Book Blog #349: Viewfinder by Jon M. Chu, Jeremy McCarter

 

Title: Viewfinder

Author: Jon M. Chu, Jeremy McCarter

# of Pages: 289 (hardback)

Genre: Non-fiction,  Autobiography

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Long before he directed Wicked, In The Heights, or the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu was a movie-obsessed first-generation Chinese American, helping at his parents’ Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley and forever facing the cultural identity crisis endemic to children of immigrants. Growing up on the cutting edge of twenty-first-century technology gave Chu the tools he needed to make his mark at USC film school, and to be discovered by Steven Spielberg, but he soon found himself struggling to understand who he was. In this book, for the first time, Chu turns the lens on his own life and work, telling the universal story of questioning what it means when your dreams collide with your circumstances, and showing how it’s possible to succeed even when the world changes beyond all recognition. With striking candor and unrivaled insights, Chu offers a firsthand account of the collision of Silicon Valley and Hollywood—what it’s been like to watch his old world shatter and reshape his new one. Ultimately, Viewfinder is about reckoning with your own story, becoming your most creative self, and finding a path all your own.

Review: Jon M. Chu is a great filmmaker. I've some of he's biggest hits such as Crazy Rich Asians and Wicked. He's also not half-bad at speaking - I happened to see a clip from an interview (podcast?) where he talks about some behind-the-scene tidbits such as how his mom's words and Steven Spielberg impacted his career. 

In fact, those tidbits were actually the most interesting talking points of this book, his memoir. Already, Chu had these "spoilers" working against him, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. A similar situation happened with Jennette McCurdy's book, but it didn't stop me from being captivated. 

However, Chu should stick with his most familiar medium - film. I didn't need to read in the last 100 pages about his parent's lives describe to me as if it were a movie. While his parent's success story could actual stand alone as its own story, the way this section was written actually put me in a readers block, and this book ended up sitting untouched on a table for weeks. 

The rest of the story was not bad per se. Many readers likely don't know just how many movies Chu has worked on, so this was a pleasant surprise in the earlier parts of the book before getting his Crazy Rich Asians era. However, I couldn't help but feel like this book was premature - Chu is relatively young and likely has many more movies ahead of him. I couldn't help but think that maybe this should have stayed in the drafts until latter in his life.

Overall, I didn't find this book to be worth reading. It's great that Chu found a role model in Steve Jobs, but the first part of this book felt like a Steve Jobs fan boy's memoir. If you're interested in Chu's story, just watch his interviews. 

Book blog #338: Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

 

Title: Solutions and Other Problems

Author: Allie Brosh

# of Pages: 513 (hardback)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Adult, Autobiography

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Solutions and Other Problems includes humorous stories from Allie Brosh’s childhood; the adventures of her very bad animals; merciless dissection of her own character flaws; incisive essays on grief, loneliness, and powerlessness; as well as reflections on the absurdity of modern life.

Review: I wanted to like this book, but I just didn't enjoy it.

This is something I picked up on a whim - I haven't read Brosh's first book, Hyperbole and a Half, nor have I heard of these books before. I was picking up a different non-fiction book from the library and saw this on a recently-returned cart, standing out amongst all the boring travel guides. The book blurb was simply "this is a book," which was hilarious enough for me to check it out without further investigation. 

Despite the thickness of the book, it's a very quick read due to it being mostly pictures. I was able to complete it in one sitting, although it felt like much longer than it should have taken had I enjoyed it. Brosh claims that this book, much like life, has no point. This is mostly correct - this book is a stream of consciousness loosely tied to loneliness and death. The lack of focus would be fine if not for two things: I was not entertained and hearing about these random thoughts/experiences felt like a waste of time. 

Reminiscent of Diary of the Wimpy Kid or Dear Dumb Diary, this book might have been more appealing to a younger audience. The lack of focus here (and lack of substantial things HAPPENING on this book at all) is what makes it struggle to be a successful book. I can imagine this being a webtoon or some brainless content to doomscroll through, but not something worth the effort to sit down and "read." 

