Book Report

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

Dang, am I mean and judgy regarding the first and last books on here? :) Maybe I am.   

Train to Trieste by Domnica Radulescu – I listened to this novel on audio. Why did I do it? Well, the setup was good: a young woman named Mona growing up in Communist Romania in the 1980s wants to escape. But the book was so long, dragged down by boring recaps of Mona’s dreams. Mona reminded me of some Eastern Europeans I’ve known, a mixture of stupid naivete and being butthurt constantly, and if she uses the phrase “making love” one more time, I am going to projectile vomit. Grade: 2

 

Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson – Memoir by the Supreme Court justice. What a remarkable person! She’s packed so much into her life. I was worried that this long book would drag, but it doesn’t. I found the most intriguing part to be when she and her husband are new parents, their baby is neuro-diverse (they don’t know it yet), and they are juggling two very taxing jobs. Jackson also talks about the trade-offs she and her family has had to make to pursue their dreams. (They just move into a house they love when Jackson is told she might get a federal appointment – but it means they have to pack up and move to DC). Grade: 8

 

50 Years of Ms. Edited and with commentary by Katherine Spillar and the editors of Ms – I had to get this book. I’ve subscribed to “Ms” since the 90s, seen it decline along with the entire magazine industry, seen it loose quality and depth, but I don’t think I’ll ever break up with it since it is something of a chronicle of the women’s movement. This book is a large sampling of 50 years of its articles. I like that the editors included poetry and letters to the editor as well. Most impactful articles in here? They include one from the 1990s, where the author is shocked at and fearful of this new thing known as hate radio – and as the editors point out, right wing propaganda has only gotten worse and taken on multiple formats since then. There is also an excellent, recent article on calling out; how activists tend to over-police each other in a desperate bid for control, and how it doesn’t help advance our goals. I would’ve loved a few more blurbs at the end of articles with follow-ups, especially since some of the articles are half a century old. Still, this “trip down memory lane” was worth it and felt all too relevant today. Grade: 8

 

The Glassmaker by Tracey Chevalier – Another fantastic book of historical fiction from Tracey Chevalier. This one traces a family of glassmakers on an island near Venice. The book spans centuries and handles the passage of time really well, never losing focus and always keeping it interesting. The characters and their world have remained with me. Side note: I did some googling, and I think the author is still best-known for The Girl with the Pearl Earring which she published a quarter century ago, but I believe almost everything she’s done since then has been better. Grade: 8

 

Impossible People by Julia Wertz – A graphic memoir, a long one and a good one. It details the author’s fight against alcoholism. It really gave a fascinating look at someone’s life and world, over a decent span of time. But I have to compare it to “Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations” by Mira Jacob. Wertz doesn’t seem to care much about what’s going on in the world or the country. Whereas Mira Jacob’s memoir is often rooted in national events like Obama winning or Clinton losing to Trump, Wertz doesn’t write about any of that. I can’t fault her for not being a political writer; I guess I’m just jealous as I’d sure love to go through life without fear of what MAGA nutjobs will do next hanging over my head. Wertz’s life seems to be her inner world and those close to her, and that’s all. She's not losing any sleep over the state of the world or the country. I guess felt something was lacking here. Grade: 6

Comments

[nytshd3]

lol I don't know if I'd say you were too mean, but I had a laugh at that

I mean, some books just are not well-executed. It sucks when it's something you're excited about but then it's disappointing. Not so much anymore, but back when I had to go to the office, I listened to a lot of less-than-ideal books just because I could listen to them in the car and I didn't have anything else

Lovely One sounds great! I never really wanted kids, but it's got to be so hard having kids with special needs and trying to figure out the best way to support them, especially if you end up moving away from home.

As usual, thanks for sharing!
I will always associate Ms with you, I remember you reading it back when we were younger. Really cool that they put this together. I agree with you, especially for those older articles, it would have been nice to have some kind of follow up, even if it was just the thoughts of the current editors. But I guess they would have picked the ones that were still most relevant.

I don't think I ever actually read the girl with the pearl earring, but really nice to find an author you really like whose work keeps improving.

I haven't read impossible people. was she maybe more wrapped up in what was going on with herself to focus on other things? Or felt like she didn't have anything useful to add? Who knows. Either way, totally fair to not be into it!

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

Exactly, sometimes stuff just isn't well-executed and that's that.

Ms used to be so good in the 90s. It's still ok but like all magazines, each issue is like one-third of the length it used to be.