Mr. Tall

Book 10 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 23 - 27

Mr. Tall

by Tony Earley

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2014

In Mr. Tall, his first story collection in two decades, Tony Earley brings us seven rueful, bittersweet, riotous studies of characters, both ordinary and mythical, seeking to make sense of the world transforming around them. He demonstrates once again the prodigious story-telling gifts that have made him one of the most accomplished writers of his generation.

In the title story, a lonely young bride terrifyingly shares a remote mountain valley with a larger-than-life neighbor, while the grieving widow of "The Cryptozoologist" is sure she's been visited by a Southern variant of Bigfoot. "Have You Seen the Stolen Girl?" introduces us to the ghost of Jesse James, who plagues an elderly woman in the wake of a neighborhood girl's abduction. In "Haunted Castles of the Barrier Islands," an empty-nest couple stumble through an impenetrable Outer Banks fog, seeking a new life to replace the one they have lost, while "Yard Art" follows the estranged wife of a famous country singer as she searches for an undiscovered statue by an enigmatic artist. In the concluding novella, "Jack and the Mad Dog," we find Jack - the giant killer of stories - in full flight from threats both canine and existential.

Earley indelibly maps previously undiscovered territories of the human heart in these melancholy, comic, and occasionally strange stories. Along the way, he leads us on a journey from contemporary Nashville to a fantastical land of talking dogs and flying trees, teaching us at every step that, even in the most familiar locales, the ordinary is never just that.

My Opinion

3 stars

I'm squarely in the middle on this read.  I have a few notes on each story but basically it was fine while I was reading it and it was fine when it was over.  That probably sounds more negative than I mean it to but it's ok to have a read be solid through and through; there may not have been a "wow" story for me but there also wasn't a "clunker" which is unusual and a pleasant surprise for a book of short stories, especially ones that are so varied like in this collection.

"Haunted Castles of the Barrier Islands": Good, descriptive writing but not the best storyline. I didn't care that the time with the characters was over.

"Mr. Tall": I felt the emotions with this one. It had a resolution ending but also felt too short which is the mark of a good short story for me. I laughed out loud at her description of adjusting to sex with her husband, "He had insisted on prodding her with it the whole time it was "Interested," and not just in the place she had expected him to prod her with it, but wherever it happened to be aimed."

"The Cryptozoologist": It took me a minute to make the connection between this story and "Mr. Tall".  That helped my interest a little but my mind kept wandering during this story until the last few paragraphs - what an ending.

"Have You Seen the Stolen Girl?": Short but good.

"Yard Art": This one was probably my favorite.

"Just Married": Really nice flow, shows the randomness of intersecting lives.

"Jack and the Mad Dog": The story was fine but after all the previous stories were pretty firmly set in realism it was odd to have this one be so fantastical and it took me a minute to get settled in. It took a twist I wasn't expecting - really good ending. 

Everyone Brave is Forgiven

Book 9 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 18 - 22

Everyone Brave is Forgiven

by Chris Cleave

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2016

London, 1939.

The day war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office and signs up.

Tom Shaw decides to ignore the war - until he learns his roommate Alistair Heath has unexpectedly enlisted. Then the conflict can no longer be avoided.

Young, bright, and brave, Mary is certain she'd be a marvelous spy. When she is - bewilderingly - made a teacher, she finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget.

Tom, meanwhile, finds that he will do anything for Mary.

And when Mary and Alistair meet, it is love, as well as war, that will test them in ways they could not have imagined, entangling three lives in violence and passion, friendship and deception, inexorably shaping their hopes and dreams.

Set in London during the years of 1939-1942, when citizens had slim hope of survival, much less victory; and on the strategic island of Malta, which was daily devastated by the Axis barrage, Everyone Brave is Forgiven features little-known history and a perfect wartime love story inspired by the real-life love letters between Chris Cleave's grandparents. This dazzling novel dares us to understand that, against the great theater of world events, it is the intimate losses, the small battles, the daily human triumphs that change us most.

My Opinion

4 stars

I really wavered between rounding down to 3 or up to 4 stars but ended up rounding up to 4 stars because of the witty dialogue and banter, especially between Alistair and Simonson.

I didn't love the language.  I found the number of times the 'n' word was used jarring.  I understand the prejudice of the time was a very important plot point but when it was happening multiple times per page and in situations where it wasn't needed to convey the sentiments, it was distracting and took me out of the story.  I also didn't like the number of times "retarded" was used.  Again, I understand the language was different in that time but it was being used as a substitute for "stupid" (as opposed to a descriptor of someone that would've been appropriate at the time but outdated now) so often that it felt unnecessary.  In both cases it felt like overkill and heavy-handed - the points would've landed with even half of the number of times those words were used.

I liked the author's note at the end that the pictures on the inside front and back covers of the hardcover edition (which I read) are of actual letters the author's grandfather sent to his grandmother.  That was a really nice touch.

Not That Bad

Book 8 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 12 - 18

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture

Edited by Roxane Gay

Summary (via the book jacket)

published in 2018

In this valuable and timely anthology, cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay has collected original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are "routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, and bulled" for speaking out.

Highlighting the stories of well-known actors, writers, and experts, as well as new voices being published for the first time, Not That Bad covers a wide range of topics and experiences, from an exploration of the rape epidemic embedded in the refugee crisis to first-person accounts of child molestation and street harassment.

Often deeply personal and always unflinchingly honest, this provocative collection both reflects the world we live in and offers a call to arms insisting that "not that bad" must no longer be good enough.

My Opinion

5 stars

This isn't something I will be critiquing or giving individual notes on because all of the essays are so personal and varied.  The book doesn't feel exploitative - they (mostly women but a few men too) are telling their stories on their terms.

This passage from "To Get Out From Under It" by Stacey May Fowler sums it up for me:

   "There is this impossible paradox when you are victimized by sexual assault. You want to - you have to - convince yourself that it wasn't "that bad" in order to have any hope of healing. If it really is as bad as you feel like it is, how will you ever get out from under it? How will you ever get "better"?

   On the other hand, you need to convince others it was "bad enough" to get the help and support you need to do that healing. To get out from under it. To get an appointment at the clinic. To get friends to come over with Styrofoam food containers when you can't feed yourself.

   You tell yourself how bad it is and then you numb yourself to how bad it is. You repeat as needed, for so many years."

A Few Quotes from the Book

"If rape culture had a flag, it would be one of those Boob Inspector T-shirts.

 If rape culture had its own cuisine, it would be all this shit you have to swallow.

 If rape culture had a downtown, it would smell like Axe body spray and that perfume they put on tampons to make your vagina smell like laundry detergent.

 If rape culture had an official language, it would be locker-room jokes and an awkward laugh track. Rape culture speaks in every tongue.

 If rape culture had a national sport, it would be...well...something will balls, for sure."

 ~ Aubrey Hirsch

"Sexual violence is a global epidemic that is all around us, yet it is nowhere, precisely because it permeates every facet of our presence in the world, echoing throughout our political and popular cultures, ricocheting off the cement walls that define our boundaries."

 ~ Michelle Chen 

Shotgun Lovesongs

Book 7 of my 2019 Reading Challenge
read from January 14 - 18

Shotgun Lovesongs
by Nickolas Butler

Summary (via the book jacket)
published in 2014

Welcome to Little Wing. It's a place like hundreds of others, nothing special, really. But for four friends - all born and raised in this small Wisconsin town - it is home. And now they are men, coming into their own or struggling to do so.

One of them never left, still working the family farm that has been tilled for generations. But others felt the need to move on, with varying degrees of success. One trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit, and one of them even hit it big as a rock star. And then there's Beth, a woman who has meant something special in each of their lives.

Now all four are brought together for a wedding. Little Wing seems even smaller than before. While lifelong bonds are still strong, there are stresses - among the friends, between husbands and wives. There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of adult friendship and love.

Seldom has the American heartland been so richly and accurately portrayed. Though the town may have changed, the one thing that hasn't is the beauty of the Wisconsin farmland, the lure of which, in Nickolas Butler's hands, emerges as a vibrant character in the story. Shotgun Lovesongs is that rare work of fiction that evokes a specific time and place yet movingly describes the universal human condition. It is, in short, a truly remarkable book - a novel that once read will never be forgotten.

My Opinion
5 stars

This is more of a book that I resonated with as an experience and can't really put into words why.  As a lifelong Midwesterner myself I recognized all of these characters and could tell through his writing that the author grew up around here too.  I was immediately absorbed with his descriptive writing and full-fledged characters (not easy when there were so many) and would definitely read him again.

I didn't love all the plot points, especially a situation near the end of the book that almost knocked it down to a high 4 for me but in the end I kept it a 5 star read.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"For all of our Middlewestern niceness, I realized that we, that I, could be every bit as cold as our longest season."

"Here, life unfurls with the seasons. Here, time unspools itself slowly, moments divided out like some truly decadent dessert that we savor - wedding, births, graduations, grand openings, funerals. Mostly, things stay the same."

The Merry Spinster

Book 6 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 11 - 14

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror

by Mallory Ortberg

Summary (excerpted from the book jacket)
published 2018

Adapted from the beloved "Children's Stories Made Horrific" series, The Merry Spinster takes up the trademark wit that endeared Mallory Ortberg to readers of both The Toast and the bestselling debut Texts from Jane Eyre. Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children's stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief. Readers of The Toast will instantly recognize Ortberg's boisterous good humor and Uber-nerd swagger; this collection's unique spin on fiction, where something a bit unsettling is always at work just beneath the surface.

My Opinion

2 stars

The pages passed very quickly even though I didn't really like or understand what was going on.  There were lots of words for not a lot of story and times when it felt like the author was trying too hard to be smart and clever.  Overall, I just didn't find this to be as creepy as I expected it to be. 

It was nice to have the list of "sources and influences" in the back because I recognized some but not all of them.  I don't think that impacted how I feel about the book because there wasn't much of a difference in how I felt about the stories I recognized material from versus ones I didn't.  

My favorite story was "The Rabbit".

Becoming

Book 5 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 3 - 11

Becoming

by Michelle Obama

Summary (via the book jacket)
published 2018

When she was a little girl, Michelle Robinson's world was the South Side of Chicago, where she and her brother, Craig, shared a bedroom in their family's upstairs apartment and played catch in the park, and where her parents, Fraser and Marian Robinson, raised her to be outspoken and unafraid. But life soon took her much further afield, from the halls of Princeton, where she learned for the first time what it felt like to be the only black woman in a room, to the glassy office tower where she worked as a high-powered corporate lawyer - and where, one summer morning, a law student named Barack Obama appeared in her office and upended all her carefully made plans.

Here, for the first time, Michelle Obama described the early years of her marriage as she struggles to balance her work and family with her husband's fast-moving political career. She takes us inside their private debate over whether he should make a run for the presidency and her subsequent role as a popular but oft-criticized figure during his campaign. Narrating with grace, good humor, and uncommon candor, she provides a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of her family's history-making launch into the global limelight as well as their life inside the White House over eight momentous years - as she comes to know her country and her country comes to know her.

Becoming takes us through modest Iowa kitchens and ballrooms at Buckingham Palace, through moments of heart-stopping grief and profound resilience, bringing us deep into the soul of a singular, groundbreaking figure in history as she strives to live authentically, marshaling her personal strength and voice in service of a set of higher ideals. In telling her story with honesty and boldness, she issues a challenge to the rest of us: Who are we and who do we want to become?

My Opinion

5 stars

If you chose to read this book you will not be disappointed because she is just as personable, warm, funny, and real as you'd expect.  There is also a level of vulnerability and honesty that I wasn't expecting but made her even more relatable.  I knew I liked her but I didn't expect to have so much in common with her.

If you chose to pass by this book based on who she is, I understand but it's your loss because this isn't really a "political" book.  There is talk of politics because that was her world but it's really about her and her thoughts on balancing her own goals and career aspirations not only as a mom but also in a marriage where her husband is also powerful and motivated with big aspirations of his own.

On a personal note, I didn't know her dad had MS (my mom does too).  The nerd in me was also amazed at all the things in the president's motorcade, including a container of his blood type just in case he needed a transfusion (to be provided by the physician that always travels with him as well).

