Book Critic – Page 10 – …on the B.L.

Thank You For My Service by Mat Best

September 6, 2019September 6, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Yes: Entertaining and Honest
Length 240
Quick Review Mat Best was a Ranger before contracting and becoming known for his youTube channel, tshirt/whiskey/coffee companies, oh, and he made a movie. He’s entertaining as hell in his book Thank You For My Service.

Best is a badass, but I belong to a Marine family. | Thank You For My Service

As military adjacent, I’m interested in military nonfiction and memoirs, but as a critic I’m always wary because I’ve read some racist bulshit masquerading as war memoirs. Mat Best does a better-than-most job at balancing the realities of war with humanity in Thank You For My Service.

Best was a Ranger in the 75th Ranger Regiment for five active military deployments before working and deploying multiple times as a private contractor. While working as a contractor, he created a youTube channel capitalizing on his creative side to document his time, opinions, and experiences as a member of the military. The channel lead to a partnership, which created a tshirt company, whiskey company, production company, a movie, and a coffee company. He’s kind of a jack of all trades, it seems.

The military is a completely different way of life. It’s hard to understand if you’re not in it. Even as a milso, it’s not my way of life, but I am more familiar with it than others. If you’re not into a morbid sense of humor, don’t read Thank You For My Service because that’s a huge part of the narrative and the military. Jokes and rude humor are essential. To be honest, the book would be super weird if he didn’t include dark jokes. Best redacts certain words, even whole sections of text, to maintain anonymity and secrecy. This underpins the fact he had a dangerous job, and even though he’s cracking jokes, people’s lives are at risk every moment of every day.

I decided to pose with Thank You For My Service by Mat Best at the Aviation Memorial on MCAS New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

War is war. People killing people. War memoirs tend to dehumanize the enemy in a plethora of ways. It’s part of the job, and it would be hard not to when you see your friends and colleagues dying. Best doesn’t sugar coat the feelings he had in theater, but he also makes sure the reader knows on the other side of his gun are people. The fact he didn’t use racial slurs impressed me. He does er on the side of “kill the enemy,” but that was literally his job.

Best is confident, funny, and smart. He writes about his experiences leading up to enlisting, deployments, Ranger school, loss, getting out, private security, joining and being a private contractor, and figuring out his life. He doesn’t shy away from discussing what he went through getting out of the military. Being in his early twenties but feeling disconnected from his peers. So many military guys feel this way when they get out after their first enlistment.

He and I, I am sure, have a lot of differing opinions, but he’s also a person I would have a ton of fun grabbing coffee with or joking over a bonfire. Throughout Thank You For My Service he emphasizes the sense of community he had in the military. It’s true, whether you’re in or military adjacent, when you meet someone who is military, you have something to talk about or bond over.

Memorable Quotes|
“Thinking you’re going to die and wanting to die are totally different things. I didn’t have a death wish. It’s just that, in my experience, the more you deploy and face the dark realities that exist in life, the more comfortable you become with the idea of death.”
“…being immersed in Ranger culture for four straight years had affected how I saw the world and, more to the point, how the world saw me.”

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Title: Thank You For My Service
Author: Mat Best
With: Ross Patterson and Nils Parker
Publisher: Bantam Books
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781524796495

Books, NonFiction

Escape from Paris by Stephen Harding

September 1, 2019August 30, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Yes
Length 288
Quick Review Joe, an American soldier, and Yvette, a young French woman in the resistance, fall in love at Les Invalides under the most unusual circumstances during World War II.

In front of The Water Wall in Houston, Texas. | Escape from Paris by Stephen Harding | Dress | Purse | Shoes | Earrings |

Escape from Paris | Dress | Shoes | Purse |

Available October 8, 2019

The world has an obsession with World War II. It was a new kind of war revolutionizing economies and industries around the world. The devastation and impact it had is still remarkable. With so many history books, novels, documentaries, TV shows, movies, and more, it can be easy to forget the individuals impacted by each decision, battle, success, and failure. People won the war. People lost the war. People lived lives during the war. Stephen Harding puts faces to these stories in Escape From Paris.

Harding focuses on the 94th Bomb Group, a United States Air Force unit based in England flying missions over Germany and France.

I’m going to be completely biased, I found the French part of this story far more interesting than the American aspect. This has nothing to do with the writing and everything to do with my personal interests. As a francophile and history buff, I am drawn to the French bits.

Joe is an American, who enlisted in the Air Force when the war began. His bomber went down over Northern France during an air raid along with several other planes. Most did not survive, but Joe and several other did. Finding the resistance they ended up in Paris at Les Invalides.

Georges and Denise had been the caretakers of Les Invalides for many years when the war broke out. They joined the resistance along with their daughter, Yvette. There were resistance groups working separately and together throughout Europe. This family was in a unique situation as “the “caretakers of Invalides” literally carried the keys to what was arguably one of the safest hiding places in the country” because Les Invalides had been taken over by the Germans during the Occupation, which, counterintuitively, gave this family more freedom to aide the resistance effort while housing and hiding soldiers. It was a dangerous and brilliant plan due to the fact “the Germans never thought to search what they assumed was a completely secure facility.”

There’s a love story in Escape from Paris, but I find it the least interesting bit about this book because personal taste. I did find it a little redundant because Harding felt the need to continually point out that this is a love story and that it’s not just about war, it’s about love too. I get it. He’s building up the human aspect of the story, but it’s not that interesting. The repetition borders on frustrating. The humanity is abundantly clear in his portraits of the people inhabiting this story. They lived lives before, during, and after the war. These were people who loved each other and their country. They fought in any way they could to protect what they believed in. The love story is sweet, but it’s the least impactful part of the story. If it wasn’t in the title, I probably would have forgotten it was in the book. Joe, Denise, Georges, and Yvette were incredible and brave people standing up for what they believed in.

Escape from Paris is riddled with historical facts, airplane terminology, logistics, and more. If you’re not familiar with these terms and this kind of history book, you’ll want Google handy. I enjoyed reading this interesting and well researched book. It’s definitely one to read if you like WWII.

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Title: Escape From Paris; A True Story of Love and Resistance in Wartime France
Author: Stephen Harding
Publisher: De Capo Press (Hachette Book Group)
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780306922169

Books, Fiction

The Travelers by Regina Porter

August 30, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Definitely
Length 320
Quick Review Starting with a bang, Porter dives into America’s past and complex issues with racism, classism, feminism, and all the other -isms as two families intermingle from the 1950’s to the last years of Obama’s presidency.

Reading *The Travelers* by Regina Porter in Old Town Spring, Texas. | Dress | Watch |

Regina Porter knows how to write. Her skill is on full display from the very beginning of The Travelers. This is an impressive piece of literature in and of itself, but the fact it is her debut makes it even more momentous. Simultaneously concise and epic, Porter packs a punch with every character and plot line. A story that is sure to leave an impression on anyone who picks it up.

With a huge cast of characters, The Travelers does its readers a favor by including a cast and familial context before the intricately woven plot begins. Convenient for reminding myself who’s who in the milieu without having to backtrack, I appreciated it..

Porter dives into the plot and complexities of relationships and humans search for answers with “When the boy was four, he asked his father why people needed sleep. His father said, “So God could unfuck all the things people fuck up.”” Two sentences. A striking way to start a novel that lives up to and surpasses the promise of its first impression. Spanning seven decades, The Travelers explores the realities of living in the United States through a variety of lenses and eras as two families come together.

This is not an easy book to read. It challenges readers to follow along a journey mired by stark realities. As chapters change so does the perspective, characters, era, setting, style, and tone. It’s a chameleon of a novel; changing drastically to fit the characters, situations, and times. There are no good characters or bad. Although, there are a few who fall much further on the wrong side of bad. Flaws and brilliance are present in each character. Instead of relying on tropes, The Travelers snapshots people’s lives to depict the greater faults in American society not just historically but currently.

People are not one thing. They are not just black. Just white. Just gay. Just rich. Just a father. Just an anything. Being human means being many things all at the same time and experiencing events in very unique and personal ways. We walk through life as a culmination of all our identities and experiences commingling simultaneously. Porter does not dilute her characters. They are not just white, mentally ill, black, veteran, sister, mixed, lover, poor, victim, straight, abuser, rich, gay, etc. She allows them to be many things concurrently.

The real triumph in The Travelers is Porter’s resistance to explain. She does not water down her stories or characters or layers by telling the reader how to perceive it. She lets it play out and leaves it. She has a straightforward yet nuanced way of writing. As in life; she allows the reader to infer and interpret what happens outside the line of sight. Readers are used to having a degree of omniscience, but Porter doesn’t allow this.

As a survivor of sexual assault and domestic violence, Porter delivers one of the most believable literary sexual abuse encounters I’ve encountered. I admire her dedication to tackling often misunderstood and misrepresented atrocities with sincerity and tact. It’s a hard line to walk, and she does it well.

This is good Literature. With a capital L. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop has a reputation for excellence. It has earned this reputation because Regina Porter and writers of this caliber called it home for a time. It is an incredible program, and I’m not just saying so because I grew up in Iowa.

The Travelers is one of the most affecting contemporary novels I have encountered.

Memorable Quotes
“You can’t see the end in the beginning. So play it safe and get the beginning right.”
“But we inherit it. Don’t you want to know what makes them tick?”

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Title: The Travelers
Author: Regina Porter
Publisher: Hogarth
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780525576198

Books, NonFiction

101 Things I Learned in Law School by Vibeke Norgaard Martin

August 15, 2019August 13, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Yes
Length 216
Quick Review Everything from definitions to quotes to government makeup to what the bar actually is.

I would need coffee if I went to law school. | 101 Things I Learned in Law School by Vibeke Norgaard Martin | Shirt | Purse | Fossil Smart Watch | Sunglasses | Earrings |

101 Things I Learned in Law School | Fossil Smart Watch | Purse | Sunglasses | Shirt | Ring |

There was a period of time in high school when I wanted to go to law school. The lawyers I talked with warned me away from it because they assumed I watched law dramas on TV and wanted the courtroom thing, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t even start watching law dramas until about two years ago. I liked the law because I knew it would be constant learning and researching, and I could advocate for people and women and become a judge or become an advocate or lobbyist. Vibeke Norgaard Martin hammers home the point that being a lawyer is not about being in court in 101 Things I Learned in Law School.

If you’ve ever read a book that has anything to do with law or the judiciary system, most of this is not new information. Martin does break down a lot of complicated and sometimes confusing concepts, terms, ideas, and workings of the law, government, and even courtroom in his 101 Things I Learned in Law School, and he particularly focuses on the US but does speak to British and global law.

Martin wants to make it clear that lawyers are people with prejudices, blind spots, limitations, skills, and specialties. Lawyers have areas of expertise, so consulting a corporate law attorney will not help you in divorce court. They do not know everything. Lawyers are known for having a good hold on words and manipulating language – which is a huge part of why the law has always spoken to me – but there is a difference between honesty and truth. This fact transcends law.

For every thing learned there is a little drawing on the opposing page to demonstrate, in a usually humorous fashion, what Martin is describing. There is a sense of humor to the entire book. Even in the quotes chosen have levity, humor, and drive home the point being a lawyer is a way of thinking and it is not infallible: “There is no doubt that if there were a super-Supreme Court, a substantial proportion of our reversals of state courts would also be reversed. We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” Robert H. Jackson. Martin goes through some of the most important cases tried in courts, and cases people should know about but probably don’t.

101 Things I Learned in Law School talks about history, language, law, thinking, and more. It is a quick and easy book to peruse, but it’s filled with information and a lesson. I highly suggest it to anyone with a curiosity for law or wants to look smart and worldly by putting it on their coffee table. Either way, I suggest it.

Memorable Quotes
“Honesty and truthfulness are different things.”
“In practice, the exceptions to the rule are the rule.”

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Title: 101 Things I Learned in Law School
Author: Vibeke Norgaard Martin
With: Matthew Frederick
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (Penguin Random House)
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781524762025

Books, Fiction

The Farm by Joanne Ramos

August 13, 2019August 12, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 336
Quick Review Golden Oaks is a gilded cage for the very wealthy to know their babies are getting the best of everything including surrogates.

Reading The Farm by Joanne Ramos in Jacksonville, North Carolina. | Dress | Shoes | Sunglasses

Cover of The Farm by Joanne Ramos. | Dress |

The Farm is Joanne Ramos’ debut novel. Ramos balances the outlandish and the painfully possible reality the near future could hold for privileged and not-so-privileged parts of society.

Golden Oaks is a place where young, healthy, pretty, desperate-for-money women go to be Hosts for lavishly wealthy Clients in want of a baby or three. Located a few hours outside of New York City, it couldn’t be a safer or more beautiful place for a baby to grow under the watchful eye of trained health professionals looking after every aspect of the baby and the Host. Women of all colors, backgrounds, and ethnicities are hosts at Golden Oaks, which is not-so-lovingly referred to as The Farm by many of the Hosts.