Book blog #336: Spare by Prince Harry

 

Title: Spare

Author: Prince Harry

# of Pages / Duration: 16 hours (audiobook)

Genre: Non-fiction, Autobiography

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Synopsis: It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is that story at last. Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight. At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love. Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .

Review: Defensive, whiney, entitled. 

Gave this one a listen at 1.25x speed since I knew I wouldn't be able to get through a book about public figure I'm not interested in without their story being forced into my brain. 

I would rather him plainly tell his story from his perspective. Instead, Prince Harry tells his story through clickbait headlines and tries to argue against them. As someone who only knows a bit about the Royal Family from pop culture (and takes tabloid headlines with a grain of salt), most of the articles he mentions I've never even heard of (or if I have, it's from one of the many interview he and Meg have done). 

Normal people don’t worry about how history will remember them - they worry about whether they’ll be remembered at all. Prince Harry is still thinking like a royal, and it shows in this book. Instead of worrying about his own life, Prince Harry cares a lot about how he's perceived and will be perceived in history. 

Unlike Jennette McCurdy's stunning book last year (another celebrity who's life I don't pay much attention to), Prince Harry's life is pretty boring. The part that touched me the most was when he talks about losing his mother and being in denial - it felt like he was speaking from the heart and sharing HIS experience rather than sharing how he was influenced by others (paparazzi or otherwise). The rest of the book goes over mostly his experience in the military which is incredibly dry. It also open up more opportunities to complain how his life was negatively affected. This includes a section about how his penis got frostbite - while amusing it doesn't tell me much about Prince Harry other than he had a bad experience and wants the reader to feel sorry for him. 

Even if you're a Royal family drama fan, I do not recommend this book. Just watch their interviews to get the highlights if you're curious. 

Book Blog #325: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

 

Title: When Breath Becomes Air

Author: Paul Kalanithi

# of Pages: 157 (ebook)

Genre: Non-fiction, Autobiography

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a naïve medical student "possessed," as he wrote, "by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life" into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir. Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all.

Review: To meet my 2023 reading goal before the rapidly approaching deadline, I picked a short (~200 pages or less) book so I could finish in time.

I didn't know it was short because Kalanithi died while writing this book. 

Shortly before starting this book, I read Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, a therapist's book with a significant portion dedicated to talking about a patient who battled cancer in early adulthood (sub-40s). The common message between these books is how facing death makes us live fuller lives, but we should real live the lives we want NOW because death is inevitable. 

"I would have to learn to live in a different way, seeing death as an imposing itinerant visitor but knowing that even if I'm dying, until I actually die, I am still living." 

I found myself reading Kalanithi's words from the perspective that he was wise and authoritative - after all, he was a very accomplished man and was even a resident as a neurosurgeon. What makes Kalanithi's story stand out amongst other doctors is how he went from being a literature major to becoming a doctor in pursuit of what makes life meaningful. Through his diverse experiences, there were a lot of notable insights for him to share, such as:

- "It's very easy to be number one: find the guy who is number one, and score one point higher than he does.": If you measure success via being better than everyone else, then your level of success is directly correlated with how good everyone around you is. If the bar for success is lower, you will also be achieving a lower level of excellence. 

- "Only later would I realize that our trip had added a new dimension to my understanding of the fact that brains give rise to our ability to form relationships and make life meaningful. Sometimes, they break.": Living isn't just a manner of "being a live" - we need our brain to be able to operate in the world in a meaningful way. 

- "Yet the best-informed people - doctors - almost never donated their bodies. How informed were the donors, then? As one anatomy professor put it to me, 'You wouldn't tell a patient the gory details of a surgery if that would make them not consent.": I'm not sure how I feel about donating my or loved ones' bodies to science. 

At least I felt this way until he started comparing himself with Freud, who was also a successful neuroscientist, claiming that similarly wanted to move away from science to explore greater understanding of life. After this point, I couldn't help but feel reading Kalanithi as a bit domineering. He even included an bad experience with a slacking resident, which didn't show anything expect that Kalanithi was right - just as the reader would already expect. 

What emotionally hit the hardest was the portion written after Kalanithi's death by his wife, Lucy. Hearing about Kalanithi's death through her was heartbreaking and really made the book end on a strong note. I would even dare say that I was more moved by her writing style and account of events than any portion earlier in the book written by Paul. 

It's a short read, so I thought it was worth my time, even if it is unfinished. I would recommend it for those interested in Paul Kalanithi and can handle the heavy topics.

Book Blog #323: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

 

Title: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Author: Lori Gottlieb

# of Pages: 379 (ebook)

Genre: Non-fiction, Autobiography

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis: One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but. As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients' lives -- a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can't stop hooking up with the wrong guys -- she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell. With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.

Review: This book will make you feel like you're going to therapy.

Okay, that could be a bit of an exaggeration. However, both Gottlieb's diverse experiences with her patients as a therapist and her experiences AS a patient offer a lot of wisdom delving into how and why we feel a certain way. Gottlieb covers a lot - from relationship troubles to grappling with death, this book tells several stories of her patients to even introduce some psychology theories (e.g. Prochaska's transtheoretical model of behavior change). 

This isn't to say that this Gottlieb is preaching ideas at the reader the whole time; she expertly weaves in the lessons she's learned through her time as a therapist as well as from her therapist into the "characters'" stories. It was sometimes hard for me to remember that the people mentioned in this book AREN'T just fictional characters (although Gottlieb says there are some modifications done to conceal identities). I couldn't help but be invested in their life stories and cheer for them as their "plots" progressed, crying with them when they encountered a tragedy in their lives. 

This book also served as a great reminder of lessons many of us probably already know (or seem obvious once you hear them). Some of these include:

• Acknowledging death's inevitability can make people live fuller lives rather than ignoring it and becoming "lazy". How meaningfully people live their lives can change how easily they can accept death vs despairing/regretting later in life. 
• Compassion doesn't always lead to forgiveness - you don't have to force your feelings just because society has a "playbook" of how to handle trauma. 
• The unknown is a common source of struggle for many, but at some point it is necessary to come to terms with never finding an answer. 
• People have more freedom than they realize, and adults can feel restricted from responsibilities. One way to regain some of their freedom is to regain emotional freedom. 

As someone who likes reading about human behavior, psychology, etc., this was right up my alley and VERY readable. Probably one of my favorite reads in the last couple of years at least. I would highly recommend this book!

Book Blog #316: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

 

Title: I'm Glad My Mom Died

Author: Jennette McCurdy

# of Pages: 320 (ebook)

Genre: Nonfiction, Autobiography

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Review: This book got me out of my reading slump. It's been a while since I craved to read a book, and once I got some time to get around to reading this one, I could not put it down.

Like many others, I only knew McCurdy from her role as Sam in iCarly. I didn't know any of her other work (nor did I ever watch her spin off series Sam & Cat). When it was announced that she would not be part of the iCarly reboot, I was more surprised that most of the cast was returning than her not being in and not being an active actor. So many of these young stars seem to disappear from the public eye as they grow up - I didn't think there would be anything special about Jennette's story. 

And yet I started seeing promotional material related to her book - interviews were she talks about her past that I never expected from a Nickelodeon starlet. That being said, everyone celebrity (or self-proclaimed celebrity) seems to be writing books these days, so her writing a book didn't particularly stand out to me. But then, despite her being out of pop culture for so long, her books started doing well and receiving positive reviews, I decided that I might as well check it out. 

McCurdy's writing is pretty easy to read (this matched with what I expected from an actor with a career pivot toward writing). This was the exact type of read I was looking for to get me out of my reading slump. Unlike other celebrity autobiographies I've tried to pick up, McCurdy doesn't over romanticize her hardships - her writing reads like a genuine recollection of her past, and she's just stating it as it is. 

That being said, I wish she presented her childhood with more of the perspective that she had as a child. Her recognition of her mother's abuse only came in retrospect, and I would've found it more impactful if I learned about her mother through the same idolizing point of view she had as a child and learn with Jennette about how these "loving" motherly gestures were actually negatively impacting her habits in adulthood. Instead, McCurdy recollection of her childhood highlights many negative memories (e.g. her mother throwing a tantrum, her mother encouraging her eating disorders) that make the reader cringe with the obvious abuse (regardless if her mother considered her influence to be abusive or not). When she later states in adulthood (before coming to terms with her abuse) that she thought her mother was the perfect mother and refused to let others disrupt this narrative of her mother, it is hard to relate with her because of the way she presented her childhood. 

Despite all of this, I thought that she overall did a good job at telling her story. Although few can say that they had experiences just like McCurdy, many reader with overbearing parents can relate to McCurdy's childhood - loving their parents while still recognizing their faults and the impact they have on their lives for better or, especially in this case, for worse. 

A very quick read about a very complex, codependent mother-daughter relationship. I would recommend this book! 

 

Book Blog #294: The Answer Is... by Alex Trebek

 

Title: The Answer Is...

Author: Alex Trebek

# of Pages: 4 hours, 35 minutes (audiobook)

Genre: Nonfiction, Autobiography

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: The book combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality, and philanthropy. Trebek also addresses the questions he gets asked most often by Jeopardy! fans, such as what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation. The book uses a novel structure inspired by Jeopardy!, with each chapter title in the form of a question, and features dozens of never-before-seen photos that candidly capture Trebek over the years.

Review: Trebek acknowledges from the start that this book isn't meant to be a complete recap of his life. He only goes over the highlights, especially the ones that directly relate to his time as the host of Jeopardy. 

I only know of Jeopardy through pop culture and was never particularly interested in trivia-related shows but was happy to watch a show here and there). If I was a Jeopardy fan, I think I would have found this book to be very interesting since Trebek goes behind the scenes on his hosting experience. However, I would have liked to hear more about him outside of Jeopardy, but this is out of scope of his aims for his book. The audiobook was fun to listen to as Ken and Alex tossed the narration back and forth; Trebek's kind and positive personality really showed through, and he will definitely be missed. 

Would recommend this book to Jeopardy! fans.

Book Blog #291: Know My Name by Chanel Miller

 

Title: Know My Name

Author: Chanel Miller

# of Pages: 15 hours, 20 minutes (audiobook)

Genre: Nonfiction, Autobiography

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis: She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford’s campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral–viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time. Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways–there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.

Review: Oh jeez, this hits hard. 

Going into this, I imagined that I would give this book 4 stars. I played with this idea until about halfway through the book, when I realized I HAD to give it 5 stars. It's been a long time since I've been moved to tears (SEVERAL times) just from listening to a story. 

I remember when this happened, the articles covering the sexual assault came flooding out, when Chanel Miller was still Emily Doe. I was shocked and upset by the short term of Brock's sentences like many others, and while my heart went out to Emily Doe, I did not cry over the mysterious victim in this viral case. 

After hearing Miller''s perspective through this book, I was able to feel and better understand the pain and struggles that she (and undoubtably many other sexual assault victims) endured and continue to endure today. It is so easy to be detached from these types of things if they do not happen to you, to overlook injustices that occur in a system too big to be changed by one person. It is important for EVERYONE to read this book, even if you believe you already understand what she went through, even if you don't think it is relevant to you. 

Miller was even "lucky" to have such a high profile case; although Brock didn't get the sentencing he deserved, the public's support of Miller at least partially helps right the wrongs done to her in the handling and result of the court case. I can't even begin to think of how many other sexual assault/rape victims suffer from possibly even greater injustices.

I had my apprehension about reading this book. Sometimes autobiographies have agendas that I don't want to be involved in (many politicians try to push their political agendas in their autobiographies rather than focusing on their experiences). While Miller does use her voice to highlight important failures in the system (e.g. determining Brock's sentence, Stanford failing to follow through with what they agreed to do in the aftermath of the sexual assault), the story stays on track by revealing these failures through her eyes, her experiences, feelings, and thoughts. 

