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A COMPLICATED KINDNESSMIRIAM ToewsA poignantly bittersweet, sardonic, dark and side-splittingly funny; trip into life in a religious backwater.
5 STARS |
Miriam created Nomi, a damaged 14-year-old girl, to help us understand life in the tragedy of misguided faith. A Complicated Kindness will have you fall out of your seat laughing while at the same time cringing as you think about the insanity of life in a Mennonite community: a place where grooving to the music is condemned—but it is somehow okay for a brother be a cousin.
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EVERYBODY'S SONTHRITY UmrigarA look into what happens to people when a broken, powerful, rich white family with good intentions (?) tries to resurrect a black child whose mother is trapped in the throes of addiction.
5 STARS |
Anton, a nine-year-old black child is locked in his home alone for seven days as his mother chases her crack addiction. So we think. He is saved by a white knight—a State Governor who lost his son in an accident. Everybody’s Son is a riveting look at what may happen when race, good intention, and politics; are thrown into a simmering pot together—leading to questionable decisions as a fine line between unconditional love, projections, and ownership, are cloaked together in the shadows. What’s right or wrong get’s smashed to pieces as identity is slowly stripped from the young boy—missing pieces from his life become lost in misguided love. In the end, the boy who belongs to everyone finds he truly only belongs to--
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ONE MORE THING - STORIES AND OTHER STORIESB.J. NovakLuckily for us: B.J. Novak is delightfully bleeped up. I don’t want to be Kate Moss but thanks to him—I now know how
5 STARS |
One More Thing invites the reader into Novak’s twisted mind. I accepted the invite. I crawled in. Thoughts were flashing past me at an unrelenting pace. A car began to honk doggedly at the car in front of it (actually the driver was doing the honking), the front car couldn’t go—unless the driver decided to mow down several pedestrians. A man next to me began screaming for the honking driver to stop. His voice was piercing. I looked his way and said, “You know you’re not helping.” He turned to me and said with a perplexed look adorning his face, “What?” “You screaming isn't making things quieter,” I said. “Oh,” he mumbled back at me, meekly. He stopped screaming.
B.J. gives us 280 pages of observations that will have you pissing, maybe not pissing, but wetting yourself with powdered laughter as you try to figure out how he’s made it this far in life. Gotta run, or cycle: A friend of mine is going to give me valuable lessons on EVERYTHING in the world—my personal Wikipedia Brown!
READ THIS BOOK. Why am I yelling?
B.J. gives us 280 pages of observations that will have you pissing, maybe not pissing, but wetting yourself with powdered laughter as you try to figure out how he’s made it this far in life. Gotta run, or cycle: A friend of mine is going to give me valuable lessons on EVERYTHING in the world—my personal Wikipedia Brown!
READ THIS BOOK. Why am I yelling?
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A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUADJENNIFER EganA PUNCHY, SALACIOUS, SEX-FILLED, SCANDALOUS, DELICIOUSLY EXHILARATING RIDE!
5.01 STARS |
This book's prose explodes in flavourful descriptive bursts like perfectly ripened cherry tomatoes popping in the readers’ mouths bringing life to every page.
Toxic characters—fucked up—reality struggles—living-large—barely-surviving. You cheer. They survive. They grow. You crave another delicious page.
Toxic characters—fucked up—reality struggles—living-large—barely-surviving. You cheer. They survive. They grow. You crave another delicious page.
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SQUIRREL SEEKS CHIPMUNKDAVID SedarisHow can one not love a book in which: An owl, hippopotamus, and gerbil become good friends?
5.01 STARS |
David Sedaris is sick. I love him—in the proper reader/writer sort of way—completely. I have just been told: I do not have the credentials to diagnose: just about, anything. What I do know: I think his mind may be on a different plane than the rest of us. I think: he may be perfectly damaged by life. Moreover, that damage is a blessing to readers. How he goes from weaving personal stories to writing perhaps the most hilariously disturbing series of fairy/nursery/demented children’s stories, cannot be described as anything, but: GENIUS.
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is beautifully (albeit disturbingly) illustrated. Pick it up. I am certain you will read it in one sitting.
Here’s a taste: In one story a mouse adopts a baby corn snake “— “A rescue snake—“and in another: Christmas is coming—and a cow draws a turkey and becomes the turkey’s secret Santa. Queue the guffaws.
Oh, by the way, the gerbil volunteers to help evict leeches from the hippopotamus’s—
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is beautifully (albeit disturbingly) illustrated. Pick it up. I am certain you will read it in one sitting.
Here’s a taste: In one story a mouse adopts a baby corn snake “— “A rescue snake—“and in another: Christmas is coming—and a cow draws a turkey and becomes the turkey’s secret Santa. Queue the guffaws.
Oh, by the way, the gerbil volunteers to help evict leeches from the hippopotamus’s—
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THE AUDACITY OF HOPEBARACK ObamaWhether you are a Democrat, Republican, or anything else...who cares, when hope has seemingly been replaced by...
5 STARS |
Without question: Barack Obama is a brilliant, eloquent, incredibly well-spoken man—apparently education in Kenya has far surpassed schooling in the USA. The last sentence may contain a hint of sarcasm laced in absurdity. The Audacity of Hope is a beautifully written and moving look into the possibilities of a better world if the world’s great democracies come together and embrace the voices of all citizens, who for most, are just trying to get through life, hopefully with love, health, and a serving of happiness.
Barack delicately touches on the importance and complexities of race, faith, and family—and of how we may all be created equal—but few, are cut from the same cloth, and how the difference in fabric impacts political discourse.
HOPE—is a key word in the title—especially in today’s day when hope seems to be being ravaged by the sickness of divisiveness.
Love your family. Be a champion to your friends. Treat all other’s with respect. Don’t accept hatred and racism. Moreover, if you screw up—do not be too hard on yourself—simple lessons that know no political bounds.
Barack delicately touches on the importance and complexities of race, faith, and family—and of how we may all be created equal—but few, are cut from the same cloth, and how the difference in fabric impacts political discourse.
HOPE—is a key word in the title—especially in today’s day when hope seems to be being ravaged by the sickness of divisiveness.
Love your family. Be a champion to your friends. Treat all other’s with respect. Don’t accept hatred and racism. Moreover, if you screw up—do not be too hard on yourself—simple lessons that know no political bounds.
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HILLBILLY ELEGYJ.D. VanceThe end result of chasing, a perhaps, flawed American Dream, when you are a product of generations of dysfunction.
5 Stars
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Hillbilly Elegy, first off: I now know what elegy, means. I am not sure if most, or any, maybe a few of the people Mr. Vance speaks of in this book, do—or have the wherewithal or interest to learn the meaning of the word.
The book is mind-opening. However, logically, especially for a Yale-educated lawyer (the author), who without question overcame the greatest of odds—it maybe is not as mind-opening as it first appears.
What's the story about: well, what happens to the population in towns where industries have been dying for decades that happen to be products of a failing education system? Mix in substance abuse. Throw in generations of crippling family dysfunction, where the children of the dysfunction are subjected to yelling matches, nightly—erasing ambition and normalcy with every raised voice—and in J.D.’s case, a revolving door of male father figures as his mother struggles with her existence. Violence and the rule of the land (hillbilly honor) are commonplace. To screw up matters more: sell the American Dream of home ownership. Furthermore, as towns die in one state, and manufacturers set up shop in another, forcing those who are not too broken to emigrate to new lives—never truly feeling like they belong—well—the forgotten people, become broken more, differently.
The dream becomes a reality. A house is purchased—trapping the purchasers. Months later the local manufacturer shuts down. The jobs leave—as do the wealthy, and the educated. After all, they brought hope in the form of jobs—and then took hope away when the world moved on. Coal died. What’s left behind: no jobs, worthless-homes, and generations of poorly educated unemployed (“I love the poorly educated”) people—many of which haven’t wanted to work in decades as blame replaced motivation. However, many need to blame someone or something for their demise. Maybe the book is not mind-opening, but in reality, it just highlights the rules between rich and poor?
I enjoyed this book, especially the parts about overcoming life’s hurdles. I find anytime an author has the courage to share their pain—it is breathtaking. Escaping into another person’s life often opens windows into your own. I believe J.D. is lucky. Without question: he knows it. I also believe this compelling work is a foreshadowing of his political aspirations (?)
Is this a white poverty issue?
That is the way the book is sold. I think that is a little naive. I believe it is a matter of “have and have-not”—“rich and poor.” Wouldn’t the world be a grander place if we could get past race and culture to accept many of the rich only care about the color of money—and maybe, just maybe, dividing the rest of us,
As towns spiral into poverty when the industries leave—there is not a government on the planet immune to corruption and greed. It seems politics has tripped into career survival more so than representing the constituents--tell voters what they want to hear. The world is changing every moment of life. If trapped in a cycle of dysfunction no politician or company is going to ride in on a horse and save you. If stuck in a town with a dying industry and a worthless-home, and drunk; or worse: role models—one day, you may just give up and blame others for your plight. The world owes us nothing. It never has. It never will. If you do not summons the strength to fight through your quagmire of dysfunction—then maybe one day, you will take a seat on the sidewalks of life, begging every passerby for spare change.
I am certain Appalachia is a beautiful place—but without a transformation—the world seems to be leaving it behind, in a time; that is never coming back. Hillbilly Elegy may simply be reinforcing things we already know—if only we stopped pretending a saviour is coming to fix something that no longer exists, maybe, just maybe, we could all move on and learn to be kinder to each other! At least understand: we are not all born equal in opportunity. This book yells that out LOUD AND CLEAR.
The book is mind-opening. However, logically, especially for a Yale-educated lawyer (the author), who without question overcame the greatest of odds—it maybe is not as mind-opening as it first appears.
What's the story about: well, what happens to the population in towns where industries have been dying for decades that happen to be products of a failing education system? Mix in substance abuse. Throw in generations of crippling family dysfunction, where the children of the dysfunction are subjected to yelling matches, nightly—erasing ambition and normalcy with every raised voice—and in J.D.’s case, a revolving door of male father figures as his mother struggles with her existence. Violence and the rule of the land (hillbilly honor) are commonplace. To screw up matters more: sell the American Dream of home ownership. Furthermore, as towns die in one state, and manufacturers set up shop in another, forcing those who are not too broken to emigrate to new lives—never truly feeling like they belong—well—the forgotten people, become broken more, differently.
The dream becomes a reality. A house is purchased—trapping the purchasers. Months later the local manufacturer shuts down. The jobs leave—as do the wealthy, and the educated. After all, they brought hope in the form of jobs—and then took hope away when the world moved on. Coal died. What’s left behind: no jobs, worthless-homes, and generations of poorly educated unemployed (“I love the poorly educated”) people—many of which haven’t wanted to work in decades as blame replaced motivation. However, many need to blame someone or something for their demise. Maybe the book is not mind-opening, but in reality, it just highlights the rules between rich and poor?
I enjoyed this book, especially the parts about overcoming life’s hurdles. I find anytime an author has the courage to share their pain—it is breathtaking. Escaping into another person’s life often opens windows into your own. I believe J.D. is lucky. Without question: he knows it. I also believe this compelling work is a foreshadowing of his political aspirations (?)
Is this a white poverty issue?
That is the way the book is sold. I think that is a little naive. I believe it is a matter of “have and have-not”—“rich and poor.” Wouldn’t the world be a grander place if we could get past race and culture to accept many of the rich only care about the color of money—and maybe, just maybe, dividing the rest of us,
As towns spiral into poverty when the industries leave—there is not a government on the planet immune to corruption and greed. It seems politics has tripped into career survival more so than representing the constituents--tell voters what they want to hear. The world is changing every moment of life. If trapped in a cycle of dysfunction no politician or company is going to ride in on a horse and save you. If stuck in a town with a dying industry and a worthless-home, and drunk; or worse: role models—one day, you may just give up and blame others for your plight. The world owes us nothing. It never has. It never will. If you do not summons the strength to fight through your quagmire of dysfunction—then maybe one day, you will take a seat on the sidewalks of life, begging every passerby for spare change.
