![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Books Read So Far in February
Saturday, February 15th, 2020 10:44 pmBooks I've read so far in February:
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: I figured it was high time I read Hemingway. I appreciate simple and straightforward writing, but Hemingway takes the no-frills style to such an extreme that I had a hard time connecting with the story. I realize there's a lot going on below the surface, but I like just a little more detail to help draw me into what the characters are thinking and feeling.
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case by Agatha Christie: If I want something entertaining and quick to read, Christie never lets me down. The mysteries are far-fetched and tricksy out the wazoo, but I like trying to guess where things are going, and Poirot himself is always fun. I should watch the Poirot series sometime, David Suchet is supposed to be a great Poirot.
The Mood Elevator by Larry Senn: Most of Senn's advice for nudging yourself out of a bad mood felt like reasonable suggestions-- learn to recognize when your thinking is spinning out of control, take care of yourself by eating healthy and staying active, try to let things go, etc. However, I found myself resisting the elevator metaphor. Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but I think moods are too nuanced to categorize into separate floors. It's possible to feel different emotions at once. Also, outside of treating clinical depression and mood disorders (which is beyond the scope of a self-help book), I'm not sure I like the idea of looking at a bad mood as primarily something to avoid. Negative emotions can clue us into the fact that something is wrong, and they can spur us to take action and make changes.
I guess what I'm really saying is that I'm on board with the way Pixar depicts emotions in Inside Out. Feeling happy is great, but sorrow and anger and fear and all those other emotions serve a purpose too.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: I figured it was high time I read Hemingway. I appreciate simple and straightforward writing, but Hemingway takes the no-frills style to such an extreme that I had a hard time connecting with the story. I realize there's a lot going on below the surface, but I like just a little more detail to help draw me into what the characters are thinking and feeling.
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case by Agatha Christie: If I want something entertaining and quick to read, Christie never lets me down. The mysteries are far-fetched and tricksy out the wazoo, but I like trying to guess where things are going, and Poirot himself is always fun. I should watch the Poirot series sometime, David Suchet is supposed to be a great Poirot.
The Mood Elevator by Larry Senn: Most of Senn's advice for nudging yourself out of a bad mood felt like reasonable suggestions-- learn to recognize when your thinking is spinning out of control, take care of yourself by eating healthy and staying active, try to let things go, etc. However, I found myself resisting the elevator metaphor. Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but I think moods are too nuanced to categorize into separate floors. It's possible to feel different emotions at once. Also, outside of treating clinical depression and mood disorders (which is beyond the scope of a self-help book), I'm not sure I like the idea of looking at a bad mood as primarily something to avoid. Negative emotions can clue us into the fact that something is wrong, and they can spur us to take action and make changes.
I guess what I'm really saying is that I'm on board with the way Pixar depicts emotions in Inside Out. Feeling happy is great, but sorrow and anger and fear and all those other emotions serve a purpose too.