Review: The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

I have always been an avid reader. In most cases, I prefer the company of bound pages to people. As a teenager, I spent a lot of time reading fantasy and science fiction (#realvampiresdontsparkle). It was only when I went to university that I, book list in hand, would explore other perspectives than that of the white straight male protagonist. When I finished school, I took a long break from reading. With no more book lists, I could read whatever, whenever I wanted. Unfortunately, this resulted in a return to old form, and while I didn’t read that much for a few years, what I did read was largely science fiction or fantasy.

In the last few years, it has become increasingly important that I be better informed on politics, culture, and social movements. I began reading a lot of non-fiction, in which I, historically, have never really been interested. It is with this goal in mind, to be more knowledgeable, informed, and empathetic, that I have sought out books about different cultures, races, and ideologies. When I read the description of The Hate U Give, I was immediately interested and put it at the top of the To Be Read pile.

TL;DR, spoiler-free review: a well-told, heartbreaking, and compelling novel, The Hate U Give shares a perspective we don’t get from the media when young black men are killed by police; that of the eye-witness. Everyone should read this book, especially those who think the news gives you all the information you need.

You’re-verbose-and-I-like-it review: The English graduate in me tends to notice an author’s writing style, no matter what I’m reading. Angie Thomas’s writing is multi-layered and nuanced, expressing Starr’s struggle with how she presents herself at home versus at her predominantly white high school, how she communicates with her family versus how she speaks to the police. Thomas easily moves from a more formal style to a slang-heavy vernacular. This occasionally means a shift in tense, which usually is jarring but this, coupled with the shifts in style, works well to develop the same tension in the reader that is building in Starr.

Generally speaking, I appreciate the way Thomas creates her characters. She takes her time and allows them to grow organically throughout the story. With that said, some of the side characters are a little archetypal, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Violent thugs, overprotective brothers, and I’m-not-racist! white friends are necessary for a story like this because those sort of people actually exist. There’s also something rather meta to how she develops the character of Khalil, the boy who is murdered by a police officer. Starr and Khalil have been friends since childhood but had recently lost touch. After his death, Starr will learn many things about him that she has never known. In the same way the reader will learn about Starr and observe how she deals with this loss, so too will Starr learn about Khalil and the motives behind choices he made.

I wanted to read this book because of the perspective: an eye-witness in a police shooting. This is a point of view we rarely hear in the media when these tragedies gain international attention. What I was not expecting was how the book artfully plays with perspective, subverting what the reader thinks they know. In the big picture, we get Starr’s perspective of the shooting and what really happens, but later we learn the officer’s point of view and his skewed perception of events. In the smaller events of the story, we learn more about the characters, depending on what perspective we’re given. SPOILERS AHEAD IN 3… 2… 1… At first, we think Seven’s mother, Iesha, is generally a bad person. She certainly doesn’t deserve to get abused by King but she’s pretty selfish and doesn’t seem to care much for her kids. When she shows up uninvited to Seven’s birthday party, he lets her know how he really feels about her. But when Starr, Seven, and Chris go to King’s house to find DeVante, Iesha is able to extricate all of them and her two daughters from a bad situation, knowing she will bear the brunt of King’s rage later. Seeing what she did for them, Starr makes sure to explain to Seven that Iesha wasn’t trying to get rid of them but protecting her family in the only way she could. Another example of this perspective shift is when Chris finds himself in the middle of a riot of black people, after the grand jury’s indictment decision is announced. Chris realizes he is the only white person present and asks Starr and Seven, “is this how you feel at school?” Similar to how it is important that Seven see his mother for the flawed protector she really is, it is critical for Chris, if he wants to understand and empathize with Starr, to experience, in some small way, what she experiences on a daily basis.

The Hate U Give was heartbreaking. It was sad, it was funny, and it was genuine. It was a pretty quick read, it had a bunch of slang I had to Google, and I strongly recommend you read it.

Also, if you have any recommendations of books like this, or books with a perspective not your own that you found informative or compelling, I’d love to hear them!

Review: The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf

When I was in university, my Sociology professor asked the class who considered themselves a feminist. Few hands rose. He then asked, “Who believes women deserve equal pay for equal work?” Most, if not all, hands went up. “Who believes women deserve the right to vote?” Again, all hands up. “Then you are all feminists,” he said.

Since that day, I have used his tactic with many people, from friends to family members to my boyfriend. We are all feminists, or at least, you damn-well should be.

TL;DR, spoiler-free review: Originally published in the 90s, this is fundamentally essential reading. If witnessing injustice toward women upsets you, you are not mad enough. The Beauty Myth is a diagnosis of a sick culture and a prescription for what to do about it.

You’re-verbose-and-I-like-it review: Read this book. Read every page. Then give it to a friend. It’s one of those books that you can put down but it will never leave you.

Naomi Wolf examines the women’s movements throughout history by breaking the book into topics (ex: Work, Sex, Religion, etc). This structure made these broad issues more digestible, as I would read a chapter and then take some time to consider what I’d learned. Her writing is impassioned, urgent, and well sourced. With each new subject, she looks into the face of what’s wrong, what is rotting in our culture, and says, “Look at this, do not divert your eyes. We have to do something.”

I was expecting to make some concise points from the notes I took while reading this book, but I have too many notes. The longer I consider what to write, the more I realize there is something I must say: I am angry. I am infuriated by the information I have gained from this book. I had a broad and unformed understanding that the fight for women’s rights is far from over but The Beauty Myth has enlightened me as to how much work there really is to do.

So here is a (heavily paraphrased) list of what I learned that really pisses me off:

• After the first wave of feminism, male-dominated culture had to find new ways to oppress women. Women could keep their jobs, but they must never be relieved of the task of maintaining the home and family. When it became apparent that women could take this in stride, a third shift was added: “Ok fine, ladies, have your job and take care of your families, but you better look good doing it.” Beauty is like a tax on women; not only do women continue to make lower wages than men, but they must also pay for an insane array of cosmetic products, clothes, and often painful, invasive plastic surgery so they can strive for an unattainable beauty standard.
• Consider what would happen if society attempted to control men’s sexual behaviour in the same way it controls that of women. In the book, Wolf suggests we consider chemical castration for prisoners. This would, undoubtedly, be seen as barbaric. And yet, according to a quick Google search, 62% of reproductive-aged American women are currently taking birth control which, I did not know, can lower a women’s sex drive. This frustrates me even more when you consider that birth control options for men would never include a daily pill to forget half the time, but rather only a tube of latex that a bunch of them complain about anyway.
• I’m a huge pop culture junkie which means I watch a lot of movies, TV, and YouTube. A pervasive trope, especially in the 90s, is the reluctant woman who is “wooed” into submission but her admirer. Imagine the scene: the guy has expressed his interest and has been spurned, but he knows she’s just playing hard-to-get. He knows what she really wants. So he kisses her. She fights him off, maybe even slaps him, and he kisses her again. They break apart again… only for her to jump his bones. Pop culture reflects the larger zeitgeist and so it is clear that tropes like these have taught generations of men that a) women will refuse sexual advances even when that’s exactly what they want, b) men know what women want better than women know themselves, and c) women like it rough. Our culture, essentially, has normalized rape to the point that some rapists don’t think what they’ve done is rape. According to The Beauty Myth, “date rape, thus, is more common than left handedness, alcoholism, and heart attacks.” I am disgusted.
• I always feel like I’m being judged or compared to other women in public, be they my friends or complete strangers. I’d bet you know the feeling; eyes on you because you ran to the grocery store in sweats, or the guy you used to date telling you he thinks you’re best friend is hot. The worst is when I’m just walking in the street and people deliberately run into me. There’s a whole sidewalk for us to share but our collision was unavoidable, apparently. Is it because I’m fat; are you telling me I’m taking up too much space? Are you using this small act of aggression to let me know you don’t approve of a woman who looks like me? Our culture has decided that women don’t get the space they need to just exist and, even worse, women will always be in competition with each other for what little space there is.

