Other Women's Stories: What I'm reading this week (12/3/18)

What I finished last week:

It's been awhile since I've enjoyed an Anne Lamott book as much as Almost Everything. While I've read all of her nonfiction, several of her last books have been too political and downright hateful for me, so I went into this one with my shields up. About halfway through, I realized she's changed not her position on things--she's still very, very liberal--but her outlook and her unwillingness to sling mud for catharsis or laughs. She did not mention President Trump by name once in the book, and when she obviously referred to him, she didn't get nastily personal and take potshots (yes, I know...as he often does). It was heartwarming to see that we can all grow, even grandma-shaped women, and become better people for each other. It challenged me to find those areas in my own life where growth was needed, because I'm not "too old" to change. This book contained essays on hope, hate, writing, recovery, family, friends, and faith, in short, "almost everything." Like her other work, the writing is strong, meandering, humorous, wise, and hopeful. The tone was much friendlier than recent work (perhaps because she's in love? :) ), and I enjoyed every page. My rating: 4 stars.

After the second Maggie Hope mystery, I'd decided I probably wasn't going to continue with the series. While I sort of enjoyed the books, they aren't really the kind of book I love, mostly due to the writing. But I was looking for something kind of light to listen to this month, and I decided to give the third book, His Majesty's Hope, a try, and it ended up being my favorite of the series so far. In this one, our redheaded heroine-spy, Maggie, is sent on a mission into Nazi Germany, but while completing her work, she stumbles upon the secret extermination of groups of people the Nazi regime deems undesirable to the gene pool. Maggie teams up with Clara Hess's daughter (there's a plot twist there that I won't reveal) to bring information of these so-called mercy killings to authorities who will reveal them to the German citizenry, but such a plan is not without peril. I think I enjoyed the subject of this book more than the others, but I was troubled by such a horrible topic being dealt with in a simple way, as a plot device. Maybe I prefer certain topics to be dealt with in nonfiction, unless it will be dealt with in a hard-hitting way. Still, a "fun" read. My rating: 3.5 stars.

I struggled with Robert Hass's Time and Materials. Hass is a poet who has written two of the poems I'd rank in my top ten favorite poems of all time. But he's also guilty of writing some of the most esoteric and pedantic poems I've ever read. There were both kinds in this collection, more of the later than the former, though. I don't have a lot to say beyond that. I'm a little surprised I finished it, but it was a short book. My rating: 3 stars.

A Prickly Problem is the fourth in the Calpurnia Tate Girl Vet series. I've reviewed the others, Skunked, Counting Sheep, and Who Gives a Hoot? on the blog. While I don't enjoy this chapter book series as much as the full-length Calpurnia Tate books, they're still good. Chapter books aren't really my sweet spot for reading, and I find it hard to evaluate them. They all seem too simple to me, and I can't tell if what I'm reading is mediocre or if I need a different set of standards for chapter books. In this one, the family dog has a run-in with a porcupine which leaves him with a muzzle full of quills. And then...it happens again. That's the extent of the plot. Maybe that's enough for a grade-schooler? I don't really know, but it wasn't really enough for me. Not to mention I had unanswered questions about porcupines and their quills. I really hadn't thought about a porcupine since I was a kid. I knew they used their quills for protection, but do they shoot them? Or does the predator have to get close enough for the porcupine to somehow release them into the animal? In the book, it says the quills go deeper and deeper into the animal which can cause death. I didn't know they could be fatal. Are they poisonous or do they eventually work themselves into the animal so far they puncture blood vessels, organs, the lungs? I was fascinated and wanted more information, but the book didn't provide much. Maybe a kid would like it, but it left me wanting more. My rating: 3 stars.

P.S. There's another one coming out in April about squirrels.

This week I'll finish: