Self-Help Round-Up, Part 2

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo; This book is ridiculously popular right now, which really speaks to something I do not understand at all. I am very clean and neat by nature, so I read this as a fellow tidier and really agreed with everything Kondo writes about. There are definitely some things that get lost in translation -- such as the need not to hold on to too many charms from shrines, not a problem for many messy Americans. The thrust of the book is basically to get rid of as much of your stuff as possible and only keep the essentials. When you get rid of a sweater that you never wore, you shouldn't feel guilty, you should thank it for teaching you an important lesson about what doesn't work in your wardrobe, and then you should wish it well as you put it out into the world where it will find a new owner. Since finishing this book, I have packed up ten boxes of stuff to donate, which felt amazing. This book is a delight but it will not change your life and if you are intrigued by the thought of getting rid of everything, I'd advise skimming it. Under no circumstances is this a book you should own.

It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow; Not a self-help book per se, but a GOOP publication about eating healthy, so close enough. Those damn freckles on her nose were what convinced me to get this book. I will eat anything that gives me adorable freckles like that. So there are some legitimately good recipes in here, but I'm not someone who needs recipes for things like smoothies. Also, she gives a lot of weird pseudo-medical advice about cutting everything out of your diet in order to self-diagnose food allergies or pseudo-allergies, and I find that highly suspect. All things in moderation, including Gwynnie. I should maybe mention that I am generally very pro-Gwyneth and I find her particular brand of highly aspirational authentic living to be as close to a religion as I can muster. She got me to drink almond milk and do Pilates, two things I don't regret.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg; This book got way too much attention for the wrong reasons. It's a great book of career advice, for men or women, and it also makes a very deliberate point of illustrating the ways in which the American political and economic systems in place are generally impeding women's careers. Some people are mad that she's rich and wrote this book, which makes no sense because I don't want career advice from anyone who isn't rich...? She never asserts that being rich is the solution to anyone's problems -- I think she just felt the need to qualify over and over again how lucky she is/was to have a support system that allowed her to accomplish everything that she did, and to further contrast her experience with that of so many women who lack her resources. I feel the same way about this as I do about Lena Dunham -- if you're going to have an opinion anyway, at least read the book/watch the show.

#ReadWomen2014: Judy Blume

Everyone read Judy Blume as a kid/pre-teen; I have always thought of her as more faux-controversial than actually controversial, because it was always through public school that her books crossed my path, and we actually read some of them (like the truly awful Frecklejuice) as a class assignment. The rest I sought out on my own -- even as a kid I realized they were dated as they all had a very crusty, 70s vibe that I found weird. So much had changed for women in girls in the era of Blume's career, so even a book about menstruation could feel outdated (Pads on belts? Whaaa...?) But despite those limitations, there is something so incredibly timeless about them and her ability to capture the emotional tenor of early adolescence is remarkable.

The problem with a prolific author like Judy Blume is that she made such a name for herself as an author for children that her adult books easily found their ways into classrooms and junior high libraries -- thus, my fling with Summer Sisters, which was surreptitiously passed around and dog-eared by my group of friends, for whom it was the pinnacle of erotic fiction (we did not try very hard to seek out erotic fiction). As an adult, this is still one of my favorite guilty pleasure books; it was clearly written to be read at the beach, and as heavy as the sexual content is, I think it's one of the best books on female friendship ever written.

If you haven't taken the time to keep up with Judy Blume since you were 13, read this dialogue between Blume and a young writer she has a had a tremendous influence on, Lena Dunham.

This Week in Books Almost Nothing Happens

What can I say, it's been a slow week in the world of books and book-adjacent news.

Tom Hanks is releasing a book of short stories, and no one cares.

There are lots of Joan Didion think pieces because of the successful Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary on her, but I won't even link to them because you should just use your time to read Joan Didion, not about Joan Didion.

Lena Dunham is a lightning rod for controversy again. She is never as bad as anyone says, but that doesn't mean I'm defending every single decision she has ever made. I'm just getting tired of feeling the need to have an opinion on her anymore.

Finally, I'm sketching out the blog schedule for 2015 and would love feedback and suggestions. What kind of posts would you like to see? What books do you want me to read? Let me know in the comments section.

