books: May 2017 (9 books)
Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson: Finished 5/7/17. I enjoy Samuelsson on TV and was curious about his story, so I thought I'd check out the book, and it was light and fun. Not a great work of literature, but enjoyable, especially if you like fine cuisine, cooking, or TV chefs.
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, by Phaedra Patrick: Finished 5/8/17. A really fun, fast read in a subgenre I love that I’m calling “charming geriatric adventurers.” I loved all the places this charm bracelet led Arthur, and I particularly loved the ending. Highly recommended if you also enjoy stories about old people who thought their lives were over rediscovering themselves and the world.
A Bear Called Paddington (Paddington #1), by Michael Bond: Finished on 5/8/17. My daughter really enjoyed this book. We would read a chapter each day at bedtime, and it's really funny. She would laugh and laugh! Then it would be time to turn out the light, and she'd be all jazzed up. Oh well. This is definitely an older book but it held up pretty well against modern standards; the downside was that no one says things like "darkest Peru" anymore and there were a few lines that were a little colonialist, but we talked about it. Overall: bear! adventures! messes!
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Read on 5/9/17. Suggestions for how to raise your child as a feminist, written as a letter to a friend of Adichie's who had asked her advice. A quick and worthwhile read.
We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Read on 5/9/17. Short and well worth reading. (Weirdly, both of these came available through the library on the same day, so I read them both together. They were fast.)
The BFG, by Roald Dahl: Finished 5/19/17. This was a pleasure. Freya enjoyed this a lot, particularly the whizpoppers, and the other giants were just the right level of scary. (We watched the movie a week or two later, which she also loved, and I was delighted to find it a really excellent adaptation with a perfect BFG and less gory than the book!)
Replay, by Ken Grimwood: Finished on 5/16/17. A really good entry in the “Groundhog Day” genre (i.e., a protagonist living his life over and over again). Not as good as The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, but pretty close. I really enjoyed the structure of this one, as well as the ending, which felt unexpectedly fresh to me.
Grindhopping: Building a Rewarding Career Without Paying Your Dues, by Laura Vanderkam: Finished 5/22/17. This book is aimed at a younger demographic than I am at this point: Vanderkam is writing to inspire twentysomethings to pursue their dreams rather than investing years in an unfulfilling career, while I’m more at the “years of investment” stage and looking to get out of the career grind. But Vanderkam still had some decent advice, and the book felt inspirational; it helped me feel like I could just maybe make it work. One criticism is that, having been written in 2006, a lot of the content feels a bit dated; I’d love to see Vanderkam do a revision. Still glad I read it, and I’ll likely come back to it.
Windthrow, by K.A. Hays: Poetry. Finished 5/23/17.
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, by Phaedra Patrick: Finished 5/8/17. A really fun, fast read in a subgenre I love that I’m calling “charming geriatric adventurers.” I loved all the places this charm bracelet led Arthur, and I particularly loved the ending. Highly recommended if you also enjoy stories about old people who thought their lives were over rediscovering themselves and the world.
A Bear Called Paddington (Paddington #1), by Michael Bond: Finished on 5/8/17. My daughter really enjoyed this book. We would read a chapter each day at bedtime, and it's really funny. She would laugh and laugh! Then it would be time to turn out the light, and she'd be all jazzed up. Oh well. This is definitely an older book but it held up pretty well against modern standards; the downside was that no one says things like "darkest Peru" anymore and there were a few lines that were a little colonialist, but we talked about it. Overall: bear! adventures! messes!
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Read on 5/9/17. Suggestions for how to raise your child as a feminist, written as a letter to a friend of Adichie's who had asked her advice. A quick and worthwhile read.
We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Read on 5/9/17. Short and well worth reading. (Weirdly, both of these came available through the library on the same day, so I read them both together. They were fast.)
The BFG, by Roald Dahl: Finished 5/19/17. This was a pleasure. Freya enjoyed this a lot, particularly the whizpoppers, and the other giants were just the right level of scary. (We watched the movie a week or two later, which she also loved, and I was delighted to find it a really excellent adaptation with a perfect BFG and less gory than the book!)
Replay, by Ken Grimwood: Finished on 5/16/17. A really good entry in the “Groundhog Day” genre (i.e., a protagonist living his life over and over again). Not as good as The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, but pretty close. I really enjoyed the structure of this one, as well as the ending, which felt unexpectedly fresh to me.
Grindhopping: Building a Rewarding Career Without Paying Your Dues, by Laura Vanderkam: Finished 5/22/17. This book is aimed at a younger demographic than I am at this point: Vanderkam is writing to inspire twentysomethings to pursue their dreams rather than investing years in an unfulfilling career, while I’m more at the “years of investment” stage and looking to get out of the career grind. But Vanderkam still had some decent advice, and the book felt inspirational; it helped me feel like I could just maybe make it work. One criticism is that, having been written in 2006, a lot of the content feels a bit dated; I’d love to see Vanderkam do a revision. Still glad I read it, and I’ll likely come back to it.
Windthrow, by K.A. Hays: Poetry. Finished 5/23/17.