Operation "Fifty in Twelve": May Round-Up
Oops. I kinda... almost... forgot about this? Or maybe I procrastinated it, that's possible, too. It would be stupid because it's just three books but okay, let's just you know go down to actually doing it and be done with it, too.
So, let's go!
Fight Like a Girl: The Truth Behind How Female Marines Are Trained, Kate Germano
Germano, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, rose to fame inside the US military community for getting fired from commanding 4th Recruit Training Bataillon (the only training bataillon for enlisted women in the US Marine Corps) in Parris Island in 2015, officially for being "too tough". Germano has been staunch in claiming that the "too tough" thing was bogus and made-up and the real reason for getting fired was that she worked toward integrating training in the Marine Corps (all other branches have integrated basic training on all levels. The Corps is the only branch that keeps men and women separated during basic training, and Germano argued that this is the main reason why the performance of many enlisted female Marines is mediocre at best. Interestingly, a very recent study shows, though, that female Marines outpace male Marines in getting promoted. I do, however, still concur with Germano). When she announced that she would write a book about the entire affair, I was ecstatic and the truth is, this book delivered. She's got a bit of a repetitive thing going on, which is kind of grating (but honestly, I guess that's mostly because for some Marines, you can't say a certain thing too often...) but otherwise, she has an easy to read, entertaining style, she doesn't mince words, and she doesn't tough talk. Germano describes in a very close and honest way what the entire thing did to her, phsycially and mentally. Reading about Germano's frustration and downright anger at how the Corps treats their female enlisted recruits and how it treats (female) officers who want to change that, is both cathartic and rage-inducing. It's that feeling every woman who ever wanted to get ahead anywhere but couldn't because the men wouldn't let her knows too well put in words. I rarely read non-fiction books in bed, but this one was worth the exception, mostly because I just couldn*t put it down until I was done. Well worth it.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Patrick Ness
Basically, a novelization of that one tumblr post about the government employee who just wants to get through the day in a typical apocalyptic YA novel, which is why I picked it up in the first place. I was... not really into it, to be honest. I'm pretty sure that that's mostly due to the fact that Ness wrote it from the point of view of a teenager, not a government employee. I usually really like YA stuff, despite being 36 and probably not actually a young adult anymore, and usually, I find at least one character to identify with. This time... not so much. Apparently, I really am too far away from being a teenager to fully appreciate a book written from the point of view of one (which, at least, now finally absolves me from ever having to read John Green. Yay!). Other than that: it's an okay book. The idea - writing a typical YA fantasy high school novel about Chosen Ones and Godly Powers and The Apocalypse from the point of view of an actual, ordinary teenager, not in the least aligned with any of the Chosen Ones who's kinda fed up with the apocalypse constantly happening in his suburb and who really just wants to graduate and get the hell out of Dodge - is actually a good one, and mostly the writing can keep up with it (Ness gives a one-paragraph account of the story happening to the Chosen Ones at the beginning of each chapter and then goes back to his non-Chosen One protagonist) but I felt a little... distanced from it. It was kind of entertaining but I could never get fully into it, and at times the only reason I kept reading was that I wanted to finish it for the challenge. It's not actually boring, it's just that I couldn't really bring up that "But what happens next???" enthusiasm that gribs you when you read a really good book. So... it's not a bad book, but it just wasn't the right book for me, I guess.
Rating: * * */* * * * *
Eve of a Hundred Midnights: The Star-Crossed Love Story of Two WWII Correspondents and Their Epic Escape Across the Pacific, Bill Lascher
I'm a huge WWII nut, and when I see the chance to expand on my knowledge, I usually seize it, especially concerning the war in the Pacific. Being from Germany, I'm much more familiar with the war in Europe, so the Pacific is still a bit of a blind spot for me. And usually, I'm more in the military camp (well d'uh) but when I stumble across something about war correspondents, I have to buy and read it (war correspondents are a thing for me. If I'd decided to go in the direction of journalism, this would probably have been the path I'd chosen. So we can all be glad I didn't go into journalism...). Also, I'm a sucker for love stories in war, especially if they're real, so buying this seemed like a no-brainer. I was excited to start this but it just... turned out to be a little meh, especially in the first part, before Annalee finally appears on the scene. Which is weird because it's actually really interesting, and I did learn a lot about US-Chinese relations before WWII and the lead-up to the Sino-Japanese War and Japanese aggression in the Pacific. That's an aspect of the war in the Pacific and in Asia that I didn't know anything about, so I actually learned something completely new. But it really took me until Annalee Jacoby - the female half of the couple in question - finally made her appearance to really get into the book and the story. It seems a little unfair, because Mel Jacoby was an actually pretty interesting person but his story before Annalee didn't really... grip me. I do have to say, though, when she finally made her entrance, the story picked up a lot of momentum, and I couldn't really put the book down all through their journey through South-East Asia all the way to Australia on their run from the Japanese. So, while it took me a while to warm up to the story, I can honestly say that the wealth of info is staggering, and even if you don't read it for the story, do read it for the information. You won't regret it.
Rating: * * * */* * * * *
Book count as of May 31: 26/50
So, how are you? How's your reading? Any books you could recommend? Any books you wouldn't recommend? Talk to me!