Is this my first blog post for 2021? I think it might be, welcome back to LaurenOLauren. I decided my first blog post was going to be a book review. 2020 had it’s ups and downs and I don’t know about anyone else but January started out pretty rough too. I have two of my closest friends that are going through a very hard time right now, and I myself was in a very dark place not too long ago, and I’m still not 100% . I was struggling to get out of bed just three months ago and overwhelmed with guilt and feelings of hopelessness. But books have always been my saving grace and I have always found comfort in authors who could answer questions I didn’t know how to ask.
If you’re feeling hopeless, try one of Matt Haig’s books.
I discovered Matt Haig through Pinterest, I was scrolling the app one night in bed when I came across an interesting title: “Reasons To Stay Alive”. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. I opened my iPad and read a sample, then I went into my audible app and purchased another book he released more recently called “The Midnight Library”. I could not stop listening to it, not only was the narrator who read the audio book really good, but the book was amazing. The story is based on a woman, who goes through crippling anxiety and sprouts of depression. She genuinely believes her life is meaningless and wants to die. She thinks there are so many things she should have done differently and wants to be somebody else entirely. The midnight library takes her through all those options. What she discovers is a lesson we could all use.
We all have negative thoughts, many of us have thought about suicide, for many different reasons. Matt Haig has found a way to talk about something that has become a taboo. It isn’t a mental illness that causes people to think about suicide, some people who think about suicide do have a mental illness. Many of us are burnt out, tired and disappointed in the way our lives have gone or is going. If you’re feeling hopeless, I recommend the Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker is one of the most interesting books I’ve read
So I was listening to one of those Live interviews on Audible where Amerie (The singer) was interviewing this woman who wrote, some book whose name I can’t remember right now. Anyways Amerie mentioned this book as one of her favorites. I have started to pay a lot more attention than usual to the food industry, I also launched a wellness and lifestyle business in September 2020. The Dorito Effect was added to my library immediately and I was unable to put it down. Hands down one of the most interesting books I’ve read. Schatzker talks about the food industry and how chemist have taken over from farmers, but most importantly he speaks about the flavor revolution. Something I have never even considered, most of our favorite flavors were made in a lab. Something very interesting he said that made me think was, the fact that we drink grape soda, but no grapes were used in the process of making it. Such an amazing and eye opening read.
The Dumbest Book I’ve ever read by my own standards – Lifespan by David A. Sinclair, PhD
This book was recommended to me by one of the most impressionable morons I’ve ever met. The more I read the book, the more annoyed I became. The author is some sort of scientist I’m assuming who is obsessed with living forever and never aging. Sinclair believes aging (something found naturally in nature) is a disease that can be cured. I really tried with this book, but I had to return it, I wanted to fight him. Look at the world and what’s happening and you want governments to pour money into making people live forever? BOY BYE!!!!!!
Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari is a far better book that analyses human life and the world we live in and what we should be focusing on a lot better. This obsession with living forever and being flawless the whole time is exactly what’s wrong with people. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to read this book. I want my time back.
What are we readings and a special welcome to everyone who is a member of “There Good Book Club”
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