The story follows four women from vastly different backgrounds. Mae is an American of Asian descent who manages Golden Oaks. Jane is a Filipino immigrant trying to support her daughter. Ate is Jane’s older, Filipino, immigrant cousin who nannies for upper class New York families. Reagan is a young, wealthy, white woman trying to make enough money to support her art career without her father’s money and control. The Farm dives into socioeconomic diversity and driving forces behind poverty, emigration, and choices women make based solely on need.

Ramos fills The Farm with interesting plots and characters. There is a 1984 Big Brother kind of feel to the novel that is simultaneously overtly creepy yet almost comforting. Though, the plot has a happier rather than completely realistic ending, there are very realistic aspects and problems to Golden Oaks that ground the plot in human emotion and complexity. Ramos doesn’t simplify difficult concepts nor does she try to explain them. She tells a story about motivation, poverty, and womanhood allowing the reader to take away what they will.

The quote “Sometimes a person has no choice but hard choices…” is incredibly insightful and the entire point of The Farm. Though simple in concept, it can be hard for people who have never experienced that kind of desperation to understand what women will do when their backs are against a wall looking into the mouth of a hippo.

The Farm is heartbreaking and infuriating. Joanne Ramos’ has quite a literary career ahead of her if this is what she brings to the table with her debut novel.

Memorable Quotes
“But babies are stronger than people think, and smarter.”
“the monumental efforts taken to make Clients feel food about outsourcing their pregnancies.”
“As if being a good girl and being strong willed were in conflict.”

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Title: The Farm
Author: Joanne Ramos
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781984853752

Books, NonFiction

How to Date Men When You Hate Men by Blythe Roberson

August 6, 2019August 2, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 272
Quick Review A humorously philosophical look into dating while being a cognizant human in this weird-ass century by a befuddled, professional twenty-something lady, who doesn’t hate men.

201908028505572078462859702 — Stay away from me crazy man!

201908025280139681017267401 — Dating is awkward like this picture. | How to Date Men When You Hate Men by Blythe Roberson | Skirt Set | Headband |

201908029053156219495593173 — Kidding! We like each other 96% of the time.

Dating, love, and relationships are weird. I think it’s always been weird, but it’s only getting weirder with technology and awareness about gender equality and all that jazz. Love has always been a topic of discussion, a point of ponderance, and the source of much pain and misery for as long as the written word has existed. Men and their thoughts have always been taken seriously. Women are still working towards that, but that didn’t stop Blythe Roberson from writing her own book on the topic. When I have a bunch of money, I will be handing out How to Date Men When You Hate Men to all my single lady friends.

I may not completely understand or agree with all everything Blythe Roberson writes about the dating world, but that’s because we’re different ladies with different lives and different men have crossed our paths. She and I do say a lot of the same things like “53% of white women voted for Trump.” She is far better versed in pop culture references than I am, but I do love her inclusion of science, comedy, and literary references. She also mentions one of my favorite quotes by Edith Wharton in The Age of Innocence “Each time you happen to me all over again.” Bonus points.

How to Date Men When You Hate Men has a few minor grammar errors, but they are easily overlooked. Roberson is completely open about romantic misunderstandings and how dating and men are hard. Because life and love is hard. It doesn’t get easier the older you are, but Roberson manages it with a sense of humor.

Roberson has this amazing writing style. There are moments of great depth followed by a cutting wit and silly observations. She’s smart without being pretentious and incredibly comfortable in her own brand of weird, “But there is something gratifying about being a social catastrophe.” She has long winded sentences akin to streams of consciousness bathed in humor peppered with personal anecdotes and side thoughts marked by parentheses. She writes like the 27 year old woman she is as if she’s pulling a friend into a fun conversation. How to Date Men When You Hate Men is honest, vulnerable, strong, funny, and insightful.

I love the honesty Roberson has with her crushes, emotions, and obsessions. Although, she may have an unhealthy obsession with Timothee Chalamet… Then again, I have an unhealthy obsession with Scotland, bagpipe music, and men in kilts. So, who am I to judge.

If dating is hard for you, read this. It won’t help you at all, but you will find a soul sister and a good many laughs between the covers of How to Date Men When You Hate Men. Even if dating isn’t hard for you or you’re happily hitched or you’re not interested in men, there are a lot of modern day funnies.

Memorable Quotes
“though I adore men as individuals, I believe that as a group they’re systemically oppressing women.”
“It’s like trying to kiss your sweet crush while a cement mixer operated by Woody Allen is dumping raccoons on you.”

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Title: How to Date Men When You Hate Men
Author: Blythe Roberson
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 978125019421