milk and honey by Rupi Kaur

milk and honey by Rupi Kaur
Published by Createspace on November 4, 2014
Genres: [Adult] Nonfiction, Poetry, Feminism
Pages: 204
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

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3.5 Stars, Completed July 29, 2017

– SPOILER free –

Milk and honey is a book I’ve wanted to pick up for some time now.
I‘ve noticed it around the blogosphere, bookstagram, and Goodreads.
Literally at every bookstore I’ve visited the last couple of months, this would be advertised as the #1 bestseller.
Knowing that there was immense popularity surrounding milk and honey, I was wary.

And so today I decided to take a chance and settled in my reading nook to finally see what the hype was about.
Now, I understand why many love milk and honey.
Despite this statement though, I’m going to have to admit that I, personally, did find it to be slightly underwhelming honestly.

Hence why I couldn’t give this a full 5 stars.
Of course the prose and illustrations were aesthetically pleasing, and there were many pieces that moved and even resonated with me.
Not to mention, I was 100% on board with Rupi Kaur’s beliefs and intent the entire way.
Even though the writer’s/poet’s/artist’s passion is very apparent and her artful pieces can speak to readers, the fact that this was written in the form of poetry just probably wasn’t for me.
Yes, this book is raw, beautiful, and powerful, but it isn’t one that can convert non-poetry fans to ones that like poetry as I was secretly hoping.

TL;DR: There was certainly an allure while reading milk and honey because of the messages Kaur conveys within the pages, but overall this book as a whole itself didn’t live up to my expectations. Poetry might just be something I’ll never grow to appreciate, I guess. Therefore, for me, milk and honey felt both disconnected yet connected at the same time, as contradicting as that sounds. (Disjointing because of the style but cohesive with the ideologies and politics, if that makes sense.)

And indeed, I did choose to write my review in an (extremely elementary) acrostic poem this time. (Although, I’m quite pleased with it seeing as I’m not at all a poet. Hah.)

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When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Published by Random House on January 12, 2016
Genres: [Adult] Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
Pages: 208
Format: Hardcover –> eBook
Source: Purchased –> Borrowed

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5 Stars, Completed January 8, 2017

– SPOILER free –

When Breath Becomes Air shares the story of Paul Kalanithi, an exceptional and gifted neurosurgeon that found his life upended while in his last year of residency when signs of illness started to appear. After medical tests, it was discovered that he, in fact, had stage IV metastatic lung cancer. With his life no different from a ticking clock, he began to ask questions that would confront his mortality. What should he do with the remaining time he has left? Should he return to neurosurgery, or should he write? Should he and his wife, Lucy, have children? In this memoir, Kalanithi answers these questions (and provides responses to many more) by taking readers along his trek of leading a life as (some days) a doctor, (most days) a patient, and (everyday) a human desperate to stay alive.

The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly by Matt McCarthy

The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician’s First Year by Matt McCarthy
Published by Crown on April 7, 2015
Genres: [Adult] Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
Pages: 324
Format: Hardcover
Source: Blogging For Books

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5 Stars, Completed June 7, 2015

– SPOILER free – 

“You do not want to be the physician who assumed the patient was sleeping,” the instructor had told us, “when in fact he was dead.”

The quote above is one of the many words of wisdom and advice Dr. Matt McCarthy learned as a first year intern at Columbia hospital, and it perfectly illustrates the pressure health care professionals have to deal with every day.

In this frank memoir, The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly, Dr. McCarthy beautifully writes about the brutal truths behind the field of medicine and a physician’s infallibility, but somehow manages to do so with humor through interspersed comedic relief. In less than 100 pages into the book, readers learn that on his journey towards becoming a “good physician,” Dr. McCarthy stitches a banana peel, has feces-stained scrubs thrown at his face, and witnesses a patient almost die his first night interning in the cardiac care unit.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wall

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Published by Scribner on January 17, 2006
Genres: [Adult] Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Source: Gift

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5 Stars, Completed February 27, 2015

– highlight* to view SPOILERS – 

*Quick warning: If you’re using WordPress’ Reader the white text will remain as visible black text and you’ll see spoilers regardless of whether you highlight the text or not. Make sure to read this post on my actual blog for the white text to appear and therefore the spoilers to be concealed; this is the only way for this method to be effective. Sorry for the inconvenience!

I’m not sure where to start. I recently made a new friend this last year, and she recommended me this book. After finally picking it up, I understood why it had stellar reviews and was on the The New York Times bestseller for a good 2 years.

The Glass Castle is a memoir written by former MSNBC gossip columnist Jeannette Wells, which narrates her unconventional upbringing and leads up to her success as a writer. In ways the book was simple and complex. Walls begins her story by describing one evening when she sees her homeless mother picking trash on the streets while she is on her way to a fancy party. When she sees her mother begin to look up towards her direction, she quickly bends down in her seat, in shame, hoping that should would pass unrecognized. Later she meets with her mom at a restaurant, slightly embarrassed by her mother’s appearance, and asks her mother how she should disclose about her family to her friends and colleagues. And her mother replies, “Just tell the truth, that’s simple enough.”

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Published by Random House on November 16, 2010
Genres: [Adult] Biography, Historical Nonfiction
Pages: 473
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

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5 Stars, Completed February 12, 2015

– SPOILER free –

Unbroken is a WWII biography of Olympic runner and American prisoner of war survivor, Louie Zamperini. Hillenbrand beautifully crafts this story by, suitably, splitting Louie’s life into parts. The first part explores Louie boyhood full of mischief, troublemaking, and rebellion to the beginnings of his track career (Olympics included). The second part delves into his time during his enlistment in the U.S. Army Air Corps and adjustment to life at war. The third goes in great detail about the B-26 bomber’s crash, the 47 days lost at sea, and his hardships as a POW at the Japanese prison camps. And in the fourth and final part, Hillenbrand gives the readers a glimpse of Louie’s struggle of adjusting to civilian life after the end of the war and how he finds an end to the psychological war his mind battles long after the Second World War.