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Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is a self-help book by online writer Mark Manson.

Warning: I use the F-bomb pretty liberally in this review, as does Manson in his book. Skip this one if you’re not a fan of that. Now I’m going to tell you why I didn’t really give too many fucks about this book…

This book was a pretty easy buy for me. A couple of friends recommended it to me, the cover is one of my favourite colours, the title is hilarious and catchy, and I give way too many fucks. All the time. If you’re interested in hearing about all the fucks I give, I write a blog about my Generalized Anxiety Disorder called Lexical Abandon.

I’m going to switch things up a bit with this review. I’ll include the Amazon synopsis after. It’s quite long and I don’t want to bore you before I even get to the good stuff!

And here’s my review of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck!

I like to read self-help books occasionally, once every couple of months. A couple of my favourites this year include Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert, and Rising Strong, by Brené Brown.

Unfortunately Manson’s book is not going to make the favourites list.

It started off quite strong, with an intriguing idea about the pursuit of happiness being an inherently negative process. This idea is that searching for happiness implies that one is unhappy, or unsatisfied with what they now have.

Also, each of its chapters includes really fun, interesting, and insightful anecdotes from the author’s own life or from pop culture or history. These were relevant and really did a great job of illustrating his points.

This all sounds pretty positive, doesn’t it? Well, that’s about where it ends. Although I found the book to be a very interesting read, I didn’t find it particularly helpful with the main topic it is selling: not giving a fuck.

No fucks given.

That’s a falsehood. The author really only tells you that it’s important to choose what you give fucks about. Essentially, how to choose good values. But it didn’t, at least for me, help me stop giving fucks to things I shouldn’t.

The first chapter seemed quite promising. It talked several times about fucks and the reason we shouldn’t give any, or at least fewer. However, as I continued on with my reading, I kept looking for how to stop giving so many fucks. Sadly, the book didn’t give me any answers. It gave me a lot of strategies for how to live a happier and more fulfilling life, but I think I was looking for it to be an answer to my giant heaping scrap pile of fucks, and I didn’t find one. This was a disappointment, especially since that’s what the title of the book was offering.

Overall, it was interesting. However, I’m not sure I can recommend it as a solution to help you stop giving so many fucks. However, I do recommend it… scroll down to see why.

So, here’s the (admittedly quite long, even though I cut some) synopsis of the book, pulled from Amazon:

 “In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F**k positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.” In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up….

A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.”

Overall, 3/5 stars, but I still recommend it…

Because many people I know found it very helpful. I’m sure that for a lot of people it would be a useful read. And I still enjoyed much of it.

Go try to stop giving so many fucks! And let me know if you get or got more out of this book than I did!

– Paperback Patronus

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Book Review: The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

The Sun and Her Flowers is the second book of poetry and illustrations written by Rupi Kaur.

I had been seeing Kaur’s first book, Milk and Honey, everywhere on Bookstagram, and decided to pick it up.  It was revelatory for me, and I instantly went online to buy The Sun and Her Flowers. This follow-up definitely did not disappoint.

Here’s the synopsis of the book, pulled from Amazon:

“From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself.

Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.”

And here’s my review of The Sun and Her Flowers!

I love to read books of poetry. I often consume them all in one go, ravenously flying through the pages, unable to get enough. The Sun and Her Flowers was no different.

Often I’ll earmark certain pages or poems using bookmarks. By the time I had finished The Sun and Her Flowers, the book itself was unclosable because it was being propped up by so many bookmarks. One page in particular literally made my stomach drop. You know that feeling when you realize you left something important somewhere terrible? Maybe not, but I do, and that’s the feeling. Only my heart also started pounding. My whole body was activated. It spoke to me so infinitely that I had to put the book down and just stew in it for a few moments.

Unreal.

Kaur’s poetry is simultaneously heart-warming and soul-crushing, down-to-earth and lofty. I know that I will be able to go back to it a second time, and a third, and a fourth… and never have the same experience reading it as I did before. Timeless poems that also so wonderfully suit the current era.

So, this is an excellent one to pick up for mature readers. I couldn’t possibly recommend it enough.

5/5 stars!

– Paperback Patronus

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Book Review: Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Renegades is the first installment of what it seems will be a duology by well-known author Marissa Meyer, author of the Lunar Chronicles, which are futuristic re-tellings of popular fairy tales, set in space. Similarly, Renegades is a futuristic-style novel, but is set in a bit less of a dystopian society. Although it is borderline dystopian, the world appears to be a similar planet to Earth, or perhaps Earth itself.

Renegades is a book that I shockingly picked up in hardcover. I know, the name’s Paperback Patronus, but with all the good press going around about this book AND the fact that the cover is just GORGEOUS, I had to get it right away.

Here’s the synopsis of the book, pulled from Amazon:

“From #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer, comes a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal.

Secret Identities.
Extraordinary Powers.
She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies―humans with extraordinary abilities―who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone…except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice―and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to the villains who have the power to end them both.”

You’ve seen the cover already, because I am so enamoured with it, but here it is again (holiday-style this time!):

And here’s my review of Renegades!

Renegades is book one of a series by Marissa Meyer that will have at least two books, possibly more. It depicts a society recovering from the so-called “Age of Anarchy.” Then, a group called the Anarchists and several rogue gangs cause chaos and terror against the government and citizens. At the same time, a group called the Renegades tries to maintain order, peace, and governmental regulations. However, there is a twist to this society. There are people who are prodigies – they have special abilities that they were either born with or acquired due to some sort of trauma. The Renegades and Anarchists contain only prodigies. The Renegades won the Age of Anarchy, and now run the government and try to protect their citizens against those rogue gangs and the Anarchists.

The story follows Nova, an Anarchist due to family connections and the traumatic events of her childhood. It is a riveting, interesting take sci-fi/fantasy, with interesting character relationships, fascinating history, and a plot that keeps you glued to the page.

 

4/5 stars!

All in all…

Just like Nemesis Games, I highly recommend this to fantasy and sci-fi lovers alike! However, it is more of a YA-style book, so if you’re not into YA, I’d still try it. However, expect something a bit different to what you’re used to. Also, it’s about 550 pages, but it reads quickly. I finished it in 5 days, but I’m currently in the midst of writing report cards. I’ve had very little time to read at all.

One last thing!

Renegades ends on a cliffhanger — so if those are not for you, avoid until November 2018! That’s when book 2 comes out to end the story!!

My next read is The Sun and Her Flowers, by Rupi Kaur! I’m zooming through it because it’s killer amazing and simultaneously soul-lifting and soul-crushing. Expect a review of it very soon!

– Paperback Patronus

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: November 2017

This is my first blog Wrap-Up post, so here’s the deal:

Bookstagram members are likely pretty familiar with these. For those of you who aren’t, at the end of each month, many of us share a post detailing all the books we’ve read in the month with star reviews for each.

This will thus be a short post. Without further ado, here’s my November Wrap-Up, which I’m pretty proud of!

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – C. S. Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
North of Normal – Cea Sunrise Person ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Low Volume 4 – Remender, Tocchini, & McCaig ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Descender Volume 3 – Lemire & Nguyen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Descender Volume 4 – Lemire & Nguyen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Milk & Honey – Rupi Kaur ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nemesis Games – James S. A. Corey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Onward – Howard Schultz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another Day – David Levithan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Broken Moon – Sarah Beth Moore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That’s 10 books! And I’ve already started another book, Renegades. I just won’t have it finished before December begins.

Also, I officially only have 9 books left to complete my 2017 Goodreads reading goal of 100 books. With two weeks off work starting on the 23rd, I imagine I won’t have any trouble achieving my goal. I read 100 books last year as well, so perhaps I’ll ramp it up for 2018! But that’s a story for another blog post.

I think my favourite books this month were Another Day and Onward (even though every time I picked it up I wanted to go to Starbucks to get a latte). It was also quite refreshing to read a book of poetry again for the first time in a while (Milk & Honey), and to get back to graphic novels (Low and Descender)! All in all, I really enjoyed everything I read this month. This is usually the case for me, as I very rarely encounter a book that I don’t enjoy reading, but this month was particularly good!

