User Profile

EmelineB

EmelineB@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 month, 1 week ago

This link opens in a pop-up window

2025 Reading Goal

28% complete! EmelineB has read 28 of 100 books.

Review of 'Sleep Well, Take Risks, Squish the Peas' on 'Goodreads'

This is a very fun book. It sometimes takes too broad brushes to paint research results' implications for our lives. But it's a very efficient way to help parents understand their toddlers and embrace that part of life. The summaries of "toddlers' teachings" at the end of each chapter oscillate between being way too generic and useful advice.

Review of 'Attachments' on 'Goodreads'

Some thoughts in progress: Reflections and essays on fatherhood by fathers are rare, and this book stands out in that regard. It leaves me with a diffuse feeling. There were lots of insights and pearls, I really appreciated seeing how dads' online media is perceived, I loved that essay about Brad Pitt, and some of the playground anecdotes. But I can't tell that I retain a particular argument.

Teddy Wayne: Winner (2024, HarperCollins Publishers)

Review of 'Winner' on 'Goodreads'

I almost stopped reading after the first 50 pages or so - thinking this was too bad-romance-novel for me. The minutiae of covid-era precautions felt over played, although I do remember them (and still practice them to an extent). It would have been a mistake. Because someone I trust recommended it I kept reading, eventually leaning in the discomfort, very much intended by the author, and quite well done. It reminds me in many ways of Maupassant's Bel-Ami. Still thinking about it - would recommend but advise you might need to persist for the rewards.

Ruth Whippman: BoyMom (2024, Crown Publishing Group, The)

Review of 'BoyMom' on 'Goodreads'

I really wanted to like this book, and it makes lots of good and important arguments. Of particular interest, the research on how biological specificity (such as brain areas developing at different times) of baby boys meets Western bias, leading to boys receiving less attention and affection from their parents. It also covers well different aspects of "modern masculinity" from the incels community, to the difficulty of changing the culture around sex after #metoo without ostracizing kids making mistakes.

I'm however struck by how negatively the book describes boys and the physicality of children, especially in the memoir part; and by the lack of discussion around ADHD, the increasing prescription of Ritalin and how this plays in a culture of performance that is detrimental to all children. There's no denying Ritalin helps some children. But there are tons of discussions around the over-diagnosis of boys, especially non-white boys, and how …