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amber_lea84's reviews
789 reviews
Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics, and Other American Heroes by Dave Isay
4.0
This book was published in 1996. It’s a relic, both of the times recounted by the subjects, but also of the time the book was written. Most of the interviews took place between 1990-1994, which was almost 30 years ago at this point. It was such a different time. It was a time before the internet. It was a time where many people from the Greatest Generation are the age that Boomers are now. Most of the people in this book are gone, and we can only read about their stories, or listen to interviews, we can no longer talk to them directly.
I was just a kid in the early 90s. I grew up sitting under a desk in a senior center where my grandma volunteered. My grandpa owned a gold mine and could have easily been in this book if he’d still been alive in 1990. I was familiar with people like the ones interviewed in this book, but I was too young to really ask good questions.
So this book is awesome if you wish you’d had the chance to talk to more elderly people before they passed, or if you’re interested in the culture of the united states between about 1930 and 1990.
Each interview is about two or three pages and is accompanied by a photo. Most of them were aired on All Things Considered or Morning Edition in the early 90s. There’s a man who’d been in jail since before desegregation and only knew about the outside world based on things he’d seen on television. There are many stories from before the civil rights movement. There’s the guy who shook Robert Kennedy’s hand right before he was shot. There are religious zealots. There are unusual doctors. And of course, there are people who are trying very hard to share very specific interests with the world. Each story is very folksy and charming.
I was just a kid in the early 90s. I grew up sitting under a desk in a senior center where my grandma volunteered. My grandpa owned a gold mine and could have easily been in this book if he’d still been alive in 1990. I was familiar with people like the ones interviewed in this book, but I was too young to really ask good questions.
So this book is awesome if you wish you’d had the chance to talk to more elderly people before they passed, or if you’re interested in the culture of the united states between about 1930 and 1990.
Each interview is about two or three pages and is accompanied by a photo. Most of them were aired on All Things Considered or Morning Edition in the early 90s. There’s a man who’d been in jail since before desegregation and only knew about the outside world based on things he’d seen on television. There are many stories from before the civil rights movement. There’s the guy who shook Robert Kennedy’s hand right before he was shot. There are religious zealots. There are unusual doctors. And of course, there are people who are trying very hard to share very specific interests with the world. Each story is very folksy and charming.
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey
4.0
I wasn't going to read this, mostly because I was busy and didn't even realize it existed, but one of our librarians was basically like, "Are you kidding me? This fits right in with all the other political bs you read" and I was like, "Hmm, you make a good point. Okay, order it for me. XD"
I don't regret reading this. In large part because I love reading about the FBI, and how the government operates, but also because I - like just about everyone, I'm sure - was asking myself "...what is this guy's deal?" His behavior during the 2016 elections was super strange to the casual observer. Which in context, once you understand what was happening and how Comey operates, made perfect sense.
I want to note that this book is trying to be two different books. It's both Comey's account of what happened and something of an advice book on how to be a good leader. It's a little awkward that it not one or the other, but I appreciate that it tries to be both because those are two books I want to read, and these things tie together quite nicely, especially at the end when he talks about his experiences with Trump's leadership style.
The best thing I can say about this book is that this is the first time I've read a book like this and come away really feeling that I gained a better understanding of the truth. I don't feel more uncertain about any particular bit of information. Comey does a good job of walking you through his thought process on almost everything to give you a chance to decide for yourself if you agree with him and his assessment. It felt different from reading a book by a politician. I was ready to take this book with about a ton of salt, but I think Comey did his best to stick to the facts but without ignoring his feelings. It was very humanizing without feeling like manipulative bs.
I would recommend this to anyone who's at all interested in Bush Jr, the Clintons, Obama, Trump, Rudy Giuliani or the FBI because Comey talks about his experiences them all and it's super interesting.
I don't regret reading this. In large part because I love reading about the FBI, and how the government operates, but also because I - like just about everyone, I'm sure - was asking myself "...what is this guy's deal?" His behavior during the 2016 elections was super strange to the casual observer. Which in context, once you understand what was happening and how Comey operates, made perfect sense.
