Three Stars

Best for: Those who love Paris and enjoy learning more about specific neighborhoods (or in this case, a single street).

In a nutshell: U.S. ex-pat and journalist Ms. Sciolino provides a look at the individuals who live and work on the Rue des Martyrs, providing current information and a look at the history of the street.

Line that sticks with me: “A hardware store has been at No. 1 since 1865.” (p 56)

Why I chose it: On our whirlwind visit to 19 independent books stores on Seattle Bookstore Day, we stopped at a travel bookstore and saw this. I love Paris, and liked the idea of learning the stories of a few people from one neighborhood.

Review: This book has some really lovely moments, and a few questionable editorial choices. Ms. Sciolino moved to Paris in 2002, and to the Rue des Martyrs a few years later. After her editor suggested she write an article on the closing of a fish shop on the street, she decided to explore the area more, focusing just on the people and shops of this single strip in Paris, stretching from the 9th to the 18th arrondissements.

Some of the stories are lovely and sweet, providing a look at the lives of current business owners who carry on traditions for years. Some locations have had the same type of business in it for literally decades if not longer. The stories also often have a bit of history in them, especially the recurrent theme of the origin story of Saint Denis (and Catholicism in general). I could picture some of the locations, having been to Paris and walked down this street before; mostly it just made me want to return.

As I said up front, there were a couple of decisions that I found somewhat questionable. The first was the repeated use of the term ‘transsexual’ when describing a cabaret that feature drag shows (http://www.michou.com/fr/un-spectacle-innoubliable/). I appreciate that I may be lacking in knowledge in this area, but my understanding has been that this term is, if not insulting, as least displays ignorance. But again, I’ve been wrong in the past. Regardless, it was jarring to read repeatedly.

The second is her picking and choosing which religious beliefs to spend time on. There is a chapter that is (mostly) well done that focuses on Jewish life on the Rue; in it Ms. Sciolino discusses the Jewish schoolgirls who were killed after France did not protect them during WWII, the Nazi occupation, and explores the Jewish heritage of this street. She also spends considerable time — and a few chapters — discussing the Catholic history of the street. Is there no Muslim history she could have explored? Are any of the shopkeepers she interviewed Muslim, and have they found challenges with the rise in French anti-Muslim sentiments? This perspective would have been nice to learn about.

Finally, she’s clearly an upper-middle-class woman who may truly be friends with some of the shopkeepers, but others she interviewed may have just been humoring her inquiries as they did not wish to lose her business.

That aside, this is still a book I would probably recommend to someone about to visit Paris and stay in the 9th or 18th arrondissement.

I mostly pick my own books; I’ll occasionally go with a recommendation, or someone will buy me a book. This year I also participated in Seattle Indie Bookstore day, which meant I got a few unknown books thanks to grab bags and such.

The good news: No one-star books this year. And more four-star than three- and two-star ratings combined. Nearly 20% of the books have the coveted five-star rating. The average is 3.76. Sweet.

Type

Once again it is no surprise that I keep coming back to non-fiction books.

I don’t know what it is. I’m just drawn to non-fiction books more often.

Style or Genre

Ah, memoir. You, combined with essays and sociology books could keep me happy for years. (The styles you can’t see include Young Adult, Science Fiction, Science, Humor, Health, Etiquette, and Biography.)

Demographics

This is where I’m trying more to focus on diversity in the authors I’m reading.

I’ve got the gender thing down mostly well (no non-binary authors though):

Nationality is still heavily USA-focused (boo):

In terms of race and ethnicity, I’ve got a slightly better breakdown than in years past:

That said, it should not still be majority white.

And finally, I decided to see how it broke down by gender and race / ethnicity:

No Native writers at all. No Middle Eastern Men, no Latina Women. Not great.

I have, however, been mostly good at sticking to my goal of not reading two white authors in a row.

Alright, back to reading!

Four Stars

Best for: People looking for some insight how the U.S. got where it is, and some ideas for what we need to do to change that.

In a nutshell: The inequality in this country is harming us, and the powerful (in Government, in Business, in Banking) are so focused on the idea of meritocracy that they can’t see that it isn’t working.

Line that sticks with me: “In reality our meritocracy has failed not because it’s too meritocratic, but because in practice, it isn’t very meritocratic at all.” (p53)

Why I chose it: I finally read the back cover and realized that the topic is something that interests me greatly.

Review: This well-paced, well-researched, easy to read book is yet another one that I wish I’d read as part of a book club. I want to talk about the things I just read, and get other perspectives! Which I think is a pretty strong endorsement.

Mr. Hayes (of MSNBC fame – also his twitter feed @chrislhayes is a nice mix of news and incredulity at the news) divides the 240 pages of his book into seven meaty chapters that fly by. He starts by providing the reasonable premise that the U.S. likes to think of itself as a meritocracy – that anyone can get ahead if they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Never mind institutional challenges (don’t worry, he gets to those); those who get to the top are there because they deserve it.

He then goes on to explain how this mythical notion, if it every actually was true, is certainly no longer true. Using such great examples as steroid use in baseball, the banking collapse (and bailout), and the Iraq war, Mr. Hayes provides a thoughtful commentary on how our systems are not operating in a way that allows people to get what they deserve; they instead are functioning in such a way that they foster even more inequality as time goes on. He provides some interesting reasons for why it is getting worse, such as the fact that the elites of any field are out of touch with the rest of us, and that when we set ‘being the best’ as the ultimate goal, we also set ourselves up for people to cheat their way to the top.

I found two parts of the book especially compelling: the first is early one, when Mr. Hayes uses his high school alma mater (Hunter College High School) to demonstrate how something that is ostensibly 100% merit-based has become quite inequitable. The other is his ability to remind the reader that people have different descriptions of the elite — the Left see the Elite as the power-hungry corporate CEOs and Wall Street Banks; the Right see the Elite as Hollywood, academics, and fancy intellectuals — but that ultimately what matters is that the elite don’t seem to care for or represent the rest of us.

Mr. Hayes doesn’t leave us without hope; he offers up examples like the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street as different ways the people have gotten together to fight back against those in power. The entire last section is full of different ideas, although none so concrete that I feel I can point to what I need to do next. That said, I think a lot of what we’ve seen in reaction to the 45th U.S. President fits in line with his suggestions.

I’m leaving out other important things, such as his fascinating discussion of insurrectionists versus institutionalists is fascinating, but hopefully you get the point. What’s so disconcerting is that this book was published five years ago, and yet the downward spiral continues. I wish this book weren’t so relevant, and that it was more history book than current events, but alas, here we are.

Four Stars

Best for: People who enjoy strong, witty writers who are able to handle fluffy and serious topics with equal finesse.

In a nutshell: Scaachi Koul shares some snipets of her life as the child of Indian immigrant now living in Canada.

Line that sticks with me: “It changes you, when you see someone similar to you, doing the thing you might want to do yourself.” (p 123)

Why I chose it: Because Lindy West, Jessica Valenti and Samantha Irby can’t all be wrong.

Review: I’d seen this book in my local bookstore a bunch of times and always walked past it because I thought it was a much more serious book. I didn’t fully process that the title was more of a joke than some clever way of of being hopeful (I’ve got the cover uploaded here so hopefully you see what I mean); that’s on me. Then I finally picked it up and flipped it over, and three of my favorite authors — and just generally awesome women — provided the blurbs. So obviously I purchased it immediately.

This is a collection of loosely connected essays in which Ms. Koul shares her perspective as a woman whose parents immigrated to Canada from India before she was born. She talks about body issues (the chapter on body hair is amazing), about being lighter skinned than other Indians. She talks about online harassment and rape culture.

I enjoyed Ms. Koul’s style of writing and her wit. Not everything is a laugh out loud joke, and some parts and extremely serious, but the book never feels heavy in a bad way. She somehow makes challenging topics feel manageable, if that makes sense. I’m so happy I got this book, and look forward to reading more from her.

Three Stars

Best for: Anyone who likes Paris, needs a bit of a quick, distracting read, and is willing to overlook the heteronormativity of it all.

In a nutshell: Four friends from Paris decided to write the type of advice book one might buy on impulse when shopping at Anthropologie.

Line that sticks with me: “darkest Africa” – used when referring to places where people might be from. I just … was a bit gobsmacked that this weird bit of racism made it past the editors.

Why I chose it: I’m pretty sure I bought it at a non-bookstore store because I’m a sucker for Paris and for advice.

Review: This book is fine. Yesterday my mind was not in a great place, and I just wanted something distracting. A book that talked about pretty clothes and a city I love and tips for making my hair looks good. And for the most part, this fit the bill.

It definitely assumes the reader is a woman who likes men, and it assumes that the reader has access to money. And is slender. But this is probably not a surprise, because the whole goal of the book seems to be to bring the stereotypes of Paris to life on the page. And they do, and mostly it just made me want to go out and find some jeans that actually fit and start wearing my red lipstick all the time.

Four Stars

Best for: Those interested in exploring how feminism has failed at inclusivity, and how U.S. society has failed Black women.

In a nutshell: bell hooks provides a history of how racism, sexism and classism have impacted Black women in the U.S.

Line that sticks with me: “The process begins with the individual woman’s acceptance that American women, without exception, are socialized to be racist, classist, and sexist, in varying degrees, and that labeling ourselves feminists does not change the fact that we must consciously work to rid ourselves of the legacy of negative socialization.”

Why I chose it: I picked this for my office’s equity and social justice book club because I don’t think my feminist reading has included nearly enough of the Black woman’s perspective, and I wanted to be able to discuss this with others.

Review: I’ve somehow managed to never read any bell hooks even though I’m familiar with her importance to feminism. With this great book (which is frustratingly hard to track down in bookstores – I had to resort to ordering online) I feel like I got a more in-depth education on issues that I’ve been trying to learn more about this year.

Starting with slavery, Dr. hooks examines how racism, sexism and classism work together in impacting the experience of Black women in the U.S. For example, she explores how women who were slaves were forced to perform “masculine” tasks, but men who were slaves were not compelled to perform “feminine” tasks, and how society has spent a lot of time examining how slavery impacted the Black male psyche but has spent far less time examining how it impacted — and continues to impact — Black women.

She also looks at how the patriarchy — when combined with racism — has influenced the experience of Black women in society, eschewing the idea that Black women exist in a matriarchy simply because some households are run by women.

In the sections that might be challenging to read for white women who consider themselves feminists, Dr. hooks examines the ways in which white women have pushed black women out of discussions of sexism, seeking to maintain their status within the patriarchy as at least above Black people. She also spends time looking at how society seems to default ‘women’ to mean white women and ‘Black’ to mean Black men, leaving Black women out completely, and what the implications of that are.

I appreciated Dr. hooks’s examination of how so much of feminism (as practices by white feminists) seeks not to overturn the system, but to make gains with the patriarchal, capitalist system that exists in this country. This isn’t particularly imaginative or revolutionary, and can mean that instead of fighting for true freedom, we just end up fighting with each other for material gains. I also appreciate that despite all of this, she doesn’t argue that feminism is only for white women; she sees the real benefits of it, but only when we can really fight for the freedom that feminism should bring about. I’m looking forward to discussing it at work this week.

This is a dense read (at under 200 pages it still took longer than I expected) but definitely worth it.

Five Stars

Best for: Those who enjoy amazing writing, searing honesty, and vulnerability.

In a nutshell: Roxane Gay shares a memoir of her life, framed through her relationship with her body.

Line that sticks with me: There are too many to include all of them. But here’s one: “But the pain of a tattoo is something to which you have to surrender because once you’ve started, you cannot really go back or you’ll be left with something not only permanent but unfinished. I enjoy the irrevocability of that circumstance.” (p 186)

Why I chose it: It’s Roxane Gay. Come on.

Review: I was so anxious to read this that instead of visiting my regular bookstore I stopped at chain store in the middle of the work day in a town I happened to be passing through because I wanted to be able to start reading it at the first possible opportunity. Which turned out to be waiting in line at a coffee shop before a meeting. A meeting I was nearly late to because the writing and story are so compelling that I did not want to put it down.

Dr. Gay (Professor Gay? She has a PhD, so I want to acknowledge that properly) has written a memoir that is unlike any other I’ve read. It feels almost like poetry, as the 300 pages are split into nearly 90 chapters. Some chapters are but a paragraph long; others span multiple pages. The subject matter is challenging, but Prof. Gay’s language is not. As she provides some detail of her rape at a young age, the rape that she describes as a turning point that caused her to build up a physical distance between herself and others through weight gain, she manages to use language that is extremely uncomfortable and horrifying yet possible to read through.

The book focuses on her relationship with her body and what it is like to be in this world that does not value fat people, but it isn’t a laundry list of the challenges she faces. Yes, there are chapters about the frustrations she deals with when traveling, but Prof. Gay finds a way to discuss it that simultaneously points out all the ways people unintentionally — and intentionally — shun, punish, or otherwise seek to harm fat bodies AND remind us all that this is her experience. She isn’t a headless fat person on the evening news; she is a person who lives in this body, who deserves to be seen and respected. And we as a society — and individuals — fail at this. Hard. And often.

And people suffer because of it.

As Prof. Gay points out in the beginning, this is not a ‘before’ and ‘after’ story in the sense that you’ll see her holding up her old clothes and her new, skinny body. She is still a very fat woman. And she is still valuable, and worth love, respect, and basic human decency. She won’t be more of a person if she weighs less.

This is a book you should read. We live in a world where it is so easy to deny the humanity of those who are not like us. Even some of the progressive folks I know, who would never dare mock someone who is a different race, religion, or sexual orientation than themselves, still make shitty comments about fat people. Still used fat as an insult. Still take joy in seeing other people gain weight. And that’s really fucking shitty.

I hope you read this book.

Four Stars

Best for: Those interested in a fun (but surprisingly serious) look at how the sausage is made.

In a nutshell: Comedy writer turned senator provides the story of how he got where he is, and what it really means to be a U.S. Senator.

Line that sticks with me: “They’re all extremely conservative Republicans who I’m sure don’t want me to say anything good about them. And make no mistake, I hope they get beat in their next elections. But they’re there right now! And just as part of my job is standing my ground against all the terrible hings they want to do, part of it is looking for opportunities to find common ground, because that’s how stuff gets done.” (p284)

Why I chose it: I’ve read most (maybe all?) of Sen. Franken’s books, and this one called my name from the airport bookstore.

Review: If you like Al Franken, then you’ll like this book. If you don’t, you still might like this. However, if you are looking for nothing more than revolution against all members of the GOP, then you might find Sen. Franken’s pragmatism unforgivable.

Sen. Franken spends nearly half of the book sharing how he got to be a senator. He talks (briefly) about his days working at Saturday Night Live, but spends a lot of time talking about how he came to the idea of running for office, his first race for senate, and then the recount. Man, I forgot about that one.

As interesting and pithy as that half of the book is, the fascinating stuff comes in the second half, when he’s in the senate. Hearing his perspective on why he works with some of these people that those of us on the outside despise is … almost convincing. Of course, he acknowledges that he’s a white guy working in politics, but I think he doesn’t necessarily give enough credence to the fact that as a white guy, he has more wiggle room and is probably seen as less threatening to some Republicans than others.

At the same time, though, I appreciated reading his perspective on his job, and why he loves it, and what it really means to be a U.S. Senator. How you don’t always get your way. How you need to think about the people you represent (in his case, Minnesotans), but also about your own morals.

He started writing this book in earnest in November, and was working on it well into this year, to the point where he can talk about his experience with the Trump administration and his cabinet appointees. He’s as pissed as we are, and he uses the last couple of chapters to both encourage us all to fight back, and to tell the story of a young woman who represents all that is good in the US.

It’s an interesting look at our government that left me a little more hopeful.

