Jennifer
Social justice satire. Not easy but D.L. has done it! Only read if you have read books like The New Jim Crow and are on top of the news. Otherwise, you might think this book is actually just funny and not understand the satire and irony of it. Which would be horrible.
D.L. also breaks down a lot of complex racial and socioeconomic issues in a humorous way. Again, it's written humorously but there's a lot of truth and sincerity.
I do wish there were end note citations but I can Google.
I read this because it was on a banned books list.
This was published in 2004, around the same time AIM was the one and only social media. Maybe MySpace too (more 2005-2007), but AIM and MSN messenger were king. Though not completely accurate as there are not enough acronyms used, and way too much content (have you actually seen a real AIM convo between 15-16 year olds??), it was good enough to get a story across I guess. But, not realistic. I would have been more bothered by this 10+ years ago.
More unrealistic things:
1. The friends were way too interested and engaged in each other's lives via the Internet. This has never been my experience. Most of the juicy gossip and personality quirks still happen in person, either right after school or during school. These girls are so confrontational via texting/messaging. Yeah, right. The talking behind each other's back tho? 100% accurate.
2. Texting in 2005 was less unlimited and everything was def AIM. This would be more realistic if there were passive aggressive away messages/lyrics.
3. No one ever said “don't have a cow”. Talk about social suicide.
4. The planning ahead via road trip? I never encountered anybody during that time who had their sht together enough to come up with a plan to convince parents months ahead to go on a road trip. Everyone's attention spans were way too short for such shenanigans.5. These girls never discussed their grades or tests. Or even celebrity gossip. Unrealistic. 6. These girls rarely cuss or use slang of the time. I mean I'm sure that's because this story needs to seem timeless but *eyeroll. They cussed eventually at the end but the way they did it was very mature. No teen has that much control over their rage lingually. The cold shoulder tho? Def.
Overall, the issues in this book that probably got this banned are nothing compared to what I encountered in high school. Worse things happen. Their problems are problems but...nothing compared to real public school ish.
4.5 stars
Tragic book that filled me with dread from start to finish. It's like a car wreck in slow motion. You know what the outcome is but you can't help but watch. Mental illness is so real. The abuse was so obvious and so painful.
Ernt Allbright is like a worst case scenario Jack Pearson from This Is Us, with one kid + Rick from The Walking Dead
The real MVP was Large Marge.
The end was as happy as it could be. This will be a good movie one day.
Quick, lighthearted. Still can't wrap my mind around the riches described in his book. I have to google so many people and brands just to understand the luxury.
Entertaining; my expectations were low going into it but I can see this movie being amazing. Especially the plot twist 80% into it!
Side rant:
Sooo the movie really messed up the premise of the second book. How are they planning on addressing:
1. the fact that Eleanor still doesn't approve of marrying Rachel (I know this gets addressed but they added a whole extra mahjong scene in the movie to wrap this plot up)
2. How Nick proposed to Rachel (sigh happy endings for the movie crowd)
3. How Astrid is still married to Michael (I ask know this gets addressed but at the end of the movie, it makes it seem like she's out)
4. That Ah Ma hates Rachel (not loves her like the movie made it)
I have read articles that say that Kitty Pong will be a major part of the sequel, but now I'm thinking that that's what it will be about. And focusing on Rachel and Nick's wedding, but the plot will be completely different? I'm annoyed. Yes, the movie was good but they really fudged up some major plot points. I can see the sequel pretty much just starting with Rachel and Nick's wedding and Kitty Pong's makeover, and ignoring the first 20% of this book. Sigh.
I read this because it was on the banned book list and because I want to get into reading more graphic novels. It was cute and reminded me of my drama friends in high school. Again, I'm glad to see gays represented in a cute, accepting way. Like any high school story of any type, things are oversimplified, but this is for kids so duh. I also appreciated that the main girl was following her passion. Super cute.
Best horror novel of 2018! Oh wait...
You know, I've read a good amount of books about the Trump White House this year, and nothing has terrified me as much as this one. Woodward does a tremendous job of scaring the crap out of me. The fact that he is known as the best reporter of our time and this is his narrative of how things went down? Horrifying.
