Recent Reads

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

This classic of minimalism and simplicity was our book club choice this month -- and only two of us made it to the meeting. I think I know why. Despite the many amazing insights of Walden, it is a pretty dense book, and it takes some motivation to get through some of the detailed descriptions of the depth of the lake, the idiosyncrasies of the animals in the surrounding woods, etc. Still, I'm glad I finally read it, and it did cause me to think and learn some things.

3.5 stars

Warnings: None


Abigail Adams by Woody Holton

I love Abigail Adams. I discovered her as a role model when reading John Adams by David McCullough, which is infinitely more readable than this tome that focuses on Abigail. I enjoyed all the details of her life, but at times the style was rather dry. I also listened to it on Audible, and I don't think an audiobook was the right format for a biography of this style. In addition, at times the author chose to view Abigail's actions exclusively through the lens of feminism. While I do think Abigail was ahead of her time in women's rights and did many amazing things for women, I don't think her every action was performed with that sole intention, as the author sometimes implied. Still, an interesting look into an interesting life.

3.5 stars

Warnings: None

How She Does It by Anne Bogel

I love Ms. Bogel's blog, Modern Mrs. Darcy, and when I saw a post referencing this book and explaining Bogel's philosophy on women being able to manipulate the traditional work experience into something that works for motherhood, too, I was fascinated -- that is what I try to do everyday! I did find it encouraging, and found some good ideas; however, much of what was written wasn't relevant to me, because I can't work from home at this time. It also left me with the feeling that one can't be fulfilled if one is not working. This may very well be true for me, but I don't think it is true for everyone -- and I am planning on eventually seeing if I can be satisfied with stay-at-home-motherhood, once my working is not a necessity for my family. Still, an interesting read with a good perspective on working mothers.

3.5 stars

Warnings: None

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton

I am an Edith Wharton fangirl. The other two works that I have read by this author, The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence, captivated me and made me feel all the feelings. I had heard that The Custom of the Country was her masterpiece, and I had very high expectations for it. I won't say that those expectations were dashed, necessarily, but I did have a very different experience with Custom of the Country than I did with the other two Wharton books I have read. While neither of them could be classified as "happy endings," they left me satisfied, albeit sad. However, The Custom of the Country left me feeling somewhat dirty and weary. I think part of it is the fact that the main character, Undine, is so unlikable. I am not the type to discount a story because the heroine (or anti-heroine, as it were) is flawed. I love Gone With the Wind, the book I hear mentioned the most often for having an unlikable heroine. However, Undine is selfish, foolish, a home wrecker, a life-ruiner... I was so angry at her for most of the book, and so sad for the people whose lives she affected. I do think that Wharton's writing was incredible -- it certainly still made me feel the way her other books have -- but the things I was feeling were so miserable and frustrated that I couldn't enjoy her genius. I can't rate this book, because it is a masterpiece -- but I didn't enjoy it.

Warnings: Off the page adultery, dark thematic material (such as suicide)

Why I Read... Nonfiction

If you know me very well at all, you probably know that I had a really hard time deciding what to study in college (evidenced by the fact that I am now on my sixth year of undergraduate study. Fortunately now I have one bachelor's degree to my name). I toyed with piano, sociology, French, English, and psychology before settling down with neuroscience with the hopes of going to pharmacy school when I was done. After several circumstances led me to the decision that pharmacy school was not going to be the right choice for me, I finished up my neuroscience degree and started a second degree accelerated bachelor's in nursing, which is where I am now. The jury's still out on whether or not I'll actually ever get a real job.

The reason I am telling you all of this is because I love to learn. Nearly every subject interests me (except accounting... sorry, Mom) and I used to think that if I had the money, I would just go to school forever (I am learning now that isn't true... six years of undergraduate work has finally burned me out and I can't wait to be done with school). So nonfiction is an obvious choice for me -- reading a nonfiction book is like taking a crash course in any subject you want.

With that said, I haven't been reading that much nonfiction lately. There are two reasons for this -- first of all, nonfiction is hard to read. I don't like to read it all at once, in general, because I feel like if I read it too quickly, I forget everything I learn and don't retain anything. Secondly, I am on the nonfiction panel for the Indie Lit Awards and I don't want to burn out on nonfiction by reading too much of it before I need to read the five finalists next year. Nonfiction books tend to be pretty thick and I know I will be reading a high volume come January, so I want to have the brain space ready for it. However, don't think that means I don't love it.

Why I Read Nonfiction

* Learning. I've loved to learn new things my entire life, and reading nonfiction allows me to learn things that are outside of my normal field of study.

* True stories. In the case of histories, biographies and memoirs, we get the chance to see inside of people's lives. I love learning about things that have really happened -- that realization that someone really felt the emotions I am experiencing as I read about it. Even when I was a little girl I remember being most excited by movies that were "based on a true story."

