#booktag — Public Fediverse posts

Book Review: Endling by Maria Reva

Maria Reva’s debut novel, Endling is immensely ambitious and credit where credit is due this is a vast, sweeping novel that rocked me to my core in its first few chapters.

Rating: 🌟🌟

Genre: War fiction, Ukraine, Metafiction, Literary Fiction.

Publisher: Virago (Hachette UK)

Review in one word: Confounding

Goddamnit I really wanted to love this book so much…I really did.

All of the ingredients were there! A lone female protagonist who cares deeply for endangered mollusc species. Driving through Ukraine and looking to mate molluscs together to prevent them being “Endlings” in other words the final individuals of their species.

Maria Reva’s debut novel, Endling is immensely ambitious and credit where credit is due this is a vast, sweeping novel that rocked me to my core in its first few chapters.

It’s set against the harrowing backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yeva lives in a mobile laboratory, dedicating her solitary existence to collecting and sheltering endangered snails. Her most prized possession is Lefty, the last known individual of his species—an “endling”.

To fund her strange mission, Yeva works for a Canadian firm specialising in “romance tours” to Ukraine, a euphemism for the mail-order bride business. Through this work that Yeva crosses paths with two other women entangled in the romance industry: the stunning Nastia and her brilliant sister Sol, daughters of a famous feminist activist who has mysteriously vanished. Disheartened by her inability to save the snails and desperate for a way out, Yeva is drawn into Nastia’s audacious plan to abduct a dozen of the foreign men who have come to Kyiv in search of wives.

Endling tackles profoundly difficult themes of our time – war, extinction, the trafficking and exploitation of women and does this in a confronting and emotionally raw way.

There are self-conscious moments in this that I thought were totally unnecessary and cringey. The novel shifts back and forth in time in a jarring way and in some parts Reva herself narrates in the first person. This distracts from the story itself and slows it down massively. There’s also the not inconsequential thing of having 12 grown men jammed into a tiny van being driven around Ukraine for days to weeks at a time. Apparently none of the guys were aware of there being a war happening outside the van. Nobody mentions needing to go to the loo in the novel but this seemed like too much of an obvious omission. How on earth would this situation occur in reality?

I wanted so badly to love this novel but it seems to get bogged down in its own meta-narrative style. Hugely ambitious and filled with glorious moments of genius writing, I just wish Reva had made it simpler to follow and it would have been far more enjoyable.

Content Catnip

Book Review: How to Be Resilient by Gail Gazelle

In an increasingly scary, unpredictable and challenging world, Dr Gail Gazelle’s How to Be Resilient is a practical and compassionate guide that will empower you to find inner strength and inner calm needed to navigate life’s tough times.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Self-Help, Personal Growth, Psychology, Mental Health

Publisher: Callisto

Review in one word: Empowering

Self-help books and books about resilience in particular are a dime a dozen nowadays. And so I almost rolled my eyes when I came across this book. But I was naturally drawn to it anyway and wanted to give it a go.

I was absolutely delighted to find that this book is not cliched or filled with overwrought and trite advice. Instead this is an indepth and extensive collection of theories all masterfully brought into the real world of actionable insights. collection of abstract theories but a roadmap filled with supportive advice and actionable exercises designed to help readers weather difficult times with courage and wisdom.

A physician at Harvard Medical School and a certified life coach, Dr Gazelle brings both medical expertise and a deep understanding of the human spirit to this accessible book.

This is a collection of wisdom from many difference evidence-based approaches that are packaged together in an accessible and helpful way. ‘How to be Resilient’ is structured to empower you step-by-step and begins by demystifying the concept of resilience, explaining the psychology behind it and the science of neuroplasticity, the brain’s remarkable ability to rewire itself in response to new habits and experiences.

From this foundation, Dr Gazelle guides the reader through a series of practices rooted in evidence-based fields such as positive psychology, mindfulness, and gratitude research. The book is organised very well and is not overly long-winded either, each chapter has clear takeaways that reinforce the main points.

The overarching theme is that resilience is not an innate trait possessed by a lucky few, but a flexible pool of strength that anyone can consciously cultivate and fortified with continued and dedicated practice.

Dr Gazelle focuses on several core pillars for building this strength: learning to be more adaptable in the face of change, cultivating meaningful connections with others, staying mindful of one’s thoughts and feelings without being overwhelmed by them, and prioritising self-care.

Her style is clear, encouraging, and direct, making complex psychological concepts easy to understand and apply. The tone is deeply supportive, caring and non-judgemental, acting as a trusted guide on the journey toward greater well-being.

How to Be Resilient provides readers with the techniques—from meditation and journalling to strategies for deepening relationships—to not just survive challenges, but to heal, move forward, and continue to enjoy life to the fullest.

I found this book to be one of the best I’ve ever read (and I have consumed 100’s of self-help books over the years), I cannot recommend this book more strongly to you!

Content Catnip

Book Review: Plant Magick: The Library of Esoterica by Taschen

Plant Magick is a collectors item of sublime and exquisite beauty. This is a treasury of art and plant history for lovers of nature, art history, folklore, witchcraft and magic. Psychonauts, spiritual seekers and shamanic explorers will find a lyrical home here as well.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Non-Fiction, Philosophy, Spirituality, Esoterica

Publisher: Taschen

Review in one word: Esoteric

Divided into thoughtful sections and chapters, Plant Magick features visionary and universal wisdom from a broad range of scholars, witches, sorcerers and mystics about different aspects of plant magick, lore and practice.

There’s a diverse and broad exploration of magical practices using plants and fungi and how this is reflected in art across all ages and cultures. This is an ambitious ask and Taschen have delivered 100% with this stunning book.

If you or someone you know is a gardener, plant enthusiast, hedge witch or practising pagan or you simply revere and respect nature and plants – then this book will embolden and deepen your love and respect for these other-than-human beings.

The importance of plants as a part of religious and pagan rites, ritual, medicinal and transcendental spiritual purposes is explored through eye-popping and mind-bending art.

Each artwork is tactfully placed to add colour and depth to the informative essays that make up each chapter. The essays rather than being filler or less important than the artworks are a complement to them. The words are not wasted or superfluous but are instead brimming with lush and vivid detail about artists, movements and cultural phenomena throughout the ages. These allow you to understand the artworks in a much more profound way.

The sheer range of historical context explored in this book is exciting. Even if you casually flip through it, I guarantee that the hours will melt away and you will still be sitting on your sofa eyes glued to the pages, carefully turning them savouring every detail.

Bound in high quality hardcover and featuring gold inlay, Plant Magick is a part of a larger four part series by Taschen called the Library of Esoterica. Other books that might tickle your fancy in the series include Tarot, Astrology and Witchcraft. Personally, the only other one I simply had to own was Witchcraft and the review for this one is coming up on Content Catnip very soon.

Would I recommend this book to you? If you love nature, art history, folklore, paganism…then this book is a must for your collection – 5 stars!

Do you have this book or do you plan on getting it? let me know below!

Content Catnip

Book Review: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Harjo’s poetry is deeply rooted in her ancestral roots and the intergenerational trauma of colonisation. Her collection is a profound meditation on the lives, struggles, and resilience of all indigenous peoples.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Poetry, Non-fiction, Native American Literature

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Review in one word: Transcendental

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, writer, and musician of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is a powerful and essential collection of poems and prose from Harjo.

The book is not a linear narrative but a lyrical journey that weaves together personal memory, ancestral stories, and sharp political commentary to paint a vivid picture of Indigenous existence in the modern world.

The trajectory of the collection follows the profound cycles of life, loss, and survival. Harjo begins by emphasising the importance of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, a sacred act of cultural preservation.

Poems and short vignettes traverse time and geography, drawing on imagery and stories from ancestral knowing in North America, from Alaska to Hawaii to her own Cherokee lands.

The centrepiece poem, from which the collection takes its title, serves as a powerful axis for the book’s themes. In it, Harjo contrasts the worldviews of Native peoples and white Americans, particularly in their approaches to conflict, land, and spirituality.

Harjo critiques a colonising mindset that would build a casino on sacred land, contrasting it with the Indigenous preference for resolving conflict and expressing identity through art, music, poetry, and oral tradition.

There’s a lot of thematic focus on the Blues as a musical style and lifestyle and her prose is incantatory, blending the rhythms of traditional song and oral storytelling.

I loved this collection of elegiac and hopeful poems there is so much affinity I feel for her and her experiences seeing as I am indigenous as well. This is a moving and essential collection of poetry. Harjo is a genius for the ages!