The pictures were great and the only downside of this book is it made me miss the Obamas even more; I would've been sad at the end of their presidency no matter what but especially in the stark contrast of the current administration, it was nice to revisit different times.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"...I think it's one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child - What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that's the end."

"For better or worse, I'd fallen in love with a man with a vision who was optimistic without being naive, undaunted by conflict, and intrigued by how complicated the world was."

"I was humbled and excited to be First Lady, but not for one second did I think I'd be sliding into some glamorous, easy role. Nobody who has the words "first" and "black" attached to them ever would."

"Women endure entire lifetimes of these indignities - in the form of catcalls, groping, assault, oppression. These things injure us. They sap our strength. Some of the cuts are so small they're barely visible. Others are huge and gaping, leaving scars that never heal. Either way, they accumulate. We carry them everywhere, to and from school and work, at home while raising our children, at our places of worship, anytime we try to advance."

Varina

Book 4 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 5 - 11

Varina

by Charles Frazier

Summary (via the book jacket)
published 2018

Her marriage prospects limited, teenage Varina Howell agrees to wed the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects the secure life of a Mississippi landowner. Davis instead pursues a career in politics and is eventually appointed president of the Confederacy, placing Varina at the white-hot center of one of the darkest moments in American history - culpable regardless of her intentions.

The Confederacy falling, her marriage in tatters, and the country divided, Varina and her children escape Richmond, Virginia, and travel south on their own, now fugitives with "bounties on their heads, an entire nation in pursuit."

Intimate in its detailed observations of one woman's tragic life, and epic in its scope and power, Varina is a novel of an American war and its aftermath. Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences.

My Opinion

3 stars

I liked the writing and it held my interest but I also wasn't emotionally invested so I'm neutral about it overall.

This line spoke to me and I find it especially relevant in this time: "If every generation helps the next take one step up, imagine where we might all be someday."  I also loved the line, "Remembering doesn't change anything - it will always have happened.  But forgetting won't erase it either."

A Few Quotes from the Book

"Children don't judge their own lives. Normal for them is what's laid before them day by day. Judgement comes later."

"Fame. All it means is, people who don't know one true thing about you get to have opinions and feel entitled to aim their screeds your way."

Problems with People

Book 3 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 2 - 4

Problems with People

by David Guterson

Summary (via Goodreads)

published 2014

Ten sharply observed, funny, and wise new stories from the best-selling author of Snow Falling on Cedars: stunning explorations of the mysteries of love and our complex desire for connection.

Ranging from youth to old age, the voices that inhabit Problems with People offer tender, unexpected, and always tightly focused accounts of our quest to understand each other, individually, and as part of a political and historical moment. These stories are shot through with tragedy—the long-ago loss of a young boyfriend, a son’s death at sea; poignant reflections upon cultural and personal circumstances—whether it is being Jewish, overweight and single, or a tourist in a history-haunted land; and paradigmatic questions about our sense of reality and belonging. Spanning diverse geographies—all across America, and in countries as distant as Nepal and South Africa—these stories showcase David Guterson’s signature gifts for characterization, psychological nuance, emotional and moral suspense, and evocations of small-town life and the natural world. They celebrate the ordinary yet brightening surprises that lurk within the dramas of our daily lives, as well as the return of a contemporary American master to the form that launched his astonishing literary career.

My Opinion

4 stars

I always seem to start off the year with high ratings for books which makes sense because I'm reading ones I received as Christmas gifts.  

The title led to this fun interaction: sitting in the waiting room while my daughter had physical therapy, a chatty woman asked what I was reading.  I held it up and said, "Problems with People"...conversation ended there. :)

With short story collections, I usually start off making notes on each story because sometimes I review each story individually and sometimes I review the book as a whole.  In this case, I seemed to be repeating myself after each story so I'm going to just sum up how I felt about the book.

Even though the stories were so different and would sound insignificant or boring if I tried to describe them, they all held my interest.  Maybe it's because a lot of his characters overthink things like I do so the constant inner monologues felt familiar, or maybe it's because I love people-watching and these felt like little snippets of peeking into someone's life, but I was absorbed even though they weren't really about anything.

