Read No Length 256 Quick Review Alaskan Holiday is a really good example of what I don’t like in a book. Sappy romance, a pretend strong female character, bad grammar, terrible plot, and over all not put together well. Upside: there is a dog.
Happy first day of December!!! I’m starting off my holiday reading with a real low point. It’s not the worst book I’ve read all year, but it’s in the top three! Which means, in all hopefulness, that the reading quality can only go up the rest of the month!
I pretty much began reading Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber feeling that it would be awful. It was. It was not good. It’s like a Hallmark movie in book form so a more painful time commitment.
The two main characters are Josie and Palmer. They’re in the middle of nowhere Alaska. A place so remote almost everyone leaves during the winter months and is only reachable by plane. Josie was the chef during the season, and Palmer lives there permanently. Palmer falls in love and asks her to marry him. The rest of the novel unfolds to the exact ending you know is going to happen.
Alaskan Holidayis incredibly sexist. There is the effort of having a strong, career oriented woman as the lead, but the whole novel falls into the trope of ‘need to calm this wild, career woman down to get her to settle into a small boring life.’ The woman gives up everything for the man. This is bolstered by the fact that there are several other women trying to convince Josie she can be happy in the middle of nowhere because love. Palmer is awful. I really hated his character. He oozes the quiet, toxic masculinity that is a total turn-off to any actual strong, career oriented woman I’ve ever met. His machismo was irritating after page 2. His jealousy is beyond aggravating. I couldn’t take it.
There is a lot of telling and very little showing, so the storytelling is Alaskan Holidayis as bad as the characters. The story spends 130 pages, out of 220, setting up a story that could have been easily summed up in 25 pages. The story reads like a teenager’s diary, but not an insightful, wise teenager. There are also a lot of grammar errors.
I was really unimpressed by Alaskan Holiday. It was pretty much a waist of my time. Luckily it was so bad and easy to read, I was able to read it in a less time than a Hallmark movie takes.
Read Yes Length 256 Quick Review Stephen Hawking isn’t an anti-social genius. He’s brilliant, no doubt. He’s also witty, sarcastic, charming, and completely relatable in his book Brief Answers for the Big Questions, published posthumously.
I had a wonderful time reading Brief Answers for the Big Questionsby Stephen Hawking. This is the first book I’ve read by Hawking. I read it on airplanes on Thanksgiving day, so the only break I took was walking between terminals. It’s a book that pulls you in and keeps you even if science isn’t your thing.
I was under the illusions Stephen Hawking was a one of those scientific geniuses who I’d be unable to have a conversation with because he’s that much smarter than me. Except that’s exactly what feels so wonderful about Brief Answers for the Big Questionsthe intimacy of it. It’s a conversation between Hawking and the reader. He doesn’t shove science and math down your throat; instead he is warm, funny, charming, and absolutely relatable.
His sense of humor is evident from the very beginning. The forward is by Eddie Redmayne, who played Hawking in the movie The Theory of Everything. Hawking is funny, blunt, and very self-deprecating “Eddie Redmayne plays a particularly handsome version of me…” It makes him even more admirable in his humility. The word “surprised” was used far too often when Hawking discusses his successes. Even though he was brilliant and earned everything he had, he seems completely shocked looking back at the things he accomplished.
There are very few things non-sciency people will need to look up because Hawking does not drown the reader in things they probably are unfamiliar with or equations. He wants Brief Answers to the Big Questionsto be accessible to all. He talks about theories and equations with a sense of humor because he’s talking to people not scientists. M-theory – I did look that up- and Einstein and quantum mechanics and The Big Crunch “In Britain, people don’t seem too worried about a possible end twenty billion years in the future. You can do quite a lot of eating, drinking and being merry before that.” are all there but understandable. It’s not just science, though. He constantly references everything from history, science, philosophy, literature, and pop culture ie: Jurassic Park, Star Trek, etc.
Has funny little Q&A’s throughout the chapters. They usually sum up in a sentence or two his personal feelings about the overarching question being asked in the chapter. My favorite being the Q&A on page 141 when he mentions throwing a party in 2009 for legitimate time travelers. It culminated in him sitting alone in the college hall because he sent out invitations after the party was over to ensure there would be no phonies
I learned that Non-Euclidean geometry exists. Had I known this before, I could have been a total smart ass in formal geometry in high school. I found out triangles do not have to add up to 180° in flat three-dimensional space, but space would be curved and therefore non-euclidean. New information!
I highly enjoyed the small little jabs he made throughout including, “If there are beings alive on Alpha Centauri today, they remain blissfully ignorant of the rise of Donald Trump.” I don’t have to wonder too hard how he felt about the election.
Brief Answers to the Big Questions is highly entertaining. Hawking answers the questions, but really he’s just posing more. He is FULL of huge ideas. It’s absolutely amazing all the things he accomplished in spite of the obstacles he overcame. One of my favorite quotes is in the last pages of the book, “Opening up the thrill and wonder of scientific discovery, creating innovative and accessible ways to reach out to the widest young audiences possible, greatly increases the chances of finding and inspiring the new Einstein. Wherever she might be.” I love his inclusivity and call to action while simultaneously empowering the young women and men of today.The last two paragraphs are inspiring and a call to action and empowering.
Lucy Hawking, his daughter, summed up the sentiment of who he seemed to be through his own words in her own afterword, “He was a surprisingly modest man who, while adoring the limelight, seemed baffled by his own fame.” Reading Brief Answers to the Big Questionswas an absolute pleasure. Professor Hawking will be greatly missed for generations to come.
Memorable Quotes “Although, if there were such a God, I would like to ask however did he think of anything as complicated as M-theory in eleven dimensions.” “We don’t expect the universe to end in a brick wall, although there’s no logical reason why it couldn’t.” “This is a pity because, if they had, I would have got a Nobel Prize.” “The producers of Star Trek even persuaded me to take part, not that it was difficult.” Particle Accelerators: “They would have to be larger than the solar system and they are not likely to be approved in the present financial climate.”
I’m a freelance literary translator, editor, and writer. People think it’s a glamorous job. It’s not, but I’m ok with that perception! In reality, it’s not even as pretty as the pictures, but they’re pretty accurate.
Beau is the best assistant and partner I could possibly ask for. When she came into my life, I was in pretty bad shape. My health wasn’t great, so working outside of my home was impossible. Even working from home was impossible some days. It became a blessing when Beau came home. She needed round the clock attention because she was in a rough spot emotionally, physically, and health wise. I was freelancing enough to get by.
After almost a year of being home with Beau, I started looking for more employment because money. I was lucky enough to find a consistent freelance project, which has allowed me to stay home with Beau. I am absolutely floored. I love being at home. I love spending my whole day with her. I love not wearing pants. I love not having to be up early in the morning or go to bed at a responsible time.
Protecting me from the demon camera! We set up the tripod and used a remote, so it was “acting of its own accord” in her eyes.
My office is my home. I work a ton. I mean a shit ton. Beau and I have a schedule, which we stick to it aggressively. We wake up whenever she wakes up. Around 9:30. Then we go outside, take a walk, make coffee, have breakfast, and settle into the couch. We work until dinner time, which is any time between 7:00 and 10:00. Beau goes has a run around fest around 11:30. She’s a night owl like her mom. Then the energy monster gives up, and the snoring ensues. I then work solo until 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning depending on when I pass out.
Usually, we work from the couch. In May, we invested in a king sized bed. I’m living in the lap of luxury, I’m aware. Now with a big enough bed to spread out, we work from there a lot more often. Especially when we’re feeling lazy or under the weather. I’m one of those people who actually makes the bed every day. I may not shower every day, but the bed is made with pillows and throws.
Beau is always by my side. Her face usually nestled into my thigh. When she gets antsy, she’ll paw my hand away from the laptop keys, so I can better pet her. Every few hours, we head out to our little dog park to run around and stretch our legs. She likes to run around and throw toys at me. I’m not kidding. She will literally throw toys at my computer. She’s even closed it once or twice. Most of the time. We just snuggle as I work. She likes to be as close to me as possible. Sometimes in my lap. Even if the whole couch is open, she wants to be squished in next to me. I love it.
I would get lonely at home all alone without her. I’ve always, always, always been a dog person. Honestly, being a stay-at-home dog mom is the best thing ever.
XOXO,
Beau + RaeAnna
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She is the most precious thing in the whole world! Happy Wednesday!!!
Read Maybe Length 304 Quick Review Pat Barker retells the Iliad in The Silence of the Girls from a new and forgotten point of view: the women. Briseis was queen of a city before it fell making her a slave to Achilles.
We know the story of Helen of Troy. We know of Helen through the stories of men. What about women? Where were they? What is their story? They were lost to history, so Pat Barker gives them a voice in The Silence of the Girls through Briseis, a queen who fell with her city.
Briseis was still a teenager and a queen of a neighboring Trojan city when the Greeks attacked her city. As a little girl, she lived in Troy spending time with Helen. She was a proud Trojan woman. She watched everything and everyone she cared for destroyed by the Greeks led by Achilles. She became a slave to Achilles in the Greek camp outside of Troy. Briseis is used as a pawn and as a woman, but she listens and watches. The Silence of the Girlsis Barker’s take on what the women, who were barely old enough to be called women, went through as victims of war. Pawns of men.
The women in the camp have one role: serve the men. They do it in a variety of ways: being “bed-girls,” working in the medical tent, weaving, and serving. They go where they are told, when they are told, and they do it silently. They are no longer women; they are objects with a purpose. They were a fundamental reason the Greeks won the war.
The Silence of the Girlsis told mostly from Briseis’ perspective. There are minor chapters told from Achilles’ perspective. Briseis is strong and broken and full of disgust for her owners and situation because who wouldn’t be. BIG BUT. Briseis is the flattest character in the novel. The side characters were far more interesting. Briseis showed almost nothing but disgust the women who were fond of their captors. Achilles was the enemy, but he was complicated as all humans are. As a woman with a past of abuse, it’s far more complicated than the simplicity of emotion that Barker illustrates in Briseis. Stockholm syndrome is real and complicated. In a world where there is very little kindness, Briseis was on the receiving end of a lot of kindness, which would affect how she felt about her captors, but it just doesn’t in the novel. Barker really needed to dive into the psyche of an abused woman, and she didn’t.
I’ve seen The Silence of the Girlsreferred to as a masterpiece. It’s good, but it’s not that good. The emotions fall flat for the situation. The Washington Post’s reviewsaid the only remnant of Briseis’ past as a queen is a tunic of her father’s and that Pat Barker upends the storytelling of famous women, who have the most privilege. Except this isn’t true at all. Barker is telling the story of a privileged woman. Briseis was a queen and a young, beautiful one at that. She was Achilles’ concubine because she was a queen. A “prize.” Had she been a woman of lesser or no status, she would have been one of the women scavenging under tents and dying with the rats. Briseis complained of her life as a slave, but even her atrocious status as a “bed-girl” was much better than women of lesser status. She was not beaten. She was not passed around. She was not starved. She was not on the receiving end of so many possible horrors. There is no gratitude for that, and victims of abuse always, always, always see how it could be worse. Briseis doesn’t.
I truly did enjoy reading The Silence of the Girls. It was a really entertaining book to read with the right amount of mysticism and historicity. It could have been more, though. It could have been a triumph for abused women. Instead it fell flat.
Memorable Quotes “Oh, I watched him all right, I watched him like a mouse.” “Men carve meaning into women’s faces; messages addressed to other men.” “How on earth can you feel any pity or concern confronted by this list of intolerably nameless names.”
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Title: The Silence of Girls Author: Pat Barker Publisher: Doubleday Copyright: 2018 ISBN: 9780385544214
If you don’t know what Small Business Saturday is, it is a day in America to celebrate the small and local businesses we love and falls on the last Saturday in November. I like to think of it as the real kick off to the busiest shopping season of the year.
This year, I decided to visit my beautiful and talented friend Natasha at Burd and Burdie, her pop-up store. She is the owner and creator of BurdLife, a jewelry collection. Her work is amazing. Everything is handmade by her. She has big and sparkly, petite and girly, long and dangly, and so much in between. I fell in love with her jewelry last month when a mutual friend introduced us. Natasha is also one of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever met. Her smile and laugh are beyond contagious. You’ll want to go into her store and just hang out with her all day.
Burd and Burdie is open now through the end of December in River Oaks here in Houston. If you’re local, you should stop in before it’s too late. You can see and try on Natasha’s absolutely stunning pieces. She also has amazing clothes, purses, shoes, rugs, candles, and a few other things. Everything is hand-picked by Natasha and locally sourced. Everytime I walk in, I want to take everything home with me. I’m not exaggerating. If I come into a boatload of money, I will hire her to decorate my house and my body. She has an eye for the alluring. Her Instagram handles are @burdlifeofficial and @burdandburdie.
Burd and Burdie is not the only local business I love. So here are six of my favorite local Houston places I frequent!
A 2nd Cup– I love this coffee shop because their profits go toward ending human trafficking! Tout Suite– This is one of those hip Houston hot spots. Kaboom Books – Read about this hidden gem of a used bookstore here. Brazos Bookstore– They have a great selection of new books and host a bunch of events. Tea Sip– I love this Heights tea store!!! Crave Cupcakes– Yumminess.
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Read Yes Length 272 Quick Review Glory Edim is the amazing woman behind the Instagram @wellreadblackgirl. I have been obsessively following her since I started my blog. Her book is a testament to the importance of books.
Well-Read Black Girlis a book of essays about reading journeys by amazing black women from a variety of backgrounds compiled by Glory Edim, the creator of @wellreadblackgirl. It is beautiful. Literature is white-centric. As a girl, I read books and new they were about girls who looked like me. To be honest, I didn’t really read books with people who don’t look like me as the main characters until I was in high school. There aren’t that many of them. For a huge swath of the population, they don’t see themselves in the pages they read.
The authors of the essays talk about finding their reflection in the books they read within the pages of Well-Read Black Girl. The books they talk about are meant for the world, but have unique meanings to each woman. They searched for themselves in books like we all do. For them, it was harder because literature rarely tells their story. These are the essays about the books that changed them. We all have that book, I think.
I honestly don’t want to go into too much depth about the book because it’s so fabulous. You should take the time to read it. The essays aren’t long, so you can enjoy them with a busy schedule. I will be returning to the book often because it’s inspiring.
I truly loved reading this. There were names I knew and names I am not familiar with, but I’m going to try and broaden my horizons more. Several books and authors are mentioned in several essays. The fact this is so prevalent goes to show how few options there are for and about women of color. In fact, the books the essays discuss are the same books that touched me deeply.
My favorite thing in Well-Read Black Girl are the book recommendations. There are several lists of books for and about black women throughout. It also compiles all the books mentioned throughout the pages. There are so many good books mentioned and several I still need to read.
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Memorable Quotes “I suddenly understood that her story was part of the larger story of Black womanhood and survival.” “We are not looking for anyone else to give us validation; because we have one another.” “Mom raised us more like cactuses, rather than orchids.” Gabourey Sidibe