Three Stars

Best for: People who enjoy pop culture analysis that is serious but not too serious.

In a nutshell: Film critic explores some of the top movies of the 1980s, focusing on what made them good and why we don’t see them anymore.

Line that sticks with me: “Nineties teen makeover scenes are all about stamping out a teenage girl’s awkwardness and unique personality, whereas the girls in the eighties teen movies celebrate those two qualities.” (p76)

Why I chose it: Book club!

Review: First, thank you everyone who voted for this as our CBR book club pick. It’s pretty much made for me: nonfiction, essays, humor, pop culture, written by a woman. Huzzah!

I haven’t read any of the other reviews of this so I might be repeating other folks, but I wanted to go into without any preconceptions. And overall, I enjoyed so much of it. I appreciate the author’s honesty about her feelings about the films, and the fact that she didn’t remove herself from the analysis. It’s apparent — and she acknowledges — that much of what she has to say is based o personal taste, yet she’s able to back up her assertions.

So instead of focusing on the good (and there is so much — especially her analysis of teenagers and teenage girls specifically, and the overall way these films tackle sexism), I wanted to share a couple of things that bothered me, and they are intertwined: the discussion of race (or lack thereof) throughout, and the Eddie Murphy chapter, where Ms. Freeman seems to put much of the discussion of race.

Ms. Freeman spends so much time providing good critical discussion about the depiction of women in film (ten of the eleven chapters, while not each focused on gender issues, at least touches on it), but she glosses over racism in nearly every other one. She does mention the issue in the chapter on Ghostbusters, and sort of makes an attempt and looking at it when talking about John Hughes, but mostly she seems to just be making excuses for filmmakers.

But any movie set in NYC that she discusses, for example, should at least be questioned if there aren’t any non-white characters (When Harry Met Sally … I’m looking at you. And I love you, but that’s a pretty white NYC). And sure, John Hughes may not be able to speak personally on the experience of a person of color, but perhaps he could seek to include at least a couple of non-white, non-stereotypes characters?

And then there’s the Eddie Murphy movies chapter. Ooof. Just not great. And I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about it, but it feels ironic to have nearly the entire discussion about race shoehorned into a single chapter. A chapter with the subheading “Race Can Be Transcended.” Oh Ms. Freeman, no. Just…no. You would have benefited from a sensitivity reader here (of course I’m assuming she didn’t have one, but I could be wrong). Or perhaps just a read over of this article.

Because of that, this otherwise four-star book gets three stars from me.

Four Stars

Best for: Fans of decent memoir writing.

In a nutshell: Comedian and political commentator offers some insight into his perspective on life.

Line that sticks with me: “If there’s one thing that I learned from both of my parents, it is that you don’t need the paper to get the information.” (p33)

Why I chose it: The cover and subtitle (”Tales of a 6’4”, African-American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian”)

Review: I’m trying to figure out the best way to describe this book and my reaction to it. It was a nice, fun (thought not especially funny – which I think was the point), fairly quick read. It offered insight into Mr. Bell’s life. It tackled topics like race and sexism in a nuanced and clever way. But it didn’t leave me raving. It was like a perfectly fine dinner at a decent restaurant. Not going down in the top five meals (or books), but also not necessitating that I warn off others from experiencing it.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some rough parts – this isn’t a fluffy book. He tells some sweet stories, but also some challenging ones. Like his experiences being a Black star of a show dealing with heady topics like interviewing the KKK with a white showrunner who doesn’t really get it. Or his honesty in recognizing that some of his jokes, while spot on in the racial commentary category, were missing it with some thinly veiled (and unintentional) misogyny.

I also appreciate that, while I believe that books like this are often turned in pretty far in advance of their publication, I’m guessing he either edited or added some things to address the 2016 election.

Mr. Bell is a talented writer, and I enjoyed the stories he chose to tell. I would recommend this as a library book read for sure, or maybe pick it up when it’s available in paperback. I think if you enjoy memoirs, this is a good one to add to your list, especially if you want something refreshing and honest but not annoyingly self-deprecating.