Book report

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

 Took me a while to read five more books, but in my defense, I did write and post 4 fanfics in a period of 14 days.

 

All In by Billie Jean King – A 420 page memoir by a tennis champion, while I have no interest in tennis? Ugh. But….I couldn’t put it down. Like seriously, I was captivated. I should back up a bit. When I was growing up, I vaguely heard of Billie Jean King. I knew that she defeated a sexist guy in some “battle of the sexes” tennis match, that she fought for women's rights and she was maybe lesbian or bi? (I was never sure, growing up, on that last part. The general topic wasn’t discussed much in my orbit). In addition to being a tennis champ and fighting for women's rights, King also had to deal with an ex outing her. She’s spent the past few decades working for human rights. Her story was never the least bit boring even if you hate tennis. Grade: 8

 

Old Friend From Far Away by Natalie Goldberg – The author has written a number of “how to” books on the craft of writing, and she also teaches writing workshops. Sometimes in the past I complained that some of her books were more like snapshots of her life with a few dashes of writing advice. This one, though, is really really solid. It’s geared towards the art of writing a memoir, and her words practically jump off the page. (Ew. That’s a cliché. Trust me that Goldberg’s writing, unlike mine, is fresh and innovative and absent a single cliche). I think this is one of her best books. Even if you’re writing fanfic instead of memoir. Grade: 8

 

How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee – This is a novel with three main strands to it. There’s the story of Wang Di, a young girl in 1940s Singapore when Japan takes over, there’s Wang Di as an old woman dealing with the loss of her husband, and there’s the story of a teenage boy named Kevin who learns a secret about his family. Only the first storyline was interesting, and the others were a bit of a slog to get through. There’s some beautiful prose in here though, replete with striking metaphors. I need to step up my game in my own writing! Grade: 5

 

Revolution: The Year I Fell In Love and Went to Join the Revolution by Deb Olin Unferth – Damn, this memoir is impressive! As the title implies, the author headed off to Latin America in the late 1980s as several of its countries went through – or almost went through – Communist revolutions. Unferth is about 19 years old, following her political, idealistic boyfriend as they seriously try to “join the revolution”, and both are utterly clueless. It’s a completely hilarious read. And it’s so well-written. Unferth never loses her sense of humor in recounting her foibles, and I LOLed a few times. Grade: 8

 

Over the Edge by Greg Child – This was a page-turning account about four American mountain climbers who were kidnapped in 2000 by terrorists in Kyrgystan. (I double checked the spelling but spell-checker still flags it. Come on, it’s a country in Central Asia!) I read the book in two days as I had to know what happened next, and of course then I went to Wikipedia when the book was finished for any follow-ups. One sexist downside. The author of the book – who is not one of the climbers – makes a weird off-hand comment about the “beautiful Eurasian women” in a nearby city. Sorry what does have to do with like anything?? Grade: 7