I felt like the stories ended well but I also would've read more.  I would easily read a full-length book by him (which I guess I did in a way since all the stories are by him).

All the Light We Cannot See

Book 2 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2014

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousand locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge.

My Opinion

4 stars

When I sent my husband to the library with my list of requests, I also told him to surprise me.  He came home with 3 surprises, 2 of which I'd already read and this one which was on my "to-read" list but I hadn't gotten to yet.  He was bummed but I told him that shows how well he knows me since he picked things I'd already chosen on my own.  So that's how this random reader ended up with this selection at this time...

I liked the writing a lot but the book itself went slowly.  I felt like I was reading a lot and I would get sucked in but then I would put it down and it wouldn't seem like I had made any progress at all.  It was a very weird feeling; not necessarily a complaint since I liked it but just weird since it didn't seem like much was happening for how much I was reading yet I wasn't bored.  However, once the time jumps got closer together it picked up and the last third of the book passed by in a flash.

It wasn't the ending I wanted for some of the characters but I was satisfied with the journey.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"One week in Saint-Malo becomes two. Marie begins to feel that her life, like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, has been interrupted halfway through. There was volume 1, when Marie-Laure and her father lived in Paris and went to work, and now there is volume 2, when Germans ride motorcycles through these strange, narrow streets and her uncle vanishes inside his own home."

"Werner is succeeding. He is being loyal. He is being what everybody agrees is good. And yet every time he wakes and buttons his tunic, he feels he is betraying something."

Egghead

Book 1 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from January 1-2

Egghead

by Bo Burnham

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2013

Bo Burnham was a precocious teenager living in his parents' attic when he started posting material on YouTube. One hundred million people viewed those videos, turning Bo into an online sensation with a huge and dedicated following. Bo taped his first of two Comedy Central specials four days after his eighteenth birthday, making him the youngest to do so in the channel's history. Now Bo is a rising star in the comedy world, revered for his utterly original voice. Also, he can SIIIIIIING! (Kind of.)

In EGGHEAD, Bo brings his brand of brainy, emotional comedy to the page in the form of off-kilter poems, thoughts, and more. Teaming up with his longtime friend, artist, and illustrator Chance Bone, Bo takes on everything from death to farts in this weird book that will make you think, laugh, and think, "Why did I just laugh?"

My Opinion
4 stars

The last sentence of the description is sums up how I feel about Bo's material.  I love watching him perform and while this book isn't as good as the whole experience of watching him, I could hear his voice as I was reading and enjoyed the book too.

At first I assumed this was about Trump but then I learned it was published in 2013 so I guess it's just a happy coincidence:

Donald

No matter our race or color or creed

or way of life or species or breed.

No matter our height or girth or scent,

we all hate Donald because Donald is a fucking dick.

I wonder what people that read this book but aren't familiar with his work think.  He can get written off as dirty or silly but he has messages too (sometimes - don't think too deeply about all of them).  For example:

Ashley

Little Ashley hung magazine spreads on her wall,

after picking the magazines out in the mall.

Models and actresses, singers and more,

with cleavage and makeup and glamor galore!

All of her heroes were finally nearer.

Her whole room looked perfect - except for the mirror.

The artwork was interesting as well and added to the experience of the book.

Ordinary People

Book 77 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

Ordinary People by Judith Guest 

Summary (via the book jacket)

The Jarrets are a typical American family. Calvin is a determined, successful provider and Beth an organized, efficient wife. They had two sons, Conrad and Buck, but now they have one. In this memorable, moving novel, Judith Guest takes the reader into their lives to share their misunderstandings, pain...and ultimate healing.

My Opinion

I rarely read books that are brand-new; I either buy used copies or check books out from the library.  I usually love the broken-in, pre-loved feeling as part of the experience but not so much in this case because the person apparently read it for a class so there were lots of highlights and notes in the margin.  It would've been great for CliffNotes if I was also reading it for a class but was a little distracting since I wasn't.  Nothing to do with the book, just a sidenote on my reading experience.

Since most of it was in the form of dialogue it was easy to get sucked in.  It was written like actual conversations, with interruptions and back-and-forths, so it was very vivid.

This got me: "...depression is not sobbing and crying and giving vent, it is plain and simple reduction of feeling. Reduction, see? Of all feeling. People who keep stiff upper lips find that it's damn hard to smile."

Quote from the Book

" 'Sometimes,' Berger says, 'people say stupid things. They feel like they gotta say something, you know?'

   'Sometimes people say stupid things, because they're stupid.' "

Murdered, My Sweet

Book 76 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

Murdered, My Sweet by Joan Lowery Nixon

Summary (via the book jacket)
Jenny Jakes and her mother, a famous mystery writer, travel to see their cousin, Arnold Harmony, who's made his fortune in the chocolate business. Harmony, an eccentric millionaire, wants his will read publicly before he dies.
When Harmony's son is murdered just before the reading, Jenny's mother decides to spring into action as a real-life detective. But Jenny's mother doesn't have a clue about solving a real crime, so it's up to Jenny to use her wits to save her mother's reputation. And to keep herself from being killed.

My Opinion
My kids love this author so when I was looking for an easy holiday read I decided to give this is try because I was past this reading level when it came out (published in 1997) but it looks like one I would've liked at a young age as well.

I ended up giving it a neutral 3 stars because I can see why the kids like her and that's who she's writing for but this wasn't a juvenile read that also entertains an adult audience.  I ended up rolling my eyes at how everything came together; it was lots of "right place at the right time" and people crumbling into confession monologues after being asked 1 question.

It does make me want to break out my Christopher Pike books to see a) if they hold up at all and b) if the kids would like him as much as I did.

Quote from the Book
"It's not easy being related to a woman who's famous for murdering people."

Someday, Someday, Maybe

Book 75 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham 

Summary (via Goodreads)
Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three-year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates - Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material - and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.
Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.
Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

My Opinion
There's nothing wrong with the writing but I don't enjoy these kinds of personalities in real life so reading about them is grating, especially if the main character gets what she wants by chance or falling into everything.  So it was a rough start for me that turned into a pleasant surprise because I was ready for more of the story but the book was over.  It ended on a good note because she was finally turning into an actual character and not an annoying stereotype.

Quote from the Book 
"I don't know what happens in between today and the night of my career retrospective. But on the bright side, I can picture those two things at least, can imagine the events like bookends, even if the actual books on the shelves between them aren't yet written."

Paris for One

Book 74 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

Paris for One & Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

Summary (via the book jacket)
Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris. She's never even been on a romantic weekend away - to anywhere - before. Traveling abroad isn't really her thing. But when Nell's boyfriend fails to show up for their mini-vacation, she has the chance to prove everyone - including herself - wrong. Alone in Paris, Nell finds a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid. Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life?
In the eight other stories, Jojo Moyes gives us a cast of strong, relatable women in the midst of their everyday lives. In "Crocodile Shoes," a businesswoman's blossoming confidence emerges from a fateful locker-room mix-up. A desperate holiday shopper strikes up an unexpected friendship just in the nick of time in "The Christmas List." And in both "Love in the Afternoon" and "A Bird in the Hand," two couples dance around the trickiness of longtime marriage. 
In this irresistible new collection, readers will be whisked from elegant perfume shops to taxis to five-star hotel rooms and more. 

My Opinion
The title story, Paris for One, was the longest and the strongest.  As for the other stories, Between the Tweets was my favorite and the rest didn't seem to be as fleshed out.  It's almost like she put all her effort into Paris for One, decided it wasn't long enough to put out on its own (it's 151 pages, it would've been fine), and came up with a few other stories to add on. 

Rated squarely in the middle because it was fine while I was reading it and it was fine when it was over.