I want to note that this book is trying to be two different books. It's both Comey's account of what happened and something of an advice book on how to be a good leader. It's a little awkward that it not one or the other, but I appreciate that it tries to be both because those are two books I want to read, and these things tie together quite nicely, especially at the end when he talks about his experiences with Trump's leadership style.
The best thing I can say about this book is that this is the first time I've read a book like this and come away really feeling that I gained a better understanding of the truth. I don't feel more uncertain about any particular bit of information. Comey does a good job of walking you through his thought process on almost everything to give you a chance to decide for yourself if you agree with him and his assessment. It felt different from reading a book by a politician. I was ready to take this book with about a ton of salt, but I think Comey did his best to stick to the facts but without ignoring his feelings. It was very humanizing without feeling like manipulative bs.
I would recommend this to anyone who's at all interested in Bush Jr, the Clintons, Obama, Trump, Rudy Giuliani or the FBI because Comey talks about his experiences them all and it's super interesting.
True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray by James Renner
4.0
I have a strange obsession with books where journalists with capital I Issues put themselves at the center of a story. (I'm looking at you Neil Strauss.) Which in the case of this book is something you should expect because the title makes it clear this book is about the author. I'm shocked other reviewers are shocked this is so personal. Go back to the cover guys, read it again.
So this book is both genuinely good, and genuinely terrible. I think the writing style sucks you in. He's one of those authors where if this book kept going and going I would just keep reading. It was easy for me to sit down and read half the book in one sitting which isn't something I normally do, BUT. But I think the author establishes himself as an unreliable narrator right from the get go. He talks about how reporters are often bad at getting facts right, which as a former reporter I can say is true. (How can three reporters in the same room write such conflicting stories, I ask.) Don't trust everything you read. But he repeatedly gets worked up about how he doesn't believe in coincidences, and at one point he tries to make the case that his son can read minds. It's sad because I get it. His son struggles...he wants to believe his son has a gift that's as cool as his life is hard. It's also sad this author struggles with impostor syndrome because he's a genuinely good writer. Occasionally he'll say something strange or he starts talking about someone without reminding you of who they are, but he's got good flow and I'm a huge fan of a casual writing style where the author feels like your friend, so I can forgive those things.
But writing aside, you still have the reliability issue. As a lot of people have pointed out, the author is extremely suspicious of everyone who wont talk to him, but he himself makes it clear that people close to Maura's disappearance get bothered a lot and have gone to great lengths to make themselves difficult to contact. And I do agree that if Maura is really missing it is strange that so many of the people who are close to her didn't want this book written. But the thing is...he never really seemed to ask himself, "Is it because Maura is in hiding and her family knows it?" The tone is much more conspiratorial. He repeatedly implies that maybe she ran away because her father was molesting her, and that her friends and family are hiding this horrible secret. WHICH, as it turns out, the author's grandfather molested his mother, as well as a lot of other family members. So...is the author projecting? I can't blame him for exploring the angle, but...yeesh. It kind of makes sense that people didn't want to talk to him if he was posting all this to the internet where they could read it while obsessively trying to contact them.
It feels dumb to put a spoiler alert on real life, but spoiler alert...I think Maura totally could be alive and well in Canada after using a safe house to flee her abusive boyfriend. And in that case, publishing everywhere there has been a sighting of a girl who is potentially her is incredibly unethical. Like dude. Her psycho ex isn't in prison. Is James potentially forcing her to upend her life AGAIN? Did this question even occur to him?
The problem with amateur sleuthing is you're literally stocking someone, but it's okay because they're dead right? Well what if they're not? You're essentially giving yourself permission to do some real creepy and uncool things in the name of helping. In this instance, the author is potentially doing a lot of harm and it's uncomfortable to read.
I honestly don't really know how to feel about this book because you're really climbing around inside the author's brain, which is my idea of a good time. But he does some truly reckless and alarming things, namely drunk driving (to rip a hole in space-time?), mouthing off to a judge and fighting a cop (you can't protect your sister from jail, man), and potentially exposing Maura to a man who's so crazy she changed her identity and let everyone believe she was dead to get away from him.
Or maybe I'M projecting because I relate to that version of the story because I once skipped the state to get away from an abusive boyfriend. Gah! This is such a tangled web.
Anyway, maybe he's doing the world a service by exposing this guy? I don't know. It's hard to get a grip on reality when everything you know about the case comes from the same source. He makes a lot of leaps in logic, some of which make sense to me, but also the guy saw a psychic at one point so...I have to keep in mind that my opinion is based entirely on questionable information I learned from someone who has a flair for the dramatic.
But all that said, I like James Renner. I don't think he's a bad dude or he has bad intentions. I think it's like the title says, he obsessed. He wants to know what happened at all costs.
So this book is both genuinely good, and genuinely terrible. I think the writing style sucks you in. He's one of those authors where if this book kept going and going I would just keep reading. It was easy for me to sit down and read half the book in one sitting which isn't something I normally do, BUT. But I think the author establishes himself as an unreliable narrator right from the get go. He talks about how reporters are often bad at getting facts right, which as a former reporter I can say is true. (How can three reporters in the same room write such conflicting stories, I ask.) Don't trust everything you read. But he repeatedly gets worked up about how he doesn't believe in coincidences, and at one point he tries to make the case that his son can read minds. It's sad because I get it. His son struggles...he wants to believe his son has a gift that's as cool as his life is hard. It's also sad this author struggles with impostor syndrome because he's a genuinely good writer. Occasionally he'll say something strange or he starts talking about someone without reminding you of who they are, but he's got good flow and I'm a huge fan of a casual writing style where the author feels like your friend, so I can forgive those things.
But writing aside, you still have the reliability issue. As a lot of people have pointed out, the author is extremely suspicious of everyone who wont talk to him, but he himself makes it clear that people close to Maura's disappearance get bothered a lot and have gone to great lengths to make themselves difficult to contact. And I do agree that if Maura is really missing it is strange that so many of the people who are close to her didn't want this book written. But the thing is...he never really seemed to ask himself, "Is it because Maura is in hiding and her family knows it?" The tone is much more conspiratorial. He repeatedly implies that maybe she ran away because her father was molesting her, and that her friends and family are hiding this horrible secret. WHICH, as it turns out, the author's grandfather molested his mother, as well as a lot of other family members. So...is the author projecting? I can't blame him for exploring the angle, but...yeesh. It kind of makes sense that people didn't want to talk to him if he was posting all this to the internet where they could read it while obsessively trying to contact them.
It feels dumb to put a spoiler alert on real life, but spoiler alert...I think Maura totally could be alive and well in Canada after using a safe house to flee her abusive boyfriend. And in that case, publishing everywhere there has been a sighting of a girl who is potentially her is incredibly unethical. Like dude. Her psycho ex isn't in prison. Is James potentially forcing her to upend her life AGAIN? Did this question even occur to him?
The problem with amateur sleuthing is you're literally stocking someone, but it's okay because they're dead right? Well what if they're not? You're essentially giving yourself permission to do some real creepy and uncool things in the name of helping. In this instance, the author is potentially doing a lot of harm and it's uncomfortable to read.
I honestly don't really know how to feel about this book because you're really climbing around inside the author's brain, which is my idea of a good time. But he does some truly reckless and alarming things, namely drunk driving (to rip a hole in space-time?), mouthing off to a judge and fighting a cop (you can't protect your sister from jail, man), and potentially exposing Maura to a man who's so crazy she changed her identity and let everyone believe she was dead to get away from him.
Or maybe I'M projecting because I relate to that version of the story because I once skipped the state to get away from an abusive boyfriend. Gah! This is such a tangled web.
Anyway, maybe he's doing the world a service by exposing this guy? I don't know. It's hard to get a grip on reality when everything you know about the case comes from the same source. He makes a lot of leaps in logic, some of which make sense to me, but also the guy saw a psychic at one point so...I have to keep in mind that my opinion is based entirely on questionable information I learned from someone who has a flair for the dramatic.
But all that said, I like James Renner. I don't think he's a bad dude or he has bad intentions. I think it's like the title says, he obsessed. He wants to know what happened at all costs.
Brave by Rose McGowan
3.0
I thought I was going to hate this. And I kind of did, but I also found it relatable and came away feeling like I understand Rose McGowan a lot better.
Let me be clear: there are a lot of cringey things in this book. There are two main sources of cringe. The first is that Rose is often really condescending. Odds are if you picked this up, you're not a complete idiot. You probably have some critical thinking skills, but she doesn't seem to think any of us are on her level. It's kinda awkward. The other source of cringe is that she's "one of those" liberals who will do things like point out a person's race when it's not relevant to anything. But the book opens with a speech about how Rose is basically a hero and closes with a speech about feminism and a plug for everything she's got going on now, including her new skin care line. It's a cringe sandwich with a legitimately good book in the middle somewhere.
Despite the issues with this book, it's clear she's suffered some serious trauma. Reading this, it's easy to understand why she is where she's at. I get it. I really do. I've been through some similar stuff (though not at all on the same level) and can put myself in her shoes. I went in with some tidbits of information, but her story is so much worse than I was imagining. I'm impressed she's not in a catatonic depression.
Overall, the writing is both good and bad. With some serious editing, it could have been a five star book. Like if someone had said, "Hey, this part where you say Marilyn Manson hurt your feelings by trashing you on Howard Stern...maybe you should cut the part where you call him a 'typical cisgendered male' and mock his 'man ego.' At the very least, cut the 'Waaaah. Poor wittle baby' part because you just spent all this time talking about what I great guy he is and suddenly turning on him is going to give the readers whiplash."
It would have been so much better if she's left it at, (I'm paraphrasing here) "He was a great guy and I didn't expect him to trash me in the media and it really hurt because I thought we left things on good terms." All she had to do was stop there. There were so many parts like that, where she's telling a story and you really feel for her and then she just goes off and you're like yeah okay, uhh, maybe that cathartic rant should have gotten cut from the final draft because that's in there forever now.
Let me be clear: there are a lot of cringey things in this book. There are two main sources of cringe. The first is that Rose is often really condescending. Odds are if you picked this up, you're not a complete idiot. You probably have some critical thinking skills, but she doesn't seem to think any of us are on her level. It's kinda awkward. The other source of cringe is that she's "one of those" liberals who will do things like point out a person's race when it's not relevant to anything. But the book opens with a speech about how Rose is basically a hero and closes with a speech about feminism and a plug for everything she's got going on now, including her new skin care line. It's a cringe sandwich with a legitimately good book in the middle somewhere.
Despite the issues with this book, it's clear she's suffered some serious trauma. Reading this, it's easy to understand why she is where she's at. I get it. I really do. I've been through some similar stuff (though not at all on the same level) and can put myself in her shoes. I went in with some tidbits of information, but her story is so much worse than I was imagining. I'm impressed she's not in a catatonic depression.
Overall, the writing is both good and bad. With some serious editing, it could have been a five star book. Like if someone had said, "Hey, this part where you say Marilyn Manson hurt your feelings by trashing you on Howard Stern...maybe you should cut the part where you call him a 'typical cisgendered male' and mock his 'man ego.' At the very least, cut the 'Waaaah. Poor wittle baby' part because you just spent all this time talking about what I great guy he is and suddenly turning on him is going to give the readers whiplash."
It would have been so much better if she's left it at, (I'm paraphrasing here) "He was a great guy and I didn't expect him to trash me in the media and it really hurt because I thought we left things on good terms." All she had to do was stop there. There were so many parts like that, where she's telling a story and you really feel for her and then she just goes off and you're like yeah okay, uhh, maybe that cathartic rant should have gotten cut from the final draft because that's in there forever now.
The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 4: Rising Action by Kieron Gillen
2.0
Man, people really can't tell the difference between the art and the plot.
I highly recommend working on not being a slave to beauty because I'm pretty sure this comic is making fun of you.
I honestly can't figure out how self-aware it is though, because it's so nonsensical even at it's most coherent.
