kurtwombat's reviews
880 reviews

Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Go to review page

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

 
This book is an anguished cry. Most memoirs show growth or progress or resolution. This is not that kind of book. Instead it scuttles expectation by remaining a free fall into grief. There is no safety net of “this is how I got through it”,  just the constant awareness of other—that grief always at your side. While the song of her grief is personal, anyone who has grieved can pick up the rhythm. This view into her anger and sadness is so precise that I found myself time and again saying, yes-yes that’s been me.  The book itself mimics grief. It dwells in shock and pain and has the feeling of no forward movement. The world around her is still humming and churning forward but Adichie herself does not move. And then it ends. Abruptly. And I was left alone with my quiet reaction—grieving of sorts for a book I hoped would last longer. 

Much of the reaction I have read to this book is critical of Adichie for not wrapping her grief up in a bow and giving the reader an “it’s gonna be okay” pat on the head.  I applaud her for not writing the kind of book that she knows would not have done her any good. 

For even more devastating takes on grief, check out Joan Didion’s THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING and Edward Hirsch’s GABRIEL: A POEM. Hirsh’s book in particular left me decimated. 
Effin' Birds: A Field Guide to Identification by Aaron Reynolds

Go to review page

funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

Consistently funny mockery of birds and the human condition. You probably didn't know that birds are constantly swearing and similar to the worst of us.  Great gift book to have around as you can dip in anywhere, read a few naughty bits and be on your way. Delightful use of actual Audubon illustrations. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Go to review page

funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The better of the two Fitzgerald collections I have read this year. (TALES OF THE JAZZ AGE being the other which I liked but did have a couple clunkers in it.) His language is often gorgeous.

 "And in front as a great mellow bell boomed the half -hour a swarm of black, human leaves were blown over the checker-board of paths under the courteous trees."

“This is the beauty I want. Beauty has got to be astonishing, astounding-- it's got to burst in on you like a dream, like the exquisite eyes of a girl.”

“This unlikely story begins on a sea that was a blue dream, as colorful as blue-silk stockings, and beneath a sky as blue as the irises of children's eyes. From the western half of the sky the sun was shying little golden disks at the sea--if you gazed intently enough you could see them skip from wave tip to wave tip until they joined a broad collar of golden coin that was collecting half a mile out and would eventually be a dazzling sunset.”

“Resignedly and with difficulty Tom removed the cigar—that is, he removed part of it, and then blew the remainder with a whut sound across the room, where it landed liquidly and limply in Mrs. Ahearn’s lap.”

All moments I loved. Every story a gem. Humor, heart and often with devastating insight. 
On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Sociopath by Patric Gagne

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

3.0

 
I listened to the audiobook version of  SOCIOPATH: A MEMOIR.  Aside from Stephen Fry, this was probably the best narration by the author I have heard for an audiobook. Specifically, the author reflecting different aspects of herself with subtle variations of her own voice was quite effective. The voice and writing are all very persuasive—well crafted to have you believe the compelling path you are on.  And you are happy to walk that path—the author has a successful and  interesting life to talk about. Because of her status as a self-professed Sociopath she has a life that could turn at any second—and all come undone. Or at least that’s the plot line. 
 
The idea of a sociopath is very compelling. The idea of a self-aware sociopath even more so. Almost like seeing a Unicorn. But gradually the author’s credibility begins to evaporate. During the second part of the book, when focusing on her education and her study of sociopathy, the nuts and bolts of her schooling feel like a hazy dream.  By then it’s almost like someone came up to you and said they were a ghost. They may appear sincere and have good arguments—but really, a ghost? 
 
Having heard the whole book now and done some background reading on the story—the whole book now feels like a performance piece. Perhaps if Andy Kaufman were still alive and began writing books it would feel something like this. There is a peculiar genius at work here—real or not—that cannot be easily dismissed. A sharp and tightly designed world is created where everything seems to box you in (reflecting the manipulative nature of a sociopath or someone pretending to be one).  I enjoyed listening to this book but I am left unsettled.  Almost as if the book was a flash mob that appeared out of nowhere, performed and then disappeared again leaving no trace of the whole experience. Where did this book take me—I’m just not sure. 

Part of feeling unsettled, I feel that ironically a sociopath was using my own empathy against me. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Jamie Hewlett. 40th Anniversary Edition by Jamie Hewlett

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

 This beautifully crafted art book has the same short-coming most beautifully crafted art books have for me—not enough text for context. Here this is mitigated by the portions of the book dealing with comics but still I would like to know more. There are intros for each body of work but the work itself goes mostly unremarked upon. The art is mostly creative and striking with a singular style and certainly deserves this presentation. Jamie Hewlett is mostly known for visualizing the cartoon fronted band GORILLAZ and his in your face offbeat TANK GIRL comic. I appreciated the career overview (which even includes creating an opera)  but after looking at image after isolated image I  kept wanting to go back to reading  the TANK GIRL comics I was so hungry for words. Where I was most let down by the lack of narrative was the section on Bangladesh. I was very disappointed when this charity connected art project was only represented by about 6  pieces and each one begged to be fleshed out with at least a few words.  To the book’s credit, I wanted more of every section but the Bangladesh portion in particular. For now, just going to figure out how to craftily acquire some TANK GIRL. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
At First Spite by Olivia Dade

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

 
The flush in my cheeks as I start this review reminds me to add this caveat: I read this book mainly to satisfy part of a reading challenge (“read a romance with a fat lead”). While there seems to be an attempt recently to reclaim the “f” word I would still never use it. That being said, I will admit to a long standing, if standing at a distance, curiosity about the genre. Anything with such a passionate and extensive fan base has to raise at least an eyebrow. So I poked around for a popular author with the right main character and took the plunge. Emerging a few hundred pages later, I was just kinda baffled. How do I review this? If I relate it to what I normally like to read—I would destroy this book. I am handicapped by not knowing where it sits in relation to other Romance novels. Is Romance really its own world and any review from outside meaningless? So I will start with some positives. My favorite part relates to why I picked this book in the first place—the weight of the main character. Her weight is only referred to as an aspect of her attractiveness. There is no shaming, no commenting on what she eats or how people view her or any difficulties she has because she is heavier. I truly admired that aspect of the book. If not for the cover illustration, you wouldn’t know she was heavier until maybe a 100 pages into the book. There are quite a few attempts at humor and some of them do land—even the ones that don’t still create a pleasant atmosphere. I appreciated the sense of  building a new community and a couple of the supporting characters were nicely drawn with little effort. A couple of moments were modestly moving—especially one in a cemetery at the end. And it was a fast read. Now for the negatives—it was a fast read. Very little other than occasional moments of  disbelief at what I was reading made me want to slow down and savor. In fact I had to restrain a desire to skim over whole paragraphs. Much of the writing wasn’t bad but the idea seemed to be to paint the same image over and over until the picture was wet with hyper color. An entire paragraph devoted to pursed lips instead of what those lips might say. The swing in emotions is often ludicrous—character reactions extreme by any human standards. The shift from adoration to abominable cruelty and back at the bat of an eye is simply astonishing—I’m still suffering from whiplash. A third act surprise break-up I had been waiting 200 pages for was executed so irrationally that it still irritates me—I mean, grow up people.  The gimmicky living arrangements of the main characters was a plot convenience that made little sense. Blasting audiobook porn out a home window in a small town and having everyone get into it stretched credulity among other things. And speaking of porn—not sure if this is reflective of Romance in general but holy macaroni some of this IS straight up porn. I could apply to medical school based on what was forced to visualize here. I wasn’t offended, just surprised. Is that my lesson from reading my first Romance novel—porn is the secret candy center to this whole enterprise. Read through a bunch of Goodreads and Storygraph reviews and found not a single mention of this aspect of the book so I’m forced to assume it’s par for the course—so to speak. The one thing I’ll remember the most was wading through one porn scene and the whole thing coming to a screeching halt for me because the author used the word “placket” (A placket is a finished opening in the upper part of trousers or skirts, or at the neck, front, or sleeve of a garment.) I had never seen that word before and it became a record scratch moment in the midst of fiery passion that I started laughing. Oh well, wasn’t my passion anyhow. Nor is this book. Or apparently Romance novels. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

