My last review was the popular to date, so I decided to review another celebrity author’s memoir and borrowed my roommate’s copy of Tina Fey’s Bossypants. I again went in not knowing that much about her aside from the fact she can see Alaska from her house (Or was it her summer home? Doesn’t she live in NYC?) . She shows how she goes from child to mother, from student to stand-up comic to the writer and star of an almost hit television show and most importantly how she balances all the roles she is currently juggling.

This book adhered more to how I think of a memoir with longer chapters and less comical lists were involved. Most of the chapters tell of one story or even from her life and include subjects ranging from her honeymoon to breastfeed to the time she climbed a mountain in college. I had a hard time getting into the book at the start and it hit me that I was waiting to laugh and it was not coming. Tina has a more dry sense of humor than I am used to and there were funny parts, but I still felt kind of bored. I started to become more engaged when she started to talk about her start in Chicago’s comedy scene at Second City and what it was like to work in a male dominated industry. The social commentary and stories about people I know kicked in from there and I was unable to put the book down. In the end Tina puts a lot of herself(awkwardness, perseverance and a talent at multitasking) into this book and I think it’s worth the read. 

Edit: Wait THIS is the cover of the book? My roommate took the sleeve off of her copy, so I’ve only seen the plain blue hardcover. It fits perfectly with her discussion of gender, stereotyping and working in a field full of misogyny, but it still blew my mind a little. I love it.

~Lauren 

thewrittenescape:

John Green’s Paper Towns: A Book Review (spoiler-free)

Margo Roth Spiegelman is a mystery to everyone who knows her.  Her parents and friends have only skimmed the surface of Margo’s identity while Quentin Jacobsen, Margo’s next door neighbor, comes to know her better than anyone else on their one-night adventure consisting of revenge, pranking, and breaking into Sea World.  Quentin looms on the best night of his life until Margo disappears the next day without so much as a goodbye.  He begins to piece together fragmented clues that he hopes will lead to discovering her whereabouts while inadvertently learning that the Margo he’s searching for is not the one he believes he knows so well.  Like Margo says, “Nothing ever happens like you expect it will.”

After thoroughly enjoying Green’s most and least recent titles, I figured it was a no-brainer to pick up a copy of Paper Towns, a novel which received high praise and was assuredly just as good, if not better, than Green’s other novels. 

Upon reading the novel, I started to realize how ‘John Green’ the book is.  Everyone seems to consider an entirely different persona attached to Margo Roth Spiegelman, as if Margo is a book being read and interpreted differently by each reader, which is a belief that Green constantly enforces.  His favorite works like The Catcher in the Rye protrude in the novel, as characters adopt traits evident in the main character in Rye.  Quentin and Margo, for example, hold the quintessential revulsion for that which is fake and flimsy and papery. 

The metaphor which parallels people and places to paper is a genius and unique and striking observation.  The book contemplates very profound questions and offers answers I would have never alone considered.  These questions arise particularly in the ending, which is so awe-inspiringly beautiful that it completely altered my mildly unsatisfied opinion of the novel.  In fact, although the book is not my favorite John Green novel, I definitely favor the ending of Paper Towns over any other the author has written.

I also really admire how Green draws references to literary masterpieces by writers Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, T.S. Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and several other authors.  An admirable accomplishment the author tackles is creating a character who’s often driven by his or her fascination with literature.  For the well-read, the innumerable allusions to other writers in the book heightens the enjoyment that the novel supplies.  Also, the theme of death is always situated in John Green’s novels; characters are always threatened with death, a menace which dangles eagerly and insistently throughout the book.

I began to lose interest in the book a bit after the inciting incident.  I felt that there was a lengthy gap between then and the climax where not enough was really going on and that there was much of a build-up for the ending.  I also thought that, although we get to understand Quentin’s personality to a great extent, Margo’s character isn’t developed nearly enough.  The reader mostly gains insight into Margo’s identity through Quentin’s analysis of her, which is admittedly a bit faulty and biased.  Because I lacked this connection with her I didn’t feel as emotionally invested in the conclusion of the story as I could have been.

Overall I really don’t think any of my latter remarks should detract from anyone’s interest in reading the book.  Paper Towns is a wonderfully introspective novel and is the epitome of the author’s humble brilliance.

Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)

“I’m not saying that everything is survivable. Just that everything except the last thing is.”

Found on Mirlyn or search for it elsewhere here

bookstairs:

The Glass Castle

Author: Jeannette Walls

Book Description: Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town — and the family — Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.

Available on Amazon.com

via: BookStairs
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I loved this book when I read it in high school and of course we have it in our collection here.

So one of my favorite celebrities is now officially published. Yes, Chris Colfer’s children’s novel was released today.I’m only a few chapters in so far, but it’s starting to get exciting and I can’t wait to see where he goes with it.

It’s a story of two twins, Alex and Connor, that receive a magical book from their grandmother that allows them to enter a world of fairy tales. The story revamps many classic fairy tales from Goldilocks to Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White and address what happens after these classic tales end. How are the villains punished and how do the protagonists move on with their lives after the original authors retired their pens? And how will the twins play into it all?

The book isn’t available at the library yet, though I did request we acquire a copy. You can buy it on amazon, iTunes or the local bookstore in either hard copy or as an audio book that Chris himself narrates(with silly voices and all).

If you have a chance to read it, send us your thoughts.

~Lauren

waltzingwhitman:

we were so naive; we had no knowledge of where the road would take us, no idea that we would ever be separated. the beach, the ocean, the sky. it was there for us and only for us. a world without end.

The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

This was recommended to me by lorrainey a year ago, and she finally forced me to read it.  

And you know what?

WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG? IT WAS SO GOOD.  It was full of metaphors and life experiences a dog, Enzo.  It was utter perfection.  I enjoyed every second of it.  Every so often Stein would extend the metaphor by creating a single chapter dedicated solely to drawing it out, and it was so perfect.  It was such a rich literary treasure to have.

Usually, I don’t enjoy books narrated by animals.  I feel like it’s too obvious it’s an animal and don’t find as much enjoyment out of it because I feel like I can’t actually relate.  Enzo’s character is written in a way that you realize it’s a dog’s point of view, but it’s subtle and enjoyable.

It was heartbreaking and uplifting and destroys and restores belief in humanity all in one go, and I enjoyed every moment of it. 

This book made me emotional [big surprise there] and as I was sitting in front of Home Depot waiting for my dad to come out, I started crying.  This guy knocked on the window of my car and asked me if I was okay, at which point I cried even harder.  He started to back away frightened and I was like “I’m perfectly fine, this book is just too perfect.  It’s sad and happy and bitter and sweet and lovely.  I just love it so much.”

I always see this book and want to read it because of the cute puppy. I’m glad to hear the book is actually worth the time.

Yeah there is a book called Zombies vs. Unicorns in our library. It features a collection of short stories about zombies and unicorns, leaving the reader to decide which mythical creature reigns supreme.