Flippy - I Rant, You Read
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Book Reviews - The Beginning of the Journey (updated 5/28/05)
Okay, I’m starting with an oldie from elementary school. It made such a huge impression on me that, to this day, I have Tikki Tikki Tembo’s
whole name memorized. It’s nothing amazing, but it brings back fond memories. Of course, not as fond as Harriet the Spy, which was my favorite kid’s book of all time. I read it so many times that I almost wore the book out. The follow-up, The Long Secret wasn’t as impressive, so I’m not even bothering to link to it. Harriet the Spy was my favorite childhood companion. So, it’s no surprise that I loved the last book I read, Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy by Lindsay Moran. Lindsay Moran is Harvard grad who had a Fulbright scholarship to study in Bulgaria. After that, she decides to sign up for the CIA. The whole process is fascinating, from the tests to get in, the training exercises of losing tails and doing spy stuff in different cities, to her graduation and starting the job. It made me lose complete respect for the CIA, but it was a fun and interesting read and I hope Lindsay Moran writes more books. She’s like an everyday person who’s smarter than most of us, but isn’t obnoxious about it and has a great sense of humor and a thirst for adventure. Easily one of the most interesting books I’ve read in a while.
As you can see by the extended entry, I have a lot of reviews to get caught up on. But the titles are all there to remind me to come back and tell you about them.
Pompeii: A Novel Robert Harris
—It was an interesting read, although I think I would’ve preferred Pompeii: A Documentary. I just love earthquake/volcano/tsunami stuff.
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
—For some reason, I absolutely loved this book. I’ve never been to rehab, never had a drug/alcohol problem, but reading his story was gripping. He seems like he might be a real jerk in person, but he sure can tell a story. When I finished the book, I wanted to know what happened afterwards, as I expected the story to continue at least a couple of years after rehab. It didn’t.
My Friend Leonard by James Frey
—But, to continue the above review...since I was so late in reading A Million Little Pieces, I was only a couple of months from reading My Friend Leonard, which is exactly what I was looking for at the end of the previous book. Even though Leonard was a mafia guy, he seemed like such a decent guy, at least in rehab. I guess he was one of those mob guys who’s great, unless you cross him. I was sad to learn that Leonard died of AIDS years ago.
Dear Exile : The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) Dear Exile : The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) by an Ocean by Hilary Liftin & Kate Montgomery
—An interesting and pretty quick read. I read Hilary Liftin’s Candy & Me and enjoyed it, so I figured I’d enjoy the exchange of letters between her and her best friend, who joined the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps stuff was pretty depressing (teachers beating students in Africa, the poverty, the BUGS & other pests!), but I enjoyed the warmth and friendship between Hilary and Kate Montgomery.
I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies) : True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl by Laurie Notaro
—I LOVED this book. This is her third book, but the it’s the first one I read. I loved it so much, I got the other two that were available. Unfortunately, while better than the average newspaper column, the first and second books weren’t nearly as laugh out loud (seriously, both Leigh-Ann and I were giggling while reading it) funny. I haven’t read her fourth book, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it’s I Love Everybody’s equal.
The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club : True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life by Laurie Notaro
— Good, but not her best.
Autobiography of a Fat Bride : True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood by Laurie Notaro
—Some moments of hilarity, other just average moments. Still, I don’t regret reading any of Laurie Notaro’s books.
All In My Head: An Epic Quest to Cure an Unrelenting, Totally Unreasonable, and Only Slightly Enlightening Headache by Paula Kamen
—Considering that I almost always have a headache (if not a bad one, one lurking in the background, not causing pain, but ready to blossom at any moment), I found this book fascinating. Rarely have I encountered so many “yeah, me too” moments. I’m grateful to Paula Kamen for both writing the book and having such great insurance so she could try all of the treatments that I’ve wondered about. Sadly, it doesn’t look like there’s any miracle cure out there for either one of us, but it’s weirdly nice to not feel alone in pain. It’s also nice to see someone refute the, “It’s your fault because of what you do, think, eat, drink, whatever...” theories. She’s tried everything, and I mean everything, and she’s still in pain.
Singular Intimacies by Danielle Ofri
Ambulance Girl : How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT by Jane Stern
Tropic of Hockey : My Search for the Game in Unlikely Places by Dave Bidini
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason
Spam Kings: The Real Story behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and %*@)# Enlargements by Brian S. McWilliams
Next entry: They're Okay, But...UMC Trauma Center Isn't All That Fun
Previous entry: Fantasy Baseball
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Beginning:
The Story of Ferdinand - if I knew where to get a tattoo of him, I would.
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel - According to my mother she has NO IDEA why I loved this book so much, as I was a girlie girl, but I did.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I read it over and over and over again in elementary school.
Flowers in the Attic - the teen years.
Moving on.... my favorites now are:
Geek Love - Nothing like it.
The Brothers K - which is a book about a family growing up in Washington in the 50’s and 60’s and it’s just.... perfect.
Pearl - by Tabitha King - Stephen King’s wife. She doesn’t write horror like him but her characters are just as goofy. She wrote a bunch of books all in the same town with the same people and I think this and “One on One” are the best books to start with. No longer in print but...you can find a lot used.
dayment on 05/30 at 10:08 AM
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Ah, Geek Love! It’s disturbing and freakish, literally! It’s one of the titles I can pull off the bookshelf to re-read every few years, and I always enjoy it every time.