It's nice to have a cohesive timeline and an easily understandable narrative all in one place. It also confirms a lot of the things I've heard and read on the news, and that is scary. Every page contained a lot of information so it took me a while to read. Mostly because I had to Google a lot of the names and events mentioned.
Also, this makes me think Fire and Fury wasn't that far off from the truth. Maybe some things were a bit exaggerated, but not completely false, for example, the feud between Jared & Ivanka and Bannon.
The book is only 60% of the kindle download. The pictures are a nice overview and kind of confirm the insanity about which I just read.
Overall: wow. I'm shook.
I hope one day I can look back at this book and laugh because I made it and we (the U.S.) made it though this ridiculousness, learn from our mistakes, and move forward with a leader who has the cognitive abilities to process and understand at a collegiate level.
Freeing concept that nothing is original and everything is stolen. He says to take the pressure off of being original and to take in good ideas and then the idea will become yours.
The tips and tricks were very validating and reassuring.
Fun, quick read with tidbits of inspiration. I'm glad I picked it up. It made me feel hope.
Easy to put down and the goats don't even become a thought until halfway through the book. The goats were worth waiting for though.
That being said...
This is a book I will make my kids read one day to demonstrate why one should think through their decisions, why they shouldn't marry someone a few months into a relationship, or why you shouldn't let others “take care of” your financial situation.
Jennifer makes a lot of bad decisions. (No, I'm not talking about myself.) She is (admittedly) impulsive and lacks foresight. A lot of that was because of her youth and naïveté but Jesus girl, just think for a second.
It is annoying that she was being picky about what job she wanted when they were in dire straits. And it is annoying that she was hating on the shack her husband found when she should've known darn well that they should be homeless. She speaks about being mad at her husband for being careless, but she is also part of the problem. She acknowledges it but literally does nothing to improve her communication with her husband. She is privileged and whines a lot.
The best part of this book are the one or two paragraphs about the loss of her grandmother. So poignant and touching and true. For those words alone, she gets a star.
And I actually made one of the recipes, so that's a star.
The latter half of the book is a million times better than the beginning. Maybe it's because she goes into detail about goat sex and procreation instead of herself. I was much more interested in her journey with goats than her journey tbh.
Everyone needs to read this book NOW. Not tomorrow. TODAY. This should be required reading in high schools and colleges everywhere.
Quick and to the point, this addresses all the fallacies and mistakes people made leading up to history's worst tyrants. This applies to America's situation today. The world that we live in, as you read this!
I honestly can't think of a way that a Trump supporter can intelligently or logically dispute what is written here. Key words: intelligently and logically. Snyder's points are based on things that actually happened and have been recorded. I struggle to see where he inserted his opinions.
The lessons are clear (you can just read the chapter titles) and are well-supported with each brief chapter. Snyder makes clear comparisons with our current president and historical patterns of tyranny.
Addie Baum tells her granddaughter about her life in Boston (hence the title). The concept of passing down stories verbally is unrealistic because there's no way a 80-something year old woman could remember this much detail. The Yiddish is awkwardly placed and distracting, but I guess it's nice to see it used in modern writing. It would be less distracting if they were footnotes instead of the direct translation in the sentence, but I know it's supposed to be the grandma talking to her granddaughter. But if that was true, the granddaughter should already know what the Yiddish means, and Addie wouldn't have to explain herself every time. Are you telling me that the granddaughter grew up without knowing Yiddish or anything about her grandmother??
The stories she tells would probably be more interesting if I listened to this via audiobook. I kept falling asleep or losing interest at times. Reading this reminds me of my mom telling me family lore about our great grand uncles (who were Jewish and spoke Yiddish and English) except a lot less exciting than our family. I mean, I guess it was cool she was naive and broke down barriers by writing about real sht for the newspaper and then a magazine. Oh, was she one of the first “woke” white women? *yawn
Overall, kinda cheesy. Had some good moments and lessons, I guess. It had heart and tried to approach some “real” issues, in a naive, privileged, middle class white woman way. Not sure which outlet or celebrity recommended this to me. I wish I could remember so I will not heed their advice next time. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Overall, I was entertained. White People stories that I was entertained by! The publisher's description is spot on.
With all books of short stories, I have to take note of each story, otherwise I will forget even more quickly than a regular book of what I just read. AKA I usually feel like books of short stories are a waste of time so the synopses below are a way to make me feel better about it not being a waste of time.
Gender Studies
Nell and Henry have been dating for 11 years and break up because Henry has an affair with a younger woman named Bridget. Nell sleeps with a random man and struggles with her feelings about all of it. 8/10
The World Has Many Butterflies
Julie, a suburban wife with kids, has a crush on Graham, Gayle's husband. She develops a crush on him because she has fun talking to him. He does not feel the same. She realizes this late and that she was in her own world about how she was interpreting the situation. 7/10
Vox Clamantis in Deserto
An unnamed 19 year old Dartmouth student narrator befriends a girl named Rae. Rae has a younger boyfriend still in high school named Noah. The narrator goes on a trip with Rae to visit her boyfriend. Rae leaves her behind after a fight with Noah and the narrator decides to shed her college persona and comes on to Noah. Noah takes her virginity in the school gym storage room.
Years later, Isaac, a friend of Rae's and the narrator's, is happily married to the narrator.
The lesson is that when you get to college, everyone is probably an insecure virgin like you. So...do you. 7/10
Bad Latch
A woman has a baby named Sadie. She runs into this woman named Gretchen at various baby classes. Gretchen is kind of annoying. One day, the narrating woman has a bad day and Gretchen consoles her. They become unlikely friends. 6/10
Plausible Deniability
William is a 40 year old bachelor in finance. His brother is Mark, who is married to Libby. William and Mark are close. Mark confides in William his adulterous fantasies. William has some ladies in queue but emails classical music stuff to and from a mystery woman. They clearly have a common interest and real connection. The mystery woman is Libby. Plot twist! 10/10
A Regular Couple
Jason and the narrator are celebrating their honeymoon. While there, the narrator sees a mean girl from her high school, Ashley, and her new husband, Ed (also on their honeymoon). The jealously, spitefulness, and disdain for said mean girl plays out in the narrator's and Jason's relationship over the course of a few days. 7/10
Off the Record
Nina and her six month old baby, Zoe, travel to LA so Nina can write a profile on a celebrity named Kelsey. Kelsey is petty and shrewd and essentially ruins Nina's career. 6/10
The Prairie Wife
Casey and Kirsten are married with sons. Kirsten follows Lucy on social media, but most importantly, Twitter. Her handles call her the Prairie Wife. Lucy is her most authentic self on Twitter in the mornings. Kirsten lurks. Lucy's persona is an annoying, religious goody goody, and says things like “jiminy crickets” and “shnookerdoodles”. Kristen and Lucy knew each other from a camp during college. They did lesbian things together. Kristen thinks Lucy is a huge hypocrite for being a religious figure but bisexual. Lucy later comes out on national TV as bisexual. It is then made clear that Casey is a woman. Kirsten tells Casey that she misses someone being excited about her then falls asleep peacefully. 7/10
Volunteers Are Shining Stars
The narrator, Frances, is a volunteer at a women's shelter in DC that provides respite childcare after dinner for the mothers. There is a new volunteer named Alaina. The other established volunteer is Karen. The narrator is wary of Alaina. Frances has some quirks, persistent handwashing and questionable asexuality or just lack of want of intimacy. One day, after a slew of questionable decisions by Alaina, Frances strangles her. She quits volunteering. She later discovers that Alaina has been named Volunteer of the Month. Would read a whole book of this 10/10
Do-Over
Clay receives an email from an old classmate named Sylvia. Sylvia and Clay meet up for dinner. They have awkward conversations, including the Trump election. She even berates him for being a white, male, conservative at one point. Turns out Sylvia used to like him back in school and she wanted to see what he was like now. He thinks she ended up “weird and bitter”. After the “fake date”, they talk on the phone. It's awkward. 6/10
Gone Girl's unreliable narrator with The Girl on the Train's alcoholism and mental illness with a roommate + Fifty Shades of Grey vibes (without the sex) because of the rich, controlling man-poor woman dynamic + The Last Mrs. Parrish suspense with the stereotypical assistant/secretary-boss affair * ex-wife being smarter than she seems
The theme for most of the popular suspense thrillers is controlling, abusive husbands. It's like hitting the same note over and over again. It's boring.
Unanswered questions:
Why didn't she just not answer it the blocked phone calls?
Hasn't this girl ever heard of the Find Your Friends app on her iPhone?
Why did she want to save Emma so badly? Because of her guilt about Maggie? Ah, displaced, un-dealt with trauma.
Is the helping of the first ex-wife and the future wife feminism? What is this mess? Why can't these women just escape and live their lives?
Side thoughts:
I just got back from a trip to NYC, so the descriptions and locations were super fresh for me and made it easier to get through this book. Otherwise I'm not sure if I would've.
In Part 1, the seamless scene changes grab your attention. It vacillates from first person in the present to third person in the past. It's confusing.
In Part 2, we find out who the other woman is and what happened to her in college. The narration no longer vacillates and is in first person consistently.
The Epilogue is a huge plot twist. Seems abrupt but I guess tidies up all the interweaving plot points.
Moral: Just like in The Last Mrs. Parrish, don't judge the rich, white, suburb couples by their cover. He's prob an abusive a-hole.
Also, “the truth is the only way to move forward”.
I didn't quite hate this book, but I didn't think it was good.
This book is so necessary for everyone (especially Americans) to read today. Not tomorrow, today.
The loneliness that I feel at times is so eloquently and succinctly explained. The first 20% of the book was like music to my ears. Five stars for the first 20% of the book. The rest of the book was about the four lessons.
There are four principles to remember the next time I want to judge someone or get angry during a conversation:
1. “People are hard to hate close up. Move in.” AKA stop generalizing Democrats and Republicans and don't dehumanize people.
2. “Speak truth to BS. Be civil.” Be open minded. Assume the best in others.
3. “Hold hands. With strangers.” Participate in collective joy and collective pain.
4. “Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart.” It takes a lot of courage to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. There's a difference between belonging and fitting in.
Though I already try to do these things, which I couldn't put a name to until this book, it's nice to feel validated and to continue trying to be a good person everyday.
Like I said before, the first 20% of this book gets five stars. The rest of the chapters get four.
Brown makes great points and quickly gets to them, but I feel like she's missing some intersectionality around the arguments. She's a white woman and I don't fault her for that but I can see how she's still hedging around some issues to gain a bigger audience. But because I believe in her messages and I think she's trying to get her point across without touching upon too polarizing issues, I rate and recommend this book to everyone.
Side note: I haven't read her other books yet so maybe I'll change my mind later. As an introduction to her, I'm onboard.
For the first 50% of this book, Amber is the worst and this book is predictable and boring. Then, you learn that Jackson is the worst and Amber is still the worst but more pitiful and idiotic than originally thought. She got what she deserved as the description to this book alludes to. Pretty straightforward description and plot. Glad it had a happy ending (for those who deserved it).
Moral of the story: Daphne is the real MVP and never judge a “perfect” couple because you have no idea what they're like behind closed doors.
I had the honor of meeting Dr. Willie Parker at a women's rights event this year in DC. I got to hear him speak and was very intrigued to pick up his book. Though I am not religious, I was curious as to how he spoke of his Christianity and his reasons around his transition from being morally opposed to performing abortions to being one of the best known physicians to perform them today.
I admire Dr. Parker for his honesty when it came to telling his story, flaws and all (i.e. not helping or supporting his sister when she first became pregnant). I am struck my his empathy for women and thinking about their plights during such a vulnerable time of life. I find it rare for a grown man to be this honest when it comes to how ignorant and aloof they were when they were younger.
I liked his walkthrough of what an abortion is and how the procedure works (under 16 weeks and above 16 weeks). I also liked when he explained the laws. He's right when he says people are not educated about this stuff and who knows what the internet says about it. I found all of it clearly explained and educational.
My biggest problem with this book is a lack of citation. Because he's preaching to the choir with me, this didn't bother me. But as I'm sure all the “antis” or haters are reading this, they'll probably say he's making a lot of this history and medical information up. He mentions where information comes from but there are no specific footnotes or endnotes.
Overall, this was a quick, straightforward read. He is a personable writer; I felt like he was telling me his story in person. The last chapter was the most powerful as it gets to the crux of Dr. Parker's beliefs and philosophy about God. I really liked his perspective.
After watching one of the best shows of all time The Americans, I have a newfound appreciation for this book. I originally wanted to read this because I'm interested in Russian Jewish history, but now I can visualize it (at least the Soviet point of view) thanks to Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys.
I wish this book existed when I was in high school when we were learning about communism. All we learned was that Stalin was a communist and that was bad. I really don't recall learning much more than that. After reading this,
nowwwwww I understand why the Red Scare was a thing in the US and why people didn't and don't like communism. We learned about Hitler, of course, and all the history of his life, his decisions, and his beliefs, but now, learning about Stalin...holy crap!
What an fascinating guy. So evil. There are some things he did, like manipulate the media, demonize “others”, that makes me wonder if our current president isn't trying to emulate.
Ch. 13 was the most straightforward chapter to read. I think it's because it had the least amount of Russian words, names, and phrases. Or maybe I just was numb to them by that point. Russian nouns are exhausting.
Because of this book, I have a deeper appreciation for “old country” Jews and stories I've heard about my grandparent's generation starving and living with nothing. It's one thing to hear family lore and another thing to read it in context of the government of the time and what was going on in the bigger picture. Wtf! The Holodomor is a major human rights catastrophe and we should learn about it in high school. We sure didn't and it's a shame. I'm so glad I've learned it now!
Fun fact: did you know the term “blacklist” came from Stalin??
Light, quick, and fun to read.
Growing up poor, I can relate to Retta's experience with money, nice things, and shopping at cheap and mainstream places.
It's fun to hear her name drop and talk about her funny famous people moments, i.e. NHL and Hamilton fandom.
The pictures at the end were great.
Was it deep? Nope. She touched upon some deeper issues like racism and feminism but nothing of note to remember or to mention. She talks about her body issues but even for that, it was very surface. I still wouldn't be able to tell you who she really is.
Was I moved? No.
Was I temporarily entertained? Sure.
Top 5 celebrity memoirs? Not a chance.
Dang, just @ me next time, Cloud and Townsend!
Listen, I am NOT. Religious. But this book had some powerful insight and examples that really hit home and apply to everyone I can think of. I felt personally attacked by the lessons and paid close attention to the explanations, which were helpful. If only I could read this entire book as a reminder to myself every morning before I get up. Man, I really need some people in my life to read this. I really needed to read this and now I really need others to as well.
No, being non-religious, I did not totally agree with the religious suggestions aka go talk to God about X, Y, and Z, but I got the point and still thought what was said was useful.
The most religious-heavy part for me was chapters 15 and 16. Kinda lost me there. I think Part 1 was the most relatable.
If you're still apprehensive to read this because of the god stuff, just substitute “God” for whatever the closest equivalent is in your belief system, skim over the Bible verses, and focus on the lesson to be learned.
Did I agree with everything? Of course not. Like any self-help book, I took the parts that applied to me and heeded the advice. Did everything apply to me? Nope. I just took it as good-to-know info.
Quick, light read. The best, most exciting part of the story was the end. Plot twist! Finally some depth to the world of shallow aesthetics. Fun surprise: There's so much I learned from the footnotes - the Malaysian/Singaporean history, culture, language, etc.
Are these characters based on real people?? I can't imagine this kind of wealth. I also wasn't sure if I would be able to keep up with all the characters but referring to pictures of the movie cast helped me remember who was who.
Kerry is the real MVP. (Also Peik Lin) I would read Kerry's story as a novel any day over this tbh.
I would recommend this book to bratty girls ages 12 and up. The moral of this story is to not be a self-absorbed, selfish piece of sht, and the trouble with cliques. It's a wannabe Harry Potter with btchy muggle idiot girls. I'm not sure if Ruth Ware went to a boarding school or knew people who did, but clearly she is not a fan.
The book was hard to get through because of the corny sentences leading up to suspenseful nothing events. The last sentence of every chapter is supposed to SHOCK but I end up enraged at the stupidity.
By 45% of the way through this, I was pretty much hate-reading it. The dude had a quote about addiction on his WALL for everyone to see and they didn't realize he was an addict until adulthood??? IDIOTS.
The girls JUST NOW figured out what the rumors were about them??? COME ON.
I could care less about the freaking body. Nothing about the backstory of the dude or the abusive past of Luc could make me care about their stupid secret.
