Five Stars

Best for: People who enjoy words. People interested in how language use has changed since the internet.

In a nutshell: Buzzfeed Copy Chief shares her perspective on language use for online writing.

Line that sticks with me: “Shakespeare used the singular they, as did a gaggle of other writers, including Jane Austen and Geoffrey Chaucer, as long ago as the 1300s. This is not a new trend, people!” (p 219)

Why I chose it: I love words and writing.

Review: A couple of years ago you might recall seeing stories about the “style guide for the internet.” Ms. Favilla was responsible for that, as she compiles and updates the BuzzFeed style guide. And while it only technically covers copy written for BuzzFeed, what it includes has likely been adopted by many writers of online content.

Ms. Favilla is a fun, talented writer. She makes topics that might be dry in less talented hand interesting and lively. Her perspective is that language is alive, and that to better communicate with each other we should be adapting to those changes. Some such changes will be obvious to you, but others might not be as apparent until you think about them. She has a great section on writing about sensitive topics “How to Not Be a Jerk,” which only has one area that I would disagree with – she says one should say “people with disabilities,” and I know there is disagreement in disability communities about whether that or “disabled person” is preferable.

The book doesn’t just cover traditional language; it also discusses emoticons, emojis, and words that may or may not be ‘real.’ You know, the things that make up the internet.

While Ms. Favilla and I disagree strongly on the pronunciation of .gif (PEANUT BUTTER VERSION FOR THE WIN), I’m hard pressed to find anything else of major contention. While the book is long and not quite a quick read, it’s definitely worth it. It will be on my shelf as a reference for years to come.

4 Stars

Best for: Those looking for some inspiration in a variety of voices.

In a nutshell: Leading feminist writers from diverse backgrounds share their thoughts on different aspects of what the election of Trump means.

Line that sticks with me: I’m writing this while on vacation, so I don’t have my book with me. But I underlined a ton and will be keeping the book to reread some essays.

Why I chose it: I saw authors I admire (Rebecca Skolnit! Jessica Valenti! Samantha Irby!)

Review: It’s impressive to pull together this many essays from so many great writers so quickly after the shit show that was the 2016 election. The authors look at a variety of issues, including moving to a red state, the failure of white women, the exclusion of trans women, the role of class, how black women were included in the Clinton campaign, and more.

My least favorite essay was probably from Sarah Jaffe – it seemed a bit off tonally and felt a little Bernie Bro-y to me. I think I get what she was going for, but the execution didn’t work for me. Meanwhile, Samantha Irby’s article about moving to be with her wife and not being entirely sure how engaged she wanted to be in figuring out what the white people she encountered thought of her was a great read.

I also enjoyed the final essay of the book, by Nicole Chung. The holidays are here, and I’m about to spend a week with some folks who may not have voted for Trump, but who tend to agree with a lot of his policies. Ms Chung looks at the obligations we have to talk to those who feel that way.

Even with the one essay that I wasn’t a huge fan of (and it wasn’t bad, I just didn’t enjoy it), I still highly recommend this essay collection, especially if you need a reminder that things didn’t just get bad on November 9, 2016 or if you need to some inspiration to keep fighting the good fight.

2 Stars

Best for: No one

In a nutshell: Adviser to tech folks (I think) attempts to turn what must have started as a TED talk into a book.

Line that sticks with me: N/A

Why I chose it: I saw some tips from it in a magazine I was reading and it sounded cool. Lesson learned.

Review: This is a pretty short book, so I read it in a couple of evenings. Last night I was about 75% through and I said to my husband “What’s the music that builds and builds but never pays off? Is that EDM? Because this book is the EDM of books.”

Seriously, there is so much build up and explaining of why our brains might be easily distracted, and how that is keeping us from being happy, but she doesn’t ever get to the point. She doesn’t land the plane. I’m sold! I believe you that distractions and technology can have negative impacts and disconnect us from loved ones (although for some people it makes connection better): so what do you think I should do about it?

I don’t know. I’m not sure if the author knows. There are a lot of colorful pages with quotes from wise people, but other than reconnecting with loved ones, there’s no THERE there. And there are certainly no happiness hacks.