Miller has done a great job with telling her story. Although this is a tough topic to hear about, I would still recommend this book to everyone. I would HIGHLY recommend listening to the audiobook, since it is read by Chanel Miller herself; her narrative is much more raw and real by listening to her story than how I would imagine it would be if I had read her book instead.

Book Blog #282: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

 

Title: Fun Home

Author: Alison Bechdel

# of Pages: 232 (paperback)

Genre: Graphic Novels, Autobiography, LGBT

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the Fun Home. It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

Review: I only read this because someone had it lying around, and I was able to borrow their physical copy. I ended up wavering between 3 and 4 stars but decided on 3 because I became less engaged as I got further along in the book.

Fun Home is a graphic novel, but unlike other comics (i.e. the manga that I read), it contains the story of the author's life; an autobiography through comics that she drew herself. It is a standalone book (if it had many like a manga or was a Marvel comic, I wouldn't be writing a review for it). 

I love this unique way of story telling; it examines Bechdel's relationship with her father and how the characters grappled with being LGBTQ+. This story could have been easily told in a traditional novel format (no pictures), but Bechdel's comics add such a nice personal twist to the story. I enjoyed being able to read her story but easier see each point of her life she describes the way that she experience it. 

Classic literature is an important part of her life,  thus she makes many references to the books she's read. This was tolerable at first but if you haven't read the same books, some of the references to the characters might be lost. She also goes back and forth through her life's timeline which can be a bit confusing as far as remembering the chronological ordering of her major life events. 

Overall, a good and quick read. I would recommend this book if you have an opportunity to read it but only if it is convenient. 

Book Blog #273: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

 

Title: Born a Crime

Author: Trevor Noah

# of Pages: 201 (ebook)

Genre: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Humor

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Noah was born a crime, the son of a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the first years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, take him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Review: I've watched Trevor Noah on The Daily Show and seen clips of him on Youtube. One of the things that always stood out to me was that he was an amazing storyteller. Even on the most difficult topics, he can spin them into something lighthearted/comedic. But most importantly, it makes people listen. 

I've only read one other comedian's autobiography before this (Ellen's Seriously...I'm Kidding), but Noah's just hits different.  His narrative is infused with humor, but humor is not a central part in this story. Growing up half black, half white in South Africa gives Noah a whole set of struggles that many people wouldn't expect from someone hosting The Daily Show: an unconventional and (at times) dysfunctional family, abuse, racism, to mention a few. But this best part is that it never seems like Noah is telling use these stories to gain sympathy; he is just telling his story as he remembers it and even includes analogies to help Western audiences understand each situation he describes. No matter what life threw at him, he seemed to be able to roll with the punches.

My favorite parts of his book were when he talked about his mom. I loved hearing how strong and independent she is and how they interacted during the ups and downs of his childhood. There is this charming push and pull between mother and son; Trevor being naughty and his mother correct his behavior through tough love, letters, and religious backed arguments. 

This book is not written chronologically. Rather Noah takes a topic from his past and tells the tale all the way through, sometimes reiterating parts of stories already told or hinting at stories yet to come. As a monologue, this is a great format, but in book format I would have preferred if he did not skip around his timeline so much. Although his casual writing style, I felt like I could not immerse myself into his story with him jumping around so much. 

Overall, a very good read. I would definitely recommend this book; it has exceeded expectations and is a quick read!

Book Blog #271: Educated by Tara Westover

Title: Educated

Author: Tara Westover

# of Pages: 334 (hardback)

Genre: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis: Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent. Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Review: This book was not what I was expecting at all.

I knew the basic premise; Mormon girl is born into a radical family, doesn't get a formal education, and then somehow she is able to go to college and excel academically. As per the title of the book, I assumed it would be a story focusing more on the struggle of being able to achieve higher education without any formal education. However, I was surprised to find that the struggle she focused on was with her family, being able to separate her goals and beliefs from her family's, and becoming her own person. 

