Review- Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series (Write Your Own Series #2) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series

Series: Write Your Own Series #2

Previous book in this series: Write Your Own Cake: A Worldbuilding Essay

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, writing

Publication date: January 14th, 2025

Published by: Jennifer Estep

Source: eARC for review from author

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Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep continues her Write Your Own Cake series with an essay about creating and authoring a long book series. Estep is the author of more than 50 fantasy and science-fiction books, including the long-running Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

Writing a book is hard. But writing book after book with the same characters and settings? Well, that is even harder.

Whether you are penning epic fantasy adventures, pulse-pounding thrillers, or swoon-worthy romances, writing a book series comes with its own unique challenges. This essay offers some tips and tricks for setting up your initial worldbuilding and magic system in anticipation of writing multiple books in the same series. It also offers suggestions on characters, tropes, and more that can help keep an ongoing book series fresh and interesting for both authors and readers.

Note: Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series is a 2,100-word essay about writing and worldbuilding.

My rating: ★★★★☆

This is Jennifer Estep’s second book in this Write Your Own Series, which is nonfiction and all about how to write books and series and all that good writing/author stuff. I mentioned in my review of that previous book that I will literally read anything this woman writes, even this. Lol. And here we are again! 😆

Review: Book Love by Debbie Tung

Title: Book Love

Author: Debbie Tung

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, comic

Publication date: January 2019

Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Book Love is a gift book of comics tailor-made for tea-sipping, spine-sniffing, book-hoarding bibliophiles. Debbie Tung’s comics are humorous and instantly recognizable—making readers laugh while precisely conveying the thoughts and habits of book nerds. Book Love is the ideal gift to let a book lover know they’re understood and appreciated.

My rating: ★★★★★

Another book about books!

(Listen, I know Dean is being sarcastic in this gif because he hates doing research, but let’s just pretend he actually does like books 😆)

Review: Book Nerd by Holly Maguire

Title: Book Nerd

Author: Holly Maguire

Genre: Adult, nonfiction

Publication date: December 2020

Published by: Workman Publishing Company

Source: Purcahsed hardcover

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Synopsis: You know you’re a Book Nerd when…

—You have a minimum of 5 books on your night table.

—You never once thought the movie was better.

—Your favorite mug says “I’d rather be reading.”

—You use words like librocubicularist in casual conversation (though no conversation about books is ever "casual”).

—You wear a T-shirt that says—what else?—"Too many books, too little time."

Charming, affectionate, and unabashed in its celebration of book nerdiness, this little love letter is for every avid reader. Every page is packed with bright, playful, intricately detailed illustrations by Holly Maguire, and wonderful mottoes, definitions, relatable moments, and more.

My rating: ★★★★★

This was a book about loving books and it was as cute and relatable as it seems!

Review- Behind the Horror: True Stories That Inspired Horror Movies by Lee Mellor

Title: Behind the Horror: True Stories That Inspired Horror Movies

Author: Lee Mellor

Genre: Nonfiction, adult, horror, true crime

Publication date: July 2020

Published by: DK

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Uncover the twisted tales that inspired the big screen's greatest screams.

Which case of demonic possession inspired The Exorcist? What horrifying front-page story generated the idea for A Nightmare on Elm Street? Which film was based on the infamous skin-wearing murderer Ed Gein?

Unearth the terrifying and true tales behind some of the scariest Horror movies to ever haunt our screens, including the Enfield poltergeist case that was retold in The Conjuring 2 and the serial killers who inspired Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

Behind the Horror dissects these and other bizarre tales to reveal haunting real-life stories of abduction, disappearance, murder, and exorcism.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I’ve been really getting into nonfiction books in recent years. One subgenre I discovered I really enjoyed is nonfiction books that discuss horror movies. I love horror movies, so it would make sense that I enjoy this genre of books. This book, as the title suggests, talks about horror movies and the true stories that inspired them. It was wild because there were some movies I didn’t even realize were inspired by true events!

Review: Japanese Demystified by Eriko Sato

Title: Japanese Demystified

Author: Eriko Sato

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, language learning

Publication date: May 2008

Published by: McGraw Hill

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Say sayonara to your fears of learning Japanese with the updated premium edition of this fast, painless guide

The updated third edition of Japanese DeMYSTiFieD provides you with the comprehensive, step-by-step educational experience that has made the DeMYSTiFieD language series such a success. This established, unintimidating approach to speaking, reading, and writing a new language takes the mystery and menace out of the learning process, whether in class or at home.

