graphic novels - tally: 4
sisters by raina telgemeier
delightful graphic novel that seems to channel members of my family :) I liked the added touch of yellowed paper for the memory pages versus the at-present stuff. and the stuff at the end, photos of the author with her real sister, were an inspiration.
Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley
ho-hum time shifting story that is too predictable to be truly enjoyed. this same guy did the scott pilgrim series which have long been on my list to read but, with this mediocre offering, I won't be getting to them any time soon.
Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth by chris ware
a weird, convoluted tale of what I thought was one kid, but was actually 2 childhoods and one adulthood... I can't imagine how anyone followed it when it was released as a serial in a weekly Chicago newspaper (for 5 or 6 years?) but then again, being forced to read it so slowly might have helped the understanding process, and it definitely would allow a greater appreciation for the art (some of it spectacularly detailed). my favorite parts were the childhood(s) scenes. perhaps it was the sadness of the tale, or the mumbling protagonist as an adult, but I didn't enjoy this half as much as I thought I would.
smile by raina telgemeier
another sweet one from telgemeier. reminded me so much of pepper even though the main character is in grade 8/9.. braces, boys, finding her tribe. (although with all the graphics/text about caring for her teeth, I surprised pepper didn't do a better job of it - she read this book 2 years ago, even before she got her own braces!)
novels - tally: 4
the solitude of prime numbers by paolo giordano
both a sad and beautiful book. two deeply wounded people recognize acceptance in each other but never truly abandon themselves to it.
this book was different in the way the story was told: chronologically, in short-story type vignettes, until the main novel begins. it makes for the very different perspective: usually character memories are told in flashback but we never lose sight of the present day protagonist. this way, its a fully formed scene, and your reaction is not coloured by who the people ultimately become.... it's much for realistic this way: the past experience has a lasting shadow, and yet is so far away that there is confusion as a reader at first. is this the same character years later? we turn back a few chapters, and yes - these are the same people, grown up...
dear life by alice munro
I started reading munro in my 20s with 'who do you think you are?' and loved her depiction of a full, jumbled internal life. back then, she wrote about me and most stories held the me part in sympathy (or was that just me perception / bias). now that we are both older, she still writes for the me I am now (or will become in 10-20 years), and I still love her for that. but she hasn't given up entirely on writing younger characters... and in that framing I see myself, often times unflattering. could it be that she always had aspect but I never saw it because, in my youth, I didn't think it applied to me - and thought it never would.
I should go back to that first book and see how this 45 year old reacts...
in this particular collection, I most enjoyed 'Dolly' in that it implied that petty jealousies and irrational impulses belong not only to the youth, but all of us. I like that. I like to think that there's still room for surprise, for possession, when we are older, no matter our comfortable groove.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
hilarious. this plays out like an extended movie / tv show that might be a farce of 'wallander' or 'girl with the dragon tattoo'. I really enjoyed how the plot kept moving along, how attempts to shrink it (like a thug threatening a witness not to talk, or locating a great safe house) never slowed the pace of progress. and how - if the book hinted at how one loose end was going to be tied up, it quickly applied the same logic to the mirror loose-end rather than drawing that plot point into another full chapter. in that way, it was a master of confidence: respecting the intelligence of the audience and continually spinning new and exciting 'yarn'. I hear it's a movie. i'll definitely watch :)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer
as many books about WWII as there are, and as many as I've read, there always seems to be a little more... feeling? meaning?.. that can be squeezed out.
I truly enjoyed this tale of 2 separate narrators, alike only in age, who are destined to meet. perhaps the girl's story was more compelling - coming from the point of view of being blind. fear inside war is strong enough. now add being abandoned and blind; the terror is nearly too much to take.
I didn't need the update to 2013. not everything needs to actually tie to the present day to mean something. the war itself has merit on it's own.
non-fiction &memoirs - tally: 4
paris in love: a memoir by eloisa james
well, it was bound to come after all the blogs turned into books: a book filled with FB status updates...
taken in very small doses, it's not as offensive as it should be: a recovering-from-cancer mother takes her family to Paris for a year to write 4 (pre-commissioned) books, watch her 2 children struggle in their foreign language schools, comment on her husband's conversation partner's love life, intermittently travel to Italy to visit the in-laws, and document almost all her meals at chic French restaurants. in fact, I'd go so far as to say it's about one-third about the food and her consequent weight gain & lose (she's even so perfect that she gets herself back to pre-Paris weight before they head back home to the States
wild: from lost to found on the pacific trail by cheryl strayed
this is the same author of tiny beautiful things and so I was already primed to be irritated by her style of writing: lots of hyperbole and continued use of contrast as in: I felt so 'one thing', but also felt 'the opposite thing'. it feels like how I wrote in university, for one: immature and certain this small thing happening before me was filled with significance and trying so earnestly to express it's unique moment.
but the biggest annoyance was her lack of true growth. in the last 1-2 pages of the book she fast forwards to being a mature, married, mother of 2 that has obviously gotten past her mother's death, but we don't get to see how that came to be. the story really ends with her successfully surviving the trail even though she was incredibly unprepared for it and, on many occasions, could have been severely injured or even died
what makes olga run? by bruce grierson
fascinating book. so muc to take in and learn from: we've got 2 copies of the worrier/warrior gene. the worrier is better at cognitive tasks, while the warrior is better able to cope with stress (and make decisions). there a study that shows rats will live longer if immersed in frigid water at intervals... meanwhile, thnk of all the hearty stock that comes from those wind-chilled prairies, where exposed skin freezes in minutes.
in fact, stress in your late 20s and early thirties is really good for you; makes you resilient. makes you second guess all the helicopter parenting we've been up to (if a kid can't take a mild disappointment, how will they cope with a major one in adulthood?)
also some great advice regarding the plasticity of the brain and keeping yourself intellectually nimble: eat with left hand occasionally, or drive a different route to work/the store. it's called productive confusion.
personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
and lastly, my favorite takeaway: break a sweat: daily, differently, and with others
The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
so interesting! instead of focusing on one person and their creativity and invention, this book champions the collaboration of individuals and tries to give each person his or her due. a little systematic at times (each section starting with a rambling biography of the current focus) the actual 'meat' of the book is fascinating: real chemistry sets, fiddling with resistors and circuits, entrepreneurs that made the first video games out of tv consoles - the folks who, collaboratively, created the digital age were a curious bunch that laid their physical hands on innovation long before it was hidden away in the box we know as the computer. in the same way that cory doctorow's 'little brother' made me want to build a computer from scratch, this book makes me want to know further still about all the digital devices that have taken over our lives.
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