ASK Musings

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Reviews Archive

Saturday

2

March 2024

0

COMMENTS

Outside by Ragnar Jónasson

Written by , Posted in Reviews

4 Stars

Best for:
Those looking for a claustrophobic mystery told from many perspectives.

In a nutshell:
College friends Helena, Gunnlauger, Ármann, and Daníel are getting together for a weekend of shooting birds and catching up. But it is winter in Iceland, so really anything can happen.

Worth quoting:
N/A (Jónasson is an excellent author but I don’t often find myself underlining phrases in his books.)

Why I chose it:
I’ve read nearly all of his other books and loved them. I had no idea this one existed!

Review:
I do enjoy a mystery told from multiple perspectives, and I especially enjoy it when none of the characters seem fully innocent.

That is the case with this book. There is Daníel, the struggling actor who has chosen to live in England instead of Iceland, and hasn’t been home in a couple of years. There is Helena, the only woman in the group, who is grieving the death of her partner five years ago. There is Ármann, who runs a successful tourism company. And there is Gunnlauger, who is really only there because he’s a childhood friend of Daníel, and he’s a bit of creep.

The weekend starts out fine, with the group drinking at their comfortable hunting lodge. But the following day, while the four of them are out on a bird hunt, an unexpected storm hits, causing them to try to seek shelter in a respite hut. They find the hut, and are faced with an utter shock.

From there, there are some choices made, and some secrets come to light. It had unexpected twists (as his novels often do) and literally made it challenging for me to put down. I started it before bed on Friday night, then picked it up after I did some chores on Saturday morning, reading straight through to the end (including while eating lunch). I love that feeling, of wanting to get through the page I’m reading so I can see what’s happening on the next one, and once again, Jónasson has done that for me.

What’s next for this book:
Donate – hopefully the next reader will enjoy it as much as I did.

Saturday

2

March 2024

0

COMMENTS

Mustn’t Grumble by Graham Lawton

Written by , Posted in Reviews

4 Stars

Best for:
Anyone who enjoys learning about little science facts and who enjoys a bit of humor with their writing.

In a nutshell:
Author Lawton examines the minor ailments that afflict all of us at one point or another, looking at their causes and treatments.

Worth quoting:
“Back in the day, before we caught up with our European neighbours and realised taht food was something to be enjoyed rather than endured, the only place in Britain where olive oil could be purchased was a pharmacy.” (this comes from the section on earwax)

Why I chose it:
I enjoy little pop science books.

Review:
The whole point of this book is that it explores MINOR ailments, so he doesn’t get into the big things like cancer or chronic illness unless as mentioned in passing (e.g. cancer briefly comes up when he’s talking about sunburn). The

This book took me much longer to get through than it should have, and that’s up to me and my attention space, not the writing. Lawton is a talented writer, able to make things like varicose veins and sneezing fits entertaining.

The book is divided into sections that look at pain; skin issues; ear, nose and throat issues; digestive concerns; illnesses; and what he calls self-inflicted wounds (this is where things like hangovers and razor burn are discussed).

I found the book to be genuinely interesting. I learned a few things, and just appreciated Lawton’s style of writing. I also appreciate the amount of research that went into this; overall he covers over 80 different types of ailments and injuries, which meant he had to know learn about over 80 different types of ailments and injuries.

I’d recommend this to anyone who finds such a topic interesting but who isn’t looking to dive super-deep into any one area.

CN: Suicide
An absolutely wild thing I thought I’d mention is that the front of the edition I purchased included a note about the author’s wife, who ended up with a very major illness called musculoskeletal nociplastic pain syndrome, which basically means her brain’s pain receptors got all fucked up, she was in horrible pain with no cause or treatment, and chose to end her own life. Like I said, wild, and I figured perhaps it would be worth mentioning as a warning to anyone who might pick up this book. The book was originally written before this happened, so his wife’s minor ailments are referenced a few times.

What’s next for this book:
I’ll keep it – might refer back to it on occasion when I’ve got a minor health issue that is bothering me.

Monday

22

January 2024

0

COMMENTS

Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

Best for:
People who don’t need to like … any of the characters in the book?

In a nutshell:
Roach is a true-crime-loving bookseller. Laura is also a bookseller, new to the same shop. She writes poetry somewhat related to true crime.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
Strong ratings online in this genre.

Review:
This book is entertaining, but I found the character development lacking. Not that the characters weren’t developed, it’s just the direction they went in. Let me explain.

This book is told from both Roach and Laura’s perspectives. We start off from Roach’s perspective, and she’s waiting in line for entry to a live taping of a true crime podcast. Two women hosting, so something modeled after My Favorite Murder or perhaps Wine and Crime. Roach is sort of a walking caricature. She uses this absurd phrase – ‘normies’ – to refer to people who are different from her. Do people really speak like that? Are they so insecure in their own originality that they have to label people who are different from them? Seems bizarre. (Especially after I looked up the etymology and apparently it used to be what disabled people used to refer to people without disabilities, which actually makes sense to me.) She is described a few times as not having washed hair, of smelling unclean, of putting on dirty clothes. I understand there probably are people out there like this, but it all feels a bit like an exercise in a creative writing class to create the most stereotypical ‘alternative’ person out there.

Then there is Laura. Laura is basically the polar opposite of Roach. She is a poet, a writer, wears matching tights and berets, carries a tote bag with a literary quote on it. I’m not sure if we were meant to prefer Laura to Roach, but also I found her to be written as deeply unappealing. We later learn about some trauma she has experienced in her life, and some current challenges she is facing, but she is so judgmental, so fake, and so sad.

Roach tries desperately to be friends with Laura after she learns that Laura writes ‘found poetry’ based on true crime books. But Laura hates true crime, while Roach loves it. Things move from there as Roach tries harder and harder to get Laura’s attention, and Laura tries harder to stay away.

I did appreciate the discussion of true crime and the current obsession with it. How, especially with more modern crimes, podcasters and their fans often seem to forget about the very real victims involved. Same with some true crime books. In the past I listened to a couple true crime podcasts, but not anymore, and I appreciated the discussion about it from Laura’s perspective, though I felt that Roach’s was intentionally absurd so as to make any defense of true crime writing and discussion seem negative by default.

As I said, I found the book to be an easy and engaging read, but it wasn’t one of my favorites.

Minor spoiler here for those who have read the book:
I was wondering, did anyone else find Laura’s reaction to the Roach poem a bit hypocritical? Just as Laura takes (uncredited) lines from true crime books and puts them together and claims them as her own found poetry, Roach took Laura’s poem and added to it to make it her own work. Obviously for very different reasons, but it felt a bit rich for Laura to claim her work is fair use but Roach’s was plagiarism.

What’s next for this book:
Nothing for me – I think I’m good.

Friday

19

January 2024

0

COMMENTS

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

Best for:
Fans of her previous book; fans of Liane Moriarty’s work.

In a nutshell:
Jules and Will are getting married on an island off the coast of Ireland. Someone will be dead by the end of the weekend.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I just finished one of the author’s other books and am always looking for good audio books to listen to while running.

Review:
I love a twist that I didn’t quite guess but also makes sense.

This is another book told from multiple perspectives – there’s the event planner and owner of the location Aoife, bride Jules, groom Will, best man Johnno, bridesmaid Olivia, and ‘plus one’ (wife of the bride’s best friend) Hannah. Everyone has something going on. Will is a minor reality TV star; John-O has started his own whiskey company. Olivia (half-sister of the bride) has dropped out of university under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Hannah is a bit uncomfortable with her husband Charlie’s close relationship with the bride.

The events unfold over just a couple of days – the day before and the day of the wedding. A narrator provides interstitials letting the reader know details about a body found the night of the wedding. But who is it? And who killed them?

Without giving anything away, I would say that the book unravels in a considered and thoughtful manner, and nothing is too far-fetched. We feel for some of the characters, but also some are quite unlikable. I listened to the audio book, and the voicing of the men was particularly good – I had a visceral reaction to the chapters focused on the public school (in the British sense) boys getting back together after their glory days as teens.

