The One

The One

by Vicky Jones

Always fun to meet with Tisch students as they do love plays (rather than books), so my read of the day was The One by Vicky Jones.  The play is set in a 12-hour period with three characters, Harry and Jo, who are romantically connected, and Kerry, their friend.  During the time that Jo’s sister is in labor, she and Harry are engaged in sex before they are interrupted by Kerry knocking on the door.  The couple engages in a destructive game, playing on Kerri’s gullibility, leading her to believe that Jo was just raped by her boyfriend.  The lust/toxic relationship and verbal engagement leading to physical violence between the two with the overtone of being ‘playful’ didn’t play well for me.  The relationship was bothersome, bordering on being abusive both ways.  While the play was a “Verity Bargate” Award-winning play, I didn’t find the humor or level of depth to lead me to embrace the characters or the story line.  Maybe I’m getting too old?  Maybe not.  I was not moved by this one, sorry.

The Gargoyle

The Gargoyle

by Andrew Davidson

Just finished a really creative book that I couldn’t put down!  Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle is a complicated tale that ties in multiple stories bringing two characters closer and closer.  I loved the juxtaposition of the two main characters, the male (who is unnamed), a former porn star, who begins the story crashing his car off a cliff and getting caught in a burning car.  He is rescued and a woman who has no memory of her past, Marianne Engel, befriends him at the hospital’s burn unit while he recovers from the accident.  The ‘Burned Man’ loses his ‘former life’ as he has lost some of his bodily functions, including the loss of his penis, in the accident.  Marianne brings a ‘century-long’ history to him, suggesting that the two of them have been connected through many lives.  She shares these ‘many lives’ with him over the course of the book.  The ‘Burned Man’ leaves the hospital after a year of recovery and dozens of surgeries and goes to live with Marianne, who herself left the hospital years before after being in the hospital’s mental ward.  She had been released under the care of a person who is now her agent representing her sculpting work.  The chapters of the book go from present day to the past lives of the two characters (Burned Man and Marianne) in the 1400s.  Marianne shares their legacy with lessons learned in each story (for example, of a monastery in Germany and a number of romantic tales that bring the two close together yet always further apart).  All of the stories involved the Burned Man’s character getting “burned” to death.  The stories are quite beautiful in how the characters try to find each other and navigate the various obstacles that stand in their way.  Marianne’s mental condition is questioned by the various people who interact with her and the Burned Man in the hospital, and things worsen when he moves in with her.  As the story comes to an end, Marianne is in a frenzy, engaged in her final art sculptures of her life while the Burned Man tries to figure out her next move – which ends up being a suicide walk into the ocean.  A love story with a twist.  The stories flow well and keep the reader captivated through the end.  Not my usual type of book but really enjoyed it, especially the multiple story lines.     

Of Love and Shadows

Of Love and Shadows

by Isabel Allende

Finished reading Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende.  The story is set in Chile during the time of the Pinochet dictatorship.  Irene Beltrán is a magazine editor who investigates the disappearance of Evangelina Ranquileo, a girl suffering from strange and sudden “outbursts” which provide her with miraculous powers.  Her partner in the search is a photographer, Francisco Leal, who comes from the “other side of the tracks” than Irene (who comes from a wealthy family). Francisco, raised by an impoverished Marxist family, is a sympathizer to the underground resistance movement.  Though Irene is engaged to Gustavo Morante, a captain in the military, she falls in love with Francisco.  Together, the two of them discover a hidden mine full of dead bodies where they find Evangelina laying among the others.  Now, their work turns into a life and death situation.  They hope that, through this discovery, they can overthrow the current leaders in the government by getting the information to the masses.  In corrupt societies ruled by fear and death, doing this is an impossible task as both Irene and Francisco discover.  This is a love story amidst the power of evil.  Unfortunately, this is a real problem in parts of our own world.  A beautiful story.  Highly recommend.

Spring RA Book Club: The Opposite of Loneliness

The Opposite of Loneliness

by Marina Keegan

Gisel's review:

The Opposite of Loneliness is a composition of essays and short stories written by Marina Keegan, a Yale graduate who sadly passed away in a car accident shortly after graduating. Many people spend their lives trying to figure out what the meaning of life is and where their individual purpose fits within that context. Marina accomplished this at a much younger age than most. Artists give meaning to life and that's exactly what Marina did with her fiction and non-fiction stories. Marina continues to live through the stories she wrote and through the profound insights we get as readers from this book.

Bobbi's review:

Whether you’re a fan of short stories, or you’ve never read a story shorter than 100 pages, Marina Keegan’s The Opposite of Loneliness has something that nearly everyone can enjoy. The stories vary in content and could appeal to many readers, though Keegan does present her stories with a younger voice. I finished the works in a total of two nights because each one captivated my attention to the point that I barely noticed the passing of time. While I preferred the fiction works, her nonfiction works were just as fascinating. The collection feels even more impressive after learning that Keegan wrote these stories at such a young age, and it’s quite unfortunate to know that her life ended so abruptly. After finishing the book, I immediately lent it to my sister, which I do only with select books, as I know she will only read something that she can truly engage with. It almost goes without saying that I would recommend this collection of stories to anyone who enjoys reading.

Colin's review:

Marina Keegan's The Opposite of Loneliness is a collection of short stories that ultimately acts as Keegan's memoir. Though most of the pieces are fictional, each one is dressed in a theme that serves to explore the soft and more difficult sides of human nature. To say that her work is beautiful is an understatement, the craftsmanship compares to works by more experienced writers, but where Keegan truly stands out is her ability to write at a contemporary level that speaks volumes to all audiences. We've all been in situations as described in her stories and can feel what each character is going through. Though she has moved on, her works are lasting.

Nanako's review:

I really enjoyed reading The Opposite of Loneliness. The fact that the author had passed really made me appreciate what she had to say about life and taking advantage of every single day in her stories. I also loved that she was a college student when she wrote these stories because I found them very relatable, and they spoke to me in ways that other books have not. The fact that the book was a compilation of short stories instead of one long story itself was fascinating and different for me, as I often don’t read books like that. I find that I enjoyed this more because I was left pondering on possibilities after the story had ended. This mimics what happens in real life when we meet people and hear about their stories; we are left wondering what they are going to make of themselves in the world, especially for young people like ourselves, and I appreciated getting to know her fictional character stories and her own stories as well.

How Music Works

How Music Works

by David Byrne

If you enjoy music, this book is a great overview of the US music business, written by a rock ‘n roller David Byrne from the Talking Heads.  In How Music Works, Byrne interweaves his band’s music as he discusses the importance of space, place, and technology, the evolution of music, and what drives the business.  He gives an outstanding overview of how money and technology drive how music has changed.  Byrne shares how his introversion didn’t stop him from success. There were a number of influences that impacted Byrne – traveling globally (Japan, New Zealand), dress/costume, how music was sold (LPs, CDs), performance (changing spaces), business (who holds the power for how music is sold), and the fact that music will continue to morph based on how it is heard/sold.  Lots of tidbits about other performers who have helped impact the industry. Again, super surprised that the lead singer of a group I listened to as a youth wrote such an informative book for music aficionados. Add this one to your list!

