Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Three: Eat, Pray, Love

Okay, so for years and years--nearly a decade, actually--I'd intentionally avoided reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love mainly on the objection that the title and cover combined seemed to me to exude such complete smug pretentiousness.  The blurb on the back of the book didn't exactly help to dispel that impression, either.  But as soon as I started listening to a later book by Gilbert (Big Magic--see my previous post), I was enchanted by the author and her delightful reading voice!  So I decided, despite my apprehension about Eat, Pray, Love to give it a listen, and I was surprisingly glad I did!  I found myself enjoying this memoir despite myself.  Eat, Pray, Love gives enough of the backstory on Gilbert's messy, distressing, and drawn-out divorce that you can understand why she'd want to spend a year out of the country afterward (even if you, like me, are pretty jealous that she was in the financial and professional position to just drop everything and live abroad for a year).  For various reasons, which you'll have to read (or listen to) the book to find out, she decides to spend four months in Italy, then four months in India, and finally four months in Indonesia.  She's mostly doing some intense soul-searching, which sounds vaguely self-indulgent on her part and tiresome to experience secondhand as a reader or listener, but I was surprised at how interested and even invested in her experiences I became as I listened.  Also, she meets some fantastically interesting people along the way who also make their way into this memoir: it's not just an inner monologue, but also the best kind of travel-writing.  If you, like me, have been avoiding this book, I'd urge you to at least give it a try, and if you're interested in memoirs or travel writing, definitely check it out.

Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Two: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

So Big Magic was my first introduction to author Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love* fame), and I may now be hooked.  At a friend's suggestion, I listened to Big Magic as an audiobook because Gilbert reads her own works and has a really delightful voice to listen to.  I think I could listen to her read the phone book and be enthralled!  (When I've mentioned this to anyone else who's listened to her, they agreed immediately; also, one co-worker admitted to buying a copy of this book so she could re-read it as often as she liked, in case you still need convincing about this book in either format.)  Anyway, Big Magic is Gilbert's take on the creative process, not just in terms of writing but more generally, and it's surprisingly affirming and unpretentious.  Learning figure skating can be a way of living creatively, if you're passionate about it.  You don't have to become great, or even good at it, as long as you enjoy it.  Gilbert spends a lot of time on the importance of pleasure, particularly spending time de-bunking the trope of the tortured creative genius or the idea that only melancholy can produce great art or other creative endeavors.  Whether you're actively looking to increase the amount of creativity in your daily life or just want an interesting (and short) non-fiction book, definitely give Big Magic a try.

*My next post will almost certainly be talking about Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, which I resisted for years because it looked so smug and pretentious, but it was neither and in fact quite enjoyable!

Chapter One Hundred Seventy-One: Founding Mothers

So I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks this spring, because I do a good deal of driving in my daily life, and I realized I haven't been writing about these books I've been listening to, which is silly since I think that listening to audiobooks is just as valid as reading written books.  Also, I've listened to some really great books that you all might also want to read with your eyes or your ears!  So I'll be adding some of my favorites in the next few days!  And first up, the one I finished most recently, is Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts.  This non-fiction book tells the stories of some of the women who were fundamental in the founding of the United States, who (like many groups) are often overlooked or sidelined in traditional histories.  Abigail Adams, Deborah Franklin (Yes, Ben had a wife! Who knew?), Sally (Franklin) Bache (their daughter), Eliza Pinckney, Betsy Hamilton (a.k.a. Eliza, to Hamilton fans), and Martha Washington are main figures, though other fascinating ladies are discussed, too.  Roberts (a former NPR correspondent who reads this audiobook with a lovely voice and great expression) really brings these women to life in a way that kept me interested and wanting to find out more about them, and I really enjoyed learning more about the American Revolution.  If you're looking for a way to (belatedly) celebrate Independence Day, or if you like history, or well-written stories, I'd definitely suggest giving Founding Mothers a try.

Chapter One Hundred Seventy: The Rosie Project (and The Rosie Effect)

So last winter my grandmother sent me several books she'd enjoyed, and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project was among them.  This is a title I've seen circulate at the library a good bit but never really looked at myself.  As soon as I read the first sentence, I was hooked!  The Rosie Project is narrated by its protagonist, Don, a genetics professor at a university in Melbourne (Australia!) who has a very distinctive voice and worldview that I found utterly captivating.  The book hints that he may be on the autism spectrum (i.e. by having him give a lecture on Asperger's Syndrome in the first chapter and not seeming to recognize how he fits with the characteristics he describes--subtle, I know), but I really like that this book refuses to have the narrator (or his two psychologist best friends) diagnose himself and then act from that box.  Don knows he's not the most socially adept person, but that doesn't stop him from deciding he's going to find a wife, which leads to the romantic comedy aspect of this novel, which had me laughing out loud pretty often--not at Don, but more at the world, because I could totally see where he was coming from and how much sense he makes in a world that is gloriously illogical.  I could hardly put this hilarious and heartwarming story down, and it was a perfect read for the beginning of summer!  The sequel, The Rosie Effect, is also fun, although I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first book--a bit more on the drama and a bit less on the humor.  If you're looking for a fun and smart read that will make your heart as warm as your sunburned skin while you're lounging at the beach this summer, definitely look into The Rosie Project.

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Nine: Lagoon

One of my friends recommended Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor to me, and I'm so glad she did, because I doubt I would have found it otherwise, but I really enjoyed it!  Lagoon definitely falls under speculative fiction, probably sci-fi, which is a genre I'd love to read more of but somehow don't end up reading much of....  Anyway, Lagoon explores what might happen if aliens were to visit Lagos, Nigeria.  With most of the books I read being set in America, Europe, or a fantasy world, it was great to get the chance to (fictionally) travel to Nigeria, and it reminded me that I should seek out more diversity in my reading not just in terms of genre but also in terms of setting.  Lagoon is fast-paced and full of action, and the narration switches frequently between a handful of characters, some of whom speak using Nigerian slang, which is a bit of a challenge but I found it fun and not too hard to follow (there's a glossary if you get really stuck, but usually context makes the meaning clear).  I enjoyed the abundance of narrators and the constantly evolving action, but it may be a bit hectic for readers who like a slower pace (for readers who are really patient and like the slowest pace, see any of my posts on Connie Willis, one of my all-time favorite authors whom I'm always recommending and whom some people love and who others find far too slow or verbose).  But I digress!  If you're into edge-of-your-seat alien adventures, politics, friendship, family life, and giant sea monsters, definitely give Lagoon a try!

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Eight: Orphan Train

So about a year ago, a coworker recommended Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train to me, and for some reason the time just didn't feel right to read it, though it looked good.  Then my mother read the book and recommended it to me, so I decided I should finally check it out, and lo and behold, the recommenders were right: it was an enjoyable read!  The story is split between narrators (a teenage Penobscot Indian girl in foster care; a wealthy elderly widow) and settings (contemporary Maine; 1930s Minnesota), and while it's not super hard to figure out how the two stories are intertwined, each story is interesting enough in its own right to keep the momentum of the novel as a whole.  Also, the historical part of the story deals with so-called orphan trains (hence the title), which are a part of American history I knew nothing about, and now at least I know a little about the former practice of sending orphans from urban slums out to the Midwest in the hopes of adoption.  In addition to the interesting settings, Kline's characters are finely drawn, and the narrators in particular elicited my empathy and drew me into their stories.  For readers who enjoy historical and contemporary fiction as well as stories that foster an emotional connection to the characters, I'd definitely suggest reading Orphan Train.

Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Seven: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic

This giant book by Emily Croy Barker caught my eye on the library's shelves partly because it's so huge (upward of 500 pages), and partly because of its long title, and partly because the dust jacket is so pretty.  Nora, a struggling grad student who's just been dumped by her longtime boyfriend, accidentally wanders into another, magical world--but this world turns out to be not quite the fantasy it at first seems and in fact is quite dangerous.  Unable to return home, Nora struggles to find her footing in this mysterious new world, and I at least was enthralled by her adventures here.  Full of great world-building, intricate plots and subplots, and plenty of emotional intrigue and complicated relationships, I could hardly put this story down!