thehighshelf's reviews
16 reviews

 Ali Abdaal is an ex-doctor who became a proliferant YouTuber, Podcaster, entrepreneur, and author of the self-help book Feel Good Productivity. Abdaal began gaining an interest in true, attainable productivity when he was in medical training at Cambridge University while also trying to juggling his own business. He began sharing what he learned about productivity on YouTube, then on podcasts, and finally accumulating everything in this book. 

In essence, Abdaal has uncovered that the secret to staying productive is feeling good. If what you’re doing feels good to do, then you are more likely to do it. Simple as that! 

The book itself is very well organized and enjoyable to read, proving its own point that if you enjoy doing something, it’s much easier to accomplish - making this book a quick read for me. There are three categories that Abdaal covers, each of which are broken down into three items as well. The first category is “energizers” - the things that make activities enjoyable. The second is “blockers” - the obstacles that stand in the ways of us being productive. And the third category is “sustainers” - the things that keep you motivated. 

The thorough breakdown is combined with real-life stories for examples and actionable steps that you can immediately take in your own life. I found his methods to be a fresh take on the topic of productivity, focusing on how what you’re doing makes you feel and how to make yourself feel better about doing that you want/need to do, rather than forcing a narrative about hustle and grind. One of the best productivity-related self-improvement books I’ve read. 

 When Casey’s sister Sutton goes missing, Casey has to confront the fact that perhaps her sister was missing from her life even before she physically didn’t come home one night. Casey and her sister haven’t gotten along in a while - Sutton is underhanded and manipulative - definitely not the angel that her family is painting her as in the media. But, of course, they have to make it seem like she’s a picture of perfection - or else why would anyone care about another missing black girl? 

But then Sutton returns. Their mother and father are relieved and grateful beyond measure and Casey knows she should feel the same… only she doesn’t. It’s not that she isn’t happy her sister is safe - she definitely is; it’s more that Sutton isn’t acting the same. She is different in a way that is subtle - a way that only Casey seems to notice. And it’s more than the fact that Sutton remembers nothing about her life before going missing or even what happened to her. Her entire disposition is different and it’s making Casey more than uncomfortable - especially the way she constantly wants to spend time with Casey or stares at her aquarium for hours watching her goldfish swim in circles. Something - Casey doesn’t know what - isn’t right. 

So Casey decides to get to the bottom of things - after all, no one else is. What exactly happened to her sister? Why did she go missing? And what happened to her while she was gone? 

I will be the first to admit that I did not have high expectations for this book. It was marketed as being great for fans of Ace of Spades… which I didn’t vibe with at all. But the writing was superb and pacing was excellent. I could have read the entire thing in one sitting. There are quite a few twists and turns and the ending was not predictable. The book is deeply character-driven and explores the complexities of sibling relationships on an impressive level. Additionally, if you love books that cover sociological topics such as systemic injustice, racism, and communal identity. Highly recommend! 

 Mary-Alice Daniel’s Mass for Shut-Ins is the Yale Series of Younger Poets Vol.117, which was selected by award-winning poet Rae Armantrout.

There is a dark lyricism to the author’s exploration of the mysticism of religion and culture. The collection proceeds as if in a call out to Dante’s Inferno, with each part a new stop on the descent into the depths of true sociological horror. The entanglement of thoughts and pure, unadulterated feeling covers everything from scripture and superstitions to the kind of deep, cosmic thoughts that haunt you as you lie awake at night. 

This collection is a mood that you immerse yourself in. It’s the kind of poems that demand to be read in the dark, in the flicker of a candle flame. It demands little of the reader as it grabs you with its dark and gnarled hand, and pulls you into its depths, and then it slowly immerses your mind in the ideas of spiritual warfare and the questions of modern ritual and spirituality. 

Not quite horror poetry, but if you are drawn to the dark and macabre, this collection will sing to you. Highly recommend - some of the best poems I have read in recent years. The ambiance of the darkness truly drew me in. 

 In Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality, Julia Shaw undertakes the daunting task of exploring the largest sexual minority - bisexuals. The task for her is both personal as well as intellectual and professional, as she herself is proudly bisexual. 

