Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Jennifer Lim (narrator)

Audiobook for the first 37%. I’ve had a copy of this book on my shelf for at least five years if not more. Knowing that it was very popular, I had moderate expectations. I thought the novel had some well written elements. While most of the characters are not exactly likable, I was interested in their stories. The novel touched on themes of American identity, fertility, adoption, kidnapping, and racism. I think there were too many themes and plot lines. It could have been more tightly written especially as there was some interesting character work on the surface. The ending felt abrupt. It was unrealistic and not satisfying. I was curious about the TV adaptation and watched a bit of the first episode but then read they made some changes. I decided to cut my losses and stopped since I do not watch a lot of TV these days.

1.3x. October 18-20, 2024.

Your Brain’s Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD by Tamara Rosier

My family doctor recommended this book when I got diagnosed earlier this year. As this was my first ADHD book, I did not really know what to expect. It had a few symptoms and behaviours that I had not really seen much about online such as divergent thinking, the importance of boundaries, and perception of interest. I did not use the workbook elements. I got diagnosed to confirm things about myself and fortunately, have been able to manage well through trial and error, self-development, help from others, therapym and meditation. CBT-I actually made me explore the idea of diagnosis since even with all the meditation and sleep, I still felt my brain was a bit different. I found the idea that ADHDers have reversed sleep patterns interesting and thankfully, was not the case with me. This was the first of a collection of ADHD books I have on my TBR. I will read them intermittently to gain any more insight or ideas on how to manage life.

October 12-21, 2024 on Kobo Mini.

Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke

This was a fast and amusing novel all done in Slack messages. I used Slack once at a job over seven years ago. I do not miss it but I do love working from home.

Read on Kobo Libra 2 with my new 8bitdot micro remote. October 23, 2024.

Ascendance of a Bookworm (Manga) Part 1 Volume 6 by Suzuka (Illustrator), Miya Kazuki, Quof (Translator)

The tone of this volume was more serious. While the chronic illness has been part of this story from the start, this would addressed the terminal aspect of it. It was heavier and quite well done. I learned about the anime as well this week and will try to seek it out once I finish the manga.

October 23, 2024.