Four Stars

Best for: People who are moving to the UK

In a nutshell: Twenty chapters of tips broken down by broad area of interest, like finance, accommodation, transportation, and health.

Line that sticks with me: N/A

Why I chose it: My partner and I (and our two cats) are moving to London in just under a month, and I’m still looking into things.

Review: I found this book to be more helpful than the other book I picked up on the topic. Part of that may be because it is focused on moving to the UK in general (not London specifically), and so half the book was not taken up with a focus on just a few London boroughs. However, I’d still like to find a book that focuses just on tips and information in different neighborhoods. I just ordered the Not for Tourists 2018 edition for London, which should meet that need.

But back to this book. I enjoyed some of the sections a great deal, especially the part about health care. I have had so much dental work done that I’m a bit nervous about leaving my dentist, so it was good to learn a bit more about what that will look like.

A couple of parts that were frustrating – one unavoidable, one less so. The section on moving pets was not fully accurate, as we now have to pay VAT when bringing in animals. But that changed in April, so I understand that it wouldn’t make it into the book. The other part was the sport section. The bit on football (the sport I’m most familiar with, so the other sections may also have had this problem) made no mention of the women’s league. Granted, in the US I’m used to the women’s national team being VASTLY superior to the men’s national team, so I expect the women’s league to be mentioned. But come on – are we really still pretending that women aren’t professional athletes?

Three Stars

Best for: People moving to London.

In a nutshell: Tips for moving to London.

Line that sticks with me: None that aren’t just good tips for me to know.

Why I chose it: BECAUSE I’M MOVING TO LONDON!

Review: I bought this book a few weeks ago, and finished it at least a week ago. But we were waiting to announce this beyond some close friends until our visas came through, so this review has been embargoed until now.

We’re moving as part of my partner getting a new job, so a few of the items in here aren’t our problem (they’re handling the visa, for example). But the tips on rentals, taxes, phone companies, and transportation are all fantastic. I lived in London for a year previously, but it was for graduate school, so a few things were handled: I had housing all lined up, and had a student loan to cover most of my expenses. I even somehow convinced someone at the mobile phone company to give me a monthly account instead of requiring I do pay-as-you-go.

Because the one thing that will be the most challenging is that we have no credit history in London. Landlords will need to trust that the letter from my partner’s new employer means we are trustworthy with a lease (and also, they’ll need to accept our two cats). We may have to do pay-as-you-go. It could take a long time to get a proper bank account.

I think the biggest bummer for me with this book is that they only focus on a handful of boroughs when providing living advice, none of which are ones we are planning to live in. So fully half of the book isn’t so applicable.

Three Stars

Best for: Those who enjoy trivia about cities, or like learning more about London.

In a nutshell: Historian provides a hodge podge of fun facts and bios of important people, organizations, and shops in London history, from literally hundreds of thousands of years ago through the 20th century.

Line that sticks with me: “Turning carpentry into philosophy, he had made his own coffin, which he knelt in nightly to pray.” p114

Why I chose it: I lived in London a few years ago, and love the city. This little book caught my eye.

Review: This is a fun little book. It’s clearly well-researched, with some randomness thrown in. It is organized by era, but it sometimes jumps around outside of the time frame if the topic connects across, say, medieval and Tudor times.

It’s only about 200 pages long, and a pretty quick read. I found the section on the East India Company a bit questionable – Mr. Latham addresses the issues of colonialism and racism, but suggests they really started after the EIC shut down. I’m not that familiar with that time period, but that seems … suspect.

The earlier parts of the book didn’t draw me in quickly, although there were definitely fun nuggets in there. But the later parts, where perhaps there was more information available to choose from, kept me interested.

My favorite part is the section on bookshops of London. I mean, I love a good bookshop, and this section was like a dream. I’m excited to get back to London to check out the stores that are still in business.

There was one thing I thought was kind of odd. I realize the subheading is “A Curious History of London,” so perhaps Mr. Latham wanted to stay away from common knowledge, but there was nothing about the great fire of 1666. That seems like a pretty big part of the history of the city to not be able to find a curious fact about.

3 Stars

Best for: I don’t know. Maybe new feminists looking for some decent writing?

In a nutshell: Journalist Laurie Penny collects some of her greatest hits into one essay collection.

Line that sticks with me: “It’s easy to criticize call-out culture, especially if the people calling you out are mean and less than merciful. It’s far harder to look into your own heart and ask if you can and should do better.”

Why I chose it: I don’t know. I probably shouldn’t have, as there are so many other writers out there taking on these topics.

Review: Only after I brought the book home did I realize that one of the blurbs was from Caitlin Moran. That should have been enough to make me second-guess my choice, as I think Ms. Moran views the middle-class white woman experience as some sort of universal stand-in that represents all that feminism should address. I also should have second guessed this purchase when I remembered that Ms. Penny wrote “I’m With the Banned,” a (I believe) well-meaning attempt to profile the rise of the new white supremacists in our culture, especially in light of the New York Times piece that recently painted Nazis in a sympathetic light.

With all of that as preamble, I do think that many of the essays in this collection are insightful. I believe all are pulled from previous writing, but only one was familiar to me. It’s a good one called “On Nerd Entitlement” and is a response to an article from a white tech guy who denies that he has benefited from male privilege. She handles the issue with sensitivity and acknowledgment that privilege doesn’t prevent you from experiencing pain.

I don’t generally find myself disagreeing with any of her analysis, and I appreciate the subject areas that she chooses to cover from her perspective – love, culture, gender, agency, backlash, violence, and the future. I could see many of the essays generating good conversation among women, and possible being something to share with men in your life who maybe get it but don’t fully get it.

One thing I noticed was that many essays ended awkwardly. The last paragraph or two often includes a sentence that suggests a connection or argument that wasn’t made in the essay, or a bat turn of phrase that reads a bit like how I wrap up my own writing when I don’t have the time to put in. Which is odd for a fully edited and printed book.

Three Stars

Best for: People with a strong science background but who maybe stopped studying it after high school or early college, so still get most of the basics but want some more specifics.

In a nutshell: Exploration of the causes of different genetic mutations in humans.

Line that sticks with me: N/A

Why I chose it: I was in a science and technology bookstore and the topic caught my interest.

Review: What causes our genes to act up? Why are some twins conjoined? Why do some people grow to be three feet tall, while others are much taller? Why are some covered in hair? This book seeks to explain, as the subheading suggests, “genetic variety and the human body.”

On paper, this book should have been great for me. It’s non-fiction and it involves medical issues. It has interesting illustrations. But I found parts of it to be a challenge to read, and it’s mostly because it’s over my head. The book has what appears to be accurate information, and author Leroi has obviously done a ton of research into the topic. But it feels more like a well-written text for a 200-level college course than a book that someone who hasn’t taken biology in well over 20 years can easy absorb.

That said, there were parts that were quite fascinating. I found the vignettes of individuals who had the particular genetic profiles being discussed in a given chapter to be interesting. Nearly all are about people from centuries past (I don’t recall any contemporary ones), I suppose perhaps to avoid creating some challenges for people who are still alive.

I’m still unsure about the title. I think I associate the word with the X-men now, or with something negative, when in reality the genetic differences Leroi discusses are often value neutral. Leroi has the challenge of walking the line between sensationalizing the lives of people who were often, in the past, treated poorly and providing information about what, at a cellular level, brings these genetic difference about. To that end, I think both the title and the cover miss the mark a bit.

If the book sounds interesting but you’re hesitant because you think it might be too full of jargon for you, I suggest skipping the chapter on Limbs. I think that was the wordiest for me, and the least interesting. It’s also where I almost gave up, but I’m glad that I pushed through to finish it.

Five Stars

Best for: Anyone who likes a little whimsy in their storytelling

In a nutshell: Almost-eight-year-old Elsa’s grandmother has died, and sent Elsa on a treasure hunt.

Line that sticks with me: “You’d quickly run out of people if you had to disqualify all those who at some point have been shits.” (p 315)

Why I chose it: I enjoyed “A Man Called Ove” very much, and when I purchased it the bookseller said this one is even better.