I am certain Appalachia is a beautiful place—but without a transformation—the world seems to be leaving it behind, in a time; that is never coming back. Hillbilly Elegy may simply be reinforcing things we already know—if only we stopped pretending a saviour is coming to fix something that no longer exists, maybe, just maybe, we could all move on and learn to be kinder to each other! At least understand: we are not all born equal in opportunity. This book yells that out LOUD AND CLEAR.
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WHAT BELONGS TO YOUGARTH GreenwellDesire + Lust + Bulgaria + Loneliness + Drugs + A Street Hooker = Neediness + Good Decisions?
5 Stars |
A richly unforgettable novel about what happens when a lonely teacher, in a foreign land, meets Mitko, a street hooker, and allows desire, lust, and loneliness (to) lead him precariously close to self-destruction as the combination mixed into a toxic broth delivers him to pathetic and needy. WHAT BELONGS TO YOU is a breathtakingly well-written story depicting the overwhelming need for love and acceptance—and the unshakable belief that if you save someone else, you will save yourself?
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THE CATCHER IN THE RYEJD SALINGERA classic coming-of-age story about a lonely introverted boy desperately trying to become an extrovert
5 STARS |
Holden Caulfield is screwing up. He really is. He’s failing at school, hiding his realities from his parents; and desperately searching for acceptance—when in fact, he’s not likeable. He really isn’t. He’s an introvert trying hard to be an extrovert. He fails for the most part because his troubled teenage mind is laced with judgement—the root of his unlikeability. Holden is challenged, perhaps autistic. Just perhaps—I do not have the credentials to diagnose. For 277 pages he takes readers on a long conversation. Like said, I did not much care for him. I really didn’t. But, somehow, by the end of his journey, I found myself cheering for him, maybe because, throughout his travels, he taught me: it’s best not to judge when listening is a grander option.
Catcher in the Rye is a classic. I enjoyed it. I really did!
Catcher in the Rye is a classic. I enjoyed it. I really did!
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THE ALCHEMISTPAULO CoelhoI think I’d burn in Hell if I don’t give this book 5 Stars...
5 STARS |
I don’t want to go to hell. I don’t think I’d like it.
I COULD JUST IMAGINE:
“Sir, we’re sentencing you to an eternity in Hell.”
“Oh crap, I better bring a big book.”
I read THE ALCHEMIST because I think we’re supposed to. I liked (loved) it. It’s chalk-full of valuable lessons on how to navigate life. It’s AWESOME having these lessons painted in such a compelling way, as Paulo does in this classic work.
The story is riveting. The lessons are gospel. It’s hard to write thoughts on this book without giving the story away. What’s so beautiful about this story is it is a UNIVERSAL one that we have a tendency to forget as we struggle our way through the constant bombardment of noise filling our souls every day.
Although the lesson is simple — I believe: Anyone going through struggles would do them self a solid, by reading for the first time, or the tenth; resulting in their eyes being cracked wide open allowing life to turn struggles into dreams.
I think by reading THE ALCHEMIST: you may be able to avoid a trip to Hell.
I COULD JUST IMAGINE:
“Sir, we’re sentencing you to an eternity in Hell.”
“Oh crap, I better bring a big book.”
I read THE ALCHEMIST because I think we’re supposed to. I liked (loved) it. It’s chalk-full of valuable lessons on how to navigate life. It’s AWESOME having these lessons painted in such a compelling way, as Paulo does in this classic work.
The story is riveting. The lessons are gospel. It’s hard to write thoughts on this book without giving the story away. What’s so beautiful about this story is it is a UNIVERSAL one that we have a tendency to forget as we struggle our way through the constant bombardment of noise filling our souls every day.
Although the lesson is simple — I believe: Anyone going through struggles would do them self a solid, by reading for the first time, or the tenth; resulting in their eyes being cracked wide open allowing life to turn struggles into dreams.
I think by reading THE ALCHEMIST: you may be able to avoid a trip to Hell.