The book ends with a clear call-to-action about the work needed to right the ship. I’m sure, when my anger dissipates, I will find the strength to do some of the things she suggests. For now though, I’m just tired. Tired but resolved. As is the case in all civil rights movements, one group does not have to give up rights for another to gain them. Men need to be our allies in the fight for equality, but before we get them on our side, women have to be on the same page. Wolf challenges women not to use the beauty myth against each other, to celebrate our womanhood together, and to no longer see each other as adversaries. I am angry that I have had to fight men for my rights. I am incensed that I ever thought I had to compete with other women.

Week 2: Bad Feminist, The Beauty Myth, and The Hate U Give

Ok, so I’m already falling behind. This blog was not meant to be a New Year’s resolution, but it’s certainly acting like one: I’m excited and motivated in theory but, in application, I’m not nearly as productive as I imagined. In my defense, my sweetie has been on vacation this week and I should have known I would not get much reading done when he’s been so keen for me to finish watching The Sopranos.

Alas, onward! I am officially adding only one book to the week’s reading; I don’t want to be overzealous. If I get through these three, I will absolutely start a fourth.

The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas: Lately I have been very keen to look outside of my own perspective. There is so much that I will never know or understand because I cannot experience it. Reading is always about vicarious experience and so I have become quite adamant that I absorb material that showcases characters other than straight cisgender white men. The Hate U Give is about a black girl who witnesses her friend (a young black man) being killed by police. I feel like this will be a compelling perspective. When these stories are present in the media, viewers always get the made-for-TV version of the story, not necessarily the unedited events according to an eye-witness.

Random musing: I’m so into this audiobook business with The Beauty Myth. I knew about this feature for a while, but I recently increased the speed from normal to 1.5x. It makes the book go by so much faster (I don’t want it to be over, I just want more time to read everything else)! For now, this speed is perfect, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it and be able to speed it up even more. Reading efficiency pleases me so, lol. 🙂

Review: Future Home of the Living God, Louise Erdrich

Generally speaking, I don’t want these posts to be too long. I don’t read long book reviews so why would I expect you to do so? With that said, I’m going to start with a “too long; didn’t read” version of my review; a quick sentence or two, in case that’s all you need/have time for.

TL;DR, spoiler-free review: well-written,  but compelling sci-fi premise is completely squandered. Read Children of Men instead.

You’re-verbose-and-I-like-it review: I was so pumped for this book. The premise was so interesting to me that I bought this book in-store, rather than waiting to order it online (where books are usually cheaper). I enjoyed reading it until the last 30 pages when I realized, there is no way to wrap this up in a way that will satisfy me.

My biggest problem is probably that the book never delivers on the awesome concept; that evolution has stopped and the world is falling apart because science can’t explain what’s happening. There’s just no world building. This problem is exacerbated by the choice in perspective; the book is written in the style of a journal as Cedar writes to her unborn child. Readers see only what Cedar wants to focus on, making them unable to lift their head and look around the world (as they would be able to do with an omniscient narrator). It makes sense to take a huge catastrophe like this and make it manageable by narrowing your focus to how it all affects your main character, but this was claustrophobic.

Also irritating is that the story doubles back on itself in the last 30-ish pages. SPOILERS AHEAD in 3… 2… 1… Cedar is abducted and taken to a government facility and then she breaks out and then is abducted again. First of all, redundant storytelling is redundant. Second of all, abduct me once, shame on you. Abduct me twice, stay the hell in your hidey-hole, for fucksakes! This was the moment I realized I was going to be disappointed by the ending. I was left with just too many questions. Is the baby normal? Does the baby live? Does she somehow pass on the journal? Does the book end because she dies? Do they figure out what the mother-eff is going on in the world? I don’t need every loose end to be wrapped up, but I generally like more than a nihilistic “welp, this whole book has tilted toward the unborn baby and ‘TA-DAAAAAA…. it’s, it’s gone!'” ending.

Like I said, I enjoyed most of the book but the premise and the ending were so mishandled that I just can’t suggest you read it. If you’re looking for some good apocalyptic sci-fi about the destruction of human reproduction and the future of the human race, read Children of Men from P.D. James.

Week 1: Bad Feminist, The Beauty Myth, and Future Home of the Living God

Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay: I read Roxane Gay’s Hunger last year, which was incredible. I feel like there’s nothing I can say about it without taking away from how powerful it was, so I will say nothing but “go read it.” I’m really looking forward to Bad Feminist because I love her writing style, her humour, and her take-no-shit attitude (I follow her on Twitter; she is savage and I love it).

The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf: Last year I discovered the fat positive movement. A whole stack of my To Read pile consists of books relating to body positivity and fat activism. This, coupled with a complete overhaul of my social media (following fat positive accounts, actively blocking harmful advertisements, etc), has resulted in a huge shift in perspective. That thinking connected easily with my feminist viewpoints and so that brings me to The Beauty Myth. There are several feminist texts on my list but I thought I would start with a classic. I expect to come out of this book empowered by statistics that will thrill my feminist friends and irritate my troglodyte boyfriend.

Future Home of the Living God, Louise Erdrich: I love a good science fiction premise, especially something headed toward or occurring in an apocalypse (but easy on the zombies. I’m pretty done with the undead). This book takes place in a world where evolution has stopped and the world is falling into chaos. The urgency is heightened by the fact that the main character is pregnant. The basic premise is making me tense so I’m willing to bet I’ll fly through this in a day.

Random musing: I was never interested in audiobooks because I’ve always taken pleasure from holding a physical book in my hands. With that in mind, my obsession to get back to reading clashed with my annual tradition of hand-making Christmas presents for family members, so I decided to give Audible a try. Now I am even more torn between owning the physical book and the ability to knit/stitch and read at the same time! Most of my To Read pile is in print, because I also have an online shopping addiction, but I think I’m going to continue enjoying audiobooks in the future. Am I weird and crazy to also buy the print book, just to say I own it? Legit question, looking for feedback here. 🙂

Thrice Weekly Book Blog

My To Read pile.

 

I have a desperate urge to read. I am surrounded by stacks of books and I have plenty of time to browse their pages, but those piles get bigger as I add to them without shelving completed volumes. It feels like my brain is starving.

After not writing for this blog for almost two years, I am now going to use it as a way to hold myself accountable to the plan, which is thus: I am going to read three books weekly. I am going to select books on the weekend, write a quick post about my expectations, etc., and then post about each book when I’ve finished reading it. If I don’t finish a book one week, it has to be finished the next week (unless I make a conscious decision to put it down. The point is, no book will be left behind because I didn’t pick it up in the first place).  If I select a particularly large book, then I will give myself a break and read only two that week. I’m going to mix up fiction with non-fiction. I don’t have any thematic plan in mind; my To Read pile is about four stacks of stuff that has randomly caught my attention over the last year. What I read will range from science fiction to biography, from voices in the fat activism movement to cultural and political commentary. Sometimes I will read things that are important to me, sometimes I will read things to stop worrying about what is important to me. Sometimes you will shake your head at what falls into which category.

PS: I’m going to leave my old blog posts up for now. They embody a different format but most of them are about books so they aren’t completely out of place. Plus my darling Phoenix appears here and there and since he’s the centre of the universe, he might as well get to keep his place on the blog. *violent cat-mother eye roll*

On Easter weekend and my ridiculous cutlery dilemma

For the first time in several years, my mom and stepdad will be hosting a holiday at their house (usually everyone flocks to my grandparents in Muskoka). In attendance will be Nana, Papa, Uncle T, Aunt D, Aunt Shirl, and cousins Zach, Malik, and Adam. While my folks will put on the big meal for everyone on Sunday, Nana and Papa are coming Friday for a lengthier visit. Mom and Mark will be going to the Easter vigil on Saturday night so Nana and Papa are going to come visit me and my new apartment (which they have never seen).

Allow me to take this moment to set the scene: I live in a one-bedroom attic apartment in the suburbs. I have a ton of over-sized furniture so I imagine my place looks smaller than it is, though it’s bigger than my old bachelor in the city. I have slanted ceilings so I only have so much space to hang art but after almost six months here, I’ve managed to make it home.

It has taken some time but I think I’ve mostly replaced the remnants of my starving student lifestyle. I now have only two pieces of Ikea furniture, I own glass reusable containers, and my bed has a coverlet and matching pillow shams. Overall, I’d say I’ve got this “adult” thing pretty much down; however, one thing I’ve never really done is put on a meal for any number of people (friends coming over and eating out of a pizza box does not count).

When I first moved out of my parent’s house, I bought dinner- and silverware in sets of four. I figured it would be a good way to make sure the dishes didn’t pile up. I have always lived alone so this system worked well for me and I didn’t really think of it until I moved into my new place. I was shopping with my mom one day when I found my exact dinnerware set so I decided to buy another one, giving me eight of everything.

Last night, I was out with my mom again and realized, “OMG, I am planning to feed five people on Saturday and I only have four forks!” While this is no emergency, I was quite alarmed; how silly would I feel if I had to offer someone a spoon to eat their chicken with! We were at Wal-Mart though so I just bought more cutlery. Side note: Wal-Mart is selling forks in bundles of three and knives in bundles of two. What the fuck is that? I know, I know, they do it so that you have to spend more than you intended to get an even number but why do we let corporations get away with this shit?

With the fork situation under control, my next hurdle will be housekeeping. It’s not going to be too much work since a) I keep a pretty clean house and b) it’s an apartment; limited space means less floor to vacuum, but my procrastinating tendencies are acting up. I could start doing laundry today… ooooor, I could write a blog post. Sure, I could clean the bathroom… ooor I could take a nap with Phoenix. I’ll get started on my chores list… after lunch!

In case I don’t get a chance to post again before the weekend, Happy Mini Egg Season, everyone!

 

On procrastination and the time I sink into YouTube

I have always been a terrible procrastinator. In school, I don’t think I ever started writing an essay any earlier than 9pm the night before it was due. I would do all the prep work (research, pulling quotes, etc.) the day I received the assignment and then congratulate myself on getting so much done so early, thus giving myself permission to put off the actual work. It’s a friggin’ good thing I did this because 4am is no time to be shuffling through library books looking for some out-of-context sentence to prop up a weak argument.

This tangential rambling is to say that I’m bad at leaving things to the last minute but I’m good at working under pressure. The problem arises when there is no pressure. I’ve been meaning to write this blog entry for a few days and I keep putting it off because there’s no hard deadline. My mom has asked me to build a cross-stitch pattern for her in a computer program but she’ll keep waiting if I don’t do it right away. I need to ask my landlord for help moving the really heavy desk he lent me but I don’t have anywhere to store my computer until I get my new desk (which I won’t get until the old one is out of the way).

I could take care of all these things pretty easily (sit down and write for an hour, tap away at a mouse for another hour, and send a friggin’ text. Two hours of effort and that last paragraph doesn’t exist) but… have you heard of YouTube? It’s all the rage with kids these days. I subscribe to a couple dozen channels, mostly to do with nerdy stuff, and spend more time absorbing their opinions about the latest superhero movie than I do watching said movie (although I don’t think that’s weird; Deadpool wasn’t even two hours long and I could talk about that movie for days). Why stare at a computer screen with an unfinished cross-stitch pattern when I could stare at Dan O’Brien from Cracked talk about how Neo is actually the villain of The Matrix? Or maybe watch Jeremy from CinemaSins talk about Everything Wrong with The Matrix? Or watch the Screen Junkies’ Honest Trailer about The Matrix (I’m not sure why I fell down this Matrix rabbit hole)?

I have no solution to this issue; this is not some inspirational “look at how I learned to manage my time better” story. I set goals for myself but there is no urgency to complete them and no consequence if I don’t so the cycle continues. I just have to wait for the mood to strike me (which might be the case today. I’ve made a list of things to get done and it seems quite doable… that is, until I finish writing this, feel accomplished, and award myself with a nap).