From the beginning of the book, Shaw promises to dive deep into all the many different aspects of bisexuality - starting with the very invention of homosexuality. She coves the science of same-sex attraction, the history of bisexuality throughout a range of cultures, and more. The author definitely shows there is a depth of information to explore regarding bisexuality and she does an amazing job of accumulating all the information together in a way that no one ever has before. There is almost no way that you can pick this book up and not learn something. 

However, despite covering a wealth of information, the book is on the shorter side and padded throughout with the author’s own personal experiences. The writing was engaging and accessible - not weighed down with scientific jargon. Perfect for people questioning their sexuality, wanting to know more about their sexuality, or the genuinely curious. Hopefully this will be a jumping-off point for much more research and literature on this topic to come. 

 This was a fun, quirky sci-fi novel that finds humor in the potentiality of humans discovering they are not alone in the universe. What if aliens aren’t a scary, technologically advanced species bent on earth’s destruction or stealing our limited resources? What if instead…they were obsessed with television? 

That is the case in the world Emily Jane has created. Only, when the aliens finally arrived, they left again almost immediately, leaving chaos in their wake as humanity came to terms with their newer, smaller place in the universe. Particularly, the novel follows Blaine - a man whose too-good-to-be-true wife suddenly whisks him, their kids, and their cat away on a road trip to Disneyland that Blaine starts to suspect might not actually be Disneyland. It also follows Heather, who sees the ships floating overhead and starts to dream that things are finally going to get exciting and change her for her. And then there’s Oliver, who suddenly wakes up from a twenty year coma with weird flashes of memory, the ability to speak to cats, and a strange desire to go to west. Eventually, all of their stories collide as they struggle to answer life’s deepest questions about our role in the universe. 

The novel brings to mind The Hollow Man by T. S. Elliot, specifically the line “not with a bang but a whimper”, in that for the most part the aliens simply arrived and then left. They did nothing cataclysmic, did not ask to speak to world leaders, did not beam random people into their ships for weird experiments… and yet the world almost dissolves into chaos regardless. There is a tone of satire, of ridiculousness to the world’s reaction and the author does an excellent job of leaning into the humor of it all. 

However, the focus is more a slice-of-life and character study than it is a full on sci-fi novel. The pacing tends to lag frequently and things get boring just when you want them to lean into the weirdness of it all. There are definitely some people who would love this type of very light, funny sci-fi, but it wasn’t for me. 

 Taiwanese-American PhD student Ingrid Yang has already sent ages on her dissertation with little - make that nothing - to show for it. Her topic? The late, great Chinese-American poet Xiao-Wen Chou - a subject she hates more with each passing day. After all, she always tried to avoid any ties to her own culture and heritage. Hell, she can barely speak her family’s native language - forcing her parents at a young to only speak to her in English. Oh, and there’s also the tiny, pestering fact that she has never dated an Asian man before. She’s convinced her boyfriend Stephen is the love of her life though. He checks all the boxes a good partner is supposed to check. He’s even a professional translator, working on translating the novel of a (in Ingrid’s mind) way-too-cute and way-too-friendly Japanese woman. But it’s fine, Ingrid tells herself, even as she gets increasingly bad stomach pains, hallucinates frequently due to her use of an over-the-counter allergy medication, and fights confusing bouts of depression and apathy towards her boyfriend. 

So, although she is reluctant to admit it, things actually aren’t going that well for Ingrid. Which means, when she finds a message left in the Xiao-Wen Chou archives, she clings to it in the hopes that she might have the key to finally escaping the drudgery of academic life - especially academia she has an increasing disinterest in. 

However, the note leads Ingrid to a shocking discovery - one that slowly but surely turns her entire worldview upside down. In the span of a few weeks, she and her best friend are led down a rabbit hole of both inner and outer discoveries - about themselves, about each other, and about the cruel reality of the world around them. Together they experiences everything from books burnings to campus protests and even Yellow Peril 2.0 propaganda. 

As the dust settles after Ingrid’s discovery, nothing is really the same to her as it was before - especially her very white boyfriend. Ingrid starts seeing her life in a new light - and what she sees is starting to make her really uncomfortable. 

