mformato's reviews
190 reviews

I read this book in preparation for my CCPDT exam.

Oh my goodness this book is an excellent resource for clearly explaining so much that goes into training a dog properly. Miller wasn't patting herself on the back constantly like other authors have which was refreshing. She did an excellent job at breaking down so many aspects to training your dog and the right way to go about it. I did have additional notes that I wrote into my copy which I will now lend out to any friends or family who are struggling with their dog/thinking about getting a dog before I have them come to me asking any questions. Absolutely excellent book, I would recommend this to all dog owners and to anyone else just starting their dog training career like me.

I read this book in preparation for my CCPDT exam.

An excellent study on examining our relationship with dogs. Though some points were redundant to me at this point (after reading so many dog books), McConnell proves why she is one of the most relevant names in the field. She does an amazing job explaining how and why dogs do things and how and why we should respond. Although this book isn't heavy with specific training advice (which I honestly think is for the best), it should be a must read for owners--both new and experienced--when they are curious as to how to handle their dogs.

I read this book in preparation for my CCPDT certification exam.

This book is a semi-decent dictionary for any terms related to dogs. It does not go indepth into actual dog language and its complexities, much to my disappointment. It is also a bit outdated considering it was written over 20 years ago. I really didn't like how often it referred to wolf behavior considering domestic dogs and wolves, though sharing a common ancestor, are two different species and there really is no purpose in studying wolf behavior to better understand dogs. I wouldn't recommend this to casual dog owners as there is very little to gain from it. I can only see it as a decent spot to look up a quick, but lacking, definition for something if you don't have access to the internet. Don't do what I did and read this cover to cover.

I read this book in preparation for my CCPDT Certification exam.

This isn't the best dog training book, but it also isn't the worst. For a trainer, there really isn't anything new to be learned or gained from this book. It was very clearly written and a nice little refresher on some points, but there are other books that go much deeper into everything written here. For owners, I feel like this book was a bit rushed and glosses over plenty of key pieces of information. The final two sections especially made it seem like plenty of serious behaviors could be fixed quickly, which is not the case. It also assumes the owners know all the same jargon dog trainers use, which isn't the case. All around, not a bad read but I really wouldn't recommend it.

When I was a teenage edgelord I always wanted to read this book but never found the opportunity since I was a good little noodle that was terrified of what my parents would think if they found this on my shelf. Well many years later I find a copy in a bookstore and here we are.

I'm glad I didn't read it when I was a teenager who already thought better of herself than the other kids (as most teenagers do) cause the first section of the book is pretty cringe with how self-congratulatory it is about not following the common path; dunno how smug and unbearable that would have made me. Then it carries on to the overall philosophy of being a Satanist (which I found comical at points considering it's trying to preach independence but conformity at the same time) and then ends off the book with ritualistic nonsense, or at least nonsense to me as someone who looks into Satanism through an atheistic lens. 

There were some good points made throughout the book. The biggest being to focus on the individual self and celebrate it. Also the total acceptance of all sorts of sexuality (for a book written in 1969 I was very impressed with the approval of homosexuality, bisexuality, and even asexuality mentioned in the book). I also thought the chapter about ignoring psychic vampires was ahead of its time--now it comes across as obvious considering how many social media posts you can come across about now letting toxic people in your life--but definitely worth the read. And I like the fact that it debunks the media's portrayal of satanists or other nonconformists (those ExtremeGoth weirdos who steal babies and sacrifice goats) as just the weirdos they are an not satanists. Nobody wants your babies people.

I was disappointed though I think because young me built this book up so much in my head and it didn't deliver as greatly as I had hoped. A majority of the book was ritual nonsense that I felt took away from the message that "Satanism is what you make it" and became more "this is what a Satanist does." I also hated that in one paragraph LaVey gave kudos to Hitler's philosophy on something small. Like no, we do not stan nazis in this house. I also didn't like that in another paragraph later on LaVey spoke ill of those who commit suicide. Again no, we do not villainize those who have gone through enough to decide that suicide is an option.

Overall this was an okay book that I think anybody wanting to gain a grasp on different philosophies and lifestyles should read; but I'm sure there are philosophers with a much better grasp on individualism than LaVey. And no worries, you will not burst into flames if you touch this book nor send a curse upon your entire linage. It's just the writing of another dead guy who believed his thoughts were important enough to write down and publish to the world.

I really enjoyed the format of this book and the deadpan-ness of the unnamed interviewer. I wish we had dates associated with each chapter to have an idea of the timeline of events though. However, because of the interview format of the book we didn't get a chance to see things as they developed, which for the most part was fine but there were some things I wish were elaborated on more. I'm definitely gonna finish the trilogy since I was gifted all three books but I don't know how fast I would have done so if I just had this one

I should rate this book lower. It had info dumps all over, none of the women were written favorably, and by the end (like always with PKD for me) I had no idea what just happened. But damn this author seems to keep winning me over. I always feel too small brain to understand the deep meanings he is trying to get at but boy do I love the journey. This is only the third book of his I read and he is easily becoming one of my favorite authors.

Very enjoyable read. A nice build up with a page-turning third act. Some good humor sprinkled in. Nothing too profound to say about it.

Holy. Fuck. I've read many horror/thriller novels over the years, most as subpar as the cheap horror movies I love to binge. But this book? Damn this book was good. For the first time ever reading a horror story I truly felt dread and despair. In most horror stories you know someone has to survive, at some cost, and that the big bad will be subdued either permanently or long enough to leave the protagonist alone but still reign terror on someone else. Not with this book. With this book it becomes increasingly obvious that hope is futile and you're just here to see it all unfold. And then that ending?! Oof.

I did dock the half star because the book started S.L.O.W. Like painfully slow. I didn't care for the characters and just wanted to get into the story. But damn am I glad I pushed through and got to the juicy bits. Can't believe I found this book in a used bookstore because I sure as hell am going to recommend it to everyone who like horror books. I'm sure the movie they made based off this book is horrible and doesn't give into the true dread you get from reading.

This book felt like a cheap knockoff of Tolkien and I wasn't surprised to find out that the author helped with The Silmarillion to some extent. The world in this book did come across as if the author knew more of the backstory that there was to everything, but except in his lengthy exposition dumps I didn't feel like we truly got to experience the beauty it held. I also didn't like how unrealistic it was that the Five just outright accepted everything going on with basically no skepticism to them. The book was a struggle to get through personally and I won't be interested in picking up the other two, especially not after skimming their summaries on Wikipedia and being even more confused.