Tenth of December

I have been on the wait list for this book as well as for my book club meeting about this book for weeks.  Finally a spot opened up at the meeting so I broke down and bought the book.  I had heard nothing but great things about it, but I purposely stopped reading anything about the actual stories so that I could come to it with a clean slate.

I really enjoyed the stories.  I enjoyed how they made me think. I enjoyed how they, sometimes, made me feel uncomfortable.  I enjoyed the strong emotions I felt while reading them.  In one short story, this author could elicit feelings in me that some authors do not do within a full novel.  That says something. The story that I enjoyed the most was The Semplica Girl Diaries. I also enjoyed the title story, Tenth of December. 

Some of the stories feel like they are happening in an alternate real world. There are recognizable aspects of our current world, but then a word or a scenario makes the story feel near-futuristic. This is especially true with Escape from Spiderhead, which involves a scientific experiment involving prisoners. Some of the stories have dark undertones about kidnapping, slavery, war, suicide, rape, and murder.  I suspect those undertones are responsible for the strong feelings that I experienced.

I don't want to give too much away with the stories and their plots, however I think if you approach the stories with an open mind and allow them to sink in, you will enjoy them.

Three Strong Women

In honor of Oscar weekend, I'd like to give this book an award.  And the winner for Most Misleading Book Title goes to.......THREE STRONG WOMEN.

I saw this book recommended in Essence and it just happened to be on my local library's shelf.  So score one for me, right? Wrong. First let's look at the cover of the book (see below).  The title is there, the author's name is there, beneath the author's name an award is mentioned, and in the upper left corner the words "A Novel" are printed.  There are two things wrong with this cover. Number one it is not a novel. There are three novellas in the book.  The inner book jacket says this will be a "narrative triptych" about "three women who say no".  Well the three stories are not connected in any concrete way other than singular name mentions.

The first story is about Norah, an attorney whose father is essentially a misogynistic d-bag. She is summoned by her father from France to Senegal to help get her brother out of jail.  While she's at her father's house she is so unnerved by things she wets herself on several occasions. At no point in time during this story does she stand up to her father and say no as the book jacket said she would.  Then this story abruptly ends and the second story begins.

This second story, the book jacket says, will be about Fanta who is from Senegal and travels with her French boyfriend/husband to France to live.  The story is not about Fanta though! It's about the husband and told completely from his point of view.  This story is over 120 pages where the husband's depression and insecurity is discussed.  Fanta is only mentioned in relation to how the husband essentially ruined her career by bringing her to France because now she's not eligible to teach at college there, whereas she was a professor in Senegal. He goes on and on about how much she must resent him.  Once again, Fanta's point of view is not shared and she never says no to anyone.

The final story is about Khady.  We have only seen Khady once before in Norah's story. She was washing dishes and babysitting two little girls. That's it.  Norah says, "What's your name?" and she replies "Khady Demba".  In this story, which occurs after Norah's story, we find out Khady's husband has died and his family has put her out because she didn't have children.  They say they are going to send her to a distant cousin named Fanta in France.  This is the only mention of Fanta from the second story. Anyway, things go immensely wrong while she is trying to illegally immigrate to France and she ends up a prostitute.

And so that brings me to my number two problem with the cover. The title.  It was unclear why or how these women were strong.  I guess if you endure constant humiliation, depression, degradation, and hopelessness there is a type of strength in that endurance.  Perhaps, the author intends for us to re-evaluate our own perceptions of strength.  However, I would have preferred that these women exhibited the kind of strength that had more to do with hope, independence, and assertiveness.  A more appropriate title may have been Three Exploited Women.  Read at your own risk.

Fragile Things

Long ago I purchased a copy of American Gods.  It sat on my shelf unread for too long and then, without ever reading it, I donated it to a bookstore.  Fast forward a few years and I saw a wonderful commencement speech by Neil Gaiman on YouTube via a link sent by a friend.  A few days after I saw that speech, which stayed in my mind, I was in the library and saw this book.  It's a collection of some of his short stories and poems.  I was so inspired by what he said, I wanted to get to know his art. I wanted to ease into his work so I could come back to American Gods one day.  This book has a "wow" factor.  I mean that I would sometimes finish a story and literally say "wow" or "that was SO good".  There were, of course, a few stories that I didn't care for either way. However, the majority of his stories absorbed me.  At times I would be reading a story and become so enveloped in it that when it ended, I had to remind myself that I was reading a short story and not a novel.  I had settled into the story so deeply that I was somehow fully expecting it to go on, and the point is I wanted it to go on.  If you are a fan of Mr. Gaiman's work, I think you'll enjoy this.  If you are unsure whether or not you will enjoy his work but enjoy fantasy, this is a very nice introduction.

*On a side note, as I was reading his work, I found myself thinking that it is very much possible to write great stories without being lofty.  In fact, making a story more accessible lends a certain authenticity to it.  This was a good writing lesson for me!

When You Are Engulfed In Flames

There is not much to say about this book.  The first book I ever read by David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day, was hilarious!  I can't say the same about this collection of essays/stories.  It was just kind of blah.  I didn't laugh out loud with any of these stories.  In fact, I only vaguely even remember some of the stories and I just finished the book.  If you read anything by Sedaris, I would definitely recommend Me Talk Pretty One Day.  However, you can skip this one and still have a full life.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

I first read this book when I lived in NYC and I remember laughing out loud during my commute on the train.  Well, I still laughed out loud here and there so I guess this book has still got "it".  I also think the stories about France were more significant and hilarious to me this time around since I have actually traveled to France in the interim and can relate.  The book is a collection of very short stories/essays from the author's life that cover just about every topic from being forced into speech therapy for a stubborn lisp to the experience of talking like a toddler when speaking a foreign language in a new country (hence the title).  There is a funny, often sarcastic, spin put on all the stories. If you don't like sarcasm, you may not like the stories.  However, I enjoy a good dose of sarcasm and wit so I had a good time with this book.

Life is a Trip: The Transformative Magic of Travel

Having read "Happier Than a Billionaire" right before this book, I was expecting another great book about travel, adventure, and zen-like realizations about the world around us.  This book, while similar in some aspects, was not as enjoyable for me as Billionaire.  It is a compilation of personal travel stories from the author's history.  Within each story there seems to be some moral guideline or lesson.  I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads.com because I did enjoy it, but the zen-like realizations felt too forced.  It was as though the author was saying quite loudly "SEE THIS IS THE MORAL OF THE STORY!!!" Instead of letting the chapter/essay naturally come to a peaceful conclusion, she spells her point out just in case you missed it.  However, I always feel that if you've made your point with good writing, you don't have to spell it out in the end.  This is a very quick read and can be completed in a day or two, so I do think it's decent reading for a lengthy train ride or a day on the beach.

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror

Perfect book for Halloween!  It is written for children and contains some cautionary tales about children who misbehave and the unfortunate events that befall them.  I actually really enjoyed reading the stories.  This is essentially a group of short stories encompassed within a larger story that is equally as frightening if you are afraid of dark, scary woods at dusk/nightfall or things that go bump in the night.  This is a great book to read under the covers with a flashlight for a scary effect for kids.  Then again, I'm not sure you want to scare kids before they go to bed. You may never sleep alone again if you do!