Side question: is there no law in England that a spouse doesn't have to testify against their spouse? I'm guessing not because a lot of this silly story could've been avoided if Isa would just confided in her husband. Isa mentions the civil service forms, which sound a lot like federal government forms, but like, they're married so shouldn't her husband be able to keep the effing secret?
I predicted the ending about 65% of the way through. I had half of it by the first couple of chapters and then I figured out the rest of it by that point. I'll say it again...IDIOTS.
There's one point where Isa goes, “Are we really going to accuse one of our oldest friends of killing her father?” YES YOU IDIOT. Insert all the eye rolls!!!
And then...the freaking fire. What is this, Rebecca??? In your dreams, Ruth.
Also...what “game” was there??? It's just a bunch of a$$holes lying. That's not a game, that's just sociopaths being sociopaths. But honestly all of them are sociopaths and psychopaths. #^%&@!? UGHHHHHHH
This is two stars because I actually finished it and I did want to find out how it ended. Poorly. That's how.
If you skim past the very much outdated statistics throughout the book (c'mon authors, where is the update???), the core messages remain helpful.
Though of course applicable to relationships where at least one person is in medicine, these lessons are helpful for any high-stress, long-houred profession. Just like any self-help relationship book, there are some solid gems in here for anyone for any/all stage(s) of marriage.
The main takeaways are personality dynamics, the importance of knowing yourself, and coping mechanisms, or at least when to identify the situations where you will probably need these coping mechanisms, for the various types of relationships that occur with at least one person in a high-powered career.
The anecdotes are specifically made for medical couples, so those were the most entertaining and helpful parts for me. The advice and explanations of A type personalities and projection, for example, are helpful for anyone though.
There were some sections of the book (namely parts of chapter 10-13) where I felt personally attacked (haha), so I knew the advice was hitting a necessary nerve. Though some background and assumptions feel anachronistic, the core of the advice still applies.
Eventually, chapter 15 is where the magic is. How to obtain and sustain a healthy relationship (after figuring out all the other stuff I mentioned above).
I will be referring back to this book when my husband is no longer a resident and beyond.
I'm a sucker for advice columns, painful truths, self-help, and memoirs, so I loved this book! It's a quick read and really hits you in the gut with the trials and tribulations of the human condition.
Everyone I know or have ever met (including you!) can relate to at least one letter in here. You should read this, find the advice that applies to you, and improve yourself to make the world a better place. I promise you there is at least one pearl of wisdom in here that will punch you in the gut and offend you because you know her words are too real and can help.
I didn't necessarily agree with Sugar about every little thing but I got what I needed from her advice on the topics that were helpful for me. Everything else was just entertaining.
Ah David Sedaris. Love this guy. This is much more like the David Sedaris we all know and love. I read his diaries earlier this year, entertaining but not quite the voice I look for when reading his stuff. I also read the Santaland Diaries before that and thought they were too dark. But this. This is what I like. Stories about ordinary life things with his humor and candor and told only in a way he can tell.
I love feeling like a fly on the wall when he describes hanging out with his family at their beach house. I like knowing what he bickers with Hugh about. I found a picture of Carol on Twitter and loved it even more. I felt every word he said about his feelings right after the election.
I love how each chapter brings different mood, ranging from the silliness of playing Sorry! with his niece to the regret and wonder regarding his mom and sister.
My favorite and most memorable story is the one with the turtle and the tumor. Just read it.
There is no way I would've read this book if they had not caught the killer. Reading it knowing he is in jail was the only way to get through the descriptions of his heinous crimes and behaviors.
That being said, I admire McNamara's passion to finding him, even though she passed away before seeing him caught.
At times I didn't quite follow her train of thought or her segues into the description of the area to the procedures to the crime itself. But I read along anyway because there are paragraphs that grip you and reads like a crime novel. The rest seems to be notes (literally notes as demoted by the editors) which are thrown together in paragraph form. Which, at times, was better than the completed sections anyway. I know this is an unfair critique because she died before she finished, but it did make it harder to read. Sorry.
I did not like Gillian Flynn's intro. It seems she just read the first chapter and regurgitated it in her intro. Lame.
Patton Oswalt's chapter at the end was the easiest part to read.
I wish the pictures at the end were within the chapters. It would've helped the pieced together sections.
Reading this alongside the Reddit page and its supplements is very helpful. Then you can start visualizing and piecing together what McNamara is referring to.