him, he found Margare, who was ten years older than him. Given their age difference, some people were doubtful of Ivan’s relationship. Should he fight for Margaret or give her up? What would happen to him if Margaret left him? 

Intermezzo is a story about people who longed for autonomy, but their desire to love and be loved challenged them to take risks. The author’s literary style is embedded in the storylines of each character, showing the common themes of family, love, and grief with unique perspectives and unexpected turns.

1. What did Peter want more than anything?
2. What was Ivan’s greatest fear?
3. Describe Peter and Ivan’s relationship.
4. What did Sylvia want in her relationship with Peter?
5. How did Naomi influence Peter and Sylvia’s relationship?
6. What is the central conflict of the story?
7. What would happen if Margaret let go of Ivan?
8. How did Peter and Ivan mend their relationship?
9. Was redemption possible for every character?
10. How is the dialogue used to reveal the personalities of the characters?
11. How was tension built?
12. What does the story reveal about human nature?
13. How did Sally Rooney’s worldview show up in the story?
14. What do you think of the author’s writing style?
15. Would you recommend this book? Why or why not?

Pro: The distinction between Peter and Ivan is palpable and adds to the complexity of the story.

Peter was a lawyer. Ivan was a genius chess player. The contrasting nature of their personalities conceived a tangible, volatile relationship, barely holding at its seams. Peter was polished and confident but condescending. On the other hand, Ivan was introverted and resourceful but vulnerable. Their perspectives on life, family, and love clashed, potentially burning the bridge between them. Despite their differences, they set aside pride and anger and met in the middle to mend their relationship. Brotherly relationships can be more complicated than a tightly wound knot.

Pro: The setting feels immersive and grounding.

Sally Rooney’s writing is strong when it comes to the place where the story happens. Every scene was set up in a detailed environment to which the senses respond. From the opening of the inbox on the computer on the desk in an office where Margaret works to the coldness of the city air drifting through Chancery Park, the readers can almost see, feel, and even hear, taste, and smell the things surrounding the characters. Rooney paints a clear picture in the readers’ minds through her words.

Pro: The book evokes strong emotions.

Relationships can be painful, especially when love collides with pride and expectations outweigh understanding. Rooney captured this by showing the brothers’ relationship and their relationship with the women in their lives. Peter, who is older than Ivan, patronizes the latter. Ivan felt irritated with Peter. But both brothers were aching for the old time when they were supporting and protecting each other. In relation to their romantic relationship, Peter was torn between following the status quo and following his heart. He loved both Sylvia and Naomi but was unsure if they could be in one relationship together. Ivan feared Margaret would leave him because of their age gap to avoid criticism from her mother and friends. To love and to be loved was the ultimate desire, but uncertainties made it hard to reach it.

Con: The writing style of Rooney sometimes makes reading difficult.

The writer uses different ways of telling the story for Peter and Ivan. She changes her style depending on which character she is talking about. For Peter, she uses short sentences with a sharp, staccato rhythm that reflects his anxious mind, but sometimes the meaning of his thoughts is muddled. There’s also an air of snobbishness on his part that makes him hard to relate to. I almost threw the book into my DNF basket because I couldn’t connect with him.  

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

When authors are getting a lot of buzz on social media, I tend to assume they’re great writers and storytellers. Sally Rooney came onto my radar when tons of bookstagrammers and booktokers started talking about her books with positive feedback. So when I saw that her new book, Intermezzo, hit our local bookstores, I jumped at the chance to read her book. 

Simply, Intermezzo is about two grieving brothers who each deal with their loss in their own way. Their striking difference aggravates their situation. Peter, a lawyer,  is confident and polished but closed off, while Ivan, a professional chess player, is shy, quiet, and emotionally adrift. Peter is older than Ivan by at least eight years. After the death of their father, turmoil materialized between them. Not only that, but they also became involved with women who pushed them to their limits—challenging them to rethink their beliefs and values. In the end, they had to compromise and redeem their relationships. 

Sally Rooney is indeed a great writer as she built distinctive and round characters. You can see the difference between the brothers and other characters. Their thoughts, actions, and the way Rooney describes them form full psychological maps for each character that makes them memorable. What stood out for me was Peter – his snobbish vibe made him difficult to like. Another thing, Rooney’s writing style when telling  Peter’s narrative was composed of short, punchy sentences that sometimes made his story hard to follow. Rereading these parts affected my reading pace. I almost didn’t finish the book because I always got frustrated when I read about Peter.

The world where the characters interact is fully immersive and grounding. Vivid mental pictures of the scenes are easily conjured by Rooney’s writing. However, I thought the descriptions were just too much because they slowed down the pace and sometimes muddled my understanding. Despite this, I could still feel the complexity of the emotional journey of the characters. It touched something personal for me. 

I appreciate books that make me feel deeply, and this book is one of them. Grief weaved into sibling dynamics can bring about pain and unexpected changes in relationships. It’s heartbreaking when the people whom you grow up with and part of your formative years become cold. From there, it can go one of two ways – your paths cross again, and the relationship is rekindled, or they continue to diverge for many years, slowly cutting the familial ties. Intermezzo shows there’s hope for mending sibling relationships even when they are angry, confused, or hopeless. 

Even though there were challenges in reading the book, I still recommend it. Looking for a book about complex sibling dynamics and romantic relationships with philosophical reflections about life and love? This book might be the one for you. 

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

September 24, 2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 

464 pages

Get your book here and enjoy reading!

