sleeping – Book Dust Magic

I was wowed: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh #booklovers #literaryfiction #NewYork

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh book cover

My Year of Rest Relaxation is the book every once in a while someone mentions as their favorite. It got little hype when it first came out, but with time it’s popularity grew and it is pretty popular now, and I feel it is mostly because of word of mouth.
First time I noticed it was when my friend who works in a book store talked about it with one of his customers. I took my time to finally pick it up, and now when I read this amazing piece of literature, I can say that I get it.
This book deserves all the hype and phrasing as it was simple but amazing.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation was first time published on July 10th 2018 and it has 289 pages.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

From one of our boldest, most celebrated new literary voices, a novel about a young woman’s efforts to duck the ills of the world by embarking on an extended hibernation with the help of one of the worst psychiatrists in the annals of literature and the battery of medicines she prescribes.

Our narrator should be happy, shouldn’t she? She’s young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.

Review:

I don’t know what it is, but this book hypnotized me. I couldn’t stop reading it and at times it was like I was the character. That’s how invested I was.

It was so easy to relate to MC, at times it was even scary (like that time when I caught myself daydreaming how it would be nice to have my own year of rest and relaxation).

Reading what this book was about I would never assume that this book would be the one I’d have a hard time putting down.
However, thanks to word of mouth I picked it up and now I know I need more of this in my life.
I always loved literary fiction, but this whole experience taught me I need to read more of this genre.
It’s like every time I read a literary fiction novel I feel richer.
This book is no exception.

The book is set in early 00s and I love that time period, when technology wasn’t so developed but it was developed enough.
The last chapter was the most impactful but if I am being honest, it was my least favorite.

Two non-fiction reviews: Why We Sleep and Let them Eat Dirt #nonfiction #sleeping #immunity #books

Gifted / Today I bring you two reviews for non-fiction books I read recently.

They are both with themes I am highly interested in, so I requested them via Netgalley. I want to thank publishers for providing me copies.

Also, I want to mention that I don’t rate non-fiction books, so these are just my thoughts.

Why We Sleep

Isn’t it ironic that I read this book about importance of sleep while sleep deprived?
That’s just how it is when you have to take care of new born baby – you don’t have much time for anything, including sleep. It is also the reason why it took me 19 days to finish this 360
pages long book – reading became luxury for me (let’s hope that will change for better soon).

Like the author has mentioned at the very beginning of this non-fiction, you can read Why We Sleep as a whole, or each part of it separately.
I read every word, including acknowledges (like I always do) and, to me, the most interesting part was the third one, which talks about REM seep and dreams.
I always knew dreams were important, and having read about it makes me appreciate them even more.

I also want to stress out how surprised I was to learn how sleep deprivation takes it’s toll on society.

I wish more people would be educated about importance of sleeping, because in our society time we spend on sleep is looked as time that we could use better, when in reality it is the time we spend well.
Because of that reason, I wish more people would read this book.

Let Them Eat Dirt

I had this non-fiction book since it first came out, but somehow never got around it.
Now when I finally gave it a chance, I am glad I read it at this point of my life, when I’m a mum to a newborn and can learn so much about developing his immunity.

I think this book gives valuable informations and advices, and it is also written in interesting way which makes it easy for everyone to understand what the authors wanted to say.
It is also full of examples which makes it even more easy to understand.

I would recommend it to parents of little children and newborns, and to parents to be.

The Sleeping Tom: Book Blitz + Giveaway

Sleeping Tom
E.V. Fairfall
(Sleeping Tom #1)
Publication date: February 14th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Hitchhiking is a bad idea but Caden is desperate.

When she accepts a ride from the first car to come by she meets Gabriel. He’s her age, hot, and the closest thing she has to a savior. Problem is, he is a total jerk. With nowhere to go, Caden convinces Gabriel to let her stay with him for one night. He reluctantly lends a couch.

That night Caden wakes up to strange noises. Concerned, she rushes into Gabriel’s room, already anticipating his bad temper. Instead, he’s kind, sweet, and suspiciously harmless—nothing like the man who gave her a ride. He seems like a different person altogether, and claims he is. By night he is Tom, and by day he is Gabriel. Caden finds herself drawn to the mysteries hidden in his eyes.

For Gabriel, Caden is an annoying mistake. One night turns into many, and despite all his anger towards her, she stays. She even seems to accept him and his flaws, but he still doesn’t trust her—is she staying for him, or has she already discovered more than he’s willing to share?

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Grab yours today for only 99cents (for a limited time only)!
Stay tuned for Waking Gabriel‘s release in July!

EXCERPT:

“Don’t go.”

He was creeping her out. She wanted to run and hide from him, but instead she held her ground and, as casually as she could, leaned into the doorframe. “It’s like three in the morning,” she reminded him, attempting a frown to hide her anxiety.

“Do you want to play a game?”

“What?” Caden asked, his voice once again making her unsure. A game? It sounded like something Sean would say. Caden shifted her weight, eyeing him warily. I can handle this. She let out a deep breath; if nothing else she could use this as an opportunity. Cleaning at three in the morning obviously hadn’t scored her enough Good Samaritan points.

“Sure… We can play a game.” She wondered if her hesitation would make him angry, like she had when they had been in the car that afternoon.
She looked around for a weapon, anything she could use to protect herself. As her eyes scanned the room each surface was bare, aside from the bulky old alarm clock on the nightstand.

“First, you have to turn off the lights.”

Caden’s hand shook. This didn’t feel right. “Okay,” She mumbled, attempting to seem unfazed, and she turned off the lights with a flick of her wrist. It took a few seconds for her eyes to readjust, and when they did she saw the boy leap back onto the bed, light and agile. She took an uneasy step back. Her chest constricted and her breath caught in her throat. Caden couldn’t deny being unsure of the situation, of this boy who somehow had to be the man she’d met earlier that day.

His head moved from side to side, watching her as intently as she watched him. “What do you want to play?” he asked.

Even then, with him in better visibility, Caden couldn’t tell if the boy was really Gabriel. It was the same voice she had heard earlier, but without the rough edge of his irritation it sounded much younger and innocent, like that of a child. “I don’t know…”

“Oh, come on, think of something,” he said.

When he didn’t move to grab her, she relaxed a little, her breath evening out once again. Caden could feel her confidence slowly building. Maybe he really just wants to play a game. “Aren’t you tired?”

The boy’s shoulders and head dropped. “So you don’t want to play,” he confirmed dejectedly. She watched as he turned around on the empty bed, to face the other wall.

Caden’s little sister Reese always used guilt to get what she wanted. She hadn’t known a guy her own age could make her feel just as guilty, if not worse. “No, no, I want to play. I do.” As long as you stay on that side of the room. Caden moved farther into the room but stayed a good six feet away.

“What game? What game?” He bounced on the bed in his sitting position.

“Do you have any cards?” She clutched the blanket tighter around her, but tried to keep her voice light and casual.

“Cards?” The boy, who no longer seemed like Gabriel at all, stuck out his tongue. “Dumb. Something else.”

Author Bio:

The hunger is encompassing, so she feeds the beast books. But the hunger never settles… so she writes. E.V. Fairfall has an itch that drives her to the world of story telling. With several published short stories, and soon several books (fingers crossed), she explores the topics of humanity and hardship.

During the daylight hours, a book is always within reach. She spends her nights reading with her husband, surrounded by towers of tomes and three furry children curled in close. If she isn’t reading, she is browsing bookstores or hiking, but always awaiting her next adventure.

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