* Feel-good factor. No, I'm not talking about warm fuzzies, although I certainly have gotten those from certain memoirs and religious nonfiction. What I mean is that I get to feel good about myself for taking it upon myself to read something difficult and also intellectually edifying.

Recommendations

* Anything by Oliver Sacks. While in general I've just read excerpts from his books, I can confidently say that anything you read by this fantastic neuroscientist will be readable and informative. Sacks takes the very strangest of cases and presents them with factual but comprehensible information that appeals to the general public.

* John Adams by David McCullough. This biography is a hefty beast, and I remember reading it on the treadmill, hoping that it would stay open and not fall on my foot. It is a fascinating look into the life of a man I knew next to nothing about. John Adams has become one of my heroes from this book, and I really want to name one of my children Abigail after his wife (The Husband is vetoing that, for now). This book was compulsively readable despite its length. 

* The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. This comprehensive look at the way perceptions and treatments of cancer have evolved through the centuries is sensitive and compelling.

* Into the Wild by John Krakauer. This is a book I severely need to reread. Krakauer drives into the psyche of Chris McCandless, a strange teenager that decides to live alone in Alaska and ultimately dies of exposure. The writing is penetrating and the story moving.

For more recommendations, visit...

Sophisticated Dorkiness. There is a reason Kim keeps winning Best Nonfiction blog for BBAW. She covers a wide variety of nonfiction genres, and her writing is excellent.

The Blue Bookcase. The ladies of The Blue Bookcase don't focus on nonfiction, but in reading their blog for a year I have found many interesting recommendations. 

John Adams

I was introduced to this book by two good friends last year. After learning I liked to read, they energetically began describing John Adams. "It's my favorite book! They're going to make a miniseries!" (Are they?) "Lorren, read it as soon as you can. Only don't read it during school, because it is really long and you won't want to do your homework." (Oops, made that mistake, despite their warnings.) These were two sports-obsessed boys that didn't seem to spend a lot of time reading so I was intrigued by their love for this book.

Fast forward about a year. I didn't have the money to buy the book at the time, but when I got my library card I put myself on the waiting list and was surprised at how fast my name made it through the queue.

I've never really been a reader of biography, so I wasn't sure if John Adams would live up to the hype.
.
It definitely surpassed my expectations.

Obviously, the book follows the life of John Adams, second president of the United States. I've never been a history buff, and basically all I knew about him was that he was the first president to live in the White House and he and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4. Thank you, 3rd grade social studies.

What I didn't know was John Adams' admirable character and quest for self-mastery. I didn't know that he and his wife, Abigail, had one of the most romantic and tender relationships of any of the Founding Fathers. I didn't know that Adams and Jefferson's relationship was so complicated, or how they went through years of silence to each other after Jefferson defeated Adams for the presidency. I also didn't know that they were both so bookish, which immediately endeared them to me.

In an age where politicians do everything they can to expose each others' weaknesses and morality is not an asset, I found John Adams' struggle to always make the most honorable decision refreshing. My favorite example of this is when Adams chose to defend the British soldiers following the Boston Massacre. While he disagreed with Britain's control over America and the recent taxes forced on them with no representation, he knew that in the instance of the Boston Massacre, Americans had caused the violence and broken the law. While many claimed he was disloyal to America by this action, Adams knew it was the moral action, and he did it without hesitation.

Adams also had a beautiful relationship with his wife. Although they were separated for years while Adams was the ambassador to France, England, and The Netherlands, they remained faithful to each other and wrote hundreds of letters. Abigail wrote to him during their longest separation, "The affection I feel for my friend is of the tenderest kind, matured by years, sanctified by choice and approved by Heaven." (pg 212) I found myself greatly admiring Abigail as well as Adams throughout the book. She was capable, educated, and a strong woman. Another of my favorite quotes from her is about her resolve to not complain, despite separations from her "dearest friend," slander and libel about the President, and struggles with their children.

"That one had to keep a 'good heart,' come what may, was Abigail's lifelong creed. 'A merry heart doeth good like a medicine,' she loved to say, quoting Proverbs. 'I hate to complain,' she now wrote. 'No one is without difficulties, whether in high or low life, and every person knows best where their own shoe pinches.'" (pg 423)

And of course, one of the best parts was learning about how bookish John Adams was. His entire life, he loved books and would get up before 5 am in order to have time to do his reading for the day. When his old eyes grew too tired to read, Abigail would read aloud to him.

All in all, I loved this book. I loved learning about this man that I knew so little about, and I loved going through his entire lifespan and seeing him change and grow. I recommend this book to anyone!

