A Decent Life: Morality For the Rest of Us by Todd May

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I'm not certain why I initially was drawn to this book. I don't usually go for philosophical works that become complicated by their own meandering topics. This was different. I was drawn into the discussion, just as I imagine Dr. Todd May draws students into discussions within his classrooms. He begins with a review of some of the more theoretical aspects of decency and morality and so forth, but he does it in a way that kept me with him and I continued on into the later chapters that really get into more "bread and butter" topics, like how do you apply the theoretical to real life, especially in this day and age when everyone seems to want to be on one team or the other with zero commonality? 
I really appreciated the eye-opening views covered in chapter three: "Widening the Circle" and chapter five: "Politics and Decency". Both of these chapters were a refreshing look at how to think about treating our fellow human beings, how to care for the environment and how to be civil in a discordant environment. There were some terrific examples of these scenarios that occur in all of our daily lives that we can choose to handle one way or another and how to think about what would be a moral, decent approach to a given situation. 
This will be a book that I go back to I'm sure and consider the ideas repeatedly.
Thank you Dr. May for this jam-packed book that has me thinking.

#ADecentLife #NetGalley

You by Caroline Kepnes

⭐⭐
I listened to this one on audiobook and honestly did not like it. I kept thinking there would be some redeeming features of the characters but no. Nothing. They kept getting more and more awful. 
This may be an unpopular opinion because I know many people love this book and now the series but I think I have discovered that protagonists without redeeming qualities aren’t for me. The story was decent, in that it kept a pace and the writing was good. But by the end, I was mostly glad it was over. Usually I DNF books like this, anything I think I will rate a 1 or a 2, I usually don’t finish. But this one went quickly and I kept thinking it would improve. But it just wasn’t for me. 

Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Short and intriguing story about a girl who, at her parents request, boards a train for a trip that she is hesitant to take. She meets a woman who happens to sit next to her at the moment the train is ready to depart, who aids her on her journey. 

Unexpected twist but well done.

You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz

⭐⭐⭐

I listened to this on audiobook and it was entertaining but I don't think I would have stuck with it if I had picked it up to actually physically read. It was decent as a story, although somewhat unbelievable, especially given that the protagonist is a therapist. 

So, I enjoyed it for how I read it, but I wouldn't say it was my favorite.

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my first Helen Oyeyemi novel. I listened to the audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed the author’s own voice reading the story. This added a lot to the atmosphere of the book. I also like this type of story, a fairy tale retelling but in this case with some magical realism thrown into it. 

The negatives for me were that the story was, at times difficult to follow, especially listening to it. This may have been simply because of the type of story but also because sometimes the characters had multiple names, or more directly, they changed who was a given character if that makes sense without spoiling anything. This did cause me to backtrack a couple of times but I still enjoyed listening to this story and maybe would like to go back and read the hard copy in the future and see how that experience differs. 

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys this style of book and will pick up other titles by this author in the future.