The Three-Day Affair

Book 73 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

The Three-Day Affair by Michael Kardos

Summary (via Goodreads)
Will, Jeffrey, and Nolan have been friends since their undergrad days at Princeton. Now, nine years after graduation, Will is a failed musician still reeling from the death of a bandmate. Jeffrey got lucky and then rich from the dot-com boom, and Nolan is a state senator with national aspirations. Their friendships have bent without breaking for years, until one shocking event changes everything.
One night on a drive, they make a routine stop at a convenience store. Moments after entering the store, a manic Jeffrey emerges, dragging a young woman with him. He shoves her into Will's car and shouts a single word: "Drive!" Shaken and confused, Will obeys. 
Suddenly these three men find themselves completely out of their element, holding a frightened young girl hostage without the slightest idea of what to do next. They're already guilty of kidnapping and robbery; it's only a matter of time before they find out what else they might be guilty of. For these three friends, three days will decide their fate--between freedom and prison, innocence and guilt . . . and life and death. 

My Opinion
This was a very low 2 star read for me.  The only thing that kept it from a 1 star was the author's writing style because I would read him again but this story was implausible and just stupid stupid stupid.  The premise was ridiculous, I was uninvested by page 10, I predicted the ending even though I was hoping I was wrong, and then it was over.

Decent writing wasted on a horrible plot.

My First Ladies

Book 72 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

My First Ladies: Thirty Years as the White House Chief Floral Designer
by Nancy Clarke

Summary (via Goodreads)
Nancy Clarke reveals the touching, funny, and illuminating story of what it was like to serve under six administrations and to help each First Lady find her own personal style when it came to planning flower designs, state dinners, and holiday festivities in the White House.

My Opinion
I picked this book when I was searching the library catalog for something with a similar title and this one popped up and looked interesting.

It was a great touch that each First Lady had something to say about her, either specifically for this book or in notes they had sent and the author shared.

Her enthusiasm was contagious and even though I don't know anything about flowers, the behind-the-scenes details of the White House parties and their guests were fascinating.  I loved all the pictures and notes, including the general questionnaire each First Lady filled out with their preferences; there is more thought put into all the details than I ever imagined.

Fun fact: they first were allowed to wear pants during the Clinton administration...another effect of Hillary's pantsuits.

Buffering

Book 71 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart

Summary (via Goodreads)
The wildly popular YouTube personality, star of Food Network's I Hart Food, and author of the New York Times bestseller My Drunk Kitchen is back! This time, she’s stirring up memories and tales from her past.
By combing through the journals that Hannah has kept for much of her life, this collection of narrative essays deliver a fuller picture of her life, her experiences, and the things she’s figured out about family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship and fame.
Revealing what makes Hannah tick, this sometimes cringe-worthy, poignant collection of stories is sure to deliver plenty of Hannah’s wit and wisdom, and hopefully encourage you to try your hand at her patented brand of reckless optimism.

My Opinion
I wanted to read it both quickly and slowly if that makes sense, and I related to it in ways that I'm not going to explain in a book review.  But it touched me and I'm so happy she's been able to find peace and success. 

There are extra layers if you're familiar with her but it's still good as a human-interest memoir if you're not.

One Dumb Guy

Book 70 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy by Paul Myers

Summary (via the book jacket)
Meticulously researched and written with the full cooperation and participation of the troupe, The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy features exclusive interviews with Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson, as well as key players from their inner circle, including producer Lorne Michaels, the "man in the towel" Paul Bellini, and head writer Norm Hiscock. Marvel as the Kids share their intimate memories and behind-the-scene stories of how they created their greatest sketches and most beloved characters, from the Chicken Lady and Buddy Cole to Cabbage Head and Sir Simon and Hecubus.
The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy spans the entirety of the Kids' storied career, from their early club shows in Toronto to their recent live tours across North America. Perfect for diehard fans and new initiates alike, The Kids in the Hall will make you laugh and make you cry...and it may even crush your head.

My Opinion
If you like The Kids in the Hall, you'll love this book.  The pictures are great, the interviews are honest, and it's written by someone that's known them for a very long time which adds a lot to the comfort level of the interviews and the in-depth knowledge of everything.

Now I want to pull out my dvds and watch them all again.

All Systems Red

Book 69 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Book 1 of The Murderbot Diaries

Summary (via Goodreads)
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

My Opinion
I will definitely read this author again and continue this series, although there was a really good resolution with this book if I hadn't liked it and didn't want to.  Well, I guess I don't know if I should say a "good" resolution - it wasn't necessarily what I wanted to happen but I do understand it (and it looks like it sets up the next book very well).

Normally it's a pet peeve of mine when action happens "off-camera" and is summed up in a monologue but I'm more forgiving of it here since it was such a short book.

Quote from the Book
"The HubSystem that controlled their habitat, that they were dependent on for food, shelter, filtered air, and water, was trying to kill them. And in their corner all they had was Murderbot, who just wanted everyone to shut up and leave it alone so it could watch the entertainment feed all day."

Seabiscuit

Book 68 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

Summary (via the book jacket)
He was a cultural icon. A world-class athlete. A champion who triumphed over terrible handicaps to become a legend of the racetrack. No other racehorse has rivaled Seabiscuit's fame or his sway over the nation's imagination. 
Now Laura Hillenbrand unfolds the spellbinding story of this marvelous animal, the world he lived in, and the men who staked their lives and fortunes on his dazzling career. 
A riveting tale of grit, grace, luck, and an underdog's stubborn determination, Seabiscuit is an American classic.

My Opinion
I love it when there are pictures and they added a lot to the story.  Since I'm not familiar with Seabiscuit other than name recognition, it was very suspenseful because I didn't know what races he was going to win or when he would retire.

Fun fact that seemed almost unimaginable: "At year's end, when the number of newspaper column inches devoted to public figures was tallied up, it was announced that [Seabiscuit] had drawn more newspaper coverage in 1938 than Roosevelt, who was second, Hitler (third), Mussolini (fourth), or any other newsmaker."

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora

Book 67 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya

Summary (via Goodreads)
Save the restaurant. Save the town. Get the girl. Make Abuela proud. Can thirteen-year-old Arturo Zamora do it all or is he in for a BIG, EPIC FAIL? 
For Arturo, summetime in Miami means playing basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela's restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes Carmen, a cute poetry enthusiast who moves into Arturo's apartment complex and turns his stomach into a deep fryer. He almost doesn't notice the smarmy land developer who rolls into town and threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family and community go down without a fight, and as he schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of poetry and protest through untold family stories and the work of Jose Marti.

My Opinion
I read this at the recommendation of my son and will include his opinion below.  He read it because it was on the "Battle of the Books" reading list and passed it along to me when he was done. 
As far as my reading, I found it enjoyable and would definitely recommend it for a middle school audience.  I enjoyed it more for the conversation it opened up with Brian about why he recommended it to me.

My Son's (age 13) Opinion, in his words
"I recommended it to my mom because it was very well-written and gave a different point of view on stuff and it showed the value of family and friendship.
It was a good, quick read and a good book overall."

Naked

Book 66 of my 2018 Reading Challenge

Naked by David Sedaris 

Summary (via Goodreads)
Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked, Sedaris turns the mania for memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview—a sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable. A tart-tongued mother does dead-on imitations of her young son's nervous tics, to the great amusement of his teachers; a stint of Kerouackian wandering is undertaken (of course!) with a quadriplegic companion; a family gathers for a wedding in the face of imminent death. Through it all is Sedaris's unmistakable voice, without doubt one of the freshest in American writing.

My Opinion
I'm glad I've read other books by him because the read got off to a slow start for me and it wouldn't have been a good first impression.  Since I know I like his writing I will continue to read his books but won't be recommending this one.

Personal red flags for me for the use "retarded" and "mongoloid".  There's a difference between quoting someone or using language that was acceptable at the time (which is why I understood him using the 'n' word at one point even though I don't like it) but that wasn't the case here; he used them as descriptors ("I might be viewed as eccentric instead of just plain retarded", for example) and, especially with describing someone as a "mongoloid teenager", that wasn't okay when this book came out in 1997 and is even less okay when reading it today.

I laughed when he described someone as "either...suffering a terrible case of gas or he had a pint-size child practicing the trumpet in his back pocket" and when he described his luck as "If my shirt was pressed, it was more or less guaranteed that my fly was down".

Best out-of-context line: "You know you're living in a small town when you can reach the ninth grade without ever having seen a mime."

Quote from the Book
"Health, be it mental or physical, had never been her family's strong suit. The Leonard family coat of arms pictured a bottle of scotch and a tumor."