Although literary in tone, the book harbors many humorous moments, making for a pretty great read if you’re in for the slow start. If you’re a fan of dark academia and incisive explorations of racism, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find this book enlightening. Disorientation really delves into the horrors and complexities of institutionalized racism with a satirical and introspective tone. 

I think, for some, the main character will come off as unlikeable at first, for a variety of reasons. You can really feel Ingrid’s own self hatred, although she doesn’t see it for what it is. It’s both frustrating and hard at times to read as she does things that seem counterintuitive or circumvents obvious conclusions. At the same time, this makes the character growth and development so much more real. It certainly opened my eyes to a new perspective on academic institutions and they the way they perpetuate racism within their walls. Although the book is not a favorite of mine in terms of general enjoyment I got from reading, I will say I am more than glad I read it and I would happily recommend it to others. 

Lucas returns to his childhood home like an insect, crawling through the weeds of his mother’s dilapidated garden and scuttling through the still-loose dirt of his father’s grave. A moth, he is drawn to the lit windows of the home he was cast away from. He watches, as with multi-faceted eyes, the rot that was allowed to seep within the walls and linger there, mixed with his memories of the home that used to be his. But it no longer belongs to him — or even to what left inside who he could call family. But, he has learned, it also doesn’t belong to the dark strangers his father brought home. They may still wander the rooms and hallways, filling the air with their putrid, hot breath, but not for much longer. Lucas has returned after a long communion with the damp, dark soil of the earth and carries on his lips a holy confession, spoken to him from the bellies of worms and the fetid breaths of arachnids - this world belongs not to any beast of the earth or fowl of the air… it belongs to the ones that creepeth and crawleth below. 

Natalia Garcia Freire has tackled the unsettling elements of horror with extreme skill. The words and the story flow like poetry. I was drawn in and comforted by the breathtaking prose, even as the horror unfolded across the page. Because you learn early on that Lucas hasn’t returned to play house with these now-unwelcome strangers. 

The horror elements blend a tangle of earth, insects, and the dark purity of nature. Lucas has found comfort in such things and now craves he damp, earthy smells and the cool grit of fresh dirt. And once he finishes what he has come to do, to the dirt he will return. 

I cannot recommend this novel enough and I will be looking forward to reading much more from this author! 

The Pain of Pleasure is a gothic of the modern era - dark, atmospheric, and erotically charged (more on that later). This book comes out of the gate swinging with a setting that immediately pulls you into it and swallows your imagination. It’s an abandoned church in the heart of Brooklyn, NY. From this church a man, known only as “the doctor” runs an experimental research-based headache clinic. His patients are eccentric and widely varied, from children to the elderly, rich and poor, educated, junkies, and more. However, most notable among them is Ms. Adele Watson - not only a migraine sufferer, but also the clinic’s main benefactor. Constantly pushing the boundaries of her patient/doctor relationships with the doctor already, when Adele learns of an intense case the doctor handled with a patient named Sarah, Adele enlists the help of a new nurse to steal Sarah’s journal from the doctor and uncover the missing woman’s secrets on her own. But with the most bitter wind storm the city has every seen blowing closer every day, the patients are eventually forced to gather in the church for shelter and it becomes clear the effects the doctor has had on his patients is more extraordinary than they have before realized. 

This is a novel with a few erotic elements scattered within, not something I would have marketed as outright “erotic fiction”, as I have seen it listed in some places. These elements, where they are found throughout the book, however, are perfect elements for a gothic novel. And with the storm leading the way through most of the book, I’d say this is more gothic fiction than erotic. 

I also believe that the cannabis use portrayed in the book wasn’t done in a way that showcased due diligence on the author’s part to do properly research the effects of such drug use. As someone who uses cannabis regularly… I was a bit confused by the reactions of various characters to simply ingesting THC gummy. I’m not trying to assume, but it was like the author had only ever read about the effects of cannabis used and not partook themselves or talked to anyone who had. It was just… strange.

When Kyoko finally puts her plot for revenge into action after years of plotting, absolutely nothing goes right. By the time she finally gets her hands on Daniel, the man she blames for her mother’s suicide, she has no idea what to do with him. Part of her is reveling in the moment, knowing she is on the verge of achieving what has been her life’s goal for so long… part of her is completely unsure about exactly how she plans to go about enacting her revenge. She wants him to suffer, to die. But how? After all, nothing has gone right in her plan so far. With no where else to turn, Kyoko enlists the help of her boyfriend and fellow bandmate to lock Daniel in the basement. As she decides what to do next, everyone involved - immediately or distantly - comes to their own reckoning involving issues of race, feminist ideals, and immortality. 

