book wrap up - March, April & May 2021
Things Iāve Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi
This memoir recounts Nafisi's life growing up in her tumultuous family and her relationship with her parents, focusing more on her mother. There was one insane thing about her work that I found out when I decided to do some research after finishing this book - the reviews. As I mentioned earlier, this is a memoir, as is her most popular work, which contains personal opinions and experiences. Unless it is something written by someone who is extremely vitriolic and hateful (like a Nazi or something), I would have no reason to have an issue with it outside of a technical sense. But this memoir is Nafisiās real life, these are real things that happened to her, and to see people assume things about her (especially her politics and personal life) seems uncalled for. And this is criticism that follows her from Reading Lolita in Tehran (another memoir). It does not pass by me that she is a woman writing in a field primarily dominated by men, in an incredibly nuanced manner. Itās not even like she makes herself seem idealized - she tracks her follies, disappointments, and mistakes just as she does with her parents - and whenever I read comments insulting her intelligence and making assumptions about her politics it is obvious that there are personal gripes involved in their perceptions of her works. This is a phenomenal memoir. How Nafisi connects her life to the classic literature she read growing up and the observations she makes about her parents and herself are insightful and cutting. This does talk about traumatic events in her life so content warning for CSA, religious abuse, talk about death and torture.
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
I wanted to like this. This is historical fiction, which I tend to enjoy. Plus this is Austen-inspired, and I also tend to enjoy Jane Austen retellings/inspired works. But this was not good. Most of the characters were not fleshed out at all, and if you are going to heavily focus on these characters to the point that the reader is in their heads, you need to be able to connect with them. They need to have distinct voices and character arcs, even if it's just a small one. Think of We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry, which is a book with multiple characters that are all distinct and have character arcs, though I think this is down to Barryās book just being better written. I commend Jennerās attempt to try multiple points of view for her first book, but I think it was just too much for her to take on. One thing that bothered me was the inclusion of a gay character, but he barely mattered considering how much he was developed and it seemed like he was shoehorned to have some form of representation. I found it to be over-simplistic in the morality and story in a way that did not help it at all, it was not a character study nor was it The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society it wanted to be. Another small thing that would just bother me was the inclusion of a Hollywood actress in the book. There were small things throughout the book that made her character worsen to me, one was that while she was top box-office she was being pushed out of the industry (literally what studio would toss out their box office stars) and another was that she was acting like a newbie to the industry even though she's apparently been a top star for years. And there were references to "Hollywood stuff" that did not make sense, like a mention of a Gable-Davis-Crawford debacle that is completely fiction - this one gets to me, I think she meant Franchot. This book did not work for me on a personal, technical, or spiritual level. (It did not feed my soul.) Like I said earlier, this is the author's first book, and this is not the worst book Iāve ever read by far - I am willing to give her another chance. CW: sexual harassment, attempted assault, discussion of assault.Ā
A Personal Journal with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies by Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
If there is one thing you can say about Martin Scorsese, itās that he fucking knows his shit. Like, if you try to argue and say that he doesnāt know anything about movies, Iām legally required to call you insane. I think this is a good starter if you are getting into film and film history and are like āoh my god, I donāt know where to start.ā Start with the man who knows movies.
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
This is a very intense book that follows its main character, Martha, throughout her entire life. It opens with the dissolution of her marriage and then goes back into her past to show us why she is the way she is. This book is all about her relationships, to others, to herself, but especially to her mental health/illness. One thing I loved about this book was how easy it was for me to get through despite how it is very Dickensian it is in documenting her life from childhood. And it is a lot that this woman goes through, but it never feels like that. I think Meg Masonās ability to give a character a dry, dark sense of humor is great, it got me through the book and helped me relate to the main character. This is funny but dark, and that works for this book. CW: depictions of abuse, child death, suicidal ideation.
Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stone and Melissa de la Cruz
Listen, I love feeling good emotions and I need it. And this book made me feel all the good emotions. It is a Little Women retelling that focuses on the relationship between Jo and Laurie (naturally) that makes it seem like the book Little Women is an entirely fictional creation that Jo made based upon her own life. This asks what would a relationship between these two characters look like if Jo was more truthful about her feelings and had second-guessed decision to say no. This is a very sweet book. It is one of the few YAās that I have liked in recent years. What was most interesting to me in this book was how they decided to depict Jo and how much of Louisa May Alcott they put into her. They reference Alcottās depression, her suicide attempts, her need to be independent, her frustration with expectations placed upon her, and a few of her quirks. I saw a lot of people not even reading the book and bashing it and it almost made me want to get a Goodreads to give this a good review. This book is fun and sweet, and I think it adds to the text - it looks at Alcottās life, the decisions she made, and why she made them, through the character of Jo.
CinemaĀ ā62: The Greatest Year at the Movies by Stephen Farber and Michael McClellan
This is nonfiction and it looks at the year 1962 and the movies released, both foreign and domestic, in the US and what this year symbolized for 60s America and the film industry. It talks about the importing of huge foreign films from Ray to Kurosawa and how there was a serious market for a while with foreign. It talks about Baby Jane, Walk on the Wild Side, Sweet Bird of Youth, etc. It looks at how sexuality was being depicted (specifically homosexuality), how older female actresses were treated, and it talks about Bosley Crowther who I am unfortunately obsessed with (how this man was given the power he had boggles the mind). This book expects that you know what it is going to talking about, it re-contextualizes the films and their legacies.
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
Cole is a phenomenal writer. I love her prose, her characters are great, her works are always emotionally gripping. My issue was that I was reading something set during the Civil War, and I do think this takes a fascinating look at a black character and her relationship with a white man during this period but itās hard to get past the period. This follows a white man and black woman infiltrating the confederacy to win the civil war, and I think that tells you all you need to know about this book. It is a romance, and it does get real steamy quick. CW: racism? Itās set during the civil war with a black main character, you decide where you can read it or not.
The Times We Had by Marion Davies
This is a transcript of conversation Davies herself had and it documents her life and the life she shared with W.R. Hearst. Fascinating read, insane relationship. My favorite parts were where she was defending her man with her life, like āhe would never hurt an animal, he was so compassionate and gentle.ā
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
If you do not know the plot of Pride and Prejudice, congrats on just being born! Jane Austen truly is the blueprint for all modern romance, and this book is the holy grail. Literally every book that is like āgirl meets boy, they hate each other due to misunderstandings, they fall in loveā is inspired by this book. What stuck me about Pride and Prejudice was how funny it was - there were moments when I belly-laughed while reading this book.
Dietrich & Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives by Karin Wieland
Reading this was a saga for me. This 600+ page biography parallels the lives of Marlene Dietrich, the iconic bisexual antifascist, and Leni Riefenstahl, the propagandist for the Nazi party. Both of these women lived very chaotic lives and seeing the choices they made and why was fascinating. Karin Wieland did meticulous research for this book and it shows - she was able to capture a very real portrait of these two women, warts and all. This was a hard read as it deals with the Nazi party and a lot of the horrors of WW2 as Riefenstahl was a part of Hitlerās inner circle.
Celeste Holm Syndrome by David Lazar
This is a short nonfiction book that takes a look at character actors of classic Hollywood. I, personally, found it interesting and would like to propose marriage to David Lazar.
Memorial by Bryan Washington
The ending of this book will be very decisive for readers. I enjoyed it, though I also love open endings in general. This follows the rocky relationship between two men from both of their perspectives. Something that I loved was the way the two characters view themselves and each other and how these opinions contrast.
Iāll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
A documentation of the investigation Michelle McNamara did on the Golden State killer. This documents his crimes so content warning for rape, murder, violence against women, etc.
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
I should learn to give up on YA romance, it rarely connects with me. This follows itās main character Liz as she decides to run for prom queen so she can get the scholarship prize that comes with the crown. I actually like the main character, but I wish her character development was less centered on the romance and more on her self. And I did not hate the romance, in fact I liked it at first. But the break-apart absolutely did not make sense - the love interest had shown that they were socially aware and, for the lack of a better word, āwokeā that her not understanding why Liz couldn't come out did not make sense. I think the third act of the book is particularly sloppy when it came to story and pacing, it did not feel like it was a mystery unraveling but rather things happening for the sake of drama. Though I did enjoy the resolution at the prom, it was cute. And the moments of friendship were nice.
Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik
Marketed as āthe Muslim Bridget Jones,ā this book follows itās titular main character as she stumbles into writing a book about Muslim dating and marriage while dealing with her tumultuous love life. I think that this book barely scraped by on itās release year, 2015, a year later and I highly doubt it would have been released - Iām shocked that it was published even when it was. My shock mainly has to do with the language and style used in the writing - it felt very early chick lit, very dated at times. Itās hard to put myself into the time period that this book was written in as so much has happened in recent years that is forefront in my mind, but it is hard for me to tell just how progressive and sophisticated the politics of this book are. That said, the politics are not in any way regressive, but it feels weird that a brown Muslim woman would have to have a white man explain what was happening in Palestine to her. What I loved about the book was how vibrant Sofia Khan is as a character, and while I donāt love the ending it still feels true to the character. By the end of the book you get a real feel of her inner life, her good and bad, all of her messiest and vulnerable moments, and that is the best part of the book.
