This was mostly a wrong turn in my “learn how to be a supervisor in the middle of a pandemic” quest. It seems to have received more attention from fans of the author’s other work than people looking for business books, and so perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s much more a self-help book than a management book. Mostly it’s peddling the author’s particular version of emotional authenticity and connectedness. I don’t know that there’s anything bad about her vision per se, but I found the book off-putting: the peculiar phrasing she uses in her workplace (“let’s rumble about this,” “that’s outside of my integrity,” and so on), the self-help-y unspoken assumption that seems to saturate its pages that those who don’t see the light of her vision will bumble around blindly leading terrible lives. Admittedly, I don’t think much of self-help books. They’re quick and easy reads, as this is, but they rub me the wrong way.

And unfortunately, for all the author touts her Ph.D. and calls herself a researcher, this is very much self-help rather than pop psych. Typically, a pop psych book will discuss studies and their methodologies and results in an accessible way for a general audience. This author claims to have done a bunch of research, but her methodology is never discussed beyond vague references to interviewing people. And she never cites a single statistic, instead presenting the One True Way to Be Empathetic, for instance. Somehow I’m pretty sure no psychological research shows 100% unanimity on anything, unless it’s total softball questions like “is murder generally wrong?” At what point does “I talked to a bunch of people about this, and here’s the general consensus” cross the line from anecdote to science? I don’t know, but I’m not convinced this work has done so.

That said, certainly there’s plenty of common sense advice here, like “be clear about what specifically you’re asking people to do” and “try to be nonjudgmental if you want people to feel safe talking to you.” I think the book is a little overly padded with the author quoting long excerpts of people (particularly famous people) praising her work, and it’s probably most useful if you are the head of an organization looking to transform a workplace culture. It kind of annoyed me, but then it’s not my type of thing to begin with.

Brave Face is a frank, honest and often times difficult to read memoir about not only the struggles of coming out during the 90's amidst such policies as Don't Ask Don't tell and the defense of marriage act , but is  also a young man struggling with depression. I have not read any of his fiction books but since they have been on my too be read pile for quite some time , thought it was only fitting to read something written about and by that author since I do plan to read his books in the future.  As stated before, this memoir is blunt, honest and very difficult to read at times. He does not shy away from difficult subject matter such as self hate and self harm, all of which the author has trigger warnings at the start of the book and later on as well. Will admit that the ending feels like way too much is crammed. I get that the bulk of the book is about him coming out and deal with depression as a teen but would have liked if some of his adult years of being out and proud but still suffering from depression was not all jammed packed at the end.  

I took Out of Darkness from the dark depths of my rather too-long TBR. It had been there since a time where I devoured (post)apocalyptic stories, although I have to admit that recently I've become a bit weary of them.

Mora has left the relative safety of her colony to try and safe said colony by bargaining a deal with what clearly is an evil entity, exchanging goods for protection. One of the many things however that she has sadly overlooked, is that she is in no position to the bargaining on behalf of her colony. Also, cars run out of fuel, she didn't think of that. Obviously, she never makes it to her meeting, but is rather taken up by another colony. Here she can see what the 'protection' she is looking for, looks like.

I didn't like Mora. It was a miracle to me that she survived long enough to become the main character, because she does one stupid thing after the other. Besides, she has special abilities and the future of the world lies in her hands. There is - once more - two brothers fighting over Mora's favor.

The worst part however, was the lacking world-building. I realize it is difficult enough nowadays to have a slightly original zombie (eh, greyskin) story, but it was lacking here. The big reveal was hardly a reveal at all, and I was left with a lot of questions. But not in a good way.

No more Starborns for me.

What an adventure to go on. Susan does it wonderfully with this new book in her new series. The storyline is mostly about two of the six characters. But you get more of an adventure with them all. What is Ham's real reason for coming to Alaska? We see that Orion is the main one along with Jenny.

They all seem to have worked together. Orion seems stuck with his past and why? He got friends and Ham and Jake seem content to help him. Ham seems to know that God as a plan for Orion still. Will Orion realize that. Jenny seems to have a secret that she is holding on to. She decides to take it to the highest mountain in America.

Susan put readers though emotional and breathtaking adventures. There is non stop action from the moment we open the book after starting. What a climb and adventure we go on. Jake and Aria seem to find a connection. Is it real? Will Orion let go of this past to be with Jenny? Will Jenny let go and allow romance to take hold?

Will they be stuck on the mountain or will they survive? The mountain seems to be calling Orion and Han and Jake, Will they save the woman and get them all the mountain?

The cover was what initially pulled me towards Nils: The Tree of Life, because recently I had the feeling I was tiring a bit from the dystopian novels, having previously everything I could get my hands on. Especially within the graphic novels, I’ve often felt disappointed with the execution of the concepts.

I did not need to worry though. First of all, the artwork was splendid and even if there had been no story, I would have liked to look at it. The colors worked really well. I’ve read some reviews stating that the story felt rushed and little detailed but I don’t fully agree with them. Of course, there is a limited amount of information one can get across in the span of a 200 pages graphic novel, but still I got a good grasp (I think) of what was going on. A lot is happening at any time, and I do agree that there has not been a lot of character development, but this didn’t bother me too much.

Would recommend.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!