Court

Not a memoir in the truest sense, but it is a collection of true stories (memories), most of which come from their own experiences and those of family members and friends. This made me laugh, wince, and shake my head at white people. I have been curious about Black peoples' hair but instead of burdening a Black person I remembered that Google is free.

I think I missed out on the bonus PDF images, but so glad to hear their singing and excellent delivery, also one of them laughed during a segment but I think that made it all the more authentic.

I laughed out loud when she said she could hear the woman's Karen haircut.

Easy to read and helpful.

I read the summary rather than the book for book club because it was so new/popular that the wait list to borrow it was too extensive for me to get it in time.

Helpful for knowing the broad strokes so with this and Jaouad's own highlights on goodreads I was able to participate in my group's discussion.

I enjoyed this better than ‘We Have Always Lived in a Castle', the prose/quality of the writing was wonderful.

Writing is pretty good. My opinion of the relationship between Eleanor and Theodora fluctuates. I enjoy the Doctor as a way to reveal Hill House's history...but I frustratingly keep thinking “just take the doors off their hinges!” But it is a decent plot device to have them keep shutting and have the possible reasons for their shutting to be the balance of the house or Mrs. Dudley.

Update:
Netflix released a series (Oct 2018) that is supposed to be based off of this, but so far is rather different. I will consider giving this a re-read.

It's more of a three, but as I read I imagined it being used as a class material and scored it as that.It was dense and a little confusing in places. At times I had to linger over some faces and ask is this a white or black person being portrayed, so the art was less than stellar, I don't recall having any quibbles with the [b:March: Book One 17346698 March Book One (March, #1) John Lewis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360539808l/17346698.SX50.jpg 24086771] series. There's a lot to cover so I forgive some of the meandering as I had to remind myself that this was from the perspective of John Lewis. I thought the history of the Black Panther Party -originally LCFO, Lowndes County Freedom Organization- was interesting and appreciated that comic books were also used at the time to help people of varying literacy gain information.

Loved both the biographic aspect and the parts about the paper mill and its interesting workers.

Ugh she threw the bottle into the river.
Caroline I rather dislike you, sigh.

I found Nella dramatic, Eliza -admittedly fittingly- naive, and Caroline continuously irritating: boring, predictable, inept.

This is how I feel about Caroline: woman avoids processing potential life altering news to chase dreams of being a historical true crime solver.

I thought about this and am changing this to five stars, or I guess 4.5 rounded up, whichever. It's just so clever and the writing is luscious.

So the rest rest of my thoughts are spoilers:
Loved Adam being this man child, Sophia's 'I was made for him' being literal, the residents' names being animals, and the chapters having apple names. I also appreciated the other mentions of red fruits and the commentary on lying. "The key turns easily in the lock, because Cascavel only pretends to enjoy lies, and she knew it when he said it. The truth hurts so much better."I thought that Karen's comparison to the Blue Beard fairy tale was apt; as I was reading I compared it to the Epic of Gilgamesh at times for the themes of civilized vs wild/savage.

Listened to this and enjoyed it all over again (spring 2024)

Not a fan of the writing style. Gave up about 15% of the way through.
Some of her references were odd, why is she bringing up The Force? The reference to Sex and The City at least made sense.

Bored on the bus, listened to more. Got mad that she didn't seem to understand Colette, called Bob Dylan inarticulate, and went on for sometime about her eBay experience.

The beginning made me laugh and I loved the book within a book. Gets a little gross, but it's about zombies so I can't be mad about it.

Finally learned the name of the magnolia I've been mooning over: saucer magnolia.
Daffodils are one of my favorites as well and I had no idea that the city had embraced them so as a symbol of renewal after 9/11.

More about Gloria than Anderson. Also, Anderson is very much the interviewer, he's fairly direct and usually makes declarative sentences. He sound like he's reading from index cards or a teleprompter.

I really like Wil Wheaton's voice so it was an enjoyable listen.

I loved the little tidbit about Q (John de Lancie) signing in silver so no one else could.

I'm a little annoyed with Wheaton saying that he didn't like Deep Space 9 and Voyager while on stage at the convention when someone asked what his favorite episodes of those two series were. I'm a little irked because he mentions liking the other actors and being part of this community, so to me you can say ‘oh I don't really care for those series/they're not my favorite, but I like x.' Because you should support those who have supported you; Michael Dorn was in DS9, Johnathan Frakes directed three episodes of DS9 and three of Voyager, and LeVar Burton directed eight episodes of Voyager. All three Wheaton had spoken favorably of, he could have used that moment to lift someone he does like rather than putting down something he didn't.

I love how Valente writes, her style and premises. This was an audible treat as listened and lounged, recovering. It reminded me a little of Discworld, fantastic world building and characterization of the people and their regions.

Oh Nujood, you and all girls deserve to have a childhood.

Child marriage is heartbreaking to me.

I was curious about the Prophet Muhammad having such a young wife, so if course I turn to Wiki:

“The majority of traditional sources state that Aisha was betrothed to Muhammad at the age of six or seven, but she stayed in her parents' home until the age of nine, or ten according to Ibn Hisham, when the marriage was consummated with Muhammad, then 53, in Medina. Aisha's age at marriage has been a source of controversy and debate, and many non-Muslim historians, Islamic scholars, and Muslim writers have challenged the previously accepted timeline of her life by claiming that Aisha was in fact 18-19 years old when she consummated her marriage to Muhammad according to historical reviews. Both Aisha and Sawda, his two wives, were given apartments adjoined to the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi mosque.”

As of June 2015, Ali, now sixteen, has unofficially changed her name from Nujood, which means “hidden,” to Nojoom, which means “stars in the sky.”

sigh

A thing of beauty.

Read in a larger collection, but wanted to mark separately. I thought this was fantastic. Of course I'm reminded of The Dresden Dolls' Coin Operated Boy.
This story is from the jealous would-be lover's perspective via his washed ashore journal, which I thought was a clever format.
Haha, he thinks she had ten or more lovers because she can kiss, sigh.

Not sure I fully understood it, but it was beautiful. I probably would have had a deeper appreciation had I more familiarity with the fairy/folk tales.
It was lovely and interesting.

Brief humorous rhyme, like a parody of a children's book

A bit repetitive. I should probably just reread/re-listen to the book as I recall enjoying it.
Still liked hearing about the book and the broad strokes. I don't recall Thinking Fast and Slow mentioning Malcolm Gladwell—maybe they were discussing him since Kahneman has spoken about him?

I don't recall listening to this. However I did make this comment near the beginning:

The pacing is like a familiar story told among a group who know all know it and the reader is an outsider. I can follow it, but I feel a little behind; the references feel tangential or random, like comparing someone to Tom Hanks, talk of onion sandwiches—and I'm distracted from the ‘real' story
I assume it's the speed the narrator is reading, but if it were in print I'd also be annoyed. I do love the ‘real' content.

I thought the narration was excellent and so was the prose. I will admit that I fell in and out of attending to it, but was often brought back by lovely turns of phrase and simple truths. Before reading this I already knew that there is a lot of waiting and boredom as part of being in the military which is then sometimes followed by intense action or grueling work, and this is shown well in the novel. I appreciated the emotional range that is portrayed.

I will definitely follow up by reading the spark notes or something to help fill in any gaps.

Read: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/09/standing-by

Since I've listened to Sedaris read some of his own books I can summon his notable voice and heard it in this article. I can't complain about Sedaris' complaints as I agree with them. I am also of the opinion that one should dress nicely while traveling. I am less bothered about waiting in an airport but understand the frustration and potential derailment. Sometimes a little acerbic for my taste, but still cathartic to experience.
This was a good set up:

When I asked another flight attendant, this one male, how he dealt with a plane full of belligerent passengers, he said, “Oh, we have our ways. The next time you're flying and it comes time to land, listen closely as we make our final pass down the aisle.”

“We've got to take our country back,” the man with the mustache said. “That's the long and short of it, and if votes won't do the trick then maybe we need to use force.”

What struck me with him, and with many of the conservatives I'd heard since the election, was his overblown, almost egocentric take on political outrage, his certainty that no one else had quite experienced it before. What, then, had I felt during the Bush-Cheney years?

“Your trash. You're trash. Your family's trash.”

I think the author would be pleased to know that Alex Jones was ‘ordered to pay $965 million for Sandy Hook lies' (https://apnews.com/article/shootings-school-connecticut-conspiracy-alex-jones-3f579380515fdd6eb59f5bf0e3e1c08f)

I liked the book and the concept. He did go on for a bit about climate change denials, but perhaps I feel that way because I already know/accept that climate change is real.

I appreciated him addressing the moon landing. I was also hoping he'd address the concept of a flat earth or other famous conspiracies such as Elvis or Amelia Earhart surviving, but that's asking a lot out of one book.

I was glad he covered vaccines, but wish his language around Autism was a bit more considerate as he referred to it as a disease.

I had known about pizzagate and was hoping that he was going to cover about when Palin misspoke about Paul Revere's lanterns and how supports flocked to Wiki to edit the article.

Enjoyable. Not sure how much I have/will retain. It made me wish that there was a basic quiz every few chapters.

Loved Evelyn, felt lukewarm about Monique, but I understand that she's supposed to be the ‘everyman' who's eyes we look through. I called the connection between Monique and Evelyn, but it was satisfying.