My plan for tonight's #Hyggehour is to browse Amy Stewart's amazing "spirited toast to the marriage of botany and booze." While doing so, I shall be sipping a festive, sloe gin hot toddy. ??❄️?
What are your plans?
@TheBookHippie @Chrissyreadit
pickOverall, this was a pretty interesting and engaging story about the history of bourbon and some of the characters who helped shape it. I‘ve been going a bit overboard since having hit the bourbon trail in Kentucky last summer! 🥃 4/5
so-soNot what I was expecting. The subtext of the title suggests a history of alcohol and how it brought people together to help create civilization. And there are interesting tidbits of information. Like how the drive to brew intoxicating beverages had as much to do with the rise of agriculture as food. But it‘s less about history and more about the science of alcohol and its effects. Science that often reads like a school textbook.
Last month of 2023‘s #roll100. 🎲 I‘m not feeling motivated by my choices for 9/90 or 53. So it‘ll only be no. 27 getting read for December.
@PuddleJumper
panThis book has a lot of (often repetitive & overlapping) history to fill in the time period when the cocktail was in fashion. A better read is A History of the World in 6 Glasses, which worked better to show the influence of six specific beverages on Western history and society.
The most helpful chapters are the last 2: A Thumbnail Guide to Rum & When It‘s Cocktail Time. Overall, disappointing. But at least it‘s off my shelf!
Book 4 for #20in4
Last book finished before camping is over. I don‘t find this book super heart wrenching, but I do think it‘s so brave when people tell their stories. My husband is 10 years sober and I never stop reading these stories, it helps me understand his journey better.
bailedI listened to the audiobook of this and bailed at 40%. The voice is honest and unpretentious, but I wanted insight beyond the self-finding mission of a privileged white girl in her 20s. To be fair, this book doesn‘t pretend to be anything it‘s not! Just wasn‘t for me.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️ In American culture, drinking is largely acceptable and almost expected, but being sober seems so taboo. Levy‘s experiences, insight, and ultimate solution certainly elicit empathy. Not everyone will relate, but probably more will than want to admit it. Even as someone who imbibes, I respect and appreciate Levy‘s openness. Her bravery is admirable and will help many.
#coverlove
pickA memoir from a New Yorker in her twenties with a drinking problem. She mostly binge drinks and blacks out in social gatherings and eventually realizes drinking isn‘t adding any positivity to her life. Levy discusses less-than-deep issues such as wellness culture, her wardrobe, and too much Instagram. I‘ve read much darker addiction memoirs but this felt authentic, though it did feel she was grasping at straws at times with her “struggles”.
