In the last two weeks I've finished:
I love a good Bill Bryson book, but I definitely like some more than others. When I heard last year he had a book coming out soon, I was ecstatic. But as someone who doesn't use doctors or medicine, the topic, The Body, held very little interest. I debated whether it would be most prudent to just skip this one, but I soon realized I couldn't. This is Bryson at his best. Although I did not enjoy the subject matter, I will always enjoy Bryson's exhaustive approach to huge topics, his obviously love for the minutiae of life, and his humor. All were present in spades here. Three things to note, though: first, he is writing as an Englishman, so all measurement are metric and all prices are British; second, he talks perhaps more about diseases and ailments of the body than the actual parts of the body, though he does cover those too; and third, he loves to be a debunker of previous knowledge, and since you can find a doctor or researcher for every postulation, it's sort of unsettling the zeal he seems to have in being contrary. But all in all, though I wish the book had been about something else, I thought it was very well done. I listened to this on audio, narrated by Bryson, which was very good. My rating: 4 stars.
I remember writing a bit ago how excited I was to read Brian Kilmeade's newest American history book, Sam Houston & the Alamo Avengers. Since I don't, ironically, remember the Alamo or why we were fighting there, I was excited for the refresher. Kilmeade's books are wonderful little refreshers for those of us who are a couple of decades removed from their high school history classes. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of listening to this one as I did Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates (read my review here), and I likely will for another of his books in the future. I did much better with his George Washington's Secret Six (my review here), when I read it in paper. But if I'm sitting down to read them, Kilmeade's book topics just aren't interesting enough for me to choose over something else on my TBR. Part of the trouble I have with the audiobooks is that they're narrated by the author, and although I enjoy his voice and his east coast accent, he speaks much too quickly and much to excitedly for me to take in the story; I get distracted by the presentation. He also loves action and adrenaline-pumped scenes. His audio books always kind of sound like he's calling an MMA match instead of narrating history. So, the experience of listening to his books is not ideal for me, although it might be for some. If you're looking for a relatively short book about Sam Houston's loss at the Alamo and subsequent victory in securing Texas as American territory, you won't really be disappointed. Just be forewarned about the audio. My rating: 3 stars.
I first read Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl the winter of my junior year of college. I had to return to the dorms early in order to work, so the place was eerily quiet and terribly lonely. I don't know what possessed me to read this book then, but I distinctly remember cozying into my bunk and reading with rapt attention. And I remember the disconcerting way the book just ended. Never has a book, before that or since, left me in such despair. I don't think I've ever felt so alone in all my life as I did when I finished the last entry. The reader, of course, knows how the story of Anne's life ends, though at the time, I was likely unaware of the extent of her suffering. It was a very moving and monumental reading experience, one that stuck with me for twenty years. For Cybils judging, I read Miep and the Most Famous Diary, and it made me want to return to Anne Frank's diary and see how her words would affect me now. This time through, I found Anne wonderfully precocious and insightful, though I also found her terribly judgmental and blunt, especially about her mother, whom she doesn't seem to love. The practical entries about how the eight people (Anne, her parents, her sister, Mr. & Mrs. van Daan and their son Peter [she changed their names in her diary], and a dentist who joins them later), lived, what they ate, who was fighting with whom (someone was always feuding with someone else) were my favorites. Her romantic entries, though true to a thirteen- to fifteen-year-old, were my least favorite. Knowing what happened to Anne and her family (in fact, her father was the only one of the eight in hiding who survived the concentration camps), every word vibrates with extra meaning and feeling to the reader. It was an emotionally wrought reading experience for me. I was struck by just how much the Frank family knew about the concentration camps and the extermination of Jews. It was my understanding that this information didn't reach the public consciousness until years after the war ended (although the soldiers who liberated the camps certainly brought the stories home with them). I was also struck by the matter-of-factness Anne has for the subject of her own death. She seems to harbor no illusions that she may not make it out of the annex alive. Either the food may give out or they might be found out before the war ends. This book is a remarkable reading experience, and it drives home what a pointless thing hate is. There has been speculation over the years since it was published that the diary was not real, and considering the insight and skill with which it was written--skill I've certainly never seen in a writer that young--I suppose it's possible. But to me, it doesn't matter. The book is so important in so many ways and on so many levels, that it could have been made out of whole cloth, and it simply wouldn't matter. It you haven't read this book, give it a try. My rating: 4.5 stars.
Some of my favorite reading experiences have been Fredrik Backman's books, and I've read everything he's written that's been translated into English. I have my favorites, though (see my reviews of Beartown and Us Against You), and some of his shorter works I haven't cared much for at all. I knew Things My Son Needs to Know about the World could be a slam dunk of depth and fatherly wisdom, or a puff piece full of sentimentality, or anywhere in between. I did not expect, however, a rather limp standup routine with obvious gags about poop and how much better mommy is than daddy. I listened to this on audio, and while it was entertaining, it had very little depth and wasn't terribly funny. I was disappointed, and I'm glad I didn't buy a copy for myself. If you like Backman, you'll likely have to read this one (it's short), but don't let this be the place you start with his work. He can do so much better. My rating: 3 stars. 
I've pretty much had it up to here with books about women "persisting." My goodness, you'd think women were the most persecuted "minority" on earth the way we first-world women carry on. On the other hand, I love a good story about a woman who, by the very virtue of who she was and the talents she possessed, changed the world. I spend a great deal of my life immersed in politics, and I love to read about female political and governmental figures who stood up and made a difference. I don't care what side of the aisle they're on, either. We no longer seem able to disagree with someone's ideology without being labeled haters. How did we get here? Is that was the suffragettes intended? Certainly not. Enter the children's book Leading the Way, co-written by Senator Janet Howell and her daughter-in-law Theresa Howell. In this wonderful book, readers are presented with 50 American women who changed their world through politics, from Senators and Congresswomen to mayors and governors to ambassadors and cabinet members and Supreme Court justices. The book covers some of the biggest female names in American politics, past and present. You'll see both parties presented, though never do the authors give political affiliation. I found this astounding, and it's what made me love the book. After all, we are more than our political affiliations. Women covered in the book include: Madeleine Albright, Hilary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Condoleezza Rice, Sonia Sotomayor, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Dole, Nikki Haley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Elizabeth Warren, Ruth Bader Ginzburg, and Sandra Day O'Connor. It's a very up-to-date and tremendously fair collection. I recommend this one for kids aged 10-14, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as an adult. My rating: 4 stars.
Last week I abandoned:
I tried with this one, I really did. I got 90 pages in, which isn't a lot less than halfway, and I expected to slog through the rest, but I decided the winter was too short to finish something I just wasn't enjoying. Touched by the Sun is (supposedly) Carly Simon's story of her friendship with Jackie Kennedy Onassis. It's really more about Carly Simon's love of talking about herself. Either there was little depth to their friendship or they didn't know each other well or they seldom interacted, or perhaps Simon is just a poor judge of what the book should have focused on, but this one was kind of insufferable. I think Simon fancies herself a capital-A Artist, but perhaps her musical talent does not translate to writing. There were no insights into Jackie here that you could not get from any good biography of her. What was presented was so thin, there was not enough for a whole book.
I'm currently reading:
I'm letting it take me along, but it is a long, slow read. Not unenjoyable, but long. And slow.
I'm also reading:
I picked up 1,000 Books to Read before You Die on a whim, figuring I'd read a couple of pages and then read what I was supposed to be reading, and I got hooked. Now it's all I want to be reading. It's wonderful. It's also 900 pages long.
Likewise the new Pioneer Woman cookbook. Wonderful.
My next audiobook:
It's about time I get around to this one.
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