Title: As A Man Thinketh

Author: James Allen

Genre: Self-help book

Publisher: Kindle

Release Date: May 12, 2012

ASIN: B0082VKK5Y

Price: Free on Amazon [Public Domain Book]

           Our mind seems to have a “mind” of its own, I sometimes think.  There was a point I wondered if it was I who made those thoughts or it was my mind that continuously produces those thoughts of its own volition. 

          On average, a person has six thousand two hundred thoughts in a day according to a study done by researchers in  Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience. Just imagine how our body is bombarded with thousands of triggers every day!

          Curious about thinking and its impact on us, I went ahead and read James Allen’s  As A Man Thinketh, which he presented the dichotomy of thoughts, good vs. bad. Basically, what he’s emphasizing is good thoughts produce positive results and bad thoughts produce negative results. 

          Here are the things I learned:

1.  We cannot choose our circumstances directly but we can still do something to change it indirectly by choosing the right thoughts as good thoughts produce good circumstances.

1. Good thoughts help improve our health and well-being.

1. We are the thoughts we choose to act on. I can have angry thoughts and feel angry with one person but the thoughts of forgiveness and being calm can be also present. It’s up to me to choose the thoughts that affect my behavior and decisions.  I  am the maker of the events of my life by choosing actions based on my thoughts.

1. Our achievements and failures are the direct results of our own thoughts. Achievements that are laced with malicious intentions will make our way up with “animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion”. Conversely, achievements with good intentions move us up  with “self-control, purity, resolution, and righteousness.”

1. Serenity is the ultimate success. We are calm when we understand ourselves and other people.  With the right understanding, we see why another person is doing things the way he does. When we are truly calm, we stop “fussing, fuming, worrying, and grieving”.  Nevertheless,  we do not deny negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, and so on. We just know how to deal with them. 

           All in all, I enjoyed reading this book; however, for a person who speaks English as a second language, one of the things I found challenging in reading this book was the form and structure of the written language which is totally different from modern writing. Even though it’s challenging to understand the language, as long as you are eager to learn and dig deeper, the ideas will make more sense. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️🌠

Trigger warning: sexual abuse, suicide, drugs

A Window to A Realistic Family Life

The Bottle of Tears is a story about two sisters polarized by their past and a secret that only one of them knew. The discord in the family was aggravated by their mother who laced lies in her version of what one said about the other. The sisters were being pulled apart by their differences but, as a family, their primal connection pushed them back together. This tug-of-war was shrouded with overwhelming emotions that can only be overcome by facing the truth.  The Bottle of Tears is a window to a family quandary caused by childhood trauma.

Mystery Binds The Family Dynamics 

The opening scene set the most prominent mood in the whole story, sad and mysterious. What happened on Christmas Day when Victoria was eight and Penny was six changed their lives entirely.

The thinking process and attitude of Victoria toward her mother, sister, husband, son, and other relatives and friends enkindled questions that she avoided answering.  She had been suffering from a lot of conditions including anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder which also made the family situation more challenging.  Her desire to keep everything clean, disinfected, and in order masked her true feelings and hid a dark secret that she wanted to be kept to herself. Even though she numbed herself with medications, the truth wanted to come out.

On the other hand, Penny had been left in the dark and this pushed her to react to Victoria’s proclivities in a way that added more fuel to the fire. She was also present when the life-changing event happened but she couldn’t understand Victoria. Their mother must know but she also didn’t tell Penny. It’s also a mystery that their mother tried to widen the gap between the two sisters by inciting misunderstanding and disgust. Despite this, Marge served as the tug that loosened the tight string of the bag that held all their grudges, pain, and fear formed in the past.

I Need a Breather!

Reading The Bottle of Tears made me feel like a big, dark cloud had been hanging over me. The author strongly established the splintered relationship between the two sisters and their mother, however, the constant churning of negative emotions in most of the scenes and chapters was overwhelming.

Even the secondary characters had problems of their own that intensified wearisome emotions. Penny’s family had financial difficulties. Victoria’s family had personal issues. After diving into their stories, I needed to go to the surface of this ocean of heavy emotions to give myself time to breathe. In my own opinion, the book was not a page-turner.

A Light At the End of the Tunnel

Interesting fact, the original title of this novel was “ Let The Light Shine”, self-published in 2016. In 2019, Lake Union Publishing published it under the new title, The Bottle of Tears, which I think is more appropriate as it describes the general atmosphere of the story. The first title, though, tells what Nick Alexander showed in the latter part of the book. Eventually, the truth came out. Finally, Victoria’s burden lightened but Penny received the bigger blow that led to their falling out again. After knowing the true reason for Victoria’s predicament, they were not on speaking terms for a year. In the end, to observe the death anniversary of their loved one, they got together with more acceptance, openness, and understanding that there would always be a time they would stay away from each other but their sisterly love would always link them together. Alexander showed there was a light, a symbol of redemption and hope, but it was a faint light.

The Bottle of Tears is for readers who love realistic, deep family drama.

Quotes

“The secret in life is to quit while you’re ahead.” – Sander

“Still, I suppose we should be happy for their success and all that, shouldn’t we? Jealousy’s a terrible thing when you think about it.”- Marge

“… it was like a bottle full of pain, if you can imagine that. And each time you let yourself remember, each time you let yourself feel the pain, each time you cry, you empty the bottle a little bit. So it becomes easier to carry.” – Penny

“There’s no comparison, really, but every person’s biggest trauma is still that person’s biggest trauma. There is no relativity within the realm of one’s own subconscious…these things never go away. They only become easier to bear.” – Penny

“We all put on a bit of weight. It’s called being human.” – Penny

Book Information:

The Bottle of Tears by Nick Alexander

Published on August 1, 2019, by Lake Union Publishing

357 pages (eBook)

Find it here: