"Mary Coin" by Marisa Silver draws its inspiration from Dortothea Lange's portrait "Migrant Mother". Silver builds up a whole fiction around the woman, whom she calls Mary Coin. It was sweet and sad, but I'm actually now interested in hearing the real story behind the woman in the photo.
"The Hundred Dresses" by Erin McKean was fun. Illustrated drawings with explanations and history behind 100 iconic styles. If I say "the Marilyn dress" or "the Dynasty dress", most people can conjure up in their mind exactly what I mean. It's amazing how these styles stick in our collective psyche like that. Beautiful drawings, too.
I read an Advanced Reader Copy of Cathy Lamb's latest, "If You Could See What I See". I didn't particularly care for it. I found her characters rather one dimensional, caricatures, if you will. There was the Scotch drinking, cigar smoking, tough lovin' Irish granny, the overseas supplier who doesn't understand English very well, etc., etc. The storyline was kind of silly, too: Meggie returns to Oregon after her disastrous marriage to a mentally ill man falls apart to help save her family's lingerie business. There was actually a scene where she had her employees discuss what bra they were wearing during important times in their lives, and people actually remembered these things. Um...okay. Anyway, it definitely wasn't my cup of tea.
"Book of Human Insects" by Osamu Tezuka was great. A graphic novel set in the 1970s, it's about a young woman who is basically a human leech: she attaches herself to talented people, steals off them, makes a name for herself in whatever field they're in, then moves on to the next victim, leaving the last person emotionally drained and naturally bitter. It was nicely done.
"Big Brother" by Lionel Shriver was very sad. Pandora is stunned when her older brother Edison comes to visit her and she discovers in the four years since she last saw him that he's gained over 200 pounds. Her health conscious husband can't stand having Edison in the house and her stepson makes fun of him behind his back. Pandora wants to help, but doesn't know what to do. In the second part of the book, she proposes that they move in together for a year, and she will be his diet coach. Edison agrees, and although they struggle, together, for one year, they both lose weight and Edison gets down to his previous size. Pandora then admits in the third part of the book that she made up the entire second part of the book (I actually kind of suspected as much, but I was really rooting for Edison because HE DID IT! as a serial dieter I can take great hope in someone else's amazing achievements). Edison went home after two months with her, got heavier, and died a few years later, fatter than ever. Pandora admits that her fantasy about actually being able to help Edison is just that: fantasy. No one can force someone to help themselves. Truth, sister. It was a fascinatingly epic look at our relationship with food, weight, and our own bodies that makes me think Shriver has battled some food demons of her own. If not, then wow, kudos to her for nailing it.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Run, Brother, Run; My Beef with Meat; Boleyn King; Cuckoo's Calling; Detroit: an American Autopsy
"Run, Brother, Run" by David Berg is about the murder of his older brother, Alan, back in 1968. Alan wasn't perfect: he drank, gambled, wrote hot checks, but he was a good brother, son, husband, and father to his kids. David details his dissatisfaction with how poorly prosecuted the trial of Alan's accused killer, Charles Harrelson (yes, that Harrelson) went, allowing him to get away with it, essentially. David's story of uncaring cops, con artists stealing from a grieving family, and an ineffectual prosecutor are sad but probably all too common.
"My Beef with Meat" by Rip Esselstyn didn't have a whole lot of new information, since I've read his other book and his dad's books and Dr. Campbell's "The China Story", but it would be a good introduction for others who don't know much about how to start eating a plant strong diet. It was short and straight to the point.
"Boleyn King" by Laura Andersen was disappointing. It had a great premise: what if Anne Boleyn had given birth to healthy son after Elizabeth? Neat idea, I just wish Anderson would have done it differently. She skipped from Anne giving birth to William to the eve of William's 18th birthday, when he's taking over the monarchy, no longer under his counselor's thumbs, since he's reached his majority. I would have enjoyed more backstory: seeing Henry with his son, seeing how Henry interacted with Anne after she did her duty, etc. It's basically the same story as what really happened, only instead of Elizabeth trying to quash Catholic uprisings it's William. Eh, it's the first of a trilogy and I'm not too excited for the next two.
So last week the story broke that J.K. Rowling had published a book under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith called "The Cuckoo's Calling". Instantly hold lists at libraries swelled and bookstores sold out. I managed to get on the hold list at my library early and got the book Thursday. It was pretty good, I liked it, better than "The Casual Vacancy", that's for sure, but it's my type of book to begin with: Cormoran Strike is a down on his luck private investigator who is hired by wealthy John Bristow to investigate the death of his supermodel sister, Lula. Police ruled it a suicide, but John doesn't buy it. Strike is inclined to believe the cops, but he goes along with it because he needs the money. Along the way he discovers John was right. It was an interesting story and it seems like she was setting it up to be able to write more stories featuring Strike. I hope she does, I like him.
"Detroit: an American Autopsy" by Charlie LeDuff was so incredibly depressing. LeDuff grew up in Detroit and moved to New York to work for the Times. He and his wife and daughter return to Detroit in 2008, just in time to see what very well might be the final collapse. He details firefighters working with holes in their shoes, crack dens being lit on fire by residents who then block the fire trucks from coming through, homicide detectives taking the bus to crime scenes because they don't have a running car, a homeless man frozen in ice for over three months before anyone bothers to chainsaw him out, and many, many other atrocities. It's sad how a city once so full of promise and prosperity has fallen so low. I'm afraid the rest of the country might go the way of Detroit if we don't get things cleaned up here soon.
"My Beef with Meat" by Rip Esselstyn didn't have a whole lot of new information, since I've read his other book and his dad's books and Dr. Campbell's "The China Story", but it would be a good introduction for others who don't know much about how to start eating a plant strong diet. It was short and straight to the point.
"Boleyn King" by Laura Andersen was disappointing. It had a great premise: what if Anne Boleyn had given birth to healthy son after Elizabeth? Neat idea, I just wish Anderson would have done it differently. She skipped from Anne giving birth to William to the eve of William's 18th birthday, when he's taking over the monarchy, no longer under his counselor's thumbs, since he's reached his majority. I would have enjoyed more backstory: seeing Henry with his son, seeing how Henry interacted with Anne after she did her duty, etc. It's basically the same story as what really happened, only instead of Elizabeth trying to quash Catholic uprisings it's William. Eh, it's the first of a trilogy and I'm not too excited for the next two.
So last week the story broke that J.K. Rowling had published a book under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith called "The Cuckoo's Calling". Instantly hold lists at libraries swelled and bookstores sold out. I managed to get on the hold list at my library early and got the book Thursday. It was pretty good, I liked it, better than "The Casual Vacancy", that's for sure, but it's my type of book to begin with: Cormoran Strike is a down on his luck private investigator who is hired by wealthy John Bristow to investigate the death of his supermodel sister, Lula. Police ruled it a suicide, but John doesn't buy it. Strike is inclined to believe the cops, but he goes along with it because he needs the money. Along the way he discovers John was right. It was an interesting story and it seems like she was setting it up to be able to write more stories featuring Strike. I hope she does, I like him.
"Detroit: an American Autopsy" by Charlie LeDuff was so incredibly depressing. LeDuff grew up in Detroit and moved to New York to work for the Times. He and his wife and daughter return to Detroit in 2008, just in time to see what very well might be the final collapse. He details firefighters working with holes in their shoes, crack dens being lit on fire by residents who then block the fire trucks from coming through, homicide detectives taking the bus to crime scenes because they don't have a running car, a homeless man frozen in ice for over three months before anyone bothers to chainsaw him out, and many, many other atrocities. It's sad how a city once so full of promise and prosperity has fallen so low. I'm afraid the rest of the country might go the way of Detroit if we don't get things cleaned up here soon.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
The World's Strongest Librarian; The First Lie; The Cherry Cola Book Club
A bunch of disappointments lately. Damn.
I was really looking forward to "The World's Strongest Librarian" by Josh Hanagarne. I really wanted to like it. But I didn't. I thought it would be more about being a librarian in Salt Lake City. I was looking forward to some funny stories I could relate to. But it was mostly about his struggle with Mormonism. Which is fine, if you enjoy learning about the Mormon faith. I have zero interest in it, so for most of the book I was bored stiff. He only briefly mentioned a few things about his job. Oh well.
At least "The First Lie" by Sara Shepard was short, only about 60 pages. It takes place before the first Lying Game book, about Sutton, Charlotte, and Madeline deciding to trick Thayer into thinking Sutton is really interested in him. Only problem is, Sutton does actually start to fall for him. It was all stuff we knew from before, from reading the Lying Game books, and it wasn't particularly interesting to see it from Sutton's POV.
And finally, "The Cherry Cola Book Club" by Ashton Lee, which made me want to punch someone in the throat. First of all, I don't know if librarianship is really that different in small town Mississippi than it is in every other library I've ever worked at, but man, this guy has no clue. Maura Beth is a library director of a tiny library in Cherico, Mississippi, a town of about 5,000. She's twenty-eight and has been director for 6 years. I'll let you do the math on that. Anyway, the city council is threatening to pull funding for the tiny library unless Maura Beth can make it more relevant, so she sets out on a campaign to save the library. That's fine, well and good. While she's out pounding the pavement and putting up petitions for the good people of Cherico to sign, she mentions that she leaves her 18 year old clerk in charge of the library and nobody notices the difference. Let me pause for a minute here. A woman a decade older with a MASTER'S DEGREE in library science (supposedly) who is also the director has made so little impression on her community that they can't tell the difference between her help and that of a teenage girl out of high school. Sure, that's legit. That totally validates my entire profession. Thanks, Mr. Lee. Anyone, at another point in the book a mildly deranged patron cracks a spine on a book and Maura Beth and her clerk bemoan the replacement fees. Um, what? A book in my library literally has to be in pieces and growing mold and preferably on fire before we spend the money replacing it. A cracked spine? Shoot, most of the books have the spines cracked. That means PEOPLE ARE USING THEM! Which is a good thing. Seriously, by the end of the book I was rooting for the council to shut the library down and hoping Maura Beth would pick a new profession to go into. What a waste of time.
I was really looking forward to "The World's Strongest Librarian" by Josh Hanagarne. I really wanted to like it. But I didn't. I thought it would be more about being a librarian in Salt Lake City. I was looking forward to some funny stories I could relate to. But it was mostly about his struggle with Mormonism. Which is fine, if you enjoy learning about the Mormon faith. I have zero interest in it, so for most of the book I was bored stiff. He only briefly mentioned a few things about his job. Oh well.
At least "The First Lie" by Sara Shepard was short, only about 60 pages. It takes place before the first Lying Game book, about Sutton, Charlotte, and Madeline deciding to trick Thayer into thinking Sutton is really interested in him. Only problem is, Sutton does actually start to fall for him. It was all stuff we knew from before, from reading the Lying Game books, and it wasn't particularly interesting to see it from Sutton's POV.