One sort of recurring theme is how these entitled men treat people they deem week or unworthy – smaller kids they went to school with, women they dated. These men are gross but are also serving in positions of fame and power. Blech. I think this sort of meta social commentary led me to enjoy this one more than The Hunting Party, her previous similar book.

What’s next for this book:
I think this author has another similar book so I’ll probably check that one out to.

Sunday

7

January 2024

0

COMMENTS

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Best for:
Fans of the Liane Moriarty style of storytelling, who aren’t worried about slightly darker tales.

In a nutshell:
A bunch of friends of university – along with their partners – spend New Year’s Eve at an isolated lodge in northern Scotland. A storm hits. Someone is dead.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I was looking for something to listen to while running. Instead I ended up listening to it while doing pretty much anything because I couldn’t put it down.

Review:
This book has features I love: it travels back and forth in time (though only across three days); it takes place in an isolated location; it is told from multiple viewpoints.

We get five viewpoints in this book: Heather and Doug, who work at the lodge, and Katie, Emma, and Madeline, who are part of the friend group celebrating the holiday at the lodge. Katie and Madeline have been friends since childhood; Emma has joined the group of Oxford alumni as an outsider who is dating Mark. We learn early on that someone has died, but we don’t know who it is (not even their gender) or if it was an accident or murder.

There are hints as to who the dead person is, and any number of possible motives slowly reveal themselves. I had a bit six different theories by the end, and any one of them could have been true based on how the story unfolded.

Within the standard telling of a murder mystery, the author weaves in how relationships from youth change as we get older. There’s one couple with a new baby; two couples with a member who wasn’t part of the original friend group. There are shared stories and histories, and roles people are expected to play because they played that role when they were 21. 12 years later, people might have changed, and that can really play with the dynamics of a group.

This probably was around 3.5 stars for me, but I have rounded it up because I think there was some interesting character exploration and also some legitimate red herrings that kept me guessing until the end.

What’s next for this book:
I’ll be checking out the other books by this author for sure. (I’ve literally already bought the next one.)

Saturday

6

January 2024

0

COMMENTS

Disobedient Bodies by Emma Dabiri

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Best for:
All those impacted by Western beauty standards.

In a nutshell:
The way the West defines beauty (‘entangled in the forces of patriarchy and capitalism’) isn’t something to aspire to, and it is holding women back.

Worth quoting:
“How might we possibly reconcile the reality of the joys and pleasures we can find in our bodies, and in rituals of beautification…with the age-old and sometimes fraught feminist discourses, and the justified pushback against an overemphasis on our looks as not only a drag on our time, but a form of control?”

“Adornment brings with it rich associations of taking pleasure in our bodies as well as conveying a sense of ritual.”

“How did we end up with a phobic relationship to the passage of time itself?”

Why I chose it:
The topic stood out, but also the fact that this wasn’t a tome filled with centuries of history, meandering its way to a point. Sometimes I like that! But sometimes I don’t. This appeared to be focused and well-edited.

Review:
This review feels a bit all over the place, but that’s more about me than the writing in the book – I think the author succeeds with her project here; I’m just having some trouble synthesizing my thoughts into words.

This is a book in three parts – ‘How Did We Get Here?;’ The Birth of My Disobedience;’ and ‘New Ways to ‘Do’ Beauty.’ The sections are fairly self-explanatory; the first deals with societal expectations around women and beauty; the second features the authors own experiences in coming to realizations about what the Western / European expectations around beauty mean and the consequences of them. She is a woman with Black and Irish heritage, and so can speak to the racialization of beauty in a way that authors from a solely white background cannot, and that is something I valued in her writing.

The final bit is the part that I feel is missing from similar books: a discussion about the ways in which taking care and experiencing our own definitions of ‘doing’ beauty can line up with a positive experience of being a woman. She references braiding; I thought about going to nail salons with friends and how much fun that was (I still keep my nails painted pretty much all the time – I love the way it looks). She also talks about beauty as a verb – something you do, not something you are – and as not just a physical manifestation. I also appreciate that she pushes back on the idea that all we really need is more diversity and ‘representation’ of different types of bodies – she wants to fully interrogate how to upend this thinking. I admit I struggled a bit with this section, but I think I understand what she means – sort of like instead of pushing for more women CEOs, we should be upending the idea of capitalism itself as a goal. I think? I will need to re-read this section.