Go to review page

funny reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Sedaris is not for everybody. Wildly divergent is a modest way to describe the reviews here and on Goodreads. The humor is dry and sarcastic and occasionally cute, a little can go a long way. It doesn’t help that this collection feels kinda tossed together.  There is a holiday theme but that feels thin and the stories vary in quality—you can feel that some have been sitting around longer than others. The collection starts on a high with THE SANTALAND DIARIES—a fantastic sarcastic classic. The next story SEASON’S GREETINGS TO OUR FRIENDS & FAMILY!!! was a departure but I enjoyed it—lucky to catch the tone at the beginning like a small wave. I can see how it would be easy to read the whole story and never quite get in sync with it’s slow decline into madness. After those two my mind started to wander. The next four stories making up the original book were just okay with DINAH, THE CHRISTMAS WHORE rising above the others. This edition included a batch of 6 new cast off stories that were passable—the exception being SIX TO EIGHT BLACK MEN. This achieved the writer’s dream of repeating the same punch line and it getting funnier every time. If you like this at all, I’d recommend ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY which is more consistent and often hilarious.
The Night Parade by Jami Nakamura Lin

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

4.25

The world is too big to understand it all at once so we create stories that help us figure it out a piece at a time. Stories that hang around long enough become myths—often beautiful and containing as much poetry as understanding. THE NIGHT PARADE author Jami Nakamura Lin tapped such myths for her memoir.  Her hope was to gain a better understanding of her life while also using her life to better understand the myths. The result is both beautiful and heartbreaking. The early part of the book focuses mostly on the author being bi-polar. Visiting  Japan as a young adult she found gods both capricious and ominous who became stand-ins for different aspects of her life while bi-polar. The book uses a Japanese four act narrative structure which along with enchanting art work by the author’s sister adds comforting layers of structure and a certain amount of grace.   Later the focus shifts more to the author dealing with a “post bi-polar” family life and then a devastating personal grief. I say “post” because unfortunately, after so much focus on her personal health in the first part—there is virtually no mention of it in the latter parts of the book. I assumed she had struck a balance with her medication but it almost felt like losing a limb with the weight of that part of the book suddenly disappearing. Another slight downside, the myths are layered on pretty thick and after a while it was difficult to keep all the gods and demons etc straight.   On the whole however, I feel like I gained a more emotional understanding of the author and a better historical context for the myths—their stories working in service of each other. 
Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir by Werner Herzog

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

 
This book is simply astonishing. We follow the insatiably curious and creative mind of Werner Herzog from his starved childhood sleeping under a thin blanket in an unheated home in German winter to his self-invention as  an often honored world travelling filmmaker who chases ideas and not dollars. You don’t have to be interested in movies or have even heard of the author to fall under this book’s spell. Movies are referred to mainly for the ideas he was trying to pursue, secondarily how the process affected him and what he learned and rarely what benefit or boost his career received. You can see Herzog reflected back by the friends he has made and the dramatic depth of their connections. His ability to endure and his willingness to keep putting himself in situations where that endurance would be tested provokes the reader throughout the book to ask how and why. The narration left my mind swimming with often hallucinatory visuals and the details he cuts into his memories are almost painterly precise as if each word a frame, each chapter a scene and the book as a whole a dream on film. I listened to the audio version read by the author—his deep and gravelly voice is almost like a musical accompaniment bringing his words to life.  This book is simply astonishing.