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years

by Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews has always been a Broadway star who I grew up dreaming to work with someday (remember, I had hoped to be a Broadway director at one point in my life).  So reading Home: A Memoir of My Early Years provided me great perspective on the author’s life.  Andrews begins with historical perspective on her heritage: three generations of Andrews/Wells families.  While Andrews shares her own naiveté, she actually lived a pretty difficult life in England as a youth.  Moving between her father’s and mother’s homes after a divorce, she helped raise a sibling and faced a great deal of poverty. She is encouraged to pursue singing/acting through her mother and stepfather’s work as performers.  At one point, Julie is the breadwinner that keeps the family afloat.  From stage productions, radio shows, television and finally to Broadway, this book goes through her life up until her role in Camelot.  She shares the various relationships with stars, dealing with alcoholic parents, a stepfather who borders on the line of sexually abusive, and learning from her mother as a young adult that her biological father is not the same man who raised her.  The book serves as a bit of therapy for Julie.  It also is a coming of age book that shows how perseverance in life is what drives one to be successful.  I most enjoyed the portion of the book that brought her to NYC on a one-year deal to star in The Boy Friend, followed by a two-year run in My Fair Lady leading to Camelot.  There certainly is a great deal more but not contained in this book.   Dreams can be made in NYC – read this one to see how a Brit from a rural area can make it in the big city!

Bad Blood

Bad Blood

by John Carreyrou

An investigative non-fiction book by John Carreyrou, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, based on a tip he received about the company Theranos, a bio-tech company that hopes to revolutionize how blood screens are completed through a new technology.  In his book, Bad Blood, Carreyrou discusses the work of an entrepreneur who can’t be stopped.  The owner of the company is a young female, Elizabeth Holmes, who departed Stanford University after her sophomore year of college to become the next Steve Jobs.  Elizabeth is confident and driven with a ‘nothing will stop me’ attitude.  Holmes creates an all-star cast as her Board of Directors (George Schultz, Henry Kissinger, and other US statesmen) to help raise millions of dollars to create the mechanisms that will analyze blood without using needles and send results to the covering physician and the patient.  Deals are signed for a delivery date to Safeway (Walgreen’s) and even the military.  Along the way, we see that Holmes is a no-nonsense entrepreneur.  She runs a tight-ship but makes some unusual hiring decisions, namely her secret-lover, Sunny Balwani, who she had met at a program in China as a teenager.  Balwani is the hatchet-man at the company, and together they hire the best lawyers and instill a sense of fear in ALL staff on their team.  In the end, a whistle-blower (Tyler Schultz, George’s grandson) reveals that they are using bad data that could lead to patient death to stop the project from moving forward.  Amazing how power, greed, and never-ending drive can make smart people lie and scam so many others.  Great reporting.  Probably a Dateline episode on NBC.

Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

by Jomny Sun

Finished another RA Favorite book, Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun. This is a ‘graphic novel’ with outstanding illustrations capturing the lessons learned by the main character, Jomny, an alien who is sent to earth by his outer space companions to learn more about the planet. And he does.  Jomny, a fairly isolated member of his community, tries to understand those he meets: the wise tree and many animals/insects (beaver, bear, bees, puppy and even an egg). Each of them attempts to teach him life lessons. Love, happiness, loneliness, and why we exist (and what for).  We go deeply into the meaning of the various ‘meetings’ that give Jomny a better understanding of life and death. The various characters open up to Jomny seeing that his curiosity is genuine.  It was a great example of being there to listen, to really be present… a lesson we all need to understand and bring into our own lives.  We can all learn a bit about ourselves when we take the time to experience life, one person at a time.  A well-written book by an artistic mastermind.  Simple, but so hard to digest.  Well worth the thirty minutes to flip the pages!

I'll Give You the Sun

I'll Give You the Sun

by Jandy Nelson

Finished another RA Favorite book, I’ll Give You the Sun by Nelson Jandy.  It is a coming-of-age story of twins, Noah and Jude, who lose their mother in a tragic accident.  The book is written in each of the children’s point of view with a juxtaposition of timeline and voice surrounding the incidents that occurred prior to and on the day of her untimely death.  The twins, inseparable in their lives, come apart with lies that keep them from comforting each other until, three years later, the pieces of their mother’s life and choices she was to make come to light.  It is a young adult book that covers issues related to sexuality, suppressing dreams, and growing up as a young teen. It reads a bit confusing at first, but as the tale unfolds, so do the details of the past.  First half dragged, second half picks up.  An interesting read for Mother’s Day.  Happy Mother’s Day all, might be a great read for younger teens who are exploring issues related to finding themselves.

Airman

Airman

by Eoin Colfer

Finished another RA favorite book, Airman, a historical novel by Eion Colfer based on his imagination coupled with a bad skydiving experience. The story is set in the 1800's at the time when the idea of flight was being developed into a reality around the world.  Declan Broekhart and his wife, pregnant at the time, are adventurers and take a hot air balloon for a ride, but they are shot down to the ground, which leads to their son, Conor, being born.  A number of years later, the family relocates to the Saltee Islands ruled by King Nicholas.  While young Conor spends his days trying to learn about aeronautics, trying to build a machine that can help him fly, the evil Marshall Bonvilain leads an effort to kill the King.  Conor is trapped in jail after being set up for killing the King, but this is not known by his family or the King’s daughter, Isabella, Conor’s friend and confidante.  Conor is placed in the dungeon as Bonvilain plots to take over the island, which has a mine full of diamonds.  Good vs. Evil is the subject of this young adult book.  Conor is led to believe that his family thinks he killed the King, while his family thinks he died in the fight over the King’s life.  The book has glimmers of Count of Monte Cristo with a bit of mistaken identity and injustices for the innocent.  Unlikely friendship, love and diamonds are all part of this one as well.

U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life)

U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life)

by Daniel Lerner & Alan Schlechter

Many students have participated in the “Science of Happiness” class at NYU.  It was the brain child of star faculty member and NYU Child Study Center doctor/professor, Jess Shatkin.  It is the most popular NYU elective offered and now a great book for all college students (and I would say all people) to read to be more successful in this very challenging world.  Daniel Lerner’s and Alan Schlecter’s book U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life) is the course in book format.  They draw much of their work from positive psychologist Dr. Marty Seligman from U Penn.  The book is broken into four parts: Strive to Thrive; Opportunities (and barriers) to Change; Student Bodies; and Positively Excellent. This ‘how to’ book, full of exercises and resources, tells stories from NYU students about how they embark on infusing these tips into their lives.  The tips include finding friends who are positive, taking care of your body, nutritional habits, sleeping trends, and understanding what makes a life worth living.  This is a must read for anyone who really wants to be accountable for their life and find ways to get through the challenges that face us.  Simple hints explained with clarity and direction.  Get this book for anyone who is planning on going to college next year (or already is there). 

Comfort Me with Apples

Comfort Me with Apples

by Ruth Reichl

A fun book to finish on my birthday as it captures things that I love…the journey of life, great food (I wish I knew how to cook!), and the gift of children (especially when one doesn’t expect them).  The book Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl tells of the author’s real-life journey through her early-thirties as a wife struggling to become a writer (a food critic at that!). Ruth and her husband, Doug, move from the east coast to the west coast and live in the quintessential Berkeley commune, a shared experience among the ‘hippie’ crowd of the 60’s.  Doug’s life as an artist starts to take off as Ruth begins to gain some modest success as a food critic.  Doug is constantly traveling, which leads Ruth to the arms of one affair followed by a second.  Ruth’s travels for her new role as a food critic take her to China, LA, and many other destinations around the world.  Eventually the marriage dissolves, and she, against her mother’s wishes, falls in love with another man, Michael, who is a producer for a television news station.  The final chapter of the book captures the couple’s inability to have a child and their decision to go with the adoption process. After receiving a newborn, the mother changes her mind, and a legal battle ensues with Michael and Ruth losing Gavi, the child they were raising for a few months.  The book ends after a trip to Barcelona for Ruth and a group of her food critic peers, returning home to find an unbelievable reality….  I won’t break the news on what happens.  The book is very special, sharing a life story of growth and adventure.  And each chapter ends with a recipe capturing the what was learned from the chapter.  Yes, food is comfort, but so is love, being with those one loves, and the ability to rise up after even the worst of circumstances.  A precious book that I’d suggest reading with some good food.