Stuff I’ve read lately

Esther Pearl Watson, “Unlovable, Vol. 1″
I love Esther Pearl Watson’s gruesome tales of the life of ’80s teenager Tammy Pierce, and I think any girl who ever experienced high school will be able to identify—if only a little bit—with the unlovable protagonist. It’s a big, pink, sparkly square book full of cartoons. Get it!

Debra Gwartney, “Live Through This”
I’m not usually one for modern memoirs, but this one’s really good. It’s a mom’s account of losing control of her teen daughters in the grunge era. (Hence the title’s nod to Hole.) Gwartney weaves past and present into a circular story that’s honest and hopeful.

Brian Eule, “Match Day”
Awesome nonfiction book about the day med students find out where their residencies (and the next three-plus years of their lives) will take place. It focuses on three female med students and their individual challenges and relationship struggles during the year.

Alan Corey, “A Million Bucks by 30″

Reminds me quite a bit of the dishwasher book and the red paperclip book in that it’s written by a dude with an amazing story who isn’t really much of a writer. See the last item for more…

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2008, 224 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 11.2.08
Date finished: 11.2.08
What I liked: This guy, broke and straight out of college, decides he’s gonna make a million bucks by the time he’s 30. He’s got some good tips on being really frugal. And I read the whole thing in a day.
What I didn’t like: He went into real estate to make his money. Boring!
Oh, also: He relies really heavily on two jokes: “Jesus H. [random word]!” and “What the [celebrity's name that starts with F]?” This gets old real fast.

David Sedaris, “Me Talk Pretty One Day”

Reread this—it appeared in my list from the first year I started keeping track.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2000, 272 pp.
Obtained via: My bookshelf
Date started: 7.26.08
Date finished: 8.1.08
What I liked: Pretty much everything! It’s also a lot funnier if you imagine him reading it in his nasally voice.
What I didn’t like: Pretty much nothing!
What I learned: Never yell “Good luck beating that rape charge!” to a friend when you get off the bus or train.

Jeanette Winterson, “Oranges are not the Only Fruit”

I’ve had this book on my bookshelf for nearly two years, and couldn’t remember for the life of me who gave it to me. I never read it, because I didn’t know what it was about. Finally, after hanging out with Jessica M. recently, she brought it up and asked if I’d read it yet. Mystery solved!

“Oranges are not the Only Fruit” is, like “Tipping the Velvet,” a bildungsroman about a young woman discovering her sexuality and learning about the world.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 1987, 176 pp.
Obtained via: Jessica M.
Date started: 7.27.08
Date finished: 7.28.08
What I liked: The prose is absolutely beautiful, and Jeanette Winterson’s got a sense of humor that led me to refer to her as a lesbian Douglas Adams.
What I didn’t like: “Oranges” is a lot more ethereal and philosophical than “Tipping the Velvet” was. I don’t mind that, but I wish I’d learned more about the characters.
What I learned: People see what they want to see.

“Before the Mortgage,” edited by Christina Amini and Rachel Hutton

This collection of essays by people about post-college-pre-babies life struck an even stronger chord with me than the first time I read it back in 2006. (But I apparently didn’t note it in my master book list.)

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2006, 228 pp.
Obtained via: My bookshelf
Date started: 7.18.08
Date finished: 7.26.08
What I liked: The essays by Meghan Daum and Christina Amini.
What I didn’t like: The essay by Pagan Kennedy; the badly formatted faux-sidebars of random quotes.
What I learned: I’m not alone, and this quarter-life crisis might last a few more years yet.

Lauren R. Weinstein, “Girl Stories”

Awesome collection of awkward-middle-school-girl vignettes in the same vein as Tammy Pierce is Unlovable, one of my all-time favorites.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2006, 240 pp.
Obtained via: Clifton Comics
Date started: 5.15.08
Date finished: 5.15.08
What I liked: Awkwardness level is off the charts!
What I didn’t like: Varying styles of drawing is a little confusing, but not bad!
What I learned: Everything will be OK.

Marjane Satrapi, “The Complete Persepolis”

Saw the movie first, and had to read the original graphic novel! This is a couple parts combined into one hefty volume.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2004, 344 pp.
Obtained via: Columbus, Ohio’s Book Loft
Date started: 5.10.08
Date finished: 5.10.08
What I liked: Satrapi’s stories of growing up a rebellious girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution is mesmerizing, funny and eye-opening. Her high school years spent in Vienna were a vivid reminder of what it’s like to be out of place in a foreign land.
What I didn’t like: No complaints! I totally want to hang out with Marjane Satrapi.
What I learned: Where kids got rock cassettes during the revolution, how people get through war with their sense of humor intact.

Shalom Auslander, “Foreskin’s Lament”

Shalom Auslander writes about his experience growing up in an orthodox Jewish household and the fear of god it instilled in him.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2007, 312 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 2.11.08
Date finished: 2.15.08
What I liked: This book was hilarious. I really like how the narration jumped back and forth between Shalom’s formative years and his adult years. I also liked the straightforward prose. A lot of times it read like a “what I did on my summer vacation” kind of essay, which really worked in the parts where he wrote about his childhood.
What I didn’t like: No complaints, really. (I just wish I could remember where I read chunks of his work before… I know I read an essay about his rabbi at school yelling “name of the creator” at him any time he wrote his name [which is one of the many for god] and another about him and his wife walking 14 miles to Manhattan to watch a Rangers game on the sabbath. New York Times? New Yorker? No idea.)
What I learned: A lot about Jewish customs.

Steve Martin, “Born Standing Up”

I’m back to my old habit of having four or five books on my nightstand at all times now. My mom asked me how I keep them straight, but I think it’s because I’m never reading, say, five contemporary novels at once or five histories of beet farming at once. This past week I was reading a graphic novel, a self-help book, a comics anthology and this, an autobiography of comedian Steve Martin.

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2007, 212 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 1.4.07
Date finished: 1.12.07
What I liked: Martin’s got incredible attention to detail—he mentions in the acknowledgments that he got many letters and pictures from friends to help recreate his memories of his life as a stand-up comic. He began performing magic as a youngster and chronicles his ascension into public adoration and his abrupt stop in 1981. I’ve heard from many people what a great writer Martin is (and I’m a fan of his movies), but I have to say that the one line that got an out-loud laugh from me was this: Once, in Texas, a woman came up to me and said, with some humor and a lot of drawl, “Are you that Steve Martin thang?” (Page 184)
What I didn’t like: No complaints.
What I learned: Martin endured panic attacks for years and bore heavily his father’s consistent criticism.

Pete Jordan, “Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States”

The title says it all: This dude, a kind of pioneer slacker, travels around the country, getting jobs, eating leftovers, quitting jobs—often all in one day. It’s not incredible writing, but it is great fun. (Hear an NPR story here.)

THE LOWDOWN
Published: 2007, 385 pp.
Obtained via: Library
Date started: 10.5.07
Date finished: 10.18.07
What I liked: Dishwasher Pete ran a zine from various pitstops and friends’ places over the years, and you can feel the zine origins in the writing. I also love the Pittsburgh shoutout and all the mentions of how awesome Portland is. (He put out a few issues from Reading Frenzy, a zine shop I love.)
What I didn’t like: Dude takes about 50 pages to get to the nut graf/thesis of the whole thing. Luckily, the rest of the book flies by.
What I learned: If I want a job with ultimate mobility, dishwashing is it.