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51/50 The Magical Adventures Of A Single Life (2010)

by Kristen McGuiness(Favorite Author)

3 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1593764138 (ISBN13: 9781593764135)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Soft Skull Press

review 1: I could not get into this book. I'm currently on chapter 18 and giving up. There's so much navel-gazing, and 1/3 of the way in, the main character seems to be rehashing the same thoughts and similar experiences over and over. I'll admit she's dealing with situations I haven't had personal experience with, but I would still expect to relate to or enjoy the main character more by now. The over-romanticized expectations of men and dating/relationships is also getting to me.
review 2: I was utterly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. When I downloaded it, I knew it was an odd choice for a girl who was nearing on 5 years of marriage (a marriage which started at the age of 22 nonetheless) and a girl who swore off dating of all-kinds upon entering college until... more 'the one' came along. Kristen McGuiness and I did not approach dating in the same way.But I loved her story, the story of her, the honesty with which it was told and the rawness she so willingly exposed. I jived with the lessons she was learning about relationships, about self and about spirituality. And although I feel I've learned some of those lessons and via different paths, the truths are the same and the healing which they bring, just as life-giving.Now, this shouldn't imply that the book isn't entirely entertaining as well - what better way to receive life's deepest lessons than through quippy writing and racy tales?A few highlights:"Because at a certain point, it stops being strange to be the last single woman on the block. It just begins to hurt." (location 72)"Phillipe doesn't seem to notice that I am making life-altering resolutions across the table from him." (location 245, pg. 11)"It always comes as a surprise to people that an educated young woman with preppy clothes and a deceiving set of dimples could carry such baggage, but I do." (location 543, pg. 33)"to understand just one life, you have to swallow the world." (location 886, pg. 56)."some people just want to live life with their hearts. They don't care that they'll be broken; they're not afraid to lose. They just know that they have to go wherever their hearts take them. Even if it's really hard." (location 1265, pg. 80)."On my last visit to the shaman, she told me that some people get to do all their work within the space of a relationship, but some of us must do the work before we can even get into one." (location 2008, pg. 129)"Sweetheart, we can only love as much as we are willing to be hurt. And I can't imagine that after years of loving your dad, and only being hurt in response, that you wouldn't be, that you could be anything but terrified to that in a genuine, real way with a man." (location 2159, pg. 140)"I sit down and laugh and listen to the lives of those I love. Because I do listen now. I listen all the time." (location 2399, pg. 158)"Our struggles, our fears, they're only as big as we make them. And we can let these little things stop us from reaching our potential, or we can see them for what they are and keep walking." (location 3234, pg. 220). less

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