Moonwalking with Einstein

Moonwalking with Einstein
The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
by Joshua Foer
★★★★☆

Memory is an elusive concept. It seems like something that comes and goes with age, and it is often assumed that some people have a better one than others. In reality it’s an art, an ability that you can exercise and improve just like anything else. The first half of the book focuses much more on the history of memorization and its benefits. The second half takes a drastic shift as the author himself gets pulled into the world of memory competitions. He decides to train and compete and he brings the reader along for the ride as he learns the tricks of the trade.

The concept of memory palaces was one I've heard of before but it was interesting to hear it described in more detail. To remember a long list you visualize each item in a specific location in a specific home. For example, if you have a grocery list you can place that in your childhood home. Say a jar of mayonnaise goes at the end of the driveway, a carton of eggs goes at the front door, etc. Then you “walk” through the house in your mind you see each of the items you visualized in the specific spot.

I never realized how critical memory was before the printing presses existed. People who had access to books could only refer back to what they’d memorized. Books were rare, as was the ability to read. Sharing stories through oral tradition was much more common that reading actual books.

“Creating new memories stretches out psychological time and lengthens our perception of our lives.”

There’s one section where Foer discusses the danger of routine making our lives literally seem shorter. When we are constantly creating new memories our life becomes more memorable. Going on a big trip, learning something new, having dinner with friends, each of those things becomes a specific moment in time that we remember. Whereas going home from work, watching TV every night and eating almost the same thing makes a whole week blend together. I loved this section because I try to constantly do new things in my life. I travel often, try new restaurants, see plays and visit museum exhibits, even being a tourist in my own city and spending time with friends fits in this category. To me, it seems like time still goes by quickly, but it’s packed to the brim! I can think of what happened last week in specific memories instead of seeing it blur together. I thought it was fascinating that actual studies have been done on this. And the conclusion was, you can live the healthiest life in the world, but if it’s only full of repetitive routines than it will still seem short.

BOTTOM LINE: I was fascinated by the whole book. Foer’s writing style is perfectly suited to make nonfiction content feel like a page-turner. I look forward to whatever he writes next.

“Monotony collapses time, novelty unfolds it.”

“Of all the things one could be obsessive about collecting, memories of one’s own life don’t seem like the most unreasonable. There’s something even strangely rational about it.

Side note: I will say it was a bit ironic to read this one while having “pregnancy brain”. At no point in my life have I had a harder time remembering small things!

Ava’s Man

Ava’s Man 

by Rick Bragg 

★★★★☆ 

I fell in love with Rick Bragg's writing after reading All Over but the Shouting. In it the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist wrote about his childhood in the rural hills of Alabama. In Ava’s Man he takes readers back there to tell the story of Charlie, his grandfather.

From the first pages I was completely captivated. His style of writing clicks so beautifully for me. He's writing nonfiction, but he's doing in an in a way that weaves a beautiful tale of the depression era South. You feel like you're there on the riverbank next to Charlie setting trout lines.

We follow Charlie and his wife Ava and their many children from one tiny Alabama and Georgia town to another. You feel the heartbreak when a child is sick, you hammer nails into roofs in the southern heat, and you sip moonshine when the day is done. By the time you finish you have as much admiration for Bragg's grandfather as he did himself. Charlie was a different class of man. He raised a family not because it was his job, but because it was his passion and his love.

BOTTOM LINE: The incredible thing about Bragg’s work is that he makes an ordinary man extraordinary. He makes the reader fall in love with Charlie by unfolding his life through the eyes of his children and neighbors. Charlie was a legend in his community because he was a good man who everyone loved and in the hands of a talented writer that’s all the story you need.

“It didn’t strike the travelers as unusual to see such a large cemetery around such a tiny church, not everybody kneels, but everybody dies.”

Nonfiction November: Mini Reviews

 

Regular Rumination is once again hosting a month-long celebration of nonfiction books. Yay! I’m a huge fan of nonfiction. I feel like there are so many fascinating stories out there to be told and so many talented authors writing them.

 

Here’s a list of a bunch of my favorite nonfiction books that I posted last year, including breakdowns by category so there's something for everyone.

 

And here’s a few reviews of nonfiction books that I read this fall.

 

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair

My year of magical reading

by Nina Sankovitch

★★★

 

After Nina’s sister passes away at age 46, she decides to read a book every single day for a year. It was an effort to process her emotions and find something to focus on during that difficult time. The book is really a meditation is grief and memories of her sister. I wasn’t quite expecting a book on grieving and though it was a raw and intimate look at what she went through, I felt like it wasn’t quite what it proclaimed itself to be. I was expecting a little more about the actual books she was reading.

 

I did love her thoughts on the importance of reading, the way it is both an escape and a way to ground ourselves. For anyone that sees reading as a permanent part of your life and something you love, it’s easy to see it becoming your focus when other aspects feel as though they are spinning out of control.

 

I wish she’d talk a bit more about the actual challenges of reading a book each day and how that affected her enjoyment of each one. Did she find herself craving certain books or wishing for a day off? Did she wish she could sit and read a huge novel over the course of a week, but feel like she couldn’t because she had to move on to the next one? Regardless, it’s an inspiring endeavor and one that it would be incredible to attempt one day!

 

“We all need a space to just let things be, a place to remember who we are and what is important to us, an interval of time that allows the happiness and joy of living back into our consciousness.”

 

Here's the author's blog is your curious about her journey. 

 

 

My Kind of Place

Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s Been Everywhere

Susan Orlean

★★★☆

 

I love reading travel books while I’m traveling. Sometimes when I read them and don’t have a big trip on the horizon it’s just an exercise in frustration. I read this one on a plane to Australia, which was perfect. There’s even one part about Orlean’s trip to Sydney during the 2000 Olympic games!

 

The book is a compilation of short stories and essays that have been published as articles in other magazines. It was a good mix of the author covering big events, exploring small towns, or trying new things in a foreign place. Orlean has a skilled way of finding fascinating gems. There are essays set all over the world, but even if you haven’t been there you can see what she sees. You’re flipping through records in Paris or talking to a cranky Australian about the traffic caused by the Olympics. There weren’t any essays that I think will stick with me forever, which is why my rating isn’t higher, but they were fun trips to take along with the author.

 

“All the while, the girls kept talking about their schedule. It was as if the strangeness of where they were and what they were doing was absolutely ordinary: as if there were no large, smelly drunk sprawled in front of them, as if it were quite unexceptional to be three Scottish girls drinking Australian beer in Thailand on their way to Laos, and as if the world were the size of a peanut-something as compact as that, something is easy to pick up, shell, consume, as long as you were young and sturdy and brave.”

 

 

The Motorcycle Diaries

Notes on a Latin American Journey

by Ernesto “Che” Guevara

★★☆

 

Che Guevara became an iconic figure because of his work as a revolutionary in Cuba, but long before that he wrote this memoir about his travels as a young man. When he was 23-years-old, he and his friend Alberto left Argentina in the 1950s to travel through South America.

 

He chronicles his thoughts and feelings about the things they see and the people they met along the way. It’s impossible not to spend much of the book wondering which events helped plant the seeds that made him into the man he became. For example, his work in the leper colonies showed him a completely different side of humanity.

 

This was one of the few examples of a book that I thought was better as a film. There’s something about the stilted nature of Guevara’s narration that didn’t work well for me. The 2004 film allows that to drop off and shows the audience the beauty and pain of what he sees instead of trying to describe it.

 

Mini Reviews: Gourmet Rhapsody, This Book Is Overdue, and The Racketeer

 

Gourmet Rhapsody

by Muriel Barbery

★★★

 

At least half of all of my reading is done through audio books, and this one is well done. Having multiple people to voice the characters helps keep conversations straight.

 

The book revolves around Pierre Arthens, a food critic, who is on his death bed and desperately trying to recall a specific meal. It's told mainly through memories and through various characters' points of view. It’s a small book and I was glad for that. Pierre’s narrow, selfish view of the world would have been hard to handle for much longer. I kept picturing him as the dour food critic from Ratatouille while I was reading. For someone who is so skilled at dissecting each individual element of the food he eats, Pierre is ridiculously self-centered and oblivious when it comes to his family.

 

BOTTOM LINE: The foodie aspects of the book were my favorite. The rest of it felt like it only skimmed the surface of the relationships.

 

 

This Book Is Overdue!

How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All

by Marilyn Johnson

★★

 

As someone who loves nonfiction and librarians, I thought this one would be a no-brainer for me. Unfortunately it’s such a disjointed mishmash of information it feels more like a Wikipedia page than a cohesive book. Johnson seems to have written anecdotes about things she found as she research librarians without having a real goal or overarching message for the book. At one point she discusses, at length, the way librarians use second life. It just never came together in any cohesive way for me.

 

BOTTOM LINE: Skip it, I can’t think of one substantive thing I learned from the book.

 

 

The Racketeer

by John Grisham

★★★

 

In high school and early college I blew through about 20 Grisham books. The plots tend to be pretty similar, so at times they blended together in my mind, indistinguishable from each other. It’s been almost a decade since I picked up one of his novels, so when I saw this one on the exchange shelf at our hotel in Fiji I decided to give it a shot.

 

It’s definitely a Grisham novel. One man up against a big company, or in this case, the government. Malcom Bannister is a lawyer who is sent to prison when he unknowingly gets caught up in a client’s money laundering business. He spends his time helping other prisoners fight their convictions and wishing for a day when he will be released. When a judge is murdered he sees his opportunity for freedom.

 

The predictability level is pretty high, but it’s an incredibly readable novel with some good twists and turns. Give me a day on the beach with a book like this and I’ll enjoy it. It was a good beach read and before I left I’d popped it back on the hotel’s shelf for the next vacationer to enjoy.

 

BOTTOM LINE: For me was a solid middle-of-the-pack book from Grisham. His bests include The Pelican Brief, The Firm and A Time to Kill and his worsts include The Summons and The King of Torts. If you’re craving a legal thriller, grab on of his early books and just enjoy.

The Origin of Species

The Origin of Species

by Charles Darwin

★ 

In the past month I read three books that specifically mention Origin of the Species (including At Home and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.) I felt like I was being strongly nudged to check it out even though it’s a bit intimidating. 

I like reading classics that are influential pieces of our culture. I want to understand the background of books that are constantly being referenced and I want to have a working knowledge of them. So for those reason I'm glad I read it, but Darwin was no Mary Roach or Bill Bryson. He is a scientist, but writing an enthralling account of his research is not in his wheelhouse.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been so bored reading a book before in my life. I’m talking mind-numbingly bored. Maybe that’s not fair, this isn’t a detective novel that’s supposed to speed along, but honestly I could hardly stand it. I listened to an audio version, which was read by David Case and that might have been part of the problem. I can’t stand his narration and he already ruined The Hunchback of Notre Dame for me.  

I do understand that this isn't a novel and it wasn't written to be entertaining, but I've read so many other nonfiction books that I loved. I'm not talking about the points he makes or what he's trying to prove, I'm talking only about the readability of the material. It was really hard for me to stay interested. 

BOTTOM LINE: Science is not my passion and I will never claim to be an expert in biology, but regardless this one was just not for me. It was like reading the driest of lab reports. I’m glad I read the work that is said to be the basis for evolutionary theory, but unless you love that subject I can’t say I’d recommend it. 

“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” 

**Funny side note, I listened to this as an audiobook on CDs. In the middle of the 10th disc the narrator said, “This is the end of side A, please turn the cassette over and continue listening on side B.” Then a few second later, “This is side B of cassette 9.” That’s the one and only moment in the book that made me laugh.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

by Ann Patchett

★★★★★

 

This collection of essays from one of my favorite authors covers a wide variety of topics, everything from working at TGIFridays to dogs. The way Patchett writes makes any topic interesting. She is truthful and blunt at times, even when discussing sensitive subjects like grief, censorship, and divorce, but it’s this honesty that makes it easy for a reader to feel connected. Her passion for different things come through in her writing and you find yourself getting sucked into stories about seeing MET opera productions in her local theatre, taking a book tour or staying in a hotel and doing nothing.

 

Most of these articles were published in various magazines (Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, etc.) over the years, but all of them were new to me. She also included a few new pieces to round out the book. She spent years making ends meet with her freelance work for magazine and that experience is evident in the structure of the essays. They flow smoothly, each one a self-contained piece that stands on its own, but also adds to the neat arch through her life that the book traces.

 

One of my favorites was a piece on her bookstore Parnassus in Nashville. I had the opportunity to visit it last year and I loved hearing more about the history of its creation. I also loved her pieces about her dog Rose. As a dog lover it’s easy to immediately relate to those.

 

BOTTOM LINE: Each essay offered the reader another glimpse into the writer’s world. I don’t know if I would have loved it so much if I wasn’t already a huge fan, but I am, so this was a treat all the way through.

 

“Sometimes love does not have the most honorable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It’s everything in between we live for."

 

“I think the best vacation is the one that relieves me of my own life for a while and then makes me long for it again."

At Home

At Home

by Bill Bryson

★★★★☆

Did you know the word vicar comes from the word vicarious? Or that the reverend who wrote the hymn “Onward Christian Soldier” also wrote the first novel featuring a werewolf? What about the phrase room and board, any idea where that came from? After reading At Home you’ll brain will be packed full of trivia about houses and everything connected to them.

Bill Bryson has an incredible skill for taking the most random and mundane topics and making them enthralling. This is technically a “history of private lives” but that covers a lot of ground.

“If you had to summarize it in a sentence, you could say that the history of private life is a history of getting comfortable slowly.”

From the bathroom to the living room, we make our way through modern rooms learning why salt and pepper are the most common spices and that women had a really hard time getting care from doctors in the past. Also, make sure your wallpaper isn’t colored by arsenic!

This book covers so much more than the “home.” It explores how humanity has changed over the centuries, adjusting our domiciles as we change our habits. It shows how we use those homes to interact with the world and to retreat from it.

Bryson goes on to details the world of furniture and meals and social interactions in a way that is surprisingly engrossing. I honestly wondered how he could get a whole book out of life “at home” but he delves into the details of our endless search for comfort with such infectious enthusiasm. I found myself laughing out loud as I listened to it. I would definitely suggest getting your hands on the audiobook, which he reads himself. His dry sense of humor is best translated when you hear it from his own lips.

BOTTOM LINE: One of my favorite Bryson books! I felt like I learned so much and just when a topic started to get the tiniest bit tired he moved on to the next subject. If you’re a fan of nonfiction with a touch of humor and sarcasm (think Mary Roach or Sarah Vowell) I would highly recommend.

Nonfiction November: Favorites

Regular Rumination is hosting a month-long celebration of nonfiction and for the first week she asked "What is your favorite piece of nonfiction?" I just had to jump in with my two cents. I love nonfiction, which was a big surprise to me as a reader.

If you’re firmly in the “I hate nonfiction” camp I’d encourage you to try one nonfiction book that sounds interesting and see if you still feel that way when you finish it. Nonfiction really does deserve a better reputation that the dry and boring one it currently has.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was the first book that taught me nonfiction could be just as creative and enthralling as fiction. Since reading that in high school I have fallen in love with dozens of travel memoirs, biographies, history books, etc. I couldn’t pick just one favorite (though if I had to it would probably be Midnight) so I made a list of a few favorites depending on your taste.

Favorite Book on War: 

Brave Men by Ernie Pyle 

In Harm’s Way by Doug Stanton 

April 1865 by Jay Winik

Favorite Auto/Biography:

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Thomas Jefferson by Jon Meacham

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

Favorite Travel Memoir:

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (funny)

Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman (serious)

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Favorite Childhood Memoir:

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (sad)

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (hilarious)  

Favorite Book about a Random Topic:

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin

Favorite Historical Event:

Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

Favorite Book about Writing/Reading:

On Writing by Stephen King

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Favorite Love Letter to a City:

Here is New York by E.B. White

Imagined London by Anna Quindlen

Favorite Book of Grief:

The Longest Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke

Favorite Social Commentary:

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

Also, here’s a link to my complete list and ratings of nonfiction books I’ve read if you want more options.

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

Thomas Jefferson

The Art of Power

by Jon Meacham

★★★★☆

Thomas Jefferson has always fascinated me more than any other politician and most other men. He was an inventor, an avid reader, and a brilliant writer. He started a college, helped America gain independence and then served as the Vice President and then President. He loved wine, travel (especially to France) and staying active. He built an incredible home and gardens. He was a good friend and host, a loyal husband and loving father and grandfather.

Meacham paints Jefferson’s life in broad strokes. From his early days when he become the man of the house after losing his father at the tender age of 14; to his days as President when our country doubled in size thanks to the Louisiana Purchase.

Jefferson’s wife died young after bearing him too many children too quickly. Though he was only in his 30s, he made a promise never to remarry, which he kept. Later he had a relationship that lasted for decades with a slave, Sally Hemings, who was actually his wife’s half sister.

One thing I learned from the book is that American politics have changed very little in the past 200 years. There were people that thought America was going to hell because Jefferson was elected. Others thought that Adams would be its downfall. There always seems to be someone willing to do something dirty for politics and others who are truly trying to further the interests of the country as a whole. It’s good to have some perspective, things are rarely as bad as we think.

(The text inscribed on the interior walls of the Jefferson Memorial)

BOTTOM LINE: This is such a well-done biography. It’s fair and honest. It doesn’t shy away from tough issues, but it doesn’t needlessly focus on them. It is a portrait of the life of an incredible man. The only reason this is a 4.5 instead of a 5 is because I have never felt the desire to re-read a biography. I only give 5 stars to books I know I will re-read.

“He loved… ‘the ineffable luxury of being the owner of my own time.’”

Jefferson’s Musing on Libraries:

“I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a small circulating library in every county; to consist of a few well-chosen books to be leant to the people of the county under such regulations as would secure their safe return in due time.”

Wonderful Advice from Jefferson:

1) Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today.

2) Never trouble another with what you can do yourself.

3) Never spend your money before you have it.

4) Never buy a thing you do not want, because it is cheap, it will be dear to you.

5) Take care of your cents: Dollars will take care of themselves.

6) Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.

7) We never repent of having eaten too little.

8) Nothing is troublesome that one does willingly.

9) How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.

10) Take things always by their smooth handle.

11) Think as you please, and so let others, and you will have no disputes.

12) When angry, count 10, before you speak; if very angry, 100.

Photos by moi.

Undaunted Courage

Undaunted Courage

by Stephen E. Ambrose

★★★★☆

This sat on my shelf for years until a recent road trip out west sparked my interest in Lewis and Clark’s famous trip. This nonfiction account of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s incredible journey covers everything from the earliest planning stages to the final attempts at publishing the journals from the trip.

Written by the revered author of Band of Brothers, the book reads like a novel at many points. The men encountered Native American tribes (both hostile and friendly), diseases, wild animals, vicious turns in weather and a myriad of other obstacles to complete their goal. 

They traveled across the majority of the United States to reach the far west coast with canoes and horses as their only form of transportation. That alone is impressive, but then you realize that they also gathered and inventories dozens of new animal and plant species along the way. They worked on mapping out the entire area that they traveled along while also gathering new scientific data and establishing trade routes.

The project was a goal of Thomas Jefferson’s and when he became the president he began to put his plan into action. The book mainly focuses on Lewis’ life, his struggles and his role in blazing the trail out west. He was a brilliant, but troubled man and this trip was both the greatest and hardest endeavor of his life.

BOTTOM LINE: One of my favorite nonfiction books of the year. I know that traveling out west this fall certainly prompted my reading this book, but I think I would have loved it regardless of that. I learned so much about the individuals behind the trip and the sheer scope of what they accomplished. I highly recommend if you’re a fan of US History or just great nonfiction stories of accomplishment.

p.s. While in Montana we visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the photos above are from those exhibits.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
★★★★☆
 
The author’s memoir of her childhood has long been revered as a classic, but I approached the book hesitantly. I was worried it would be one long, depressing look at her horrible upbringing. I was so wrong and I ended up enjoying every bit of this beautiful story.
 
Angelou has an incredible talent for painting poetic scenes of the simplest acts. She writes about everything from the deep connection between siblings to the loneliness that comes from abandonment. She describes the pure joy of uncontrollable laughter in the middle of a church sermon and the agonizing feeling of knowing you don’t belong. Each scene comes alive under the skilled pen and her poetic prowess is clear from the first pages.
 
The book starts with her early years when she and her brother Bailey are shipped to Arkansas to be raised by their Grandma after their parents split up. The family ran a local grocery store, but lived a cautious life. They were African American and the Klan was still in operation in the community.
 
Angelou was later moved between her mother’s home in St. Louis and her father’s home in California; each time having to adjust to a new environment and try and find some semblance of normality. As a teen she lived in San Francisco, an area that is now proud to claim her as one of its own.  
 
**SPOILERS**
I think one of the main reasons I thought this book would be so dour is because I’d heard bits about the Angelou’s life. When she was only 8-years-old she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. Later she lives in a junkyard after fighting with her father’s new wife. She went through some incredibly heartbreaking things, but she never lets them destroy her. She is so strong and she managed to survive everything life threw her way.  
 
**SPOILERS OVER**
 BOTTOM LINE: I expected to find a depressing story of persecution and bad luck; instead I found a coming-of-age tale with a powerful message of survival.  She absolutely had bad things happen to her along the way, but her enduring strength and optimism and her ability to tell her story without lamenting all she’d been through was truly inspiring.
 
“Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.”
 
“He was away in a mystery, locked in the enigma that young Southern Black boys start to unravel, start to try to unravel, from seven years old to death. The humorless puzzle of inequality and hate. His experience raised the question of worth and values, of aggressive inferiority and aggressive arrogance.”

In a Sunburned Country

In a Sunburned Country
by Bill Bryson
★★★★☆

I’ve been having a one-sided love affair with Australia for as long as I can remember. After years of planning and saving I still haven’t made it to the great Down Under. But until I can plan a trip there, I can console myself with Bryson’s wonderful book.

The hilarious travel writer has been a favorite author of mine for a long time now. Between his stories of growing up in Iowa (The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid), his time living in England (Notes from a Small Island) and even his books on the English language (Mother Tongue), I’ve grown to appreciate his work. A few of his have been misses for me, but I usually love his dry sense of humor and cynical view of travel. This one definitely makes it into the top three favorites list of his books for me.

He writes about everything in Australia from the Great Barrier Reef to the tiny towns in the far west. He covers the history of the Aborigines and the exile of convicts to the continent from England. I love the way he weaves all of this together, adds a big dollop of local beer drinking and meandering through small museums to create an entertaining book. He pairs good information with rye comments on the state of local hotels and supposed “attractions.”

One of my favorite bits was his description of his narrow escape from wild dogs. He told the whole thing from the point of view of the woman whose back yard he stumbles into. I couldn’t stop laughing for about 10 minutes.

Yet despite his teasing, he never looses his ability to gush about the natural beauty of an incredible place. Even when he’s joking about the names of the towns or crazy political systems his love of the place is still obvious. It’s like he’s talking about a relative, he can criticize them a bit, but you know he would defend them to someone else in a heartbeat.

BOTTOM LINE: Do you love travel memoirs or Australia? If yes, then this one is a must. I think it’s also a great introduction to Bryson’s work if you’re curious about him and want to try one of his books. A Walk in the Woods is another great one to start with.

**The audiobook is read by the author and it’s just fantastic!

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
by Helene Hanff
★★★★★

When I read 84, Charing Cross Road in 2009 I was completely in love with it. Helene Hanff’s first book is a collection of letters between herself and the British bookseller, Frank Doel. For years the two wrote back and forth, never meeting in person but sharing a deep love of literature.

In this sequel Hanff finally had the opportunity to visit London for the first time. Unlike her first book, this one is written in journal form as she chronicles her time there. Her quick wit and acerbic nature make the whole thing so much fun. The nonfiction account hit a soft spot for me. I’m such an anglophile that when she describes her lifelong desire to visit London (see below) it was like I was reading my own thoughts.

“All my life I’ve wanted to see London. I used to go to English movies just to look at streets with houses like those. Staring at the screen in a dark theatre, I wanted to walk down those streets so badly it gnawed at me like hunger. Sometimes, at home in the evening, reading a casual description of London, I’d put the book down suddenly, engulfed by a wave of longing that was like homesickness. I wanted to see London the way old people want to see home before they die. I used to tell myself this was natural in a writer and booklover born to the language of Shakespeare.”

I felt the need to visit London from a young age. I just always knew that one day I would go. When I was 19 I planned my first trip to Europe, hopped on a plane by myself and met a friend in London. During that trip I visited Bath, Windsor and London, and then traveled to Ireland and explored Dublin and some coastal towns. It was absolutely everything I imagined it would be. Seeing poets corner in Westminster Abbey, Twelfth Night performed at the Globe, dinner in a pub, etc. I loved everything about it. Later I moved there for a few months to do a semester abroad and my love of London grew ten-fold.

