Giver of Stars

Books and strong women and sex will save your life.

That's the underlying message in Jojo Moyes' The Giver of Stars.

I mean, it's a little more than that, but that's a heck of a lesson to learn.

What a beautiful book.

I think if I read just the description, I wouldn't have read it. Set in Kentucky in the 1930's, Giver of Stars is based on the true story of the packhorse libraries, who would bring books and magazines to rural areas. I'm not a huge fan of novels set in that time period and I think I would have ignored this book altogether. But, a woman whose opinion I respect very much said I HAD to read it and the "hold" list at the library was long. So, when it finally came in, I was excited to get started.

It started slow for me, in fact. Again, I'm just not into that time period all that much and probably wasn't in the right frame of mind when I started. But, once I got a few chapters in, I fell in love with the strong women and their stories. It swept me away after that.

The packhorse librarians in this story are misfits. An English woman who married an American man and changed her whole life, Alice is the primary character. The other women who decide to take on the task of riding through rugged terrain to bring books to the rural areas are strong, independent and totally misunderstood by the people - especially the men - around them. They learn to find strength in that and each other.

Alice is in a loveless marriage with a man that won't touch her. When she tries to engage, she's treated like a whore. And her father-in-law who sleeps in the next room over turns out to be a man of incredible evil who won't tolerate her disobedience in his home. She's an outcast in her home and in her marriage - and, feels like an outcast in her new country. Only the librarians and the people to whom she delivers books make her realize she could be something more.

Margery is the leader of the librarians and a total badass woman who refuses to get married because of the violence she saw in her own home growing up. Not only does she bring books to the people, she also secretly educates them about their rights in an area being swallowed up by mines. Her efforts are unwanted and she's seen as a bad influence. When she and the others start quietly distributing a book that tells women about sex, the whole damn thing nearly blows up in their face.

It's a story about friendship, the power of human connection, what builds a community, and the women who helped shape so many parts of this country, but had to risk so much to do it. It's beautiful and sweet and hard at times. But, it's empowering and uplifting as well.

Accidental Presidents

You know how on Cheers, Cliff Clavin is a know-it-all mailman? That's me, after reading this book. Except the mailman part. Accidental Presidents has me walking around trying to spark conversations about little-known vice presidential history and I couldn't be happier about it!

(Note: for you youngsters, get a taste of Clavin)

This is totally not a book I would have expected to read. I'm not a huge reader of historical non-fiction and who cares about vice presidents anyway? That changed when I heard the author Jared Cohen on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast (which you should totally be listening to, by the way.) Cohen was incredibly enthusiastic and entertaining when sharing tidbits from his book - and that's even before he got to the part about he collects locks of presidential hair! That last part is not in the book, but it's amazing and you should listen to the podcast just for that.

Anyway, once I heard that podcast, I immediately put this book on hold at the library. It was intimidatingly large at first (that's NOT what she said...) - but, a good chunk of the book is footnotes and an index, so don't be afraid.

Guys. This book. OUR COUNTRY! The next time someone tells you "politics has never been more corrupt" call me and I'll Cliff Clavin them straight.

This book is about the accidental presidents. Those are the guys who never wanted to be president but became president when the other guy on the ticket died in office. You know about some of them, but you probably don't know much. And, I'm guessing you probably didn't know that America had no real plan for succession until the 25th Amendment in 1967!!! All the guys before, they were just kind of winging it. And, that's the least crazy thing you learn in this book.

A couple of factoids, if I may:
-William Henry Harrison probably died because of a buildup of human excrement in a marsh near the White House
-Zachary Taylor died because he was really hot the day he laid the cornerstone for the Washington Monument and he ate a bunch of cherries and green apples and ice milk. Again, the open sewers played a role here.
-Teddy Roosevelt was once shot in the chest during a speech in Milwaukee and finished the speech!
-Warren G Harding's whole cabinet was a hot mess
-29 years before he shot Abe Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth's dad wrote letters threatening to kill Andrew Jackson!

That's just a tip of the iceberg! I could Clavin you ALL DAY on this.

As you probably noticed, I loved this book. Not just for those factoids, but for a broader sense of the strangeness of the American presidency. Most of these guys didn't like each other. Some barely KNEW each other. For most of history, the VP candidate was chosen by the party, so he was often at the far other end of the political spectrum in order to appeal to more voters. Harry Truman was completely shut out until the day FDR died and somehow, they had to just "catch him up" on our involvement in a world war!

It's fascinating, entertaining and wonderfully written. I'm also convinced that I'm going to tear it up next time there's a "Vice Presidents" category on Jeopardy. Pair that with my Women in the Bible knowledge from my sophomore college theology class, I might give Ken Jennings a run for his money!

Probably couldn't beat this guy, though.

Nothing to See Here

A couple hundred years ago, poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote about the "willing suspension of disbelief." I'm going to paraphrase him a little bit here (what's he going to do about it - he's been dead for 186 years?) Basically, it's the idea that you have to set aside some of the improbable in order to enjoy poetry and works of fiction.

Ya need ol' Sammy C. to enjoy this book, but once you employ this principle, you'll fall in love.

Stay with me here...

Two old friends are living very different lives. Lilian is still in the town she grew up in, living in her mom's attic and working a dead-end job. On the flip side, Madison is living in an estate with her senator husband whose about to be nominated to be the Secretary of State. They've kept in touch, though superficially, and harbor a past that slowly comes to light throughout the book. When Madison writes Lilian and says she has a job for her to do, Lilian realizes she has nothing to lose and heads over.

When she arrives, Lilian finds she's being asked to serve a very important role: care for the senator's children from another marriage who just happen to spontaneously combust when they become agitated.

Yes. The children burst into flames.

It doesn't hurt them, but it's hella weird and obviously could cause some serious issues in the old secretary of state vetting process. So, Lilian takes on the task and finds herself in deep very quickly.

See why I said you have to suspend the disbelief?

I don't know if it's the way the characters are developed or just the way Kevin Wilson writes, but I could not put this down. I finished this in one day and immediately tracked down all the other books he's written. I know for sure it will be one of the best books I read this year.

It's a book about friendship, about risk, about what we try to hide and what makes us us. And, deep in this improbable tale is a lesson that either you embrace what makes you - and, your kids - different, or you let it burn you down.

Dear Girls

Love, love, love Ali Wong. She's hilarious and irreverent and, despite what she tells you in the forward of this book, really smart. This book is delicious and hilarious and, more than once, I had to stop reading in bed because I was laughing so hard and loud that the bed was shaking and I was waking up my sleeping husband.

This book made me full-on Snoopy laugh. (In case that doesn't mean anything to you, see below. Also, you're very young.)

Most people who know Ali Wong either know her from the Netflix movie Always Be My Maybe (which, for some reason, my 11-year old son has watched 10+ times), or they know her from her comedy specials, in which she is very funny - and very pregnant. This book is an extension of those comedy specials in a couple of ways: first, because she continues with that irreverent brand of honest humor; but also because the book is a series of lessons she's writing for those girls she was carrying in those comedy specials.

The way she writes - the things she writes about - most of us would probably never want to read about our own mothers. She's honest about her body and sex and the mistakes she made en route to where she is now. She writes about traveling the world and what she learned about herself through other cultures. She writes a lot about family - and a lot about sex. It can be raunchy, but there's something about her delivery that somehow also makes it sweet.

Speaking of sweet... After laughing hysterically (Snoopy-style) for much of this book, I ended the book in tears. While 99 percent of it is Ali writing to her daughters, it ends with her husband adding a chapter of his own. He talks about how they met, what attracted him to her and how he gave up a really successful career to support hers. It's sweet and tender and the perfect ending to a really fantastic book.

Verity

I'll tell you a little story. Many years ago, I went to see the movie The Sixth Sense. It had been out for a few weeks and kept hearing over and over, "you're not going to BELIEVE the ending."

I took that as a challenge.

About 10 minutes into the movie, I whispered to my then-boyfriend (now-husband), "I think he's dead."

Yep.

I called it.

For the rest of the movie, I watched it through that lens. So, when the BIG REVEAL happened... I was like, "duh."

Why am I telling you this? Because that's pretty close to what happened to me with this book.

I can't remember where I read it, but I saw a review that said I absolutely needed to read this book. I had never heard of the author, but heard from people who were big fans of her writing. I worried it might be a reductive thriller, but I figured I might as well give it a shot.

The writing immediately was easy to read. Conversational, direct, etc. The plot itself is fascinating, too. A little-known author is asked to finish a series written by a prolific author named Verity. She's been in an accident, but few details have been released. A huge sum of money convinces her to give it a shot and she essentially moves into the family's home while she catches up on the previous books and prepares to write.

What she finds is an autobiography that reveals shocking, horrifying details no mother would ever want public. The details are about her own life and also the tragic deaths of the family's twin girls. She also finds Verity in a catatonic state.

Throughout the book, there is an extreme emphasis on the narrator's growing attraction to Verity's husband. In all aspects, he's portrayed as the perfect husband and father and Verity is depicted as the "crazy one." You can see where this is going... basically.

While there were times I found myself enthralled with this book, overall, it left me unsatisfied. The "twist" at the end insists upon itself. It goes on longer than necessary and leaves too many plot threads hanging.

I see why people would like it as an escapist novel. But, as a "good read"? Nah, not for me.

Catch and Kill

Let me get this out of the way right now: I'm in AWE of Ronan Farrow and his reporting. The lengths he went to, the risks he took, the sources he developed and the courage to battle a network... Truly inspiring, especially as a journalist.

I love his podcast, too, of the same name. Great interviews, really interesting insight.

That said, I didn't love this book.

I loved the idea of it and the intrigue, but at times, it just felt tedious.

Let me explain.

Farrow's reporting, if you didn't know, helped expose the Harvey Weinstein case. It brought into the light a Hollywood secret that had been buried for years. Women were terrified to speak out against one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. And when you hear their stories - because Farrow helped bring them to light - it's even more scary, the power and control he had over not only these women, but the message as well. This man went to incredible lengths to protect his image, even hiring spies and making threats to the heads of networks.

Almost as disturbing was what happened to that reporting when Farrow brought it to his bosses at NBC. Despite carefully vetted sourcing and documentation AND women willing to go on the record, NBC tried to kill the story. Farrow simply didn't give up, eventually walking the story over to the New Yorker, which fact-checked and published.

The book is incredibly thorough, like Farrow's reporting. At times, I thought it was too thorough and even had trouble tracking who had done what to whom. I was about to give up and Farrow turned to reporting on Matt Lauer. That, again, was a fascinating look at the culture created in so many large corporations and how so many secrets are left untold because it's too inconvenient. Maybe #MeToo has changed that somewhat, but not nearly enough.

If you're interested in Farrow's reporting on this, I suggest you try the podcast. It can stand alone and it's FASCINATING to hear from the players. As for the book - I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't my favorite.