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campbelltaral's reviews
738 reviews
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century by Dorothy Roberts
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Vitamania: Our Obsessive Quest For Nutritional Perfection by Catherine Price
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
An informative and eye-opening read. I was hoping for more about current day sourcing of vitamins, and for a US audience, the risk of full dependency on foreign countries we keep antagonizing when the vast majority of our "food" requires fortification. Still, the bigger takeaways are relevant and something we need to proactively arm ourselves with to protect against the supplement industry.
*Eat whole foods, mostly plants.
*Fats + vegetables * cooking = access to fat-soluble vitamins (ex: A, D, E, K) so stop being terrified of fat (ehem, pre-70s folks).
*Unless you are confirmed deficient in a particular vitamin, adding more, even in big doses, doesn't do anything (ex: additional vitamin A, hoping to improve night vision is a nope).
*The people buying vitamins and supplements are in the population least in need of vitamin supplementation; it's poor people and those with no access to a variety of minimally processed foods.
*The lack of FDA and USDA oversight and consumer protections from the supplement industry is appalling. Learning the history of and the influence of how we got to where we are today has changed my perspective: supplements are not simply benign options bordering on useless, they are unregulated and frequently dangerous. No amount of charming, enthusiastic PR will change my mind.
*We are so, so ignorant of the complexities involved in nutrition and variances from one person to the next that it's impossible, and unethical, to prove absolutes in these areas of science.
I'm interested to find what's changed in the last 10 years.
*Eat whole foods, mostly plants.
*Fats + vegetables * cooking = access to fat-soluble vitamins (ex: A, D, E, K) so stop being terrified of fat (ehem, pre-70s folks).
*Unless you are confirmed deficient in a particular vitamin, adding more, even in big doses, doesn't do anything (ex: additional vitamin A, hoping to improve night vision is a nope).
*The people buying vitamins and supplements are in the population least in need of vitamin supplementation; it's poor people and those with no access to a variety of minimally processed foods.
*The lack of FDA and USDA oversight and consumer protections from the supplement industry is appalling. Learning the history of and the influence of how we got to where we are today has changed my perspective: supplements are not simply benign options bordering on useless, they are unregulated and frequently dangerous. No amount of charming, enthusiastic PR will change my mind.
*We are so, so ignorant of the complexities involved in nutrition and variances from one person to the next that it's impossible, and unethical, to prove absolutes in these areas of science.
I'm interested to find what's changed in the last 10 years.
Monsters You Should Know by Emma SanCartier
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience by Aditi Nerurkar
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Well, it ends on a bloody hook that worked. I liked and hated it, the latter especially when about 2/3 of the way in I felt like the fixation on the non-main antagonist was just so weird. But there's enough I liked that I'll look forward to the next book in the series. I'm expecting a big ballooning of mind-blowing plot though.