Last week I finished
I was excited to read Geraldo Rivera's new memoir, The Geraldo Show, so I moved it up my April reading list to get to it ASAP. I grew up with Geraldo, who's been in the entertainment and news business for nearly 50 years. I remember him opening Al Capone's (empty) vault, and I remember the time a guest on his talk show broke his nose with a folding chair. But in the last 20 years or so, it seemed he had grown up a bit and was interested in being a part of the hard news business. He spent many years at ABC and CNBC before coming to Fox News after the 9/11 attacks to cover the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While in Afghanistan, he reported on friendly fire at his location, though the Department of Defense could not corroborate those claims, and the controversy nearly ended his news career. His war reporting and the controversy takes up much of his book, while his other work, both before and after, is skimmed over. I really wish there had been a subtitle to this book alerting the reader that the book covered mostly his war correspondence, because I likely would not have picked it up. But, Geraldo also gives the dirt about the sexual harassment scandals at FNC and discusses how much he supports President Trump though he seems not to agree on him in any substantive way. It would seem he wants his loyalty to the president on record for some reason, one can only guess. As I said, I thought Geraldo had matured a bit out of the bombastic playboy persona he's always put forth, but this book it proof that even men pushing 75 can be children. Judging from this book, the man has never done anything controversial, dangerous, or sexy that he has not reported on. It was all here in the book, including the drunken naked picture tweet of himself on his 70th birthday (with towel strategically placed). The whole thing kind of sickened me. I'm not recommending this one unless you're a big Geraldo fan, in which case, you likely know what to expect. My rating: 2.5 stars.
Last fall I read Ann Hood's Morningstar, about the books that shaped her life. I enjoyed it and the writing and decided to try one of her novels. I chose The Obituary Writer. The plot alternates between two women's stories. Vivien is an obituary writer in the early 1900s whose married lover, David, goes to work the morning of the San Francisco earthquake never to return. Still, she does not give up hope of finding him. Claire lives with her husband and young daughter in the 1960s suburbs of Washington, D.C., a homemaker who has an affair with a married man and becomes pregnant, though we're not certain of which man is the father for some time. The two women come together in a not unsurprising way. It's a novel about moving on, and although it's a bit farfetched, it's not poorly written. I listened to this on audio, narrated by Tavia Gilbert, whom I've run into before (she did Be Frank with Me, for one). I don't love her narration. I may have done better with this one in paper because switches in time tend to trip me up in audio. Overall, it wasn't a bad book, but I do prefer more subtlety in plot and characters (the overbearing husband is too overbearing, the whiney child is too whiney, etc.) and I'm not big on books about adultery unless the characters regret their decisions and show moral growth, which neither of the characters here do. In fact, it would seem Hood is giving them reasons or excuses to justify the infidelity ("the husband really is a jerk, so it's okay"). Blech. My rating: 3 stars.
I'm a huge fan of Mary Oliver's poetry. She's an absolute wonder. She is blessed with the knowledge of the absolute importance of observation to a full and creative life. One cannot be a good writer, and certainly not poet, without being a tireless observer of the world around her and a desire to broadcast awe. Oliver is best known for her observation and deep love of the natural world, especially animals. Upstream is a collection of essays on various topics she's published over the years. The topics range from natural observation to deeply academic pieces on the lives of poets and writers. About three-quarters of the book did not interest me in the least, and the essays on poets and writers were such a slog I ended up skimming them. I almost never skim. But the pieces on animals, especially observing a mother spider and her egg sacks, taking in an injured gull, and taking in a dog who loves to run away, were wonderful. They made up for the others. So the experience felt very uneven. If you love Oliver, I think you'll like this collection, though you may find that you like some pieces more than others. My rating: 3 stars. P.S. I have to say that the cover of this book alone made me want to read it. Isn't that beautiful?
When the audiobook I'd originally planned to end the month listening to was no longer available, I scrambled for something of equal length and decided on Canada by Mike Myers. Yes, that Mike Myers. I figured this was a good way to learn about Canada in an entertaining way, and I was correct. Part memoir and part ode to Canada, this is Myers' way of telling us what his home country means to him. Raised in Canada by English expatriates loyal to England's (in their mind) superiority, Myers and his brothers grew up as working-class kids near Toronto. He tells us about deciding on comedy and working his way up the comedic ropes in Canada, England, and America, where his career took off due in part to Saturday Night Live and his fabulously well-received Wayne's World skit. Myers covers the important points about Canada: its culture, sports (hockey), cuisine (or lack thereof, in the case of Canada), politics, unique speech patterns, and how the citizens see themselves and their country. He makes the point that Canada seems to lack a mission statement, and furthermore, it seems not to care that it does. Canada doesn't seem to have "Canada-ness," it doesn't have much to set it apart nor much gumption to forge an identity in the world. It's America-lite. And you might say its number one export is great comedians. These things are what bothers Myers about his home country, and partly why he lives in America now. Here, Myers puts forth a thoughtful book, one worth your time if you're interested in him or Canada. Also, he narrates the audio version. My rating: 3 stars. 
I made a goal to read three books of poetry in April, since it's National Poetry Month, and my third selection was a re-read from the late 1990s, Bob Hicok's Plus Shipping. I read this when it came out in 1998, and it was one of my favorite books at that time. I'm happy to say that it stood the test of time for me. Hicok writes approachable poems, yet he makes you work for them. He loves to play slyly with ideas and often sets things spinning on their ears. Some of my very favorite poems are from this book: "Over Coffee", "Choosing My Conception", and "Other Lives and Dimensions and Finally a Love Poem". I heartily recommend this book to those interested in poets you don't run into every day. My rating: 3.5 stars.
Last week I began:
And now I'm on to my yearly Jane Austen re-read. This year: Pride and Prejudice.
As well as...
I'm reading Inside Camp David on Kindle and White Houses and Devotions in hardcover. I'm enjoying all of them so far.
My audiobook:
I'm listening to the fifth in the Mitford series, A New Song. And other than CD number 1 skipping a dozen times (UGH!), I'm loving the return to Mitford.
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