I highly recommend working on not being a slave to beauty because I'm pretty sure this comic is making fun of you.
I honestly can't figure out how self-aware it is though, because it's so nonsensical even at it's most coherent.
The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 3: Commercial Suicide by Kieron Gillen
3.0
Taylor Swift's music videos suddenly make way more sense now. Mind: blown.
Also, spoiler alert, in this issue a literal god commits suicide because she gets mean comments on twitter.
There is real talk about cultural appropriation, shit being problematic, and the patriarchy. And every character clearly shops at Urban Outfitters. It truly is a true product of it's time.
This is going to go great next to my copy of Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs in my pop culture time capsule that I totally have because it's going to be delightfully dated some day.
I also love that the art quality has gone down, and now people are complaining about the story waaaaaay more, even though it now makes way more sense than it did in the previous two volumes. It's almost like realizing that pretty girl you like has a terrible personality.
Also, spoiler alert, in this issue a literal god commits suicide because she gets mean comments on twitter.
There is real talk about cultural appropriation, shit being problematic, and the patriarchy. And every character clearly shops at Urban Outfitters. It truly is a true product of it's time.
This is going to go great next to my copy of Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs in my pop culture time capsule that I totally have because it's going to be delightfully dated some day.
I also love that the art quality has gone down, and now people are complaining about the story waaaaaay more, even though it now makes way more sense than it did in the previous two volumes. It's almost like realizing that pretty girl you like has a terrible personality.
The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen
2.0
This is making fun of millennials, right? Right?!
I get the feeling that things are going over my head, but are they? I kind of suspect they're not, I think I'm just confused because the story telling is meant to confuse. Because that creates intrigue, I guess? I worry what is really happening is lazy writing where the reader is being left to project whatever they want onto a story that isn't actually there. Because in reading other people's reviews I'm like, "How did you get THAT from THIS?"
The art is definitely impressive, but that alone is not enough to make me care. I actually feel like this comic has something and it's completely fucking it up. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I just don't get it yet, and the story will fill in all the blanks it has in it right now. Maybe it's a story that goes from bad to brilliant if you just give it a chance. Maybe.
The fact that I'm pretty sure it's making fun of millennial does make the 5 star reviews pretty great. Like people giving it five stars literally just because it's pretty. Or for it having diversity. Yeah, it's shallow af and innocent people get murdered but yaaaaay, representation. I finally get to see myself as the literal devil. #progress
Seriously though, one star for the art and one star for Lucifer being a badass.
I get the feeling that things are going over my head, but are they? I kind of suspect they're not, I think I'm just confused because the story telling is meant to confuse. Because that creates intrigue, I guess? I worry what is really happening is lazy writing where the reader is being left to project whatever they want onto a story that isn't actually there. Because in reading other people's reviews I'm like, "How did you get THAT from THIS?"
The art is definitely impressive, but that alone is not enough to make me care. I actually feel like this comic has something and it's completely fucking it up. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I just don't get it yet, and the story will fill in all the blanks it has in it right now. Maybe it's a story that goes from bad to brilliant if you just give it a chance. Maybe.
The fact that I'm pretty sure it's making fun of millennial does make the 5 star reviews pretty great. Like people giving it five stars literally just because it's pretty. Or for it having diversity. Yeah, it's shallow af and innocent people get murdered but yaaaaay, representation. I finally get to see myself as the literal devil. #progress
Seriously though, one star for the art and one star for Lucifer being a badass.
Psychiatric Tales by Darryl Cunningham
2.0
This is really simplistic and at times repetitive. I was hoping for more humor and insight. I either wanted there to be more personal stories, or more exploration of mental illness itself. Overall it was a bit bland and shallow, but I still read it all the way through because it's like...the ambient music of comic books. It was like going on a slow meandering walk through someone else's brain.
(Of course, as someone who worked at a pharmacy for eight years, none of these stories shocked me. But if you're not used to dealing with the mentally ill, you might not feel the same way about this comic.)
(Of course, as someone who worked at a pharmacy for eight years, none of these stories shocked me. But if you're not used to dealing with the mentally ill, you might not feel the same way about this comic.)