Hanff’s experience was similar to my own (except she was a bit of a celebrity because of her first book). She was in awe of everything see saw and all she wished for was more time. She made friends along the way, pinching every penny so she could spend just one more day in her beloved city.

BOTTOM LINE: I loved it so much! If you’re an anglophile or you loved 84, Charing Cross Road don’t miss this one!

“I seem to be living in a state of deep hypnosis, every time I mail a postcard home I could use Euphoria for a return address.”

p.s. Hanff wanted to personalize every book she signed and at one point she has to sign a stack of books for a bookseller to take to his shop and she said…

“I still couldn’t bring myself just to write my name and let it go at that, it seems unfriendly. Wrote “To an unknown booklover” in every copy.”

I wish so badly that I could get a signed copy of this book!

Photo by moi.

Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy
A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
by David Sheff
★★★★

This nonfiction book tells the story of a meth addict from his father’s point-of-view. The father was a journalist long before his son became a tweaker, so he already had the writing skills and was able to put his raw emotions into words. It’s a heartbreaking and honest look at how someone can quickly become lost to the world of addiction. His son, Nic, was smart and kind, but on drugs that person just disappeared.

One thing I think it’s important to note is that I’m not a parent. I think that any parent who reads this will have a much harder time with the material. Imagining your own child in this situation is absolutely terrifying and I don’t think I can truly grasp that without kids of my own.

One of the aspects that was the hardest to read about was the effect Nic’s drug use had on his younger siblings. At one point his kid brother (I think he was about 8 years old at the time) realizes Nic has stolen everything out of his piggy bank. The little boy is so hurt and confused by the action.

There are parts of the book that feel a repetitive, but I think that’s the nature of the disease. Addiction is cyclical, rehab, relapse, rehab, relapse, etc. and it’s hard to avoid the book taking on that same pattern. But even with that it was a compulsive read, one that I couldn’t put down. He can’t help but feel their pain. You hope that this time the rehab has worked, but you can’t help but fear a relapse is just around the corner.

I’m curious about the book “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines” by Nic Sheff. It’s written by the son, the addict that the book revolves around. I think it would be fascinating to see the whole situation from his point of view after reading this.

BOTTOM LINE: The book is wonderfully written, but it will break your heart. Addiction is such a destructive disease and Sheff paints an intimate picture of what they went through.

AUDIOBOOK NOTE: This one was narrated by Anthony Heald and it was excellent. I think I might have been frustrated by the repetition more if I hadn’t listened to it, but the audio was so well done that it worked for me.

“People with cancer or emphysema or heart disease don’t lie or steal. Someone dying of those diseases would do anything in their power to live, but here’s the rub of addiction. By its nature people afflicted are unable to do what from the outside appears to be a simple solution, don’t drink, don’t do drugs. In exchange for that one small sacrifice you will be given a gift that other terminally ill people would give anything for, life. But, a symptom of this disease is using.”

Image from here.

Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read Classics/Nonfiction/Graphic Novels

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read _______. I decided to split mine and give 5 books for people who don’t normally read classics, 5 for people who don’t read nonfiction and a bonus 5 for people who’d like to check out graphic novels…

CLASSICS
They are considered classics for a reason people. No, you aren’t going to love every single one you read, but you’ll probably learn something from all of them.

1) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Our culture is so saturated with this story; it’s hard to find someone who has never heard of Mr. Darcy. Because of that, this can be a wonderfully accessible novel. People tend to know the basic story and reading the book introduces them to a whole new depth of humor and social comedy that the movies can’t quite capture.

2) Cannery Row by John Steinbeck – When people think of classics, they often (erroneously) think drama and tragedy. Steinbeck has a reputation for writing some particularly grim books (Lennie and his rabbits!), but this one is just delightful. It’s a great reminder that classics can be funny and light, they don’t have to end in death and destruction.

3) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie – Classics can be scary! Who better to teach people this than the master of murder mysteries, Christie herself?

4) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – This enchanting story of a young woman who grows up in a run down castle is hard to resist. It’s a story of first love, growing up, family dynamics and more, all with humor and beautifully written characters thrown in for good measure.

5) Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger – The master of teen angst spawned generations of Holden Caulfields dissatisfied with the world. But before picking up Catcher in the Rye, I would check out his short story collection. It is provides wonderful examples of his writing and wicked sense of humor without some of the whining associated with Catcher.