My December TBR will likely be my next post, so stay tuned to read what lofty goals I have for myself for the coming holiday month! I can’t wait to finish everything!

– Paperback Patronus

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Book Review: Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey

Nemesis Games is the fifth installment of the epic space saga by James S. A. Corey, the pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.

If you’re not familiar with the series, one of the quotes on the cover by NPR Books reads as follows: “The science fictional equivalent of A Song of Ice and Fire.” Essentially, it’s the equivalent Game of Thrones in space. And what they mean by that, in my opinion, is that you have a whole host of political strategies and wars combined with personal relationships, adventure, a futuristic setting, and really place-based, environmental struggles that come along with living in space on Mars, asteroids, manufactured space stations, moons, and other planets.

Here’s the synopsis of the book, pulled from Amazon:

“A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.
Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed. The sole remaining protomolecule sample is stolen. Terrorist attacks previously considered impossible bring the inner planets to their knees. The sins of the past are returning to exact a terrible price.
And as a new human order is struggling to be born in blood and fire, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante must struggle to survive and get back to the only home they have left.”

 

Here’s the cover:

I’m not a huge fan of the covers for the series, but you have to admit that they’re pretty impressive. One of the beefs that I have is that halfway through the series they switched aesthetic — for the first couple of books, the title of the book was in big bright letters down the spine, and for the later books they changed that to the author’s name instead. Like, why?!?!

And here’s my review of Nemesis Games!

Nemesis Games is the fifth book in the The Expanse series. It follows earlier books’ usual pattern of telling the story from multiple characters’ perspectives. However, this time, there is a twist. It is the first time in the series that the four main characters (the crew of the ship Rocinante) do not encounter the conflict of the story together.

Amos is on Earth dealing with the death of someone from his past and meeting with Clarissa Mao. Alex is on Mars trying to reconcile with his ex-wife and meeting with Bobbie. Naomi is dealing with her before unrevealed past on Ceres. Finally, Holden remains on Tycho with the head of the Outer Planets Alliance, seeing to the repairs the Roci requires thanks to her near-fatal trip through the Ring to Ilus (or New Terra, depending on what camp you’re in).

After the characters initially split up, things devolve quickly. Thus begins an exciting political dance of war that presents ambush, catastrophe, and human nature in ways which test limits and both shatter and create bonds. It is an incredible saga with  great in-depth looks at the backgrounds of characters we previously didn’t know much about. It is also a fantastic set-up for what the Epilogue alludes to: an incredibly ominous encounter with some very powerful galactic beings.

All in all…

I highly recommend this to fantasy and sci-fi lovers alike! However, beware before you start: It’s over 500 pages! So, make sure you have a good chunk of time to set aside while you read, because again similarly to Game of Thrones, there’s a lot to take in. Another plus – the books have begun to be made into a TV series (now on season 3) on Syfy.

My next read is Renegades, by Marissa Meyer, as voted by my Bookstagram friends in my Stories! I’ll post a review once I’ve finished it!

– Paperback Patronus

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Questions & Answers: Paperback Patronus

You may have seen on my Instagram that on a recent post I was asking for questions that I could answer here on my blog!

I did both a poll in my Stories and a Q & A image post to come up with questions to answer for you so you could get to know me a little better!

In the poll, I had viewers vote between sets of questions that I would answer. So, in this post, I’ll show what the two options were, which won, and my answer to the winning question.

On the image post, I had viewers submit questions they would like me to answer, so I’ll include those and answer them as well!

Ready? Let’s go!

Stories Questions!

Q: Favourite colour or food?

Winner: Food

Answer: First, chocolate, definitely chocolate. Second, yellow curry. It’s a very close call.

 

Q: Favourite book or movie?

Winner: Book (As if I expected anything other than book from my fellow book worms!)

A: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. You can’t beat that discovering-you’re-a-wizard-hogwarts-for-the-first-time-new-friends-magical feeling of the first book.

 

Q: What do I do for work or for fun?

Winner: Fun

A: I spend a lot of my time reading (surprise) but I also train for half-marathons, play Counter Strike and Nintendo Switch with my husband, coach girls’ rugby, write, bullet journal, hang out with my best friend Joy, visit coffee shops, and attend book club!

 

Q: Where do I live or want to travel?

Winner: Want to travel

A:  There are so many places I want to travel to! I think the top few are New Zealand, Iceland, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Peru, and Greece. I’ve been to many places in Europe and have family there, and I’ve also done a lot of traveling in Canada and the US.

 

Q: Favourite quote or dedication?

Winner: Quote

A: My favourite quote is, embarrassingly, from a book I haven’t read (yet!). It’s from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières, and it’s translated into English from the original language (French):

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.”

 

Q:  Favourite short story or poem?

Winner: Short story

A: This is a tough one. I tend not to like short stories. They usually frustrate me. I think this would have to be a tie between “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, and “The Pedestrian,” by Ray Bradbury.

 

Q: What makes me laugh or cry?

Winner: Laugh

A: I really love funny animal videos and images, like this one of  coatis, this one of Sail Cat, and this one of a puppy, because I love animals and cute things in general. My husband makes me laugh a lot, and so does being tickled (even though I hate it) and funny movies like Pitch Perfect. OH! And the We Rate Dogs twitter account. And the Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me NPR podcast.

 

Q: Favourite holiday or weekday?

Winner: Holiday

A: Definitely Christmas! I think it has a lot to do with often having family close by, and it being a holiday in Winter means that I can cozy up in pjs and thick socks with a fire going and a hot mocha in my hands. I also love the food that comes with Christmas – Terry’s chocolate oranges and turkey dinner in particular!

 

Q: Favourite singer or band?

Winner: Band

A: I’m not-so-secretly excited that you all chose band, because I have a lot more favourite bands than singers. Phew! I’ve got two that are pretty closely tied, but I think that the winner has to be Maroon 5. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember, and my husband and I have listened to their music together since we started dating in 2006. We’ve seen them in concert twice. My second favourite band is Hedley. I will be seeing them for the third time in February!

 

Q: What do I love or hate?

Winner: Love wins! (Just had to get that plug in there.)

A: I really love a lot of things. If there’s one thing that’s been true for my whole life is that I’m very enthusiastic about a lot of things. For that reason and many others, this list is in no particular order.  Being cozy, coffee (holiday flavoured lattes especially), fuzzy socks, blankets, pillows, books, funko pops, the sun, running, rugby, art, writing, journaling, trees, the ocean, dogs, animals in general, Harry Potter, the forest, my family, my friends, and my husband. Again, this list is by no means exhaustive, because I love a lot of things.

 

Q: What’s on my bucket list or to-do list?

Winner: Bucket list

A: Number one on my bucket list (to my husband and parents’ chagrin) is skydiving. It fell through for me a couple of years ago when everything had been all planned and I haven’t managed to get it going again since. Another thing on my bucket list is to write a novel. For now, the last thing that’s on my list that I’ll share is to run a half marathon in under 2 hours.

Image Post Questions!

Q: How many books and funko pops do you have? (Submitted by @My Book Bubble, thank you!)

A: This took me a long  time to figure out. I have about 265 funko pops.  I say about because I’m sure there’s human error in there somewhere. Same goes for the books. They are hard to count!! In Vancouver, I have about 545 books. I live in Vancouver now, but I grew up in New Brunswick with my mom, so many of my books are still there in my childhood bedroom. I’ll have to count them the next time I’m there. Needless to say… it’s a lot.

 

Q: Which book are you most looking forward to in 2018? (Submitted by Marcus Henson, @mhensonofficial, thank you!)

A: Definitely Obsidio, by Amie Kaufman! I really loved both Illuminae and Gemina! For those who don’t know, the series is called The Illuminae Files!

Finally, here’s my favourite shelfie so you know what I look like!

(shelfie = selfie + shelf)

That’s a wrap on my first Q & A!

Thanks for reading and getting to know a bit more about me! Also, thanks also to those who answered my stories polls and sent in original questions! Finally, if there’s anything else you’d like to know about me that I could answer in a future Q & A blog post, please let me know in a comment below or by sending me a DM on Instagram!

In love and books,

Paperback Patronus