Content Catnip

#AmericanHistory #art #BookReview #bookTag #BookReview #books #Colonisation #History #indigenous #JoyHarjo #JoyHarjo #literature #Native #nature #nonFiction #Philosophy #poems #poetry #storyteller #storytelling

Book Review: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Harjo’s poetry is deeply rooted in her ancestral roots and the intergenerational trauma of colonisation. Her collection is a profound meditation on the lives, struggles, and resilience of all indigenous peoples.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Poetry, Non-fiction, Native American Literature

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Review in one word: Transcendental

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, writer, and musician of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is a powerful and essential collection of poems and prose from Harjo.

The book is not a linear narrative but a lyrical journey that weaves together personal memory, ancestral stories, and sharp political commentary to paint a vivid picture of Indigenous existence in the modern world.

The trajectory of the collection follows the profound cycles of life, loss, and survival. Harjo begins by emphasising the importance of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, a sacred act of cultural preservation.

Poems and short vignettes traverse time and geography, drawing on imagery and stories from ancestral knowing in North America, from Alaska to Hawaii to her own Cherokee lands.

The centrepiece poem, from which the collection takes its title, serves as a powerful axis for the book’s themes. In it, Harjo contrasts the worldviews of Native peoples and white Americans, particularly in their approaches to conflict, land, and spirituality.

Harjo critiques a colonising mindset that would build a casino on sacred land, contrasting it with the Indigenous preference for resolving conflict and expressing identity through art, music, poetry, and oral tradition.

There’s a lot of thematic focus on the Blues as a musical style and lifestyle and her prose is incantatory, blending the rhythms of traditional song and oral storytelling.

I loved this collection of elegiac and hopeful poems there is so much affinity I feel for her and her experiences seeing as I am indigenous as well. This is a moving and essential collection of poetry. Harjo is a genius for the ages!

Content Catnip

#AmericanHistory #art #BookReview #bookTag #BookReview #books #Colonisation #History #indigenous #JoyHarjo #JoyHarjo #literature #Native #nature #nonFiction #Philosophy #poems #poetry #storyteller #storytelling

Book Review: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Harjo’s poetry is deeply rooted in her ancestral roots and the intergenerational trauma of colonisation. Her collection is a profound meditation on the lives, struggles, and resilience of all indigenous peoples.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Poetry, Non-fiction, Native American Literature

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Review in one word: Transcendental

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, writer, and musician of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is a powerful and essential collection of poems and prose from Harjo.

The book is not a linear narrative but a lyrical journey that weaves together personal memory, ancestral stories, and sharp political commentary to paint a vivid picture of Indigenous existence in the modern world.

The trajectory of the collection follows the profound cycles of life, loss, and survival. Harjo begins by emphasising the importance of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, a sacred act of cultural preservation.

Poems and short vignettes traverse time and geography, drawing on imagery and stories from ancestral knowing in North America, from Alaska to Hawaii to her own Cherokee lands.

The centrepiece poem, from which the collection takes its title, serves as a powerful axis for the book’s themes. In it, Harjo contrasts the worldviews of Native peoples and white Americans, particularly in their approaches to conflict, land, and spirituality.

Harjo critiques a colonising mindset that would build a casino on sacred land, contrasting it with the Indigenous preference for resolving conflict and expressing identity through art, music, poetry, and oral tradition.

There’s a lot of thematic focus on the Blues as a musical style and lifestyle and her prose is incantatory, blending the rhythms of traditional song and oral storytelling.

I loved this collection of elegiac and hopeful poems there is so much affinity I feel for her and her experiences seeing as I am indigenous as well. This is a moving and essential collection of poetry. Harjo is a genius for the ages!

Content Catnip

#AmericanHistory #art #BookReview #bookTag #BookReview #books #Colonisation #History #indigenous #JoyHarjo #JoyHarjo #literature #Native #nature #nonFiction #Philosophy #poems #poetry #storyteller #storytelling

Book Review: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Harjo’s poetry is deeply rooted in her ancestral roots and the intergenerational trauma of colonisation. Her collection is a profound meditation on the lives, struggles, and resilience of all indigenous peoples.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Poetry, Non-fiction, Native American Literature

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Review in one word: Transcendental

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, writer, and musician of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is a powerful and essential collection of poems and prose from Harjo.

The book is not a linear narrative but a lyrical journey that weaves together personal memory, ancestral stories, and sharp political commentary to paint a vivid picture of Indigenous existence in the modern world.

The trajectory of the collection follows the profound cycles of life, loss, and survival. Harjo begins by emphasising the importance of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, a sacred act of cultural preservation.

Poems and short vignettes traverse time and geography, drawing on imagery and stories from ancestral knowing in North America, from Alaska to Hawaii to her own Cherokee lands.

The centrepiece poem, from which the collection takes its title, serves as a powerful axis for the book’s themes. In it, Harjo contrasts the worldviews of Native peoples and white Americans, particularly in their approaches to conflict, land, and spirituality.

Harjo critiques a colonising mindset that would build a casino on sacred land, contrasting it with the Indigenous preference for resolving conflict and expressing identity through art, music, poetry, and oral tradition.

There’s a lot of thematic focus on the Blues as a musical style and lifestyle and her prose is incantatory, blending the rhythms of traditional song and oral storytelling.

I loved this collection of elegiac and hopeful poems there is so much affinity I feel for her and her experiences seeing as I am indigenous as well. This is a moving and essential collection of poetry. Harjo is a genius for the ages!

Content Catnip

#AmericanHistory #art #BookReview #bookTag #BookReview #books #Colonisation #History #indigenous #JoyHarjo #JoyHarjo #literature #Native #nature #nonFiction #Philosophy #poems #poetry #storyteller #storytelling

Book Review: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Harjo’s poetry is deeply rooted in her ancestral roots and the intergenerational trauma of colonisation. Her collection is a profound meditation on the lives, struggles, and resilience of all indigenous peoples.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Poetry, Non-fiction, Native American Literature

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Review in one word: Transcendental

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, writer, and musician of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is a powerful and essential collection of poems and prose from Harjo.

The book is not a linear narrative but a lyrical journey that weaves together personal memory, ancestral stories, and sharp political commentary to paint a vivid picture of Indigenous existence in the modern world.

The trajectory of the collection follows the profound cycles of life, loss, and survival. Harjo begins by emphasising the importance of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, a sacred act of cultural preservation.

Poems and short vignettes traverse time and geography, drawing on imagery and stories from ancestral knowing in North America, from Alaska to Hawaii to her own Cherokee lands.

The centrepiece poem, from which the collection takes its title, serves as a powerful axis for the book’s themes. In it, Harjo contrasts the worldviews of Native peoples and white Americans, particularly in their approaches to conflict, land, and spirituality.

Harjo critiques a colonising mindset that would build a casino on sacred land, contrasting it with the Indigenous preference for resolving conflict and expressing identity through art, music, poetry, and oral tradition.

There’s a lot of thematic focus on the Blues as a musical style and lifestyle and her prose is incantatory, blending the rhythms of traditional song and oral storytelling.

I loved this collection of elegiac and hopeful poems there is so much affinity I feel for her and her experiences seeing as I am indigenous as well. This is a moving and essential collection of poetry. Harjo is a genius for the ages!

Content Catnip

#AmericanHistory #art #BookReview #bookTag #BookReview #books #Colonisation #History #indigenous #JoyHarjo #JoyHarjo #literature #Native #nature #nonFiction #Philosophy #poems #poetry #storyteller #storytelling

Perdón si no me sumo al #CuatroLibrosQueTeHayanEnamorado
Pero a) 4 me parecen pocos, b) no tengo el coco como para pensar ahora mismo y c) en mi anclado tengo el #booktag de los #7libros del #literaverso y no ha habido muchos cambios desde entonces...
https://frikiverse.zone/@Kyrylys/110120449385331054

Bueno, allá vamos con el #booktag de los #7libros del #literaverso

Advierto que voy a hacer trampas:
¹ voy a mencionar las series como libros porque si, porque puedo y porque leyendo en eBook te puedes montar un ómnibus en un segundo.
² es posible que al final me salgan más de 7

Pd: aquí van sin orden ni concierto. O sea, sin preferencia de cuál es mi favorito porque ya me está costando escoger por casillero como para encima ponerles nota. Todos son libros de 10, o sea, 5 estrellas.

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