Hundreds of quiz and test questions, chapter-opening objectives, and specific recommendations for difficult subtopics and individual weaknesses help you learn basic grammar structures and verb tenses, pronunciation, essential vocabulary, and how to communicate with confidence. In addition to DeMYSTiFieD’s time-tested strategies, this edition features 70 minutes of streaming audio recordings and chapter review quizzes via the unique McGraw-Hill Language Lab app, so you can enhance your study via mobile or online, at home, in class, or on the go.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I did it! I finally finished Japanese Demystified! After I don’t know how many years of me checking out this book from the library, reading a little, returning it, checking it out again, rinse, repeat, I finally did it!

Review- The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine by Thomas Morris

Title: The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine

Author: Thomas Morris

Genre: Nonfiction, adult, medical science

Publication date: October 2018

Published by: Dutton

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: A mysterious epidemic of dental explosions,
A teenage boy who got his wick stuck in a candlestick
A remarkable woman who, like a human fountain, spurted urine from virtually every orifice

These are just a few of the anecdotal gems that have until now lain undiscovered in medical journals for centuries. This fascinating collection of historical curiosities explores some of the strangest cases that have perplexed doctors across the world.

From seventeenth-century Holland to Tsarist Russia, from rural Canada to a whaler in the Pacific, many are monuments to human stupidity – such as the sailor who swallowed dozens of penknives to amuse his shipmates, or the chemistry student who in 1850 arrived at a hospital in New York with his penis trapped inside a bottle, having unwisely decided to relieve himself into a vessel containing highly reactive potassium. Others demonstrate exceptional surgical ingenuity long before the advent of anaesthesia – such as a daring nineteenth-century operation to remove a metal fragment from beneath a conscious patient’s heart. We also hear of the weird, often hilarious remedies employed by physicians of yore – from crow’s vomit to port-wine enemas – the hazards of such everyday objects as cucumbers and false teeth, and miraculous recovery from apparently terminal injuries.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Medicine has improved almost beyond recognition in the past few centuries, but some things never change. The human capacity for mischief, misadventure and downright idiocy is apparently a trait that progress cannot eradicate.

This book was wild. It went into some strange illnesses, the weirdest foreign objects in bodies that you could imagine, sketchy remedies that were worse than the actual disease/injury, remarkable recoveries, and other strange medical cases. As I kept reading this book, there was one trend I noticed:

Review: How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith

Title: How to Survive a Horror Movie

Author: Seth Grahame-Smith

Genre: Nonfiction, adult, horror, satire

Publication date: May 2011

Published by: Quirk Books

Source: Purchased ebook

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Synopsis: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

From ghosts, vampires, and zombies to serial killers, cannibalistic hillbillies, and haunted Japanese videocassettes, How to Survive a Horror Movie shows how to defeat every obstacle found in scary films. Readers will discover:

-How to Perform an Exorcism
-What to Do If You Did Something Last Summer
-How to Persuade the Skeptical Local Sheriff
-How to Vanquish a Murderous Doll
-How to Survive an Alien Invasion
-How to Tell If You've Been Dead Since the Beginning of the Movie

and much, much more. Complete with useful instructions, insane illustrations, and a list of 100 important films to study, How to Survive a Horror Movie is essential reading for prom queens, jocks, teenage babysitters, and anyone employed by a summer camp.

My rating: ★★★★★

I’m a huge horror movie fan so when I discovered this book I knew that I needed it in my brain immediately! The thing about me though is that, honestly, I would probably be that person who dies in the first 5 minutes of a Supernatural episode 😆

Review- Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang & Nate Pedersen

Title: Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases

Author: Lydia Kang & Nate Pedersen

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, science

Publication date: November 2021

Published by: Workman Publishing Company

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: From the masters of storytelling-meets-science and co-authors of Quackery, Patient Zero tells the long and fascinating history of disease outbreaks—how they start, how they spread, the science that lets us understand them, and how we race to destroy them before they destroy us.

Written in the authors’ lively and accessible style, chapters include page-turning medical stories about a particular disease or virus—smallpox, Bubonic plague, polio, HIV—that combine “Patient Zero” narratives, or the human stories behind outbreaks, with historical examinations of missteps, milestones, scientific theories, and more.

Learn the tragic stories of Patient Zeros throughout history, such as Mabalo Lokela, who contracted Ebola while on vacation in 1976, and the Lewis Baby on London’s Broad Street, the first to catch cholera in an 1854 outbreak that led to a major medical breakthrough. Interspersed are origin stories of a different sort—how a rye fungus in 1951 turned a small village in France into a phantasmagoric scene reminiscent of Burning Man. Plus the uneasy history of human autopsy, how the HIV virus has been with us for at least a century, and more.

My rating: ★★★★☆

For many millennia, humans blamed sickness on anything but germs. When boils, lethal amounts of diarrhea, and vomiting blood brought whole cities to their knees, responsibility was cast on comets, eclipses, earthquakes, demons, gods, or witchcraft. Powers far larger than ourselves were forever the reasons behind outbreaks of disease.

As we've learned more about infectious diseases through the years, it's no surprise that our goal has always been to understand them, to control them, and to kill them—before they kill us.

Quackery by these authors was one of my favorite books of 2023 so I was very happy when I saw that they had written another nonfiction book! While I didn’t love Patient Zero as much as Quackery, I still very much enjoyed it!

Review: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Title: I'm Glad My Mom Died

Author and Narrator: Jennette McCurdy

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, memoir

Publication date: August 2022

Published by: Simon & Schuster

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

My rating: ★★★★★

I have been intrigued by this book since it came out. I mean, with a title like that you can’t help but pause and go, “What?” But after reading this book and realizing how emotionally manipulative Jennette’s mother was, you understand why it’s called what it is. It’s terrible that her mom had cancer—it’s an awful disease and something no one should go through— but the way she threw that around to get her way was astounding. And that also did not give her the right to treat her family the way she did. Forcing Jennette into acting because that’s something she wanted to do growing up was not okay. Her mom telling her that she just wanted what was best for her and essentially manipulating her into acting... that was rough.

Review: The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

Title: The Woman in Me

Author: Britney Spears

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, memoir

Publication date: October 2023

Published by: Gallery Books

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.

Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.

My rating: ★★★★★

Singing bridged reality and fantasy, the world I was living in and the world that I desperately wanted to inhabit.

I loved Britney growing up—I listened to her music a lot! And even now I still listen to it every now and then. And I did follow the legal proceedings of her conservatorship semi-closely thanks to Emily D. Baker who broke down all the legal stuff. Everything she’s been through has been horrific, but we heard a lot of it secondhand, so I am very happy that Britney was finally able to tell her story. Going into this I was excited but also approaching the book with a bit of trepidation because I knew that whatever lay inside was going to be heartbreaking. And I was right.

Review: I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider

Title: I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf

Author: Grant Snider

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, graphic novel

Publication date: April 2020

Published by: Abrams ComicArts

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: A look at the culture and fanaticism of book lovers, from the beloved New York Times illustrator and creator of Incidental Comics.

It’s no secret, but we are judged by our bookshelves. We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading, building on the beloved literary comics featured on his website, Incidental Comics. I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf is the perfect gift for bookworms of all ages.

My rating: ★★★★★

I really loved this book! I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf is basically a collection of fun little comics about books, being a reader, and even writing books.

Review- Baking All Year Round: Holidays & Special Occasions by Rosanna Pansino

Title: Baking All Year Round: Holidays & Special Occasions

Author: Rosanna Pansino

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, cookbook

Publication date: October 2018

Published by: Atria Books

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Baking All Year Round is filled with creative and delicious recipes for celebrating with friends and family throughout the year. There are eighty-six recipes covering holidays and special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, Christmas, birthdays, weddings, and more. Recipes include sweet treats like Blackberry Cobbler, Donut Cake, Confetti Pancakes, and BBQ Grill Brownie Cupcakes to savory dishes such as Heart Shaped Ravioli, Baseball Pizza, and cheesy garlic Breadstick Bones. Included in this book are several vegan, gluten free, or dairy free options. It’s the perfect cookbook for families to make fun food together and create lasting memories. Whether you’re celebrating at home or going to a party, Rosanna’s innovative ideas are sure to delight and entertain.

My rating: ★★★★★

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to review this book, I’ve had it for a while and I am constantly using it to bake stuff. Anyway, I love it! I’ve tried many of Ro’s recipes, be it from the book, her website, or YouTube channel, and not one has failed me yet! They’ve all been great!

Review- Write Your Own Cake: A Worldbuilding Essay (Write Your Own Series #1) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Write Your Own Cake: A Worldbuilding Essay

Series: Write Your Own Series #1

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, writing

Publication date: February 2022

Published by: Jennifer Estep

Source: Purchased ebook

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Synopsis: When it comes to writing, worldbuilding is like making a cake. Why a cake? Because every author starts with the same general ingredients of characters, plot, and setting, but it’s how each author combines and adds to those ingredients that makes a book an author’s own unique creation.

This essay offers a few tips and poses some questions for figuring out the things you enjoy and do best as an author, so that you can write your own cake, whether it’s a big, bold epic fantasy adventure, a subtle, nuanced mystery, an emotion-packed romance, or something else.

Note: Write Your Own Cake is a 2,000-word essay about writing and worldbuilding. It first appeared as part of the Scribbler subscription box in November 2018.

My rating: ★★★★★

When I say I'll read anything and everything by Jennifer Estep, I literally mean everything...

Review- Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang & Nate Pedersen

Title: Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything

Author: Lydia Kang & Nate Pedersen

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, science

Publication date: October 2017

Published by: Workman Publishing Company

Source: Borrowed ebook from library

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Synopsis: Discover 67 shocking-but-true medical misfires that run the gamut from bizarre to deadly. Like when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When snorting skull moss was a cure for a bloody nose. When consuming mail-order tapeworms was a latter-day fad diet. Or when snake oil salesmen peddled strychnine (used in rat poison) as an aphrodisiac in the '60s. Seamlessly combining macabre humor with hard science and compelling storytelling, Quackery is a visually rich and information-packed exploration of history's most outlandish cures, experiments, and scams.

A humorous book that delves into some of the wacky but true ways that humans have looked to cure their ills. Leeches, mercury, strychnine, and lobotomies are a few of the topics that explore the lengths society has gone in the search for health.

My rating: ★★★★★

I've been slowly getting into nonfiction these last two years, and this book was one of the few books that caught my attention. I'm a nurse, so this topic was very interesting to me. But honestly, anyone could read it! It was easy to read and just so much fun! The book was sassy from the start and I loved it! Plus, it was just really interesting and informative.

Review: Dirt the Vacu-bot Missed by Julia Huni

Title: Dirt the Vacu-bot Missed

Series: Space Janitor | Tales of a Former Space Janitor | Recycled World | Colonial Explorer Corps

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, sci-fi

Publication date: February 2022

Published by: Julia Huni

Source: Backed on Kickstarter - Ebook reward

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Synopsis: A look at the story behind the Space Janitor books. Only for Kickstarter backers.

My rating: ★★★★★

I loved this book, which should not come as a surprise because I love the Space Janitor world!

Review: What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

Title: What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Series: What If? #2

Previous book in this series: What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Author: Randall Munroe

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, science

Publication date: September 2022

Published by: Mariner Books

Source: Borrowed hardcover from library

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Synopsis: The #1 New York Times–bestselling author of What If? and How To provides his best answers yet to the weirdest questions you never thought to ask.

The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.

Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers’ questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.

Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall’s signature stick-figure comics, What If? 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages.

My rating: ★★★★☆

More serious scientific answers to hypothetical questions! I really enjoyed the first book, so I was excited to read the sequel with even more ridiculous questions. And I really enjoyed this one too!

Review: What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

Title: What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Series: What If? #1

Author: Randall Munroe

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, science

Publication date: September 2014

Published by: Mariner Books

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: In the New York Times best-selling book from the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, Randall Munroe gives hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.

Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe ran computer simulations, pored over stacks of declassified military research memos, solved differential equations, and consulted with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. (They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.)

Far more than a book for geeks, What If? explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much smarter for having read.

