Tag Archives: non-fiction

Review: Into Thin Air

Posted on
8

Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read Jon Krakauer’s work when a friend was gracious enough to share a copy of “Into the Wild” with me. I really love his writing style and I almost gave this book a 5. The only reason I didn’t is because I found the number of “characters” a bit daunting. This isn’t his fault as he was trying to recount a very involved real life event. I also felt a bit bad for him that he had to add a section at the end of the book to update an ongoing debate from other participants (and writer’s of other books) in the tragic events in the 1996 Everest climbing attempts. I, however, appreciated that he did do that and I think it would be fascinating to discuss the situation with my students. We want, often, to write about something dear to us, but deciding when – if or how – to publish those details when others are involved is precarious at best.

Krakauer is a skilled writer and I feel he presents himself as “truthfully” as he possibly can given the magnitude of the tragedy that he is writing about. I’d highly recommend this book for anyone.

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Review: Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis

Posted on
4

Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis
Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis by Amy Ferris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up because I heard rave reviews about it on a few different blogs. I will admit there are laugh out loud moments and bittersweet moments which the author weaves together quite well, but I can’t rave about it quite as much as some of the other reviewers. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it; that isn’t to say I wouldn’t recommend it, but I hate to go in saying – THIS WAS THE FUNNIEST BOOK I EVER READ – because it wasn’t. It was, however, worth a read. There are moments where Ferris’ writing is more like a prose poem and I appreciate her easy to read writing style that is filled with honesty – no matter how painful that can be sometimes.

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Review: Two of the Missing: Remembering Sean Flynn and Dana Stone

Posted on
4

Last review for a while as I started a new pile of books! I was also out of Non-fiction so I actually got to order books!!!
Two of the Missing: Remembering Sean Flynn and Dana Stone
Two of the Missing: Remembering Sean Flynn and Dana Stone by Perry Deane Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this memoir after hearing the author speak at the NC Writer’s Conference in July of 2011 in Asheville, NC. It says something for how interesting he was as a speaker that I picked up a memoir about Vietnam – a topic I’ve never read much about even though my father and his brothers served in the Navy during the war.

“Two of the Missing” is a pretty quick read. The memoir recounts the partying and daredevil activities of several reporters/photographers during the war. The author was also over there covering the war, but you don’t really learn a lot about the author. He is more like a fly on the way recounting the escapades of his two friends: one of whom was the son of Errol Flynn.

This mix of memoir verus biography makes this book a little hard to peg and I wondered what kind of review or perspective I could give on a topic that is so far from me. Then I thought: what would it have been like if I had written a memoir when I was quite young (this was originally published in 1975) about my formative years? Would I have also jumped around a bit in the narrative? I think of my first full length book of poetry . . . and yes, we all grow.

“Two of the Missing” makes me want to do a bit more reading about the war. I’d like to pick up a few books written from different perspectives. Suggestions, in any genre, are appreciated :)

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Review: The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie

Posted on
5

The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those almost a 5 star review!

McClure’s writing style, initially, felt a little bit choppy for me. It seemed there were abrupt transitions in the first 20 pages or so, but once I fell in with her style of writing I had a hard time putting the book down.

Also, from a teacherly standpoint, I love her love of colons (the grammar kind).

I don’t think you have to be a fan of the Little House books (or TV show) to find this memoir appealing because it is that – a memoir. The book travels with Wendy (can I call her Wendy now) as she investigates the “real” sites where the Little House books took place.

I, of course, read the Little House books when I was a pre-teen, but I haven’t been back to read them. I don’t think I was quite involved enough (or with the show – although I wanted to be Melissa Gilbert the actress cause she was small and a brunette) that I’d want to track down the sites myself so this saves me from having to do that. In fact, this book had me wondering – is there anything I’ve read, watched, done that I find so enthralling that I’d have to go on this kind of quest?

One of my favorite reflective moments in the book happens towards the end when McClure writes, “Maybe the Little House books have always been a way to “unremember . . . To me unremembering is knowing that something once happened or existed by remembering the things around it or by putting something else in its place.”

Isn’t that what we writers, and avid readers do? Don’t we want to remember something that relates to ourselves or remember something that never happened to us so we can fit better into the world?

Well, that’s what I hope we do :)

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Review: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Posted on
3

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a hard one for me to review as I haven’t been reading a lot of “business world” type books in the last few years as I moved into a more academic world. That being said, I used to read a lot of these.

The point of the book is to point out possibilities for small changes that can make big differences. The authors (brothers) use a lot of examples from the corporate world, but I could see parallels (and some writing topics) that could be pulled into academea.

This is a pretty quick read (as a good business book should be). The only negative I’d really say about this one is that it is a bit of a compilation, which is fully acknowledged in the copious notes. The authors were pulling together a lot of buzz words/topics from around the self-help business industry. I guess that isn’t too different from any “anthologizing.”

Not as strong as say “Freakonomics” but an interesting read.

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And here I said . . .

Posted on
22

No blogging, but I had a ton of great stuff in my email this morning and a little bit of time before office hours so I just had to come over here to share.

  • My publisher let me know that Fat Girl is listed with the selected titles for this week over at SPD (Small Press Distribution). How cool is that?
  • Next up is still with Fat Girl because Grady Harp has reviwed it for Goodreads! This is the first official review. By the way, if you do reviews for anyone (print, online and/or video) let me know because there are still some review copies available.
  • I also found out that I have a poem in Bolts of Silk titled “Having Gone West.” I’ve had this poem for quite some time. It has floated from project to project and is currently in what I call my “Tiger” project.
  • Then how about this for a pleasant surprise? Dorothee Lang decided to repost  I’m on a Boat for blueprint review! If you didn’t read the essay before, stop by and take a read. Then, stay and read some more of the challenge issue. Love blueprint!

Below you will see a short review of the most recent poetry book I finished.

Those of you who have been stopping by to talk about what to do about poem share are SO appreciated. I think I want to do a Friday Writes kind of post where we share work and/or talk about sending our work out. It can serve as a reminder to get out there and write; to join the conversation whether that is with yourself or sending  your writing out into the world.

What do you guys think? Friday and keep doing it the way we have been?

Now – back to work :)



The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve had this on my list for quite a while because I love the notion of verse novels and/or cross genre writing. this is my first exposure to Ondaatje’s work and I’d have to say that even just the afterword about how he came to create the book was worth the price of admission. And, if that doesn’t sell you than the final lines of one poem/story should with “this breaking where red things wade.” Great read.

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Stopping By

Posted on
10

Sorry, I haven’t been by in quite some time. The new school schedule has me a bit busy. I’m hoping once I settle into it a bit more I might be able to come by the blog to chat a bit more often. I have the blog on my calender to work on once a week at the very least. I, however, don’t see the Thursday Poem Share continuing at this time. I could continue to have some poem sharing and chatting, but I would not be able to guarantee that I could take down your poems the next week. Let me know what you think about keeping it going but with that limitation.

I knew that going full time would be a lot more work, but I don’t think I realized just quite home much. I haven’t even had much time for my own writing let alone the marketing life of blogging etc. I know – woe is me – but perhaps I should work on an essay that describes just how different adjuncting is from full-time teaching  . . .

Speaking of essays, I did want to share my last two non-fiction pieces that I am going to self publish. One is titled My Tastebud Shame and the other is The Red House.

I hope that being away from the blog a bit won’t stop you guys from saying hello. I’m on twitter, Facebook, Google plus and email pretty regularly. Drop me a line and let’s all keep in touch! Since I will try to check in once a week, let me know what you’d like to see me discuss. I’m here for you :) Just a little less of the time . . .