I wavered between giving this book four stars or five. Initially, I was set on giving it four stars because while the story she was telling was interesting, it was a bit of a slow start; a lot of character development for each member of Westover's family and setting the scene with her parents' radical beliefs. What made me give it the final star was how gripping the rest of the book was; I couldn't put it down today. When Westover grows older and less complacent to her parents, it is easier to empathize with her. I felt STRESSED for her, and every family conflict she described made me feel the frustration, sadness, and fear she must have been feeling. Whenever a book makes me feel like this, I applaud it. 

Several times while I was reading this book, the song Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story from Hamilton (I know this might sound irrelevant but bear with me). With all the gaslighting she endures from the people she is suppose to love and trust, Westover is using this book as an opportunity to reclaim the narrative. Everyone involved seems to be an unreliable narrator, Tara included (and she admits this herself throughout the book), and although Westover does her best to compile different perspectives together to form as close to the truth as possible in the story of her life, the reader is left to try to decipher what really happened and to make their own evaluations of each person's character. 

One thing I really loved about this book is no one seems truly bad to the core. In the end we are all human, and Westover recognizes this. Even the people who have had a overall negative impact on her life (effectively, the antagonists of the story) did not necessarily have bad intent. Even those with bad intentions had their good moments.

Something I wanted more of was a deeper dive into the relationships she formed/strengthened after she got into college. There seemed to be many people who supported her in finding herself (i.e. friends, professors, relatives), but their character development was weak. Additionally, there were many lines that were paraphrased, but I questioned whether lines were more eloquently stated in this book than reality. For written correspondence, it would have nice to get the direct quote because words/syntax can real reveal who the speaker is and what their character is.

Overall, it was very much worth the read. I would recommend this book to anyone interested.

Book Blog #246: Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret

Title: Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio
Author: Peg Kehret
# of Pages: 180 (hardback)
Genre: Childrens, Nonfiction, Autobiography
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis: Ten years ago, in a riveting story of courage and hope, Peg Kehret wrote of the months she spent in a hospital when she was 12.
Review: This book EXCEEDED my expectations.

I couldn't find this book at any bookstore, but luckily it was still available at my local library. I would never have read this book if it wasn't recommended to me; the cover doesn't look very interesting, title doesn't sound uplifting nor exciting, and nonfiction isn't always my favorite genre.

However, this story flows off the page. It's not your typical, dreary, clinical nonfiction book. It reminds me of 1 Liter of Tears, except I'm not entirely sure why (1 Liter of Tears is very different; it's diary format up, and it ends a bit differently than Small Steps). Small Steps is surprisingly lighthearted while also being educational about what it's like to have polio.

The epilogue is less about her having polio and more about where the author is today. It might not be relevant to everyone; the author is using the book to try to reconnect with the people who helped her during her polio journey as well as connect with her readers who were impacted by the publication of her story. However, it's great to hear that Kehret is not just using this book to tell her story but also to foster relationships and communities.

Although one of the main genres for this book is "children's", I'm not sure this was actually the target audience because this story is enjoyable for people of all ages. It's only 180 short pages, and the quality of the story is definitely worth the time it takes to read.

Book Blog #225: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Title: Kitchen Confidential
Author: Anthony Bourdain
# of Pages: 321 (ebook)
Genre: Nonfiction, Food, Autobiography
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: After twenty-five years of 'sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine', chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain has decided to tell all. From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, as shocking as they are funny.
Review: I took way too long to finish this book.

Since I didn't know much about Anthony Bourdain before he committed suicide, I wanted to take the time to understand the grief people were feeling over the loss of this well-respect figure in the culinary world.

Bourdain was a much better writer than I was expecting. There are many people outside of the literary world (I'm looking at you Youtube authors) who were not meant to write novels and merely do so because they have the platform to do so. However, Bourdain did write for the sake of saying he wrote a book; he actually has experiences and knowledge that are worth sharing, and he can actually WRITE.

Although his crazy tales of what happens behind the scenes at restaurants began to blend together (I never truly understood all of the lingo), I found the beginning half of the book to be incredibly relatable. Most notably, I liked the chapter called "What do you know about meat?" (anyone who has had some cringe-y interview experiences will be able to relate to this chapter).

