Book Report: July - December

JULY
July shall be known as the month that (a) I said out loud that I cannot in fact finish Hamilton by Ron Chernow that I had started with Adam. It felt good to get it out in the open and move on. And (b) I figured out how to download audio books from the Seattle library onto my phone. BOO-to-the-yah. Move aside, podcasts. Books are king now.

Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein (audio book)
I've been a fan of Carrie because she's on the hilarious TV show Portlandia. When I chose this book, I thought it'd be full of laughs and clever observations. It was not that. It was darker, very serious, and not about Portlandia at all. There is one line about Portlandia in the epilogue. This book was all about her growing up and being in the band Sleater-Kinney, a three girl indie-band that was together for 10 years, touring the world, and even being named by TIME magazine as the best band ever, or something, I can't find the reference. The band recently got back together. I learned a lot about the inner life of indie-musicians on the road. And about channeling childhood pain into her music and lifestyle. She's a really insightful human, and I enjoyed hearing her read her own story.

Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick
This book gave me a very different perspective on life. I grew up with the expectation that a woman gets married, she has kids, and she minds home and hearth. All of this works well for me, for the most part. The marriage and kids thing, I feel like those were all good choices. The minding home and hearth thing can stay or go, I always know I have options at least. The author of this book grew up in the same world. Yes, even if you don't grow up Mormon like me, you still have the generally accepted societal expectation that you want the same thing: family and stability. Yet, she is questioning all of that with this book. She features four (five?) women from the past, most of them famous writers, who at some point chose the single life. Kate Bolick, now 40+, has chosen the same life. She's had plenty of eligible suitors, but has chosen to remain un-married. Why? The delicious freedom to do everything she wants to do! Since she and I chose very different paths, I had a very hard time agreeing with her that the choice to remain single is the best choice. OF COURSE it's amazing to do everything you want to do all the time. Nobody can dispute that. But at some point, it makes sense to me to choose to build a family. But, if I'm happy with my choices, I can let her be happy with her choices. Who am I to say what life is best for other women? We all get to choose, and the less we judge each other for our choices, the better off we'll all be. Amen and the end.

All the Light We Cannot See by (audio book)
Pulitzer Prize alert! That made me "read" it, and also the fact that everyone and their dog and my mother read this book and wouldn't stop the gushing. SO. I "read" it. And I didn't care for it. Being in Europe helped me imagine the scenery, so I guess that was nice. But the ending didn't thrill me or anything. I feel lame about not liking it. Why am I so lame?!

AUGUST
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Well this book was a surprise. I thought it was self-help. You know I love me some self-help (do you?)! But it was very much just Joan Didion's stream of consciousness in the year that her husband died and her daughter was in and out of the hospital, near death. In fact her daughter (her only child) did die after the publication of this book. I can't imagine the stress she was under. So, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that the book felt like one long run-on sentence about where her brain was and wasn't.

Princess: A true story of life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson
This book made me irate. Where to begin? The author lived in Saudi Arabia for ten years and got to know this woman who was part of the (vast) royal family. The voice in this book is the princess's. It's her story. And it is infuriating. She talked about being raised and becoming a young bride in her world, a world in which money is abundant and respect for women is almost non-existent. The boys and men are highly valued, the women are only valuable based on their ability to birth a boy. The women stay home and do nothing but chat and hang out because their children are cared for by nannies and they have cooks, cleaners, and whatever else they need. Lear jets, limousines, multiple palaces, various residences all over the world. But the one thing they lack is a belief that women are valuable and have anything to offer except male babies. It. Is. Unreal. And this is how it is TODAY. RIGHT NOW. I can't even keep talking about it, it's so terrible.

SEPTEMBER
A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
Awwww, mindless prattle. What a nice break. This book, as soon as I just let it be a mindless book, was delightful. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to take a vacation in their mind with a variety of silly characters to the windy Irish coast.