On the surface, the premise sounded alluring. I was so eager to read this book. Initially, the narration of story grabbed me in a way that made me think it would deliver; however, as the book splintered into its multiple POVs, the grip it had on my quickly loosened. One reason for this is, for me, the story and plot took a backseat to the depth of character study that takes place. The novel follows the viewpoints of several characters - none of which are in any way underdeveloped. Even background characters have a dynamism to them that gives the reader a feeling of being a purveying god over a different reality. I pictured the setting as a neon, cyberpunk style background, scored by stringed instruments playing haunting, classical pieces. 

But the characters. For there to be so many, and all with so much depth and development, and exploration into their hearts and minds… at a certain point, the story lost its pace and reading felt more laborious than entertaining. There was so much to follow and learn and explore with each character. It was hard to read inn one sitting, yet hard to really absorb properly if read in bits and spurts. 

Be prepared for a novel that requires you to process a lot of difficult topics, as well. Katherine Min is a phenomenal author in this regard. She handles the hard topics with incredible tact, skill, and even beauty.  That being said, check the trigger warnings (e.g., mentions of suicide) and make sure you are in the right headspace before tackling this novel. Personally, I’m not sure if I’ll attempt a reread, just because I think I ruined my experience reading it the first time by not being prepared for the depth. Go in prepared, and you’re more than likely in for an incredibly insightful and creative time.

The things that would have made this book better for me are definitely reflective of my own preferences rather than an shortcomings on the author’s part. For example, I would have loved to have seen more detail and story devoted to Kyoko’s murder plan and final attempt to go through with Daniel’s murder. For me, it felt like the scene went by almost insignificantly, as internal/emotional reactions were emphasized over the pacing and movement of the plot. In the end, I was ultimately expecting something akin to Mona Awad, but this was very different. If my expectations were more level with the reality of the content/genre, I no doubt would have liked The Fetishist so much more. But it fell flat for me and I don’t know if I could redeem it with a reread at this point. My advice, go into this with open eyes and you are more than likely in for an excellent experience.

When Jay decides to dive to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean of the coast of Monastery Beach, he only has one mission: find his dead father’s remains and bring them home to the family. Maybe then he can unload some of the guilt he’s been shouldering - guilt over not being there as his father battled cancer. Guilt over not being there when his father begged to see him again. Over not being there when his father decided to take his own life rather than suffer any longer. His father was one of the best divers in the area and he taught Jay everything he knew. So Jay is pretty confident that a rescue mission for his father’s remains is something he can safely accomplish. But after only a short time in the water, the unthinkable - the seemingly impossible - happens. Jay is swallowed alive by a whale. 

Thus begins one of the BEST books I have read since I first read the Zebulon Finch duology (also by Kraus). I honestly have no notes on how this book could be any better than it already is. Whales my favorite animal, and Kraus is my favorite author, so I had high expectations going in, but this book did not disappoint me in the slightest.

Not only is the story deep and profound, exploring the ways in which we feel and comes to terms with guilt and grief and parental relationships, but the *descriptions*. I could SEE the bioluminescent squid and jellyfish. I could FEEL the walls of the whale’s stomach grinding and pulsing. I could HEAR the whale's haunting, mournful call out into the wild ocean. If David Attenborough were to narrate a ocean horror documentary, it would be this book. 

Also, I have to add that I rarely react visibly or out loud when reading a book, but the number of times I gasped, winced, and cringed throughout this story - I couldn’t help it. Parts of it even had me almost screaming in shock/horror. The writing had me so submerged in the story. The pacing was also absolutely brilliant, I could have read the entire book in one sitting but I forced myself to read it slower just to make it last longer. Even then, I only managed to make it last three days.

I still feel beyond lucky and grateful that I received an arc of this book - thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review it. I’ve already preordered my hard copy and absolutely cannot wait for it to arrive so I can read Whalefall all over again. Highly, highly recommend. 10/5 stars.