Other Women's Stories: What I'm reading this week (4/23/18)

Last week I finished:

I have an awful lot of reviewing to do from last week, so I'm going to try to make these short.

When Lab Girl came out, I immediately read an excerpt thinking I'd found a memoir just for me. After reading a bit of it, I felt unsettled (though I can't remember exactly why, it just felt weird) and decided it wasn't going to be a book for me after all. And then it went on to do very well. And when a book does very well, I tend to get around to it eventually (FOMO?). This one was kind of a wild ride. I'd alternate between loving it and wanting to quit it. The book alternates memoir chapters with short chapters discussing trees and how they grow. The writing is superb, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. I also enjoyed the fact that the author grew up close to where I did and held onto her Christian faith even while working in science (biology). I was unsettled, though, by the author's mental illness and family estrangement. Also, her lab mate, while an interesting curveball of a character, was a little too loose-cannon for my comfort. Together, the pair seemed a bit too immature, but they had fun. I just didn't enjoy their teenager-y exploits. So, while I liked some parts of the book, other parts just felt weird. If you have a high tolerance for odd stories, you'll probably like this. And, if you're a science nerd, I think you'll want to read this. My rating: 3 stars.

As you know, I love books about presidents. And I especially adore books about President Reagan. Still, I don't always expect a lot from memoirs by presidential aides, because there are so many ways they can go wrong. They are often too fawning, painting a cloyingly perfect picture of the man they worked for. Just as often, they can feel like self-service brag pieces or a way to relive the glory days when they were important people working for the most important man in the world. It's difficult to straddle the line well. And yet, I devour these books looking for a delicious morsel where it can be found. So when Movie Nights with the Reagans was released, I bought my copy right away. I was concerned that mixing stories of Reagan and the 1980s movies he watched would be gimmicky and kitschy and make for a mediocre book at best, but considering how I love Reagan stories and 1980s movies, I was more than willing to take my chances. I'm happy to say that this book really rose to the challenge. It was absolutely wonderful. All my fears about it being cheesy were met with well-crafted prose that amply weighed the plot of a hit movie (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, etc.) with a corresponding issue from President Reagan's eight-year term (space exploration, Soviet relations, women in the workplace, etc.), and it never felt contrived. Written by Mark Weinberg, Reagan's special advisor and press secretary, who necessarily spent a lot of time with the Reagans, the book tells of weekend movie nights at Camp David, the presidential weekend retreat. A retired actor, Reagan never lost his love of film and sharing stories of his Hollywood career. Weinberg never puts words in Reagan's mouth, though he does quote him and give personal anecdotes that showed who Reagan was as a man. The book was both personal and professional, very well edited, and while Weinberg obviously has nothing but respect for his former boss, he never gets slobbery. I enjoyed every minute of this book, which never felt like a book written to profit on a close relationship with a powerful man. It's just what we need in today's political climate. Whether you're a fan of Reagan or not, this is a wonderful book worth the read. I highly recommend it. My rating: 4.5 stars.

I've always enjoyed Tina Fey's comedy work. Though I don't really follow celebrities' careers, especially comedians, what I've seen of Fey over the years has always struck me as funny and smart. What endeared me to her was her phenomenally funny impression of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. While my politics are undoubtedly more aligned with Palin's than Fey's, I never saw the impression as anything other than a clever spoof by a dead-on lookalike. It never felt particularly mean to me or like it was done in a hateful way. Needless to say, the part of the book where Fey talks about this hugely successful part of her career was my favorite part of the book. But aside from that, this line alone would have been worth the price of admission: My parents raised me that you never ask people about their reproductive plans. "You don't know their situation," my mom would say. I considered it such an impolite question that for years I didn't even ask myself. This line so encapsulates my reproductive situation for the past twenty years or so I laughed out loud when I read (heard) it. Then I replayed it and laughed even harder. I listened to this one on audio because it was read by Fey herself, and I recommend the audio. I only wish this one would have been longer. It was a delight. My rating: 3.5 stars. P.S. That cover has always weirded me out.

I often suffer from irrational anxiety (is there such a thing as rational anxiety?), and it is getting to the point where I feel I need to work harder at meeting the claim and eradicating it. Since I use God as my only physician, it's natural for me to turn to prayer and Truth to solve this problem. But I've been lazy about doing that consistently. Enter Max Lucado's Anxious for Nothing. I'd been kicking around the idea of reading this book for awhile, but I was held back by the feeling that I didn't want even more to deal with by reading a book that gives a personal view of scripture rather than a spiritual one. Still, I felt led to buy it on a Kindle sale and give it a couple pages. If it made me uncomfortable, I'd abandon it. And if it helped, it helped. I'm happy to report that it helped. It really helped. Lucado uses scripture, the common ground for all Christians, and not a lot of personal interpretation, where Christian beliefs diverge, to show his readers a way out of anxiety. It's a relentlessly positive book, and not positive in a fluffy way. There's no judgment or shame or guilt, which would have made me put the book down right away. It's not preachy, and it's not decidedly denominational. As a pastor, he is used to using good analogies to drive the simple points home. I got a lot out of this book, and I plan to buy a hard copy for future reference. I recommend this book to anyone dealing with anxiety who wants to heal it using a Christian perspective. My rating: 4 stars.

It's really hard to write reviews for books in a series. It's sometimes impossible to talk about them without giving spoilers or discussing previous books of the series in length. So I'm going to keep this short. Princess Elizabeth's Spy is the second book in the Maggie Hope mystery series. Both it and the first book in the series follow math whiz and spy-wannabe, Maggie Hope, through her close brushes with danger as she serves as Prime Minister Winston Churchill's secretary (book 1) and Princess Elizabeth's "maths" tutor (book 2). There's murder and danger and everything comes out right in the end. Through the books is a secondary plot involving Maggie finding out what happened to her mother--said to have died when Maggie was small--that took a big leap forward in this book. I listened to both on audio, though if I continue with the series, I might switch to paper as I find the audios a bit grating on my nerves. These are exciting books, and aside from the murders (never grizzly) and occasional foul language (unnecessary), rather fun. My rating: 3 stars.

Poetry confession: I own at least four of Roger Housden "Ten Poems..." books. They all have touchy-feely titles like Ten Poems to Change Your Life and Ten Poems to Open Your Heart. His latest book in the series is Ten Poems for Difficult Times. While the titles are almost unforgivable, the books themselves are often very good. Housden obviously has a love for poetry, reads it widely, and encourages close, personal relationships with individual poems. The books combine ten well-chosen poems with Housden's personal reflections on the poems' content. They're never as touchy-feely as the titles, but they often get emotional (what is poetry without emotion?), and sometimes self-serving. And they sometimes become places for Housden to lament the current state of things and give jabs at Republican presidents while they're in office. He is obviously quite liberal and assumes his readers are, too, which is just stupid. At one point in this book he recalls the 2016 election results as something that distressed everyone, and I just had to roll my eyes. But I'm used to this shortsighted and politic-centric view of America amongst poetry pontificators. I don't know why Housden thinks harboring resentment helps you through difficult times, but there you go. Aside from the moments of Self-awareness-with-a-capital-S, that make one wince, the book was enjoyable enough. I didn't fall in love with any of the poems, but that never bothers me. Try these books if anthologies leave you cold, and you're looking for a hand-chosen set of poems that encourage some interaction with the poems. It's what the books do best. My rating: 3 stars.

Last week I abandoned:

There was a lot of buzz in some circles for 12 Rules for Life, and I was very excited to read it, but after one 28-page chapter (which followed 30 pages of introductory material), I bailed. I want the information in the book, but it's too much of a slog getting it. It's not a bad book, it's just loftier than a pleasure read. (P.S. Dana Perino agrees with me!)

This week I'll finish: