G. Jurczyk

Tour de force

Revisado: 04-16-25

If you read this in hard copy or the Kindle version, you must also listen to the recording. The musical performances at the end form the epilogue that reveals everything. Because if words conveyed everything, why would we need music?

We’ve all heard interviews in which the person is asked, “if you could meet/lunch with/spend time with anyone, living or dead, who would that be? Bob the Drag Queen brings Harriet Tubman and her entourage through the veil to challenge him where he is, with the request (well, actually, the demand!) that his persona tell her story through his skill as a Grammy winning hip hop producer who has left the business in the wake of a public betrayal. Bob the Drag Queen’s diction and explication seem to me to be a bridge for white persons while the plot, characters, and priorities are firmly and as emotionally invested and loud and proud as a black gay person could be.

“Don’t you deserve freedom,” demands Harriet of the first person narrator and by extension to all of us readers.

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A gentle, calm ASMR of a read!

Revisado: 03-15-25

I follow @tidydqd on Instagram and love that many of his stories and more are packaged here in a way that is as if he is the heir of Fred Roger’s or Bob Ross, helping you to make functional beauty out of your space that will give more peace to yourself, first, and those you love.

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Fantastic- but I needed BOTH audio & written forms!

Revisado: 12-17-24

The book deals with what exists between the atoms, what is ephemeral and what endures, how events in time change what man and nature build, together and separately. With the yellow house near present day Roxbury, MA, as a focal point, various narrators— not all of them reliable— tell the story of their intersections with the house. I want to read it again now, with others, to discover more of what I may have missed.

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Behind the scenes: key events in Nancy Pelosi’s service in the House of Representatives

Revisado: 12-04-24

Speaker Pelosi drops you right into the action from the beginning of the book and with each chapter. I feel like I know her personality- zeroing in on what she sees as key details and building the case for her perspective. This is not a slog through someone’s childhood, family of origin story. Sure, that’s in here, but as brief explanatory asides for the vignette of legislation she describes. I can see why she was a formidable Speaker.

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Meryl Streep is worth the investment of time!

Revisado: 08-05-24

Meryl Streep breathes life into the book. I think I could listen to her read the terms and conditions of a software installation. After the first couple of chapters, I thought, “I should read this book without Meryl Streep’s audio so I can be more unbiased about whether it is good.” Now that I’ve finished, I realized I enjoyed spending time with none of the characters but Meryl (distinct from the first person narrator) and have no desire to spend time with any of them without her.

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Sharp, warm, with biting (not mean-spirited) wit

Revisado: 07-28-24

All I can say is, “It’s Shark Week, MFs!”
Excuse me now while I go out and get signed copies for the young women in my life!

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A woman protagonist my age

Revisado: 07-08-24

I was continually surprised. Thought provoking while easy to read. Enjoyed hearing all the UK accents from the narrator!

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Guess I need video or pictures

Revisado: 01-06-24

Author is descriptive, but I found I wished I was listening in front of a computer, displaying the works of art as he talked about them. He describes areas vividly and the art and folks interacting as well… it underscored for me that art is a visual and sometimes tactile experience. This was rather like reading a musical score instead of listening to its performance.

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Engaging & research-grounded

Revisado: 02-18-23

I respect that this is not based solely on one person’s opinions and personality. The author has done the research and gives us the proven methods for how to reach our goals while respecting our needs.

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Rumination is the opposite of gratitude (and other insights toward freedom from despondency)

Revisado: 10-22-18

I want to stop numbing myself— thought this book (which gives modern applications to the teachings of the desert fathers) might give insight.

The author’s voice is so soft that I had to really pay attention to catch what she says. This irritated me at first, accustomed to doing a million things while listening to a book. Two thirds into it, I realized that was the point! I need to slow down and do daily tasks with attentiveness, awareness.

The insight that the opposite of gratitude is rumination is worth the whole book (but there are many such insights). I replayed that section at least 10 times to let her observations re this to sink in.

At the end of each section, Dr. Roccas has practical suggestions for countering the aspect of despondency treated in that chapter. It is both serious and joyful.

In addition to the Audible version, I bought the Kindle version and 3 of the hardcover so I can share the book with others (and I never buy hardcopy books any more!).

Ok! I’m going to start listening to it again now. :D

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