From an ‘academic’ standpoint - “History’s Most Powerful Witches: Their Life, Witchcraft and Spells” by Desmond Wilde. I initially started to read it as a potential secondary source for a research paper idea, but as I got a little further into the book (not by much — it was a DNF by page 6), it was an absolute wreck. Between the subpar writing & grammar (I quite literally thought it was ‘written’ by AI), the lack of [primary] sources, the lack of citations and/or footnotes, and repeated/unexplained points, the book felt very incomplete and as if it needed more research and way more editing. The premise and idea was good, but it was executed poorly.

From a fun-read standpoint - “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman. I enjoyed the Netflix adaptation (which is very rare for me), so I tried the book. I loved the whimsy and quirky writing and I loved the murder mystery plot (especially one that is, again, whimsy and quirky), but the pages I just barely managed to get through (14 + some skips ahead to other chapters) were unbearable. Again, the writing was just awful; I felt like I was reading something I wrote when I was in middle school. TTMC did not feel like it was written by an adult or told from the POVs of adults, but rather, it just felt very elementary. The POVs change every chapter and each narration sounds exactly the same – as if Character A, B, C, and D are the exact same person. Chapters ended abruptly and were absolutely scattered with little to no structure. Unimportant/unnecessary details were added and explained in great length (Donna in chapter 2 likes the salad at the retirement community and repeats this several times). Overall, the book felt like absolute chaos and was just not for me.

From a self-care/self-help standpoint - “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero. If I could rate a book into the negatives, this poor attempt for a ‘self-help’ book would be in there. It was all bullshit written by a grifter that dismissed the voices of actual mental health experts and those struggling with mental illnesses. She is where Mel Robbins (author of “The Let Them Theory”) and Mark Manson (“The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck”) got their ideas to write the worst ‘self-help’ books known to man. Each chapter repeats the same bullshit ‘advice’ every 2 paragraphs, tells of very obvious fake stories, and ignores & dismisses mental health/illness aspects. It is told from a very privileged and uneducated grifter operating under the false security of being a ‘guru’.