Ingrid Morse

Beautiful, informative and powerful.

Reviewed: 2019-04-03

A stunning, touching, powerful view into the life of an incredibly humble First Lady. Her words are moving, as they paint gorgeous pictures, and inspire deep emotions. This book is about more than just her life and Barack’s presidency. It’s a testament to love, respect, humility, action, and acceptance.
Not only is the book beautiful but to hear Michelle narrate her words, in a measured, patient cadence brought me pleasure and peace.
Highly recommended, regardless of whether you follow politics.

✨ Incredible. Moving. Inspiring. ✨

Reviewed: 2019-02-04

I loved this book! Like many good books, it started slow, and built and built until I was completely in love and wished it wasn't over.

While it does cover the topic of residential schools and the atrocities that occurred, it is so much more than that. And if you love the sport of hockey, you'll imagine yourself flying across the ice on many occasions. There are moments of joy and pain that most people can identify with in some way.

The narrator felt detached at first, but as I approached the end of the book, I found that it actually suited the character very well.

Richard Wagamese has a gentle narrative that pulls you along with beauty and grace. Do yourself a favour and take this journey. ❤️

Beautiful and heart-wrenching

Reviewed: 2018-12-21

Oh, how I enjoyed this book. The sheer beauty of the words and images created, juxtaposed against the plain and simple dialogue of the characters made it a feast for the senses. I feel like I have been on a journey to the wild as a result. The world lost a great gem when Richard Wagamese passed away last year.

Not the right tone for me

Reviewed: 2018-09-13

I recently saw Rachel Hollis's documentary about her Rise event, and loved it. Loved the messages, the empowerment, and all of it. So I picked up this book. But is not striking the right chord with me. I'm only about 1/3 the way through, but I had to put it aside. For now, at least. I read/listen to a lot of self-help/empowerment/mindfulness/motivational books. But this one feels like I am being scolded a bit. I get that it is just her story and she is not professing to be an expert/psychologist/etc. But something about the tone is falling flat for me - which is partly me and partly the book. I just think she has a lack of awareness about how some of her messages can be received, and I find myself wishing some of it was backed by research the way so many other books are. So I accept that this is really popular for many people as a great inspirational tale, but so far not my cup of tea.
#Audible1

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Preachy and eye-roll worthy, with some good tips

Reviewed: 2018-06-10

This book started off pretty well. There were certainly some great ideas and concepts around minimalism. I wouldn't call myself a minimalist but I'm well on my way, and rarely buy much anymore. I just want to discard some more stuff and looked for some mindset tips. I got a few, for sure.
And then it went downhill. He starts saying that minimalism can solve every issue you can think of. For example, how it can save relationships, because if you don't have things, you have more time to talk to each other, etc. Guess what? You can also choose to have those conversations! You don't need to empty your life of all possessions and joy in order to appreciate those around you. Granted, minimalism is one way some people could achieve that goal, but by the time you get the end of the book, he implies that every issue in the world can be solved by minimalism. He says he avoids colour and sticks with whites and beiges because of visual noise. He even says that after you reduce things from your life, you can even then remove the things that give you joy as well. Why? Basically, he digresses more and more toward the end and I couldn't wait for it to be over. I just think he ends up way out of his league. Granted he is just telling his story, and at the very end, he says you don't have to be a minimalist to experience these lessons. It's just one way to learn them. Very true and glad to hear him say it. But I was really put off by the second half of the book and all the preachiness. The narrator was good.