“Blogger” Books: Four Mini Reviews

#GirlBoss by Sophia Amoruso

I think every twenty-something has heard of #GIRLBOSS, and I’d even go as far as to say it’s resident on a majority of our bookshelves. I’ll admit, it wasn’t a book I gave a lot of thought to initially – I believed it to be more of a business book which is a genre I wouldn’t tend to delve too deeply into. I also never paid much heed to Nasty Gal as a company. However, I decided to give it a go and was (very) pleasantly surprised. I found difficulty in putting it down – it was only with moderate discipline that I managed to stretch reading this book over the course of a week, when every instinct was telling me not to put it down.

Through this book I’ve discovered a new role model. Sophia is one sassy lady, and her writing was somehow both relatable and aspirational. Her attitude and enthusiasm, her self-belief and self-drive, is totally infectious. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

I was expecting to love this book, after so many bloggers I admire raved about it, but was sadly disappointed. From the tagline and the blurb, it held so much promise. But I just couldn't click with the notion that ideas are living things, moving around the ether, choosing people who are in search of them. Perhaps I'm a bit of a cynic, but it struck me as a little pseudo-intellectual; trying to find meaning in something that just wasn't there. I wasn't buying it, I'm afraid...

Little Black Book by Otegha Uwagba

The saying "good things come in small sizes" certainly rings true for this little gem. Little Black Book does exactly what it says on the tin (well, the blurb), offering wisdom and tangible, useful advice. A pint-sized source of knowledge and inspiration, delivered in a friendly, relatable voice.

Little Black Book is indeed little, and I read it cover to cover very quickly. Yet, it's a book that you would reach to time and time again. The chapters are succinct, and provide tangible nuggets of advice in a no-nonsense, easy-to-digest manner. A very nice little book.

Milk & Honey by Rupi Kaur

In my opinion, Milk and Honey was extremely overhyped, pretentious and honestly, just underwhelming. I'd never claim to be a poetry buff, but, to me, most of the poems just read like regular sentences that had been chopped up at random. There was nothing profound or especially thought-provoking. I got the impression that just because it was all lower-case lettering with no punctuation and strange spacing, it was being packaged as 'art'. A hipster-hit, maybe, but not one for me.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?