I’m about to enter my mid-forties, and about two years ago I stopped dying my hair. It’s nearly grown out now, and I don’t have tons of gray, but it’s definitely there. My fear of looking older kept me dying my hair, but now I think the streaks look kind of cool. But also … I don’t care if other people keep dying their hair, as long as it’s what they want and enjoy? I also have tattoos – I find them beautiful, but others definitely judge them as some sort of defacement of a body that they are entitled to take pleasure in viewing. I genuinely could not care less if people find my tattoos ugly; its the rest of me that I am working on feelings the same way about. I love a view of women’s bodies as not things for others to take joy in, but for us to take joy in, and that doesn’t mean we need to discard all beauty rituals we engage in. Dabiri is asking us to be thoughtful in what we choose.

What’s next for this book:
I’ll be keeping this one, and possibly picking up copies for friends.

Monday

1

January 2024

0

COMMENTS

A Portrait of the Piss Artist as a Young Man by Tadhg Hickey

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

Best for:
Those looking for inspiration from sober alcoholics / people with substance use issues.

In a nutshell:
Comedian Hickey shares what his life was like growing up in Cork, Ireland, with a mother who was mentally unwell.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I follow Hickey on TikTok and didn’t realise he has a book. The book is … different from what I expected.

Review:
I was hoping to squeeze this in as my last review for 2023 but alas, I just missed out.

This book feels like an honest portrayal of what Hickey went through as a child with a mother who has ill mental health, and how he eventually found he was drinking and misusing substances to the point that it was impacting his ability to be there for his daughter. He talks about what he needed to get sober the first time, about relapsing, and about what he needs to stay sober. He also shares some insight into his career and his family life now that he is living a sober life. I’m not someone who has faced struggles with alcohol or substance use, but I found his portrayal to be interested, told with humor (obviously – he is a comedian) but also with insight and reflection.

Near the very end he spends some time talking about his activism, which is how I came across him – his TikTok sketches highlighting the current situation in Gaza. Those who have been following what is going on in Palestine may have noticed that Irish politicians have been very vocal in their support of Palestine, as have many Irish artists. Hickey is no different in that respect, and is using the platform he has to speak up. Obviously the take of someone who isn’t currently living there is not the priority at the moment, but I do appreciate that he is willing to be vocal about his opinions.

What’s next for this book:
Archive it (audio book)

Saturday

23

December 2023

0

COMMENTS

Socialism 101 by Kathleen Sears

Written by , Posted in Politics, Reviews

Two Stars

Best for:
People interested in learning about various thought leaders who might be related to socialism (but probably more likely communism?) throughout history, but not so much the practical applications behind their ideas.

In a nutshell:
This felt a bit like a History of Communism 101, as opposed to a primer on the different beliefs and implementations of socialist beliefs (which is what I was expecting).

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I’m very clear that capitalism is not working. I’m also not comfortable subscribing to political or philosophical systems that I’m not well-versed in. I thought this might help me better understand the different schools of thoughts and practical applications of socialism.

What it left me feeling:
Vaguely annoyed

Review:
Obviously it’s an absolute challenge to try to fit information about a single political theory into a small 250-page book, but the cover description really doesn’t feel like it matches what’s on the inside.

The book roughly follows a time line, but it jumps around a lot. Sometimes it feels like it’s chronological description of various communist and socialist movements; other times it feels like it’s more a regional description. Most of the focus is on the people involved, from folks like Marx through to Bernie Sanders. I don’t know if the people and the actions those people are taking are socialist or not – or how they are viewed by other socialists. Sometimes Sears will say one faction disagree with another contemporary faction in one country, but that doesn’t really help me understand what the core tenets are. Or if there even are any!

There are like four pages devoted to Scandanavian-style socialism, but that’s the kind of stuff I’m interested in. People talk about how communism has always failed – has it? What are the examples and were these failures because of communism itself or because of the leaders choosing instead to be dictators? What are the specific policies that can be viewed as socialism? And why are we talking about Margaret Thatcher?

