Hahaha! That's hilarious. I love that one romance novel is poking fun at another. 😂
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"Apparently, my inner goddess is a slut. Yeah, I read Fifty Orgasms."
— Calmly, Carefully, Completely by Tammy Falkner (40%)
Matt Cengia finished reading Smart, Sexy and Secretive by Tammy Falkner
I got tested just a few weeks ago[…]. I’m clean.
— Tall, Tatted and Tempting by Tammy Falkner (97%)
I’m really enjoying this story, but there’s nothing like a phrase like this, used in the context of STI testing, to make me cringe. I can’t ignore the implication that having an STI is “dirty”, and it is annoyingly jarring! (Also, I’m listening to this as an audiobook, and while it’s generally well-narrated, I had to laugh that the narrator said “anomynity” earlier on. I had to rewind it to be sure I hadn’t misheard!
Matt Cengia finished reading Band Sinister by KJ Charles
Matt Cengia reviewed Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Entertaining, but not fantastic
3 stars
Content warning Minor ending spoilers for Allegiant, by Veronica Roth
I listened to the audiobooks of this series because I'd watched the movies, only to find that Allegiant movie is only part 1 of 2, and that part 2 never got made, so I was left wondering how it ended.
Having finished the book, and found (unsurprisingly) that the story is a little different from the movies, and that the ending was… bittersweet, I think it's fair to say that while I would've been frustrated continuing to wonder at the ending, it's certainly not the most satisfying!
This series is quite obviously targeting young adults; much of the language is fairly simple (there are so many different words for "they said", but Roth doesn't take many opportunities to use them), but I didn't mind it. What can I say, I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction.
Matt Cengia quoted The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
"The Danes are famously the happiest people in the world, and hygge is a cornerstone …
Hyggelige as they may be, there is one serious drawback to being crazy about candles: the soot. Studies show that lighting just one candle fills the air with microparticles more severely than traffic in a busy street.
— The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking (5%)
Oof, that's a lot of soot! I love the idea of candles, but this feels like a non-starter unless I were to get an air purifier too.
Matt Cengia started reading The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
"The Danes are famously the happiest people in the world, and hygge is a cornerstone of their way of life. …
Matt Cengia quoted How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe
A lot of people aren’t even comfortable with the label ADHD. I hear from parents who hesitate to get their kids diagnosed because they’re afraid of their child being limited by labels. There is an understandable fear there. To those parents, I gently say: your child already has labels. Teachers, peers, and family all apply labels to your child as an attempt to explain behaviors they don’t understand. Labels such as lazy, messy, spacey, and irresponsible are more stigmatizing, more shame inducing, less accurate, and much, much less helpful than any diagnostic term will be.
— How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe (68%)
This is really important to remember. Much better to find a label you are comfortable with that doesn’t have stigma attached, than to let others label you.
Matt Cengia wants to read How to Keep House While Drowning by Kc Davis
How to Keep House While Drowning by Kc Davis, Dr Martin
How to Keep House While Drowning will introduce you to six life-changing principles that will revolutionize the way you approach …
Matt Cengia quoted How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe
Autism and ADHD often ends up in an interesting dichotomy in my head. Routines are good, but then boring. We need to be stimulated, but not too stimulated. Burnout comes from both sides of the equation. And many systems that are really ADHD defense mechanisms were created by the autistic side of me.
— How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe (64%)
"many systems that are really ADHD defense mechanisms were created by the autistic side of me." Whoa 🤯. This could explain so much!
Matt Cengia quoted How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe
Pain at any level is distracting, and ADHD brains aren’t great at filtering out sensory distractions.
— How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe (62%)
Yuuup! Any day I end up with a tension headache, almost no matter how mild, my focus goes out the window, which ruins my ability to concentrate on work! It really sucks.
Matt Cengia quoted How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe
[I]mpulsivity and hyperactivity symptoms evolve over time[…]. While an impulsive child might run into the street, an impulsive adult might […] say yes to an extra project (or five).
— How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe (62%)
Whoa, hey now! No need to call me out so hard, Jessica!
Matt Cengia quoted How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe
Some people use small talk to see if they have chemistry with another person, which helps us decide if a deeper relationship is possible.
— How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe (55%)
Wait wait wait, what? Can some neurotypical person please explain this (do any neurotypical folk even follow me!? 😂) What sort of indicators, feelings, or whatever do you get to tell you that you have chemistry with someone, from nothing more than small talk? (You know, as opposed to discovering shared interests or values?)
Matt Cengia quoted How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe
Evidence suggests that ADHD brains don’t release anticipatory dopamine the same way neurotypical brains do. Reuptake—the reabsorption of the dopamine—may also happen before it makes it to a receptor. When this happens, our brains don’t “learn” that a behavior like filling out tax forms will lead to anything good. And if nothing good comes from a behavior, what’s the point of doing it? This is why it feels as though activities that are more immediately rewarding hijack our brains. When we abandon tax forms and start playing video games, we feel good, and dopamine gets released. If there’s enough dopamine to hit at least some receptors, our brain learns to prioritize video games, making it more likely that we will end up firing up the game console the next time we need to do something similarly tedious.
— How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe (35%)
Oof, how sucky is this!?