i reach my mid-twenties and suddenly i'm interested in books about being a mom...biology is a hell of a drug.
this was a very, very honest book, but noi reach my mid-twenties and suddenly i'm interested in books about being a mom...biology is a hell of a drug.
this was a very, very honest book, but not a very reflective one.
i didn't know going into this that it's by the sarah hoover who is married to tom sachs, whose ill-advised job posting for an "executive assistant" involved 24/7 nannying and pooper-scoopering and so on led to his being exposed as a pretty sh*t boss among other things.
i just thought it was by a sarah hoover, a pretty common name, exploring the realities of post-partum depression and pregnancy and childbirth and mothering in a misogynistic society.
i had no awareness that her version of all of the above was that of the 1%, and that there were only about 3 days between nannies when that process didn't involve constant, live-in help.
post-partum depression (and all of the other issues mentioned above) are under-discussed and critical, but there was just no self awareness here. every time i would begin to root for sarah, she'd include another crazy moment of unrecognized privilege: crying over how much she hates the 15 minutes a day she makes herself spend in her baby's company, refusing to go into one of the world's best hospitals where her husband is paying the cost of a fancy hotel for her private room, writing at length about how her sister's horrifically traumatic stillbirth affected her.
this isn't to say that wealth can buy your way out of subjugation or trauma or mental illness, but that an acknowledgment (or god forbid, a single grain of salt) would be nice.
i'm complaining a lot, but i didn't hate reading this book. it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
and i thought all of that before i learned that she repeatedly lied and used her sister's trauma without permission.
bottom line: this is a necessary book. it's just that it shouldn't have been sarah hoover writing it.
i didn't know i needed hanif abdurraqib in my life until i'd read hanif abdurraqib. now i'm like how did i live without hanif abdurraqibi didn't know i needed hanif abdurraqib in my life until i'd read hanif abdurraqib. now i'm like how did i live without hanif abdurraqib...more
i love books about books, and this one did not disappoint.
this is a thoughtful, honest memoir about the power of books over the course of one lovely li love books about books, and this one did not disappoint.
this is a thoughtful, honest memoir about the power of books over the course of one lovely life, and i loved its reflective writing. there were moments its unique structure led to redundancies or inconsistencies, but not enough that it outweighed how wonderful it was to read about the author's life through the lens of the books that changed it.
this is an extremely funny, extremely interesting book. all you have to do to enjoy it is agree to ththis is the type of vibe i bring to the function.
this is an extremely funny, extremely interesting book. all you have to do to enjoy it is agree to the following terms: - youngmi mayer was the most brilliant first grader with the most potential in global history - every person you encounter in life looks "exactly" like a specific public figure - a lot of sweeping declarations and devastating tragedies will be disclosed without an.ounce of decorum.
this sort of former gifted kid rhetoric is fine by me, and i admire a dark sense of humor, so outside of some kinda wack coverage of breastfeeding i had a great time reading this.
the format rocked, i learned a bunch of things, i laughed, i cried (or the reading equivalent of both, so closer to puffing air out of my nose).
i'd never heard of the author before reading this (that's how diehard a memoir fan i am � i don't even need to be aware of the synopsis), but i'm an appreciator of hers now!
bottom line: another win for the only kind of nonfiction i read.
not going to lie, sometimes i decide i want to read books just because i've seen them on people's bookshelves at house parties.not going to lie, sometimes i decide i want to read books just because i've seen them on people's bookshelves at house parties....more
two of my favorite things (memoirs and conversations).
this is a super lovely and unique medium for discussing topics that are pretty well-tread.
in othtwo of my favorite things (memoirs and conversations).
this is a super lovely and unique medium for discussing topics that are pretty well-tread.
in other words, it is both super original (illustrations done by the author of herself and her loved ones and text bubbles of their conversations are interlaid over photos to create a kind of collage-y graphic novel effect) and filled with a lot of things i have heard a lot of times (it is mostly about how to deal with your in-laws who have voted for trump, a discussion i feel i have heard 900,000 times in the last 9 years).
but still, it's loving and thoughtful and the added touch of it being mostly conversations between the author and her son was also unique.
i think if i had read this when it was published, in 2019, i may have liked it more. but instead i'm a little burnt out of the same sort of discourse.
even if this is the best it's been done.
bottom line: i don't know why i'm complaining so much. i liked this! i'm just also running on 3.5 hours of sleep and waiting for a delayed train in an uncomfortable metal seat.
jenny slate's little weirds is one of my favorite books of its genre, if not the very best to ever do it. i suppose literally that genre is "celebrityjenny slate's little weirds is one of my favorite books of its genre, if not the very best to ever do it. i suppose literally that genre is "celebrity memoir" but more accurate would be something like "magical slice of jenny slate's brain that somehow arrived right on page."
she captures her own voice so brilliantly, and it's such a whimsical and wise and wonderful book.
this didn't have the same magic for me â€� maybe because this one is very much a memoir, following slate as she meets her husband and falls in love with him and has a baby.Â
it tries to not be restricted by these moments, being extremely abstract and bouncing around, but that only serves to make it feel even more so.
i would also be remiss not to mention that i think a lot of what's covered here should not be glorified, and not in a quirky fun way. slate has immense insecurities about herself and being worthy of love that never really get addressed, except by the fact that she has decided her husband loves her enough to make up for them. which, as a fellow woman of insecure experience, i can tell you is not true.
also i know that the passage she included as an exchange between herself and a mental health professional was likely exaggerated if not outright fictional, but it was scary anyway.
bottom line: little weirds was so fantastic and fantastical it felt otherworldly. this is very much from this world.
--------------------- tbr review
if one more author i'm obsessed with announces a new book i'm going to explode with joy.
(3.5 / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)...more
and that i love books with recipes. i've genuinely never made one in my life but that doesn't stop me from being likall i'm hearing is found family...
and that i love books with recipes. i've genuinely never made one in my life but that doesn't stop me from being like hell yes every time i see them.
otherwise, this book was not bad, but i don't think it'll be particularly memorable to me.
a weird part of reading memoirs is the feeling that you have to deem someone's life story worthy of telling. i don't like doing that, but i will say that the more traditional nonfiction parts of this, documenting group living in general, felt a lot stronger to me.
because otherwise i don't really know why i was reading this.
my fiance's family shares a heritage, a similar story, and the same favorite dishes as this author and her family, so reading about alli love memoirs.
my fiance's family shares a heritage, a similar story, and the same favorite dishes as this author and her family, so reading about all three was a really lovely way to get to know my future in laws better! this story is packed with emotion, but it felt like sometimes what the author wanted to convey surpassed her writing experience, leaving us with repetitive and showy language.
as an eldest, i found myself sympathizing a lot with this youngest daughter's siblings and her husband. i wish there was more reckoning with the fact that she thought her mourning was the only acceptable kind, and that her loved ones had to deal with a lot as she went through this process and publicly performed their story in multiple ways. there was a lot of emotion and development that i wish extended more to the author, who didn't change much.
but also in spite of all of that, i have a really positive impression of this book and smile whenever i see it in a bookstore. so take everything with a grain of salt.
bottom line: this is a strong debut and i'm excited for more from this author <3
(3.5 / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)...more
is there any better feeling than discovering a book you didn't know about from one of your favorite authors?
all the selin-heads know that the protagonis there any better feeling than discovering a book you didn't know about from one of your favorite authors?
all the selin-heads know that the protagonist of the idiot and either/or bears striking similarity to their author, which makes this book, about elif batuman's postgrad discovery of her love of russian literature, like a fun behind-the-scenes.
it's a lot denser than the selin books, and seems to have less recognition of what is and isn't objectively interesting (which i respect), but generally i find myself enamored with batuman's perception of the world.
reading this because i'm nosynext up on the dinner party book club menu!!!
join us ! discussion on january 16.
---------------------- original review
reading this because i'm nosy...and i have to say, this scratched that itch in the nicest way.
this book is like gossip that starts out a little bit b*tchy, maybe, or at least salacious, but then grows heartfelt and enlightening and makes you like the people around you more.
like all my favorite books!
there were aspects of this that i think were overly simplistic or saccharine, but i think this was just...nice. more than anything else.
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