Feathering the Nest

Eye-opening — must read

Revisado: 03-27-24

Illuminating research told in an accessible and engaging way. Collins makes the case — through the words of working mothers she interviewed in Sweden, Germany, Italy, and the United States — that government policies and cultural norms *together* impact women’s experience of work and family in each country.

I wish I had read this book before moving from the United States to a very conservative area of Germany, as part of an ambitious two-career couple with three young kids. The family supports in Germany are mind-boggling; but so are the fact that school ends in the middle of the day, supposedly guaranteed childcare spots are rare, and full-time babysitters are unheard of. Soon enough, I learned the slur “raven mother.”

My US employer’s expectations of workers crashed into Germany’s expectations of mothers, and the result was a stressful mess. This book put my personal experience in the context of western Germany’s changing policy and cultural landscape.

While Collins takes pains to point out the up- and downsides of each country’s system, I imagine many readers will want to move to Sweden :)

The narrator gives life and dimension to the interviewees’ stories — very well done.

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Read this before replying to a „Hey hon“ DM…

Revisado: 03-18-24

This book is an interesting, informative, and engaging listen for anyone who wonders what their friends, family, and former high school classmates have gotten into. All those Facebook friends and Instagram accounts DMing you about essential oils, skincare, nutritional supplements, „buttery“ leggings, press-on fingernails, and the chance to make money while working for yourself? They’re reps for multilevel marketing, aka network marketing aka potential pyramid schemes.

Jane Marie offers an efficient overview of the history of MLMs in the United States, how they work, who they recruit, and the challenges of regulating them. She‘s hard on MLM founders but compassionate towards the many people who get swept up into them based on false promises. Narration is in the personal style that fans of „The Dream“ podcast will enjoy.

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Fun and accessible financial overview

Revisado: 01-28-22

This book is a fun and accessible overview for people who are new to personal finance (“I know I need to get my money act together, but I don’t know where to start and it’s all overwhelming - help!”) and those who are familiar with the basics and want to do better. The information is solid; the humor is entertaining (if a little corny); and the action items are realistic and achievable. The audiobook format is especially fun because it includes great clips from the podcast “Stacking Benjamins.”

If there’s one gentle critique, I felt that some chapters could have been re-ordered more helpfully. The first chapter feels a bit overwhelming: calculate the cost of your goals and rate of return you’ll need to reach them. And the psychology of money is so interesting and important that I thought it would be better earlier in the book. All this to say, stick with the book to the end, and you’ll learn a lot and even laugh a little.

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Doesn’t live up to potential

Revisado: 06-06-21

I was interested in the premise and heard the author interviewed on several financial podcasts. But the book was disappointing. She shares some anecdotes and recounts her insecurities about her new wealth and identity; but it’s not actually insightful. Weird combination of first-person memoir and third-person discussion questions. The most useful chapters were on philanthropy and gift giving. Flip through it at the library, but it’s not worth purchasing.

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I wanted to like it

Revisado: 01-28-21

At its best, this book uses data and examples to encourage adult language learners. If you’re really anxious about studying a foreign language as an adult, this book provides helpful reassurance.

At its worst, this book careened between audiences: sometimes foreign language learners, sometimes academics, sometimes foreign language teachers, sometimes the US Foreign Service. For example, as an adult learner, I couldn’t care less about the authors’ quibbles with the foreign service language levels.

It’s fine for a free book but not as useful as it could have been.

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Not for me

Revisado: 01-10-21

This book was recommended to me by a respected writer. I took what wisdom I could from it, but in general found its aggressiveness off-putting. The audio format probably made this worse, with the voice of a military sergeant and cheesy wartime music. Add some lazy gender stereotypes and baffling/offensive views on mental health and diagnosable disorders, and I have to say - despite a few valid points on writing - this book wasn’t for me. The author might assume my distaste for his book is just another manifestation of Resistance - fine.

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Worthwhile content marketing

Revisado: 12-10-20

Penn’s business acumen is impressive - I’ve just paid for her content marketing! This book has useful, practical information for someone figuring out their publishing options. A lot of these resources are shared on her website “The Creative Penn,” but I appreciated the audiobook option here.

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Profound

Revisado: 11-14-20

This book is quiet and deep. It will resonate with intuitive readers looking for something “more” in their life and work.

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Good info, oddly structured

Revisado: 11-08-20

I appreciated this social justice lens on veganism - it seems especially urgent and relevant in the current political and social climate.
Maybe the structure of the hard-copy book makes more sense, but as an audiobook it seems to jump around. Good and practical information, though.

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Practical overview

Revisado: 11-01-20

This is a good overview for newcomers to the “financial independence” community, and it offers helpful new perspective to those who (like me) are already practicing some of these principles. I especially appreciated the ideas for combatting impatience during this long-term endeavor, plus the list of questions to consider at different stages along the way. It’s also worth checking out Tanja’s other work (blog, podcast) for her reflections on environmentalism, feminism, and other social dimensions of the “financial independence/retire early (FIRE)” movement.

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