NONFICTION
This genre includes such a wide variety of subjects. There are books on travel, self-help, history, personal memoirs, etc. Just like fiction, there are good and bad books in each of these categories. Here’s a few I would suggest if you’d like to dip your toes in the nonfiction water…

1) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell – I love history and I love humor. Sometimes I think Sarah Vowell was created specifically for me. In this book she’s hilarious and writes about her trips to visit U.S. Presidents homes and graves in this wonderful book. Plus, you learn so much!

2) Zeitoun by Dave Eggers – I was a fan of Eggers before this, but I think this might be his best work. Here he tells the story of a man stranded in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina with such attention to detail that you both feel like you’re there and are so glad that you weren’t.

3) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt – I know, I’m a broken record, but it’s such a great character study!

4) 84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff – This collection of letters reads like a novel. A woman in New York writes back and forth with a books seller in London. It might sound boring when described like that, but it’s wonderful. It’s funny and sweet and perfect for book lovers.

5) Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain – Something about the way he writes is so raw. He is like that friend you have who says the most inappropriate things, but everyone is thinking that anyway so you can’t help but laugh.

GRAPHIC NOVELS (bonus category)
This can be an intimidating genre, so let me give you the conversation I had with my husband.
HIM: So, they’re graphic as in violent content?
ME: No, they’re called graphic because there are illustrations.
HIM: So it’s a comic book.
ME: Yes, but it’s a whole book.
HIM: So it’s about superheroes?
ME: No, well it can be, but it doesn’t have to be. Just like any kind of book, it can be about anything.
HIM: … *goes back to watching Alaska State Troopers*

1) Maus – It won the Pulitzer Prize folks. In this presentation of a Holocaust survivor, Jews are mice and Nazis are cats. It’s just amazing.

2) French Milk - For anyone who loves to travel, especially to France, loves good food or is stressed about growing up and joining the “real world.”

3) Watchmen – This was my first graphic novel. It’s perfect for the inner nerd in all of us, who is a fan of superheroes, but still wants a solid story and character development.

4) Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - A woman writes about growing up in war-torn Iran, but manages to infuse the whole book with her clever wit and defiance as well as her struggle to adjust to the difficult life.

5) The Invention of Hugo Cabaret – This book was just made into a movie (Hugo) and I can’t believe I still haven’t seen it. Illustrated in shades of gray, the story follows a young orphaned boy through the streets of Paris and his home in a train station.

Photo from here.

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran
One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut
by Rob Sheffield
★★★☆

I was born in 1984. So for me, the ‘80s mainly consisted of a lot of My Little Pony, diapers and learning how to write my own name, but not a lot of concert going and head banging. I grew up on a steady diet of ‘90s, but was only in kindergarten when the infamous “hair” decade came to a close.

This does not mean I can’t appreciate some good ‘80s references though, I was a huge fan of the original I Love the ‘80s show on VH1. I just didn’t experience the decade in the same way as others who were teens during that era.

In Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, Sheffield explores his own experiences growing up with a bunch of sisters in the 1980s. As a writer for Rolling Stone, his love of music has only grown over the years, but it was just in its infancy when he was introduced to the music of Madonna and Prince.

Sheffield’s candor throughout the book makes it feel like you’re chatting with a friend and reminiscing about your years spent discovering who you are. The chapters, each titled with a hit song, tell disconnected stories from his life. Some are sweet, others funny; there’s a great bit about his love of karaoke, another about the horrible things we do for the people we love (when he’s living with his grandpa).

My favorite chapter was “Enola Gay” which covers Sheffield’s time in Spain. I couldn’t stop laughing at a section where he describes seeing the movie Airplane! with friends who had never seen it. A lot of the humor is lost in translation and he finds himself howling at the jokes he knows so well, while the other wonder why characters keep saying, “Me llamo es no Shirley!”

The book’s main strength was also its main weakness. The stories are disconnected, which makes it easy to pick up and put down, but also makes it feel a bit too episodic. It veers from funny to sad, so the book doesn’t have a consistent mood. It feels like a collection of short stories or memories that have been strung together under the pretense of “’80s music.” It’s a fun summer read, but I liked it, I didn’t love it and wouldn’t re-read it.

"Sometimes it's a lonely thing to devote your heart to a song, especially when it's a song that literally nobody can stand."