Tag Archives: non-fiction

Reviews

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It’s that time again: reading round up.

I actually finished two books on the Kindle recently. Even though I didn’t feel I had much time to read somehow having an e-reader can make the time fly by. I finished Mary Roach’s Bonk which was another fun scientific read and the fantastic memoir Talk Thai. I high recommend that one! The only real drawback I’m having with the kindle is sometimes I take notes while reading – like I do on paper – but I forget about them.

I also finished up some lit mags include an issue of Poetry East which I was thrilled to be in. I found a lot of new poets to admire. I added Susan Blackwell Ramsey’s book to my Amazon wishlist, for example. I also finished an issue of Smartish Pace. I’ve been a fan of SP for a while. I’ve submitted several times and I even had “ink” from them one year. This was the first year I subscribed and at first I wasn’t sure I was enjoying the issue, but the further I got into it the more poems I found making me go – AH! I was pleased to see James Cihlar, who worked for a while with “Referential,” in the pages. His poem even inspired – in part – the poem I hope to post tomorrow for discussion. And my office mate Jenny Beaver has a terrific poem in the current issue of Silent Revelations.

Oh wait! More lit mags. Great stuff – as always – in Hippocampus Magazine and I found another awesome poem to love in decomP. And, finally, how about this poem by M. Scott Douglass in “Redheaded Stepchild”? I’ve heard it at several open mics but glad to see he found a home for it. Well, one more, not just for Teachers.

On the paper side of things I finished two: Men Who Understand Girls a fiction chapbook from Folded Word Press an the YA novel Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson. The former is intriguing although I found myself wanting a bit more clarify with the really super short pieces. The longer pieces engaged me a bit more. The latter was a pretty solid read. I’ve read a lot of Maureen’s work and this isn’t my favorite, but not bad. It takes a fairly typical story of a girl who hasn’t been kissed and puts her in a very unusual scenario to solve that problem. The oddest thing about the book, for me, was that it was written in a limited 3rd person. I’d love to ask Maureen why she decided to do that. I kept thinking it was in 1st person so I’d get thrown off from time to time. Still a solid – what you might call – beach read.

What have you guys been reading? I’m also reading student evaluations of my classes right now . . . Will this end well?

:)

Review: Dog Years

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One thing I didn’t mention in the Goodreads version of this review is how much pets are on my mind right now as I have a 13 year old cat with some health issues right now. We have had to put one cat to sleep for congestive heart failure and one died on us because the vet (not our vet now) didn’t catch that he had cancer. Making the decision with a life is difficult and I do appreciate how Doty speaks about being stewards of both ends of our pets lives.

Dog Years
Dog Years by Mark Doty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first piece of non-fiction that I’ve read by Mark Doty, but I was already familiar with his poetry. This memoir – of course – has a very poetic feel to it which is a good skill to have when reflecting on loss through the passing of pets and partners. Doty risks sentimentality and, I think, largely succeeds at being open without being overly sappy about doing with grief at those who pass on before us.

This was another book I read via my Kindle and it read well that way. The chapters are short enough to make reading the book in spurts effective and enjoyable even given the somewhat sad subject matter.

Definitely worth a read, especially for anyone who wishes to empathize/share in reflecting on loss and recovery.

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Review: Into Thin Air

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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