the day after snow

I feel like I haven't gotten much done, although my list looks rather impressive.  I'm feeling unmotivated, partially because I haven't been super in-love with anything recently, and also I've got a touch of senioritis: I feel pressure to finish my reading goal in the next two months, and I've run out of steam in that regard.  I'm trying to keep in mind the reason I set myself this challenge: I felt like I read widely, but in reality I read a narrow range of authors and settings within a few typically-disparate genres.

Hunger: A memoir of (my) body by Roxane Gay.  This is beautiful.  Everyone should read this: although (fortunately) most readers don't share the same exact traumatic life experiences, everyone has experienced similar types of events and feelings.  Put this in the hands of everyone you know.

There was a part that I read too quickly, because it touched too closely to emotions and experiences that are too unresolved.  It was too powerful; I identified too strongly.  I hope to be able to read it again in a few years.  If anything, my experience with that section underscores that this is a raw, honest collection.

Mindhunter, season 1 with Jonathan Groff.  I ended up watching the whole season, but I won't continue with future seasons: this is too graphic for my personal preference (in language, sex, and violence/gore).  The characters seem real, though, and the topic is interesting, so I'm sure there will be plenty of takers.

The island of the day before by Umberto Eco.  In researching for one of my to-do reads still unfinished, I was delighted to find there is a subgenre called "Robinsonades."  I read Robinson Crusoe several times in high school and I adore survival stories.  So why am I having such a hard time finding a book that 1) fits the narrow definition, and 2) I enjoy?  I'd just read Robinson Crusoe again-- it's been nearly 20 years, after all [oh my god!]-- but it's pretty thick and I'm now feeling pressed for time.

I couldn't get in to this-- it's so overwritten.  I have a suspicion that people who claim to love this author just want to be seen as impressive or to feel pretentious.  I doubt many people could read this without diagramming each sentence.

The river at night by Erica Fernick.  I was really excited about this-- a survival story where the women rescue themselves!  But it's awful.  The main character is whiny and cowardly.  She's afraid of everything, which I'm guessing is supposed to make her sympathetic, or maybe to give her survival a greater feeling of accomplishment, but she's given no tangible reason for her crippling timidity.  She doesn't have anxiety, she doesn't relate a particularly traumatic past.  It makes it impossible to care.  I kept reading, anticipating that the story would pick up once the action really started, and the second half of the book is better.  It's hard to continue to care, though, because the whiny main character is out with a group of friends, all of whom act and react like high-schoolers.  Do not read.

The vengeance of mothers: The journals of Margaret Kelly and Molly McGill by Jim Fergus.  Although this is listed as a stand-alone novel, it would make much more sense if readers started with the author's earlier One thousand white women.  The story jumps in without much set-up or backstory-- atypical of historical fiction.  Did not finish.

And every morning the way home gets longer and longer by Fredrik Backman.  This is beautiful, but it's also terrifying.  I read half of it in the spring, and couldn't finish it-- I was too sad.  I'm glad I read it again.

The 5 love languages of children by Gary Chapman and D. Ross Campbell.  There are some real problems with this book.  I finished it, because there were a few helpful nuggets I could take away, but in general, I have some serious objections.

First, maybe I live under a rock, but it's not immediately apparent from the front cover, back blurb, or early chapters that this book has religious undertones.  Religious nonfiction is great for some people and has an important place, but, as I've said with novels that try to sneak a message in in the last quarter, be upfront about it.  No mention of religion in the first four chapters, then one mention in chapter five, and three in chapter seven strikes me as dishonest.

Second, like many self-help books, this presents a one-perfect-solution sell.  If we only love our children hard enough, problems will miraculously vanish.  The "scenarios" presented are patently ridiculous: children are instantly repentant and apparently change their ways when presented with loving correction.

Third, the book fails to mention that there might be something wrong with your child.   Every parenting book should include, regularly throughout the book, that if your child doesn't respond within a few weeks, that you should request a referral or further observation.

For example: "The mishandling of anger is related to every present and future problem your child may have-- from poor grades to damaged relationships to possible suicide... Most of life's problems will be averted and your child will be more able to use anger to his advantage, rather than have it work against him" (p. 160).  It is my uneducated opinion as his parent that my child's problems are almost exclusively related to his anxiety, his ADHD, his hearing deficiency, and his vision problems.  All of these affect his schooling to a much greater degree.

If this book is to be of any value, it would be to first-time parents of very young children who are expected to be neurotypical.

Dark matter, seasons 1 and 2, with Melissa O'Neil.  I'm only watching this because I'm too lazy to find something else.  I seem to have trouble finding things on Netflix that I'll like; how do normal people find TV shows to watch?  Netflix suggested this as a good match for me, but I think it just automatically suggests all sci-fi without regard for quality.  These characters are predictable, the plots are slow, and every line of dialogue can be clearly anticipated.  The characters have become more likable in season 2, but they haven't gained much depth.  I'll quit after I finish the last 2 episodes of season 2, probably in the next day or so.

The edge of normal by Carla Norton.  I read this in preparation for an upcoming program, and I wouldn't have chosen it for myself but it wasn't too bad.  The writing was rather uninspired.  The author was going for punchy with short sentences and cliff-hanger chapter endings, to add tension, but the tone wasn't quite right-- rather than being enveloped in the story, the reader was kept on the outside, unable to sink in.