Review: This book is a lovely look at grief, and the stories we tell ourselves and others. It is not what I expected, but it is even better.

Elsa is almost eight, and her only real friend is Granny, her mother’s mother. Granny smokes and eats cinnamon buns and takes Elsa on adventures, much to the chagrin (so it seems) of Elsa’s mum. Granny and Elsa share a world of fairy tales that span the six kingdoms. Then Granny dies, and Elsa finds herself with a letter to deliver on her Granny’s behalf. Which leads to another letter, and another.

Meanwhile, Elsa and her Mum and stepdad live in a house with multiple apartments, apartments that contain their own stories that might appear to be one thing but are revealed as another. I don’t want to share too much because part of the magic, I think, is in the discovery.

As I said, I didn’t expect this book to be so tied with a land of make-believe, but I’m glad I didn’t realize that because I might not have picked it up. Instead I was treated to a story that I literally did not put down except for a mid-afternoon walk and a dinner-time movie. It took probably six hours to read and I loved every minute. I squealed, I felt punched in the gut, I cried.

Mr. Backman is a deeply talented storyteller, and now I need to go pick up his next book.

3 Stars

Best for: Men (because you need to be told); mothers working outside the home who are looking for some support.

In a nutshell: Tech journalist Sarah Lacy makes the case that motherhood is an asset to the workforce, not a detriment.

Line that sticks with me: “It was the men — not the kids — that had proven to be a net negative on many of these women’s careers.” (p 206)

Why I chose it: This is another book by someone in the tech world that my husband thought I might find interesting. He’s recommended a lot recently!

Review: In the first few pages I thought I would love this book. By the middle, I’d almost give up because I thought there was a whole lot of unintentional shaming of people who aren’t mothers. But the last third brought it back around to the point that I think I can give it about three stars (would probably be 2.5 if I did half stars).

The writing itself is fine – Ms. Lacy is a journalist and so knows how to write. But she doesn’t seem to entirely know how to put together a long-form piece. Sometimes this book feels like a memoir, sometimes it feels like a researched piece. Some chapters start with a vignette from her life that then illustrates the content that will be explored on a broader level later in the chapter; others have unrelated vingettes, or none at all. There’s no consistency to the book, so I found it challenging at times to really dive in.

The content, however, is interesting for sure. Ms. Lacy makes a very strong case for all the ways that motherhood is an asset to the workforce, and I appreciate the research she does into this. She sometimes veers into just examining sexism without the connection to motherhood, looking at how marriage (regardless of having children) affects women in heterosexual relationships.

The main problem I have is that, perhaps due to some inartful writing (or perhaps because it is her opinion), much of this book reads as though women who are NOT mothers are somehow incapable of the same achievements of women who are mothers. I don’t think that’s what she’s saying, but as a woman who works outside the home and will never have kids, I’m clearly more attuned to that kind of coded language. On the one hand, I would expect that major life changes would have affect people, and hopefully in a positive way (including motherhood). But I also think that experiencing life in general helps us to grow and make different choices.

I’m not sure how to best articulate this, but there is a way to discuss how life events (having children, getting married, getting divorced) can be seen as a way to improve your life without suggesting that not going through those things means you aren’t improving your life. And I don’t think Ms. Lacy does that very well. There are times where she discussed how mothers can just focus better because they have so many competing priorities they *have* to, and this leads to better productivity. I’m not sure how productivity is defined her, but the way Ms. Lacy discusses it, it sounds like that focus and productivity is only available to women who have kids. That seems disingenuous.

The book is also very gender essentialist – I don’t think how this affects trans men even crossed her mind. For her, uterus = woman. And I know that it is a shift in thinking for a lot of people, and that so much of the sexism and misogyny that exists is based on expectations of cis women; however, I think we’re at a point where our discussions aren’t as rich as they could be when we completely cut out our colleagues who don’t fit into this woman=uterus dimension. Sure, it might complicate the book a little, but I think Ms. Lacy could have figured out a way to work it in.

I’m glad I read the book and, as I said, I think there are lots of folks who will read it and enjoy it; it’s just probably not a book I’ll be recommending to folks like me.