And finally, "The Cherry Cola Book Club" by Ashton Lee, which made me want to punch someone in the throat. First of all, I don't know if librarianship is really that different in small town Mississippi than it is in every other library I've ever worked at, but man, this guy has no clue. Maura Beth is a library director of a tiny library in Cherico, Mississippi, a town of about 5,000. She's twenty-eight and has been director for 6 years. I'll let you do the math on that. Anyway, the city council is threatening to pull funding for the tiny library unless Maura Beth can make it more relevant, so she sets out on a campaign to save the library. That's fine, well and good. While she's out pounding the pavement and putting up petitions for the good people of Cherico to sign, she mentions that she leaves her 18 year old clerk in charge of the library and nobody notices the difference. Let me pause for a minute here. A woman a decade older with a MASTER'S DEGREE in library science (supposedly) who is also the director has made so little impression on her community that they can't tell the difference between her help and that of a teenage girl out of high school. Sure, that's legit. That totally validates my entire profession. Thanks, Mr. Lee. Anyone, at another point in the book a mildly deranged patron cracks a spine on a book and Maura Beth and her clerk bemoan the replacement fees. Um, what? A book in my library literally has to be in pieces and growing mold and preferably on fire before we spend the money replacing it. A cracked spine? Shoot, most of the books have the spines cracked. That means PEOPLE ARE USING THEM! Which is a good thing. Seriously, by the end of the book I was rooting for the council to shut the library down and hoping Maura Beth would pick a new profession to go into. What a waste of time.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Dead Ever After; Not Comin' Home to You
"Dead Ever After" by Charlaine Harris is the last Sookie Stackhouse book. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I've enjoyed the books, but I think watching the TV show while reading the books was a bad idea. Normally it's okay, I'm good with keeping them separate but because the show is *so* different than the books I've had a hard time. I enjoyed this one, and I like how it ended, although I'm sure many fans will be disappointed. But I honestly think she did the best for everyone and the ending was a nice wrap up.
"Not Comin' Home to You" by Lawrence Block is loosely based on the Charles Starkweather case. Set in the early 1970s, Jimmie John Hall starts out his journey by killing a man, stealing a car, and then cruising a high school, where he picks up young, naive, eager to get away from her awful stepfather Betty. Together them embark on a multi-state killing spree before they are finally caught. It was a quick read. I like Block. I should read more of him.
"Not Comin' Home to You" by Lawrence Block is loosely based on the Charles Starkweather case. Set in the early 1970s, Jimmie John Hall starts out his journey by killing a man, stealing a car, and then cruising a high school, where he picks up young, naive, eager to get away from her awful stepfather Betty. Together them embark on a multi-state killing spree before they are finally caught. It was a quick read. I like Block. I should read more of him.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Last Exit to Brooklyn; The Woman who is Always Tan and Has a Flat Stomach; Me Before You
"Last Exit to Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby Jr. was really brilliant and disturbing. He reminds me so much of Kerouac and Burroughs and Ginsberg. I never thought I'd find another author like them. It was a very dark but fascinating look at the seedier side of Brooklyn in the 1950s.
"The Woman who is Always Tan and Has a Flat Stomach" by Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry was a rather tepid collection of supposedly humorous essays. Some of them were mildly amusing, but none of them were out and out hilarious.
"Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes was brilliant. I smugly thought about a third of the way through that I had the ending figured out but then she did something completely unexpected and threw me for a loop. I like when that happens. Will was an active go-getter, a wealthy playboy bachelor before being turned in a quadriplegic after a motorcyclist plows into him. Louisa has just lost her job at a cafe when she finds out about an opening for an assistant to a man in a wheelchair. Turns out Will wants to die. He tried to commit suicide, but when that failed he made plans to go to an assisted suicide center in Switzerland. His parents have begged him for six months in which they hope to change his mind. They hire Louisa, hoping her cheerfulness will buoy his spirits. It was heartbreaking and sweet all at the same time.
"The Woman who is Always Tan and Has a Flat Stomach" by Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry was a rather tepid collection of supposedly humorous essays. Some of them were mildly amusing, but none of them were out and out hilarious.
"Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes was brilliant. I smugly thought about a third of the way through that I had the ending figured out but then she did something completely unexpected and threw me for a loop. I like when that happens. Will was an active go-getter, a wealthy playboy bachelor before being turned in a quadriplegic after a motorcyclist plows into him. Louisa has just lost her job at a cafe when she finds out about an opening for an assistant to a man in a wheelchair. Turns out Will wants to die. He tried to commit suicide, but when that failed he made plans to go to an assisted suicide center in Switzerland. His parents have begged him for six months in which they hope to change his mind. They hire Louisa, hoping her cheerfulness will buoy his spirits. It was heartbreaking and sweet all at the same time.
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