However the latter half of the book, especially the last chapter, is best appreciated by those with culinary experience. He even goes as far as to give tips to the reader on how to succeed in the restaurant business (some advice I will probably never use, but others may find extremely helpful). While I love reading about food, I found that I was unable to appreciate the dishes he talked about with such passion. I'm no food critic; one chef's beef bourguignon is the same as the next's as long as they are half decent at cooking. But I'm sure the admiration Bourdain expressed in his book over the way Adam cooked his bread and Bryan ran his kitchen will be appreciated by someone.

My perception of the restaurant industry has completely changed and not necessarily for the better. From Bourdain's perspective, what I once perceived as a classy operation (something along the lines of what you'd see in the movie Ratatouille) is more like a pirate operation (rough working conditions, crude conversation, etc.).

This book was a decent read; I definitely don't regret reading it at all. However, if you are not interested at all in the culinary business, I would hold off on reading it; you'll lose interest fairly quickly. On the other hand, if you have some background in the business then you'll probably be fairly interested in this book.

Book Blog #210: What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Title: What Happened
Author: Hillary Rodham Clinton
# of Pages: 512 (eBook ver.)
Genre: Nonfiction, Politics, Autobiography
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. This is her most personal memoir yet. In these pages, she describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward. With humor and candor, she tells readers what it took to get back on her feet—the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. She speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics.

Review: I read the last hundred pages across the past month or so, so it is difficult to collect my thoughts on the book as a whole. Although I have no interest in “leftist propaganda” (for lack of a better phrase), this book was exactly as I excepted it to be, and for that I cannot blame it.

Below are my notes from when I was reading the beginning-middle of the book:

I am not reading this book as a Democrat nor a Republican but rather as someone curious of the story of the election from someone directly involved. And who better to provide me with that narrative than Clinton herself who was a candidate? There will be some people who read her book because they strongly support her. Others will give this book a bad review, perhaps without even reading it, because they abhor her. Although this book is political, I have no intention to portray my political beliefs in this review. Like I said before, I just want to understand different perspectives; if Trump wrote a book about the election, I would read his too.

I was pleased hear Clinton’s voice so clearly through her writing (although with this comes her cringey attempts to be “hip”). I read this book to learn more about her perspective on the election and that’s exactly what this book gave me.

“I prayed that my worst fears about Donald Trump wouldn’t be realized, and that people’s lives and America’s future would be made better, not worse, during his presidency. I’m still praying on that one, and I can use all the backup you can muster.”

What surprised me was how pessimistic she is during and after the inauguration. Having recently listened to Barack Obama’s interview with Prince Harry for BBC Radio 4, I couldn’t help but compare Obama’s calm and optimistic take the future to Clinton’s ominous one. However, this is simply Clinton’s perspective; it hasn’t been long since she lost the election, a campaign where she derogated the very man who is being sworn into the presidency she fought for. It’s only natural for her opinions to be a bit skewed and morose.

Even with this in mind, it’s still uncomfortable for me to read Clinton’s snarky description of some of the people she runs into post-inauguration, regardless of my opinion on their character. Clinton is a lot more open with her opinions than I expected her to be while at the same time sounding as if she is still running her campaign for presidency.

Side note: I liked this little nod to programming humor; if you can’t fix a bug, call it a feature.