I think what Sears was trying to do was cover everything, when what I was looking for was much more focused: a description of socialism and what that looks like in practice. There are a couple of pages at the start, but then it turns into a history book that jumps all around space and time. In looking up the author while writing this review, I see that she has written many ‘101’ books, so I think that explains it. Socialism is just another book she’s researched and written for this series of books; I think readers interested in the topic should instead seek out people who either are socialists or have extensively studied the topic.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it

Wednesday

20

December 2023

0

COMMENTS

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

Best for:
Fans of mysteries set in a different time.

In a nutshell:
Mrs King has been let go from the fancy De Vries household, where she served as a housekeeper. She now has a plan to pull off the most dramatic heist London has ever seen.

Worth quoting:
“Choose your first move wisely, and you could steer things any way you liked.”

Why I chose it:
I was looking for something interesting but somewhat mindless as I’ve been having some trouble finishing the non-fiction books I’ve started reading lately (I have three I’m in the middle of right now).

What it left me feeling:
Decently satisfied.

Review:
This was a fun book with some darkness in it, which I appreciate. Set in London in the early 1900s, nearly the entire story is told from the perspectives of people who society overlooks: housekeepers, servants, shopkeepers, those living in poverty, those trying to get by outside the system because the system doesn’t work for them.

We open with Mrs King being fired from her job as head housekeeper in the De Vries household. One imagines she would be disappointed to lose a job without anything else lined up, and no references, but she’s calm. And we later learn why: she is planning the greatest heist of her former employer.

There are a few characters in the book, including the lady of the manor, a deceased lord of the manor, and many players (all women) helping to lead the heist. But there are some unexpected bits, and until the end it’s not clear what will happen, which is delightful. It’s a fun read that is as described on the tin.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it

Friday

8

December 2023

0

COMMENTS

Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

Written by , Posted in Politics, Reviews

Four Stars

Best for:
People interested in a novel way of looking at the complexities of modern politics.

In a nutshell:
Author Klein explores the different political realities people inhabit in areas as vast as vaccines and middle east policies.

Worth quoting:
We are told that the way things are is the only way they can be, because every other model has supposedly already been tried, and all have failed. But these ideas about different ways of being and thinking and living did not all fail; rather, many of them fell, crushed by political violence and racial terror. Being crushed is not the same as failing, because what was crushed can be revived, reimagined anew.

Why I chose it:
I’ve heard a lot of people talking about it, and I had some long travel coming up so decided to get the audio book (especially after I heard it was read by the author).

What it left me feeling:
Challenged

Review:
This is a hard book to review. It was fascinating – really interesting. But hard to review, mostly because I think I need to re-read it next year, and read a physical copy.

Naomi Klein is often confused with Naomi Wolfe. They are both white Jewish women, both have the same first name, and for a time, both known for having liberal (or in Klein’s case, lefitst) politics. Wolfe wrote the Beauty Myth, which I recall reading and recall thinking highly of. Klein has written about disaster capitalism, climate catastrophe, and other critical political and cultural topics. But sometimes over the last few years, Wolfe has taken a hard right turn, delving deep into conspiracies – she’s a regular on Steve Bannon’s podcast. And when she offers a hot take, people mistakenly attribute it Klein, who then feels a need to defend herself.

In this book, Klein uses this as a stepping off point to explore how people ostensibly living in the same world have such vastly different experiences of reality. She uses fictional accounts of the concept of the double or doppelganger to illustrate the sections, which shows I think a really complex level of thinking, but one that I had trouble following in the audio version of the book.

The last chapter of the book focuses on the conflict between Israel and Palestine – obviously written before what is going on there now. But it was interesting to read, to get her thoughts as a Jewish woman and a leftist. I think it’s a chapter a lot of people would benefit from reading right now.

As I said, I’m thinking this would be a good one to read again next year, because I know there’s a lot in here that I didn’t absorb as much as I could have. I really should stick to mysteries and memoirs when it comes to audio books.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Recommend to a Friend