My rating: ★★★★★

I came across this book at the beginning of the year when I was scrolling through my feed on Goodreads and saw that one of my friends was reading it. The title immediately caught my attention: What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. I was all in! I love science, so this was very intriguing to me... especially the part about answering absurd questions. Lol.

Review- Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films by Nina Nesseth

Title: Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films

Author: Nina Nesseth

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, horror, science

Publication date: July 26th 2022

Published by: Tor Nightfire

Source: eARC from publisher via Netgalley

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Synopsis: Do you like scary movies?
Have you ever wondered why?

Nina Nesseth knows what scares you. She also knows why.

In Nightmare Fuel, Nesseth explores the strange and often unexpected science of fear through the lenses of psychology and physiology. How do horror films get under our skin? What about them keeps us up at night, even days later? And why do we keep coming back for more?

Horror films promise an experience: fear. From monsters that hide in plain sight to tension-building scores, every aspect of a horror film is crafted to make your skin crawl. But how exactly do filmmakers pull this off? The truth is, there’s more to it than just loud noises and creepy images.

With the affection of a true horror fan and the critical analysis of a scientist, Nesseth explains how audiences engage horror with both their brains and bodies, and teases apart the elements that make horror films tick. Nightmare Fuel covers everything from jump scares to creature features, serial killers to the undead, and the fears that stick around to those that fade over time.

With in-depth discussions and spotlight features of some of horror’s most popular films—from classics like The Exorcist to modern hits like Hereditary—and interviews with directors, film editors, composers, and horror academics, Nightmare Fuel is a deep dive into the science of fear, a celebration of the genre, and a survival guide for going to bed after the credits roll.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I was SO excited when I came across this book because it combines two of my favorite things: horror movies and science!

Review - Japanese: An Essential Guide to Japanese Language Learning by Language Learning University & Takata Ei

Title: Japanese: An Essential Guide to Japanese Language Learning by Language Learning University

Authors: Language Learning University, Takata Ei

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, language learning - Japanese

Publication date: March 2018

Published by: Language Learning University

Source: Borrowed audiobook from library

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Synopsis: This book is for those who want an easy-to-follow guide that will make learning the Japanese language both fun and simple. This book is specifically created for travelers, students, and businesspeople who visit Japan.

Whether you're a just starting out or are already familiar with the Japanese language, this book will help you with speaking, writing and understanding Japanese!

My rating: ★★★★☆

So I did this fun board game where I landed on a square that required me to read an audiobook. I have also really been slacking in my Japanese studies lately, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone with this book. And it wasn’t too bad! It was a very quick listen and it was very helpful.

Review: I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna

Title: I Can Make You Thin

Author: Paul McKenna

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, self-help

Publication date: May 2016

Published by: Sterling

Source: Purchased Hardcover

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Synopsis:

Would you like to eat whatever you want and still lose weight? Would you like to feel really happy with your body? Are you unable to lose those last 10 pounds? Do you find it difficult to say no to second helpings? Do you get disheartened about your eating habits and your weight? Then this amazing book and CD can help you! Welcome to a revolutionary way to stop overeating, control cravings and feel totally motivated to take exercise. Paul McKenna has developed a breakthrough weight-loss system that re-patterns your thoughts, attitudes and beliefs about yourself, your health and food to help you easily take control of your diet and lose weight permanently. As you use Paul's amazing system, the latest psychological techniques will automatically help you to start losing weight straight away! You can use it again and again to make you feel happier about yourself as you go all the way to your ideal shape, size and weight.

My rating: ★★★★☆
I remember a while back I watched a TV show where Paul McKenna showed the viewers how to lose weight without dieting. I remember trying it for a bit and it actually worked! Fast forward to this past summer where I had had enough of my emotional eating and I decided it was time for me to lose weight. One thing about me: I’ve never been comfortable in my own body, and I SO want to be! It’s not just about being thin (title of the book could’ve been better, tbh), I want to feel better too! Anyway, I wanted to try out this system again but for the life of me I could not remember what it was! After many days and A LOT of googling I finally found this, the very thing I was looking for (except I didn’t realize it was a book too. Lol). So I read through the book (it was a very quick read!) and I even found the TV show on YouTube so watched those 4 segments too, and I put the system to use. After 6 months I lost 20 lbs just doing this!