Oh, and one last thing; I finished reading The Humans, by Matt Haig, this week. It’s about a man who makes a significant discovery and a superior alien race that sends an agent to take the form of the mathematician and destroy evidence of his findings. It’s told from the perspective of the alien who thinks human testicles are more appealing than human faces, learns the English language from Cosmopolitan, and develops a taste for peanut butter. This book was funny and heartfelt, although a little heavy-handed at times. I find the characters talk about human nature a little too readily, as if they know they’re talking to an alien. Overall though, it was a fun, quick read.

Alright, over 600 words? That’s enough to call it quits. Nap time! … I mean, better go do some dishes.

On Ant-Man and the problems with Marvel

I know I’m super late to the party but I finally watched Ant-Man. I meant to see it in theatres since I’m a superhero junkie, but I heard about its rocky production through mixed reviews so I never made it a priority. Oh, before we begin: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Overall, I’ll say the movie was ok. I mean, I didn’t hate it but I’m having a hard time finding good things to say about it. It had a couple funny moments involving Paul Rudd but that’s about it. The CGI is passable, the plot is wafer thin and familiar (a bald guy takes over a company, develops his own similar technology, then attacks the hero with a fancy suit – which movie am I describing: Iron Man or Ant-Man? I’ll give you a hint: the hero is funny and sarcastic), and the characters are either boring or racist. I heard a whole bunch about how Scott’s friend, Luis, was a great character but I found him, as well as the Russian tech and the black thug, to be cardboard cut-outs of offensive stereotypes. SPOILERS FINISHED.

The problem with character portrayal in this movie speaks to larger issues with Marvel. Every nerdy conversation about them starts with the proclamation that they are leaps and bounds ahead of DC, which is true, but as they saturate their market, a few cracks are starting to show. First, they are talking out both sides of their mouth when it comes to diverse characters – “oh look, we have Black Panther and Captain Marvel movies coming; aren’t we progressive?!” – but their smaller characters couldn’t be drawn thinner if they tried (ok, I guess the Russian guy could have been more offensive if he said something like, “In Russia, Ant-Man shrink you”, but let’s not give them too much credit). The fact that Hope is never given the opportunity to don the Ant-Man suit is just another example of shuffling variable characters aside to make room for the straight, white, male protagonist. Of course you’re going to tell me, “but her dad is trying to protect her and SPOILER she’s going to get The Wasp suit at the end anyway” SPOILER OVER but that’s just a bunch of excuses. She’s relegated to a mid-credit scene and a “guess we’ll see you later!” Oh, and fuck you, Marvel, for that bullshit end-credit scene that’s just a snippet from Civil War, which you already showed in the trailers. I’ll take shwarma over that foolishness any day, you lazy jerks.

[Quick side note, the Russian guy is played by David Dastmalchian, who was recently on Kevin Smith’s YouTube version of Fatman on Batman. He was really funny and interesting to listen to so you should watch his two-part interview when you have an hour and fifteen minutes of free time (Part 1, Part 2).]

Second, Marvel needs to hire writers that can rustle up more than these paper thin, recycled premises. It’s the same shit over and over, with, and this is a third problem, the same boring villain who’s dead at the end anyway. “But what about Loki?” WHAT ABOUT LOKI? One good villain out of a dozen does not a stable franchise make! I could go on about this but instead, I give you a link to a YouTube video. This is from a channel called Cracked and I love everything they do. Specifically, this is Daniel O’Brien ranting about the problems with Marvel and I agree with just about everything he’s ever said so go watch. I’ll wait here.

My point is this: Marvel needs to calm down about their world-building and making sure the franchise fits together just so because it’s not going to be fun anymore. They need to hire good writers and directors and not pigeon-hole the ones they already have until they burn out or quit (Joss Whedon and Edgar Wright). Seriously Marvel, if you put Guardians 2 in jeopardy by doing to James Gunn what you did to Joss Whedon, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will boycott you.

On Phoenix, a bad book, a good book, and the latest Civil War trailer

I’m not sure how I’ve managed to write three blog entries without mentioning my cat, Phoenix. My grandparents found him abandoned on their property some seven years ago and when I finished school and got my own place, he came to live with me. The first night I had him, he slept on my chest (now that he’s an eleven-pound chunky monkey, I’m certainly happy he never made a habit of that). Now he sleeps all over the bed (sometimes he curls up right beside me, other times he’s under the blankets on my feet) but no matter what, when I’m sitting in my big comfy lazy boy, he’s in my lap. He can be on the other side of the apartment but as soon as I’m about to sit down, he’s already trying to climb on me. I’ve had cats all my life but I’ve never seen one so friendly and loving as Phoenix. Usually they’re pretty aloof and independent but when I come home, he is sitting at the door waiting for me, meowing. When I get up in the morning, he leads me to his food dish and meows. When I am on my computer, he sits beside me and meows. I’m sure the crazy cat lady in me is just personifying the animal but he’s so chatty and it always makes me laugh. Every night when I go to bed, he sits in front of me until I tilt my face down and he rubs his head on my forehead. He’s just the sweetest, most darling boy and I want to put him in basket, on a rainbow, with a bowtie.

I finished reading Holding Still for as Long as Possible, by Zoe Whittall, the other day. I think it’s a realistic portrayal of the behavior of the millennial generation but… so what? Drinking too much, swapping sexual partners with friends, worrying about school/work – it’s just not a compelling story to me. Moreover, the end of the book feels really tacked on. I don’t want to be able to foresee the end of a story but this feels like the author didn’t know how to end the story soooo… how about this?! I can forgive all of these things but I have a real issue with how the central conflict of one of the characters is resolved. SPOILER AHEAD: the event at the end of the book causes Billy to essentially be cured of her mental illness. While I’m sure this sort of thing happens in real life, I’m also sure that it doesn’t and it seems like a complete mishandling of an issue that, up until then, was being handled quite well. It completely undercuts the message of the novel – holding still as long as possible means nothing ever changes; it is only with forceful action that we can be altered. This remains true at the end of the novel but it’s glossed over with a sort of “nothing-changes-until-you-make-it-and-then-everything-is-magically-better-yaaaay!” message. SPOILER FINISHED. Overall I was disappointed by the rushed ending and the unrealistic way the book deals with an important issue.

Yesterday I blew through Room, by Emma Donoghue. Everyone told me to read this book with a box of tissues nearby but, while it certainly tugged on my heartstrings, I never actually cried (and I’m a big crier. Hell, I got misty in Deadpool when Wade learns he has cancer). Tears or no, this was an excellent story, made all the more claustrophobic and compelling by the fact that it’s told from the child’s perspective. It’s so unsettling to learn details of a story knowing the child doesn’t understand the implications of the information he’s gathering. I have only one real criticism of this book so SPOILER AHEAD: I didn’t like the grandmother at all; I found her so impatient and thoughtless. She gets flustered when Jack is not explaining himself well, as if every five-year-old knows exactly how to answer adult questions. She gets defensive with the social workers, saying she raised two kids, she can take care of Jack. It’s such an ignorant statement; yes, you can provide for his physical needs but he lived in a box his whole life, he’s going to need special care! She seemed to be in a big hurry to have everything be normal but that’s not going to be the case for a long time. SPOILER FINISHED. Completely unrelated to the story, I love the ragged edge of the pages on this book. I have tons of books like this so it’s not new to me but my last post talked about the physical experience of reading and I enjoy this format.

I spend a lot of time on YouTube watching all manner of nerdy videos and this week, everyone has opinions on the new Captain America: Civil War trailer. I’m going to shoot myself in the foot and say… I didn’t like The Winter Soldier. I thought it was a by-the-books spy thriller with Captain America smashed in. Oh, and the ever shoe-horn-able Black Widow, who was in Iron Man 2 so why not Cap 2 as well (If you say, “because she works for S.H.E.I.L.D.” then I say, “where the fuck is Hawkeye? [asked no one, ever]). Anyway, I wasn’t a fan of the last movie so I’m not super pumped for the next one. The trailers look pretty good though, and no matter what, I am going to see this movie, so I hope it’s fun. Even though I’m a huge Iron Man fan, I think I’m most excited to see how they handle Spider-Man. It’s been a long time coming that Spidey appears in a Marvel Studios-produced movie and the most recent trailer was a great teaser, so I’m excited to see if they can wash out the taste of Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.