What I'm Reading: 'Changing My Mind' by Zadie Smith

I've said it before -- I prefer Zadie Smith's essays and non-fiction to her novels. The fact that anyone even needs to make the distinction is pretty significant. In other words, she is such an incredibly talented writer that she produces both fiction and non-fiction that is very much worth your time. And if I had to recommend only one Zadie Smith book to someone, it would still be White Teeth, a novel everyone should read.

Part of what attracts me to her non-fiction though, is that Zadie Smith is one of the coolest women in the literary world today. She's friends with Lena Dunham and profiles celebrities like Jay-Z, and her non-fiction reflects the reality of being a mother and an English professor in New York City so much more than her fiction does. It seems like her fiction is largely preoccupied with the world of her younger self. Zadie Smith as an adult today would never be the type of character to appear in a Zadie Smith novel, so in a way I guess I'm responding positively to her more than to her work. Either way, I'm really enjoying ambling through this book of her essays.

This Week in Books Lena Dunham talks to Roxane Gay

It's been a huge week for Lena Dunham, whose book Not That Kind of Girl was published on Tuesday (I already finished it and enjoyed it). She also had a mild scandal regarding her book tour which is a much larger and more extraordinary event than most authors get to participate in, but I'd prefer to focus on the positive. She got a pretty overwhelmingly positive review in Time Magazine by Roxane Gay, and then Gay and Dunham had a convo for Vulture.

Speaking of Roxane Gay (when am I not?), The Toast announced this week a new vertical called The Butter that will be edited by Gay and include cultural criticism and personal essays, with a distinct focus on writers of color. If you haven't spent any time with The Toast before, I highly recommend it. They do some of the best writing for women on the Internet, and they are decidedly bookish.

I normally try to keep things light around here, but some weeks I just can't deal, and admittedly, this is one of the biggest news stories in the publishing world this week. Ed Champion is a misogynistic jerk in the publishing industry who last gained notoriety by attacking writer (and delight) Emily Gould on Twitter. When she responded in kind, he made some vaguely suicidal threats, so everyone left him alone. He resurfaced last weekend, this time attacking a new female author, Porochista Khakpour.  Don't go fight with him on Twitter (his account has been suspended anyway). Instead show your support by purchasing books by Gould and Khakpour and keep in mind that dumb garbage like this is why #readwomen2014 is so important.

Books by Funny Women

Lena Dunham's memoir Not That Kind of Girl follows in a long and illustrious (albeit recent) tradition of famous, funny women publishing essays and memoirs. Part of the reason she received such a publicized advance on the book was because of the incredible (and somewhat surprising) successes of her predecessors. Below are some of my favorite funny lady books, including some titles to watch for in the coming months.

Bossypants by Tina Fey -- The O.G. of books by funny ladies in the modern era. I like how seamlessly she blends autobiographical stuff with funny essays, and then somehow manages to give you really profound advice about feminism without your realizing what just happened.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling -- Another classic, which you've likely already read. If not, got on that, and also watch her show on Fox, 'The Mindy Project,' and then join me in anxiously awaiting her second memoir, which she's currently working on.

I Don't Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer -- I cannot abide this one because she claims to be from Detroit and then reveals she actually grew up in Livonia. This is simply too much for me, but I still love her in everything, but mostly 'Arrested Development.'

 I Hate My Neck by Nora Ephron -- She's an incredible wit, a strident feminist, and a very sweet lady, whose personal voice as a writer is probably the strongest of this group. When you read her essays, you feel like you're reading something written by a friend or a very hilarious mother. This particular volume is focused on aging and womanhood, but all her writing is excellent.

Yes, Please by Amy Poehler -- Forthcoming in October! She earns the very high praise of being worth saving my next Audible credit for, as I'm hopeful she'll be the reader in her own audio book version. She's talented and funny and if her presence in Bossypants is any indication, she has plenty of sage feminist wisdom to dispense with as well. Additionally, if you're not already enjoying her incredible media empire that is 'Smart Girls at the Party,' go remedy that.

#Readwomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'Not That Kind of Girl' by Lena Dunham

Do you really need me to tell you that this book drops today? You shouldn't. It's arguably the biggest book release of the year, and quite famously, resulted in one of the biggest book advances on record. It's crass to talk about money, but it bothered me enormously when so many people made a stink about it; why does anyone begrudge a talented young woman for her successes? This seems to be a recurring theme for Dunham, who so many people hate for really unfair or arbitrary reasons. Her publisher gave her a huge advance because she is a proven, critically-acclaimed writer, a very hard worker, and worth every damn cent of it.

Moving on, excerpts and previews from this collection of essays have been circulating for a few weeks now, along with plenty of positive reviews. There is now a well-formed genre of smart, funny women writing memoir/essay collections (more on that tomorrow), and this will certainly take its place in that pantheon. Particular kudos to Dunham, however, for earning the coveted text-only cover; this might have something to do with the constant public debate over Dunham's physical appearance, but I choose to take it as a sign that famous women won't always have to splash their faces on their covers. I've enjoyed Dunham's contributions to the New Yorker for quite awhile now, and I'm a devotee of Girls, frustrating as it can be at times, so I'm really looking forward to digging in to this. If you live in a major city, look up her book touring schedule, because she's doing really major events at huge venues with other funny, talented women, and they look awesome. I was so disappointed that she was making so few stops in the Midwest.

This Week in Books, Portland Catch-Up Version: Zadie Smith is a reading addict...

A Prayer Journal
By Flannery O'Connor

Apologies all around for missing the last two "This Week in Books" posts. I know you live for them. It was hard to keep track of what was going on in the world of books while prepping to travel, doing the travelling itself, and then recovering from travelling, but I'm finally back to normal, for a day, and then I prep for a weeked Up North. At the very least I did my best to accumulate some good links the past two weeks, and here they are:

Oprah! Zadie Smith! What they want you to read this summer! Her comments about reading and prison are particularly chilling because that was my primary takeaway from reading Orange is the New Black-- she got to read so many books in prison!

If you, like me, have Joan Didion fever this summer, check out this essay on Play It As It Lays  from Alice Bolin and The Believer. There is a short write-up on it over at The Millions as well, and they recommended it as one of this summer's "Burnt Out Reads."

Hilton Als reviewed the posthumously published Flannery O'Connor book A Prayer Journal. It's behind a pay wall but you can read the intro and if you're a NYT subscriber, you  can enjoy the whole thing (and maybe share some quotes in the comments? Just a thought). This combines one of my favorite contemporary essayists with one of my favorite female authors, so I might even consider paying to read it.

Here's a brief piece on book hoarding from the LA Times. I found it to be abysmally depressing, but that's just me. Also, I tend to read the books I won, so that might disqualify me.

Finally, the thing I am most excited about -- Matter and MSNBC.com are doing a public book club reading of Susan Faludi's recent feminist classic Backlash: the Undeclared War Against American Women, and have invited plenty of intelligent and inspiring female writers and thinkers to contribute (Roxane Gay, Lena Dunham, etc.). You can read along, tweet along, and read their lively discussions of each chapter.

This Week in Books: Upcoming 2014 titles, Southern reads, and a 'Wild' trailer

The Millions has a thorough preview of upcoming book releases for 2014, and the list is ridiculous. What I especially noticed was how many authors were defying their normal genres and expectations-- a children's book re-telling by Lydia Davis, a very straightforward narrative novel by Murakami, and short story collections from Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood. There is so much on the list to get excited about. I'll be waist-deep in essay collections from Amy Pohler, Roxane Gay and Lena Dunham

I found this lovely discussion on favorite Southern novels by Southern independent bookstore staffers, and thought it was a nice follow-up to my Flannery O'Connor/ Carson McCullers binges.

It's pretty lucky that the official trailer for 'Wild' (based on the book by Cheryl Strayed), came out this week, a few days  after I posted about how much I loved it. The adaptation looks excellent, and I think Reese Witherspoon is a great choice for the role, but I'm still going to strongly advocate reading the book. Normally I'm not a big stickler about literary adaptations, but the book is so great and very bookish, that I think some of its magic will naturally get lost in the translation. I bought my mom a copy of this book last year, so this might have to be a mother-daughter trip to the movies.