Accessibility/Readability - Quite! I knew next to nothing about John Adams before starting this book, but I was never confused or stuck.
Aesthetics/literary merit - 4. It was quite well written.
Plot - 3.5 At times, the political descriptions bored me and I would find myself ready to move on to the next chapter.
Characters - 5 I loved these characters! Which, as it is a biography, is rather important.
Personal Response - 4.75 While I was bored with a few sections of the book, overall I loved it. I think it taught some valuable lessons and increased my knowledge of a great man I previously knew very little about.
Overall: 4.5

Literary Hop: Nonfiction

This week's literary blog hop poses the question

Is there such a thing as literary non-fiction? If so, how do you define it? Examples?

I have been excited to answer this question since I read it this morning. I love nonfiction. And I would say that much of it is literary.

Consider this quote by Ramon y Cajal, a pioneer in neuroscience (he diagrammed these beautiful dendritic processes from what he observed under his microscope)

"What mysterious forces precede the appearance of these processes... promote their growth and ramification... and finally establish those protoplasmic kisses... which seem to constitute the final ecstasy in an epic love story." (quoted from Kandel's Principles of Neural Science, pg. 1068). (This is in reference to neuronal processes finding their synapses)

In general I wouldn't consider a neuro textbook to be literary (try reading one of those things), but I love that quote and I think it demonstrates that literariness, in the sense defined on The Blue Bookcase (basically, demonstrating aesthetics and not simply entertainment or information) can appear in unexpected places.

But moving on from that, I have read many nonfiction books that are literary (and a few that are not... I am specifically remembering Charlotte Church's autobiography, Voice of an Angel). One of the first nonfiction books I read for pleasure was a collection of essays by Joan Didion that I found in my AP English teacher's bookshelf in high school (the same teacher of "abandon hope all ye who enter here"). I don't even remember the title of the book, and I can't find the cover on Amazon. However, I remember being moved by the poignancy of her writing and the people she described. Many of the essays described drug dens, poverty, hippies, things I hadn't encountered in my small, conservative, well-off town. She pulled me into that world with words that I would never have experienced otherwise, and it was all the more moving for me because it was true.

Currently I am reading a biography of John Adams. (It was due yesterday, so hopefully I will have it finished and reviewed in the next few days). Not all biographies are literary or enjoyable. I have very little patience for the ones that are so stuffed with facts and dates that everything begins to run together. However, this biography reads almost like a novel, not because the writer sensationalizes or invents but because John Adams' life is written with skill. McCullough, the writer, does not simply relay facts - he illustrates, brings to life, illuminates. He presents the facts in a way that makes me feel as if he were telling me conversationally about his grandfather. This is probably why McCullough has won the Pulitzer for another of his books, Truman.

There are several non-fiction books I am hoping to read soon. The number one on my list is The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. It is about cancer - its history, treatments, and people whose lives have been affected by it. I read a glowing review of it yesterday which made me even more excited to read it. Hopefully I will get my hands on it soon!

What about you? Do you like nonfiction? What do you like/dislike about it?

The literary blog hop is hosted by The Blue Bookcase. Thanks for a great prompt this week!

A Kindred Spirit

The copy of John Adams I checked out is due on Wednesday, and I am only half-way through this 650 page chunker. So today I've been alternating my responsibilities (cooking, tidying up, catching up on wedding thank yous, working on a Christmas surprise for someone I won't mention just in case they read this) with reading John Adams in ten page increments. I just found an anecdote that I love, and have to share just in case I don't have time to copy it down later.

Paris booksellers soon found they had an American patron like no other. In the bookshops and stalls along the Seine were volumes in numbers and variety such as Jefferson had never seen, and his pleasure was boundless. To Madison he would describe the surpassing pleasure of 'examining all the principal bookstores, turning over every book with my own hand and putting by everything related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and valuable to every science.' There were weeks when he was buying books every day. In his first month in Paris, he could not buy them fast enough, and ran up bills totaling nearly 800 francs. Nor was the book-buying spree to end. The grand total of books he acquired in France was about 2,000, but he also bought books by the boxful for Washington, Franklin, and James Madison. (pg. 321)

I think I spent more money on books than anything else when I was in Paris (except maybe food) and this little story about Jefferson made me so nostalgic for those Paris bookshops. Although I don't have time today, one of these days I am going to have to write a special post about my two favorite bookstores in Paris. Something to look forward to when I finish exams and my library books. Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday evening!

ADDITION: Ok, I just read this post to my husband because he appreciates my nerd-ness. And he told me that his ancestors in Virginia bought slaves from Thomas Jefferson! He told me that his grandma told her best friend that they had the document from when they bought the slaves from Thomas Jefferson and the next day, her best friend had cut out the signature of Thomas Jefferson. Some friend, huh? Not so cool that my husband's family were slaveowners (although mine were outlaws in the Dalton Gang, so I don't know who is more infamous), but pretty cool that they had a document with Thomas Jefferson's signature. Especially now that I know he is my kindred spirit.

Library Lovin

My newest distractions:














I hope I have time to read them before they're due!