The Idle Parent by Tom Hodgkinson
Best. Parenting. Book. Ever. I laughed out loud. I wanted to move to a farm. I re-thought American ideals. It was refreshing. My takeaway line: "Don't ever teach your kid that a toy is better than a twig." Hahahahha. But seriously, it made me re-think so many things in life. But be prepared, it's not only a book about parenting, it's the relentless world philosophy of the English author, and he just won't shut up about it. So, yeah, I skipped some stuff (the chapters on animals and screen time, because I don't want animals and I'm happy with the amount of screen time my kids get).  But taken with a grain of salt, it was very enjoyable, and honestly helped me get back to enjoying being a parent with a lot less guilt. It reminded me a lot of the way I was raised. My parents were very hands-off and they gave me a lot of freedom (probably because they were exhausted by taking care of six kids and running a business) and I love them for it. So this book reminds me of them ... without all the drinking.

OCTOBER
How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature by Scott Sampson
If your child has ever watched Dinosaur Train, you've seen the upbeat "Dr. Scott, the Paleontologist!" come on at the end of each episode and really drive the point home about the importance of exploration and asking questions about the world around you. He was the author of this book and his enthusiasm about nature is infectious ... however, it wasn't infectious enough for me to be able to finish it. It was kind of heavy handed. His thesis was that we should get kids to enjoy nature so they'll be interested in saving the planet. While I completely agree that environmental conservation is important, I don't want to overthink nature. One of his chapters had to do with prodding kids with questions while in nature. How about I just let them BE in nature? I mean, I get it, this is his job. But I just don't have enough expertise with nature to really be able to explain much even if I do get questions. So, I just want my kids to enjoy nature because enjoying nature is fun and feels good and is important to mental and physical health. Since I am already convinced, his message was not as vital. But what I read was interesting.

The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir by Ruth Wariner
How about ugly cry times 1,000. I've read books about people escaping polygamy before, but this one was especially harrowing. I can't even recommend it because it's so terrible. But also I don't want to give spoilers because I feel like this kind of thing is important to know about, too. There's my half-hearted recommendation. I feel a certain level of responsibility for these people because they are an offshoot of my religion. I hope someday I can do something to help them.

NOVEMBER
C'est La Vie by Suzy Gershman
I have a secret dream to move to Paris. This book let me do that vicariously through a 50-something woman. Suzy Gershman traveled the world during her career as a journalist who wrote the Born to Shop guide books. After her husband died of cancer, she left her life in Connecticut and tried a year in Paris, just to see if that's what she really wanted. This book documents that year. It brought to mind so many of the things I experienced moving to Luxembourg, especially finding an apartment and then paying crazy amounts of money to get into that apartment. The rest I believe was a lot harder for her since she was forced to speak a lot of French and I have been able to use English quite a bit. Still, really fun to get a peek into what it might really be like someday ... when I move to Paris with my sister when we are 80. That's the plan!

It's Not Okay by Andy Dorfman (audio book)
Fine, I'll admit it. I listened to a memoir of a former Bachelorette. I just wanted to know what really happened with Nick and Josh. And now I do. Case closed.

DECEMBER
The Sound of Music: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp
What a dear, dear woman. You thought you loved her when she was played by Julie Andrews on the big screen. But little did you know, there are about 4 million other amazing things she accomplished in her lifetime as the matron of this large, loving family. After they escaped Nazi-occupied Austria, they were able to get a contract to sing all over America. They didn't stay forever on the first visit, but subsequently were able to. They eventually settled in Vermont and farmed and held singing camps every summer and they created a charity to assist Austrians in dire need after the war. They were an absolute inspiration. The kind of people you could only hope to be. What a legacy.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi
Paul was in his last year of residency to become a neuro-surgeon when he found out he had cancer. It took him quickly but not before he wrote this stunning book about his thoughts on life and death and what it's all for. Really, really beautiful and thought-provoking.

Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West
She's loud, she's brash, she's fat, and she's a feminist. Oh, and she is HILARIOUS. She taught me a lot about being a feminist and what life is like for fat people. It needs to be talked about more, and she's doing it. I admire her a lot.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer (audio book)
She's funny, indecent, and kinda endearing. I really enjoyed it! But you must be duly warned that she talks about her crotch. A lot.

And with that, 2017 here we come!