“For [GOP leaders], dysfunction wasn’t a bug, it was a feature”


Relevant links (events involving Hillary that were mentioned throughout the book):

“On Sunday, when I got to the memorial, the sun was beaming down. My head ached. You know the rest.” -A Day in the Life

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/hillary-clinton-falls-ill-at-the-911-memorial-ceremony/2016/09/11/995139d8-7843-11e6-8064-c1ddc8a724bb_video.html?utm_term=.1eab699ca8e3


“SNL asked me to play a character named Val the Bartender, who would pour drinks for Kate McKinnon, who played me. “Would you sing ‘Lean On Me’ together?” they asked. I said yes, even though I have a terrible singing voice.” -A Day in the Life

https://youtu.be/6Jh2n5ki0KE

“On Between Two Ferns, when Zach Galifianakis asked me, “I’m going to sneak up on you in a gorilla mask, is that cool?” I said sure. Why not? You only live once.” -A Day in the Life

https://youtu.be/xrkPe-9rM1Q


“Philippe had raised the issue that, unlike two men debating who just meet in the middle and shake hands, there was a question of whether Trump would try to hug or—dare I say it—kiss me. Fair enough, I said, let’s practice. Philippe came at me with his arms outstretched. I tried to stiff-arm him and get away. It ended with him literally chasing me across the room, putting me in a bear hug, and kissing the back of my head.” -A Day in the Life

https://twitter.com/philippereines/status/865578947076997120


Links to misc. referenced events

Trump’s Access Hollywood Tape (mentioned in A Day in the Life): https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html?utm_term=.808322efabb8

Bill losing Governor’s race because of Hillary’s maiden name (mentioned in On Being a Woman in Politics): http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/12/16/in-1979-interview-hillary-rodham-explains-why-she-didnt-use-bill-clintons-last-name/

Chelsea being called the “White House dog” when she was 13 years old: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2124301/Chelsea-Clinton-tells-Rush-Limbaugh-fun-looks-13-comparing-dog.html

Book Blog #154: Lucky by Alice Sebold

Title: Lucky
Author: Alice Sebold
# of Pages: 256 (hardback)
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, Autobiography
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What propels this chronicle of her recovery is Sebold's indomitable spirit-as she struggles for understanding ("After telling the hard facts to anyone, from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes"); as her dazed family and friends sometimes bungle their efforts to provide comfort and support; and as, ultimately, she triumphs, managing through grit and coincidence to help secure her attacker's arrest and conviction. In a narrative by turns disturbing, thrilling, and inspiring, Alice Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won: "You save yourself or you remain unsaved."
Review: This exceeded my expectations.

I was shocked. Sebold included graphic images of her rape in her book, (so if that is going to bother you, don't read this book) which I thought was amazing - she could describe such a difficult situation in such detail.

It is well written, though she mentions a lot of different people, which was confusing for me (and the reason why the rating I am giving it isn't extremely high).

If you are interested in this book at all, even if you haven't read/watched Lovely Bones (like me), definitely read it!

Book Blog #63: Black Boy by Richard Wright

Title: Black Boy
Author: Richard Wright
# of Pages: 448 (paperback)
Genre: Classics, African American Literature, Autobiography
Rating:★★★★★
Synopsis: Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about in taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common lot.

Review: I don't like nonfiction. I've only read a handful of autobiographies in my life. Yet I have to say that this book is one of my favorites.

I know what some of you are thinking; what can possibly be interesting about a guy talking about himself. Now, if you AREN'T thinking that, I completely understand. You have already discover the beauty of an autobiography. However, if you ARE thinking that, then let me tell you; when your reading Black Boy, you forget that you're reading an autobiography. Sometimes there are scenes that seem too cruel to be true, but it happened. It's an amazing experience.

Throughout the book, however, I couldn't help but wonder who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Since this book is written from Wright's eyes, you don't really know if he's as good of a person as he seems to be in the book. However, he seems to tell the reader both sides of his life; how he wants to be able to write, but also has sold tickets illegally. This makes me trust that he's is telling his story as truthfully as he could.

There was one quote in this book on page 76 that I really liked:

"'It's a bird,' I said. The crowd laughed. 'That's a plane, boy,' a man said...'Boy, remember this,' he said. 'You're seeing man fly'"

Do you see the resemblance to the Superman quote? It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPERMAN!!! I loved that. There were many other quotes that I really, really liked, but don't have time to share with you right now. Maybe next time.

If you haven't read this book yet, don't be shy. At the very least, read just part 1. Part 2 was slightly less interesting because it gets into politics, but it was interesting nonetheless. Recommended!!!