Je Ne L'aime Pas

Paris, I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down
Rosecrans Baldwin
Memoir

I know what you’re thinking. Another Paris memoir? It’s true, I just can’t enough of Paris. Well, France. French culture in general. At times I think it would be awesome to move there. Put my French minor to good use (although since I graduated six years ago, my grasp of French has dwindled considerably). But this book mainly caught my attention because of the title. Not your usual Paris-is-awesome shtick.

Rosecrans Baldwin lands an advertising job in Paris and takes his wife along for the ride. They relocate from NYC (just like in Paris, My Sweet) and struggle with adjusting to Parisian life.

Again, I couldn’t helping comparing this to David Lebovitz’s The Sweet Life in Paris and finding it lacking. Baldwin isn’t as funny as Lebovitz, though there are a few amusing moments. What I appreciated most was his candor. A lot of memoirs wax poetic about how great living in Europe is, how wonderful life becomes. But Baldwin mentions over and over all the paperwork, the sayings that are lost in translation and how difficult his job is because he doesn’t speak French. On the other hand, by the end of the book, I got sick of him bitching about how he couldn’t understand anyone at work. Get a tutor, dude.

Too much of the book was taken up with his complaining, which makes sense, considering the title. I just wish he’d gone into more detail about the food, his apartment, the city. I know Paris isn’t perfect, but I’d like to imagine it is. And keep my fantasy of one day living abroad in a big European city alive and well.

Anyone who’s ever lived in Paris will probably enjoy this, and anyone who’s thinking of moving there. But I still recommend The Sweet Life in Paris more. Much more.

Not What It Seems

First You Try Everything
Jane McCafferty
Fiction

Wow. This book is…wow. Not at all what I was expecting. Actually, I didn’t even read the whole inside flap when I picked it up, just the first few sentences. I saw that it was about a married couple drifting apart, and slipped it in my bag. Little did I know what a rollercoaster ride I would be getting on.

First You Try Everything is about a couple named Evvie and Ben. They’ve been married for awhile, no children, one dog, and they’re happy. Or so Evvie thinks. Ben is not so happy. He wants out of the marriage. He informs Evvie of this and they separate. And that’s when things start to get crazy. In more ways than one.

I’ll just get my minor nitpick out of the way first: too many long paragraphs. I hate long paragraphs and must resist the urge to skin when I see them. I tried not to with this book because Ms. McCafferty is an awesome writer. The tone of the book is so serious that the few comedic passages are really funny. Probably because I just wasn’t expecting them. The characters are all real and sympathetic. I don’t think I disliked anyone in this book (can’t remember the last time that happened with a novel). And I could never see what was coming. Sometimes I like that in a book and sometimes I don’t. This time, I did. The ending satisfied me as well. Not too depressing, but happy—or satisfying, I guess I should say—enough that it made sense for Evvie and Ben to end up like they did.

First You Try Everything is a great book about marriage, relationships, and the human psyche. Anyone who enjoys being delighted by clever writing, witty dialogue, and insightful characters should read it.

Black & Blue

What Happened to Hannah
Mary Kay McComas
Fiction

This book confused me. I wanted to like it, but I didn’t. No, scratch that, I did like it, but only parts of it. Very, very few parts. The rest I skimmed and wished they’d been better.

What Happened to Hannah begins with a man named Grady calling a woman named Hannah and letting her know her mother is dead and her niece needs her (Hannah's sister died a long time ago and mom's been raising her). Hannah reluctantly agrees to come home. Hannah and Grady have a history, of course, and Hannah has lots of deep, dark secrets that she is forced to deal with when she returns to her hometown.

I’m not a big fan of the woman-was-abused-when-she-was-younger-then-flees-but-now-must-return-home-to-face-her-demons plot. So I probably should not have picked up this book. But the quote from Nora Roberts on the front about how the author “weaves stories that brighten the heart” suckered me in. Now, I know abuse happens in real life, believe me I know, but I find it really hard to read about, even in fiction. It’s just too depressing for me. And I really did like Hannah, but having to read those scenes where she remembers her father hurting her were rough.

On the plus side, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the love story. I loved the flashbacks to Grady and Hannah’s first meeting and how he courted her, those scenes were sweet and romantic. The present day courting was not quite as good, however. And the final scene between the two was a bit of a letdown. I also found myself wanting to hear more from Lucy and Cal, Grady’s kids from his first marriage. They were very interesting but since the only POVs were Hannah and Grady, we didn’t get as much from them as I would have liked.

So I don’t really know what to say about this book. If you can stomach woman-overcoming-her-horrific-past stories, you’ll enjoy it. If you’re kind of a wimp like me, you might want to skip this one.

Music Makes the People Come Together

How the Mistakes Were Made
Tyler McMahon
Fiction

I haven’t done an issues posts in quite awhile, so I figured it’s time for another. Especially since I have many issues with this book. The only thing I loved about it was the title. The book is about a band called The Mistakes, how they formed, how they got famous, and the downside of that fame. I really enjoy clever titles and when I caught on to this one, I smiled with pleasure, hoping it was a sign this book would be good. But alas, it wasn’t.

Issue #1: Narrative. The first chapter begins in first person. The next chapter switches to second person. Then back again to first person. Then back to second person. And so on and so on. I hate second person. No good has ever come of it and it jolts me right out of the story.

Issue #2: Characters. I did not like the main character, Laura. I probably wasn’t supposed to, and I did feel sorry for her at points, but I never warmed to her. The other two band members, Nathan and Sean, I was okay with. Nathan only sort of, and Sean more so when we got to see what his family life was like. But Laura was just a black hole of whine and sourpuss. And she didn’t seem to give a crap about the fact that she essentially destroyed a few lives to get what she wanted.

Issue #3: Perspective. Okay, I might get rotten tomatoes thrown at me for this, but this book is written in first person from a woman’s POV. And it’s written by a guy. The fact of the matter is, I couldn’t help remembering that over and over, especially when Laura did or thought or stated something that didn’t sound anything like how a female would do, think, or phrase something. Now, I’m a writer myself and I’m certainly not one of those people who believes men can only write male POVs and women can only write female POVs. I’ve read plenty of books by men about women and never given it a second thought. But not How the Mistakes Were Made. I just felt like Mr. McMahon was totally off-base in regards to Laura.

Issue #4: Ending. Bad ending. I mean, you could see it coming (there were tons of foreshadowing comments, another thing that drives me insane) but I still hated it. The book was a downer and the ending kept that theme going.

How the Mistakes Were Made has some good info about Seattle and punk and grunge and what it’s like when a small-time band blows up, so musicians will probably enjoy it. But there were just too many problems for me.

Silence is Golden

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Susan Cain
Psychology

I read this book in one day. One day, people. That means you need to go out and buy it right now! Or check it out of the library (yeah, on second thought, do not shell out $26.00 for a book you’ve never read). Also, you’ll probably be more interested in this book if you’re an introvert. But extroverts can read it, too. They’ll definitely learn something.

Did your teacher ever write on your report cards that they wished you spoke up more in class? Dear god, I hated that. Perhaps you’d rather curl up on the sofa with your pet and a good book Saturday night than go out to a club and get hit on by drunken jackasses. I definitely would. In our American culture, being an introvert is usually painted in a negative light. We’re encouraged to not be alone so much, to talk more, be more open, expressive ourselves, be more social (boy, have I heard that one more times than I’d prefer). But being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re lonely or have less friends or have less fun. Susan Cain delves into the psyche of introverts in fascinating and detailed ways. She discusses why extroverts are so valued in our society and how introverts differ, but in good ways. Once we know what makes introverts behave the way we do, she gives advice on how we can thrive in school, in work, and in our personal relationships. She even has a chapter on learning how to get along better with the people in your life who are extroverts.

Now I finally understand that it was okay that in school I hated to be put in groups for projects. I worked much better by myself, as most introverts do. Oh, how I wish this book had come out years ago. It really is an eye-opening read. Everyone can get something from it.

Bad Teacher

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong
James W. Loewen
History

My history classes in high school sucked. I vividly remember the class I took junior year (American/Arizona History, I think it was called). My teacher was a former football player and at the start of every new chapter in our textbook, we had to make a timeline of all the events we were going to read about. The more color and pictures your timeline had, the better your grade. That’s right, we were graded on our coloring ability. In a high school class. So you can see why history was never my favorite subject in high school. In college I took an American History class that I quite enjoyed, however (and realized yet again how much better college is than high school).

I’d heard about this book so when I saw it on the shelf, I scooped it up. I also want to point out that this is the revised edition. I never read the first one, so I really cannot compare the two, but I suppose reading the most current edition of any book is a good idea.

Lies My Teacher Told Me is pretty appalling. But in a good way. Mr. Loewen goes through several key points in history and tells us what the textbooks left out. Most notably, that Woodrow Wilson was a huge racist and pretty much everything about Christoper Colombus is a lie (it’s actually astounding to me now that we have a holiday for that man). Mr. Loewen also tells us how wrong we are about the first Thanksgiving. Oh, so wrong. I couldn’t believe what I was reading during most of this book. Some of it is hard to take. And in the end it makes me feel really sorry for history teachers who are stuck with these awful, dishonest textbooks.

Everyone should read this book, even if you disliked history as much as I did (which, according to Loewen, is true of most people). Your eyes will widen with disbelief, your stomach will churn. But you will learn a lot, and that is the true power of reading.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Blue Moon Bay
Lisa Wingate
Fiction

Again, love the cover of this book. It’s just gorgeous. But the great cover doesn’t make up for all the crazy plot twists. Good lord, the plot twists! This book was like a soap opera, and not in a good way (I used to watch lots of daytime soaps, for the record).

Blue Moon Bay is the story of Heather Hampton, an architect from Seattle who flies down to her hometown, Moses Lake, Texas, to sell the family farmland. But when she gets there, she gets the feeling everyone, her mom, brother, uncles, even high school crush Blaine, is hiding something from her. And boy is she right.

I should’ve known from the start that this book would have slight religious undertones, considering the name of the town is Moses Lake. But it wasn’t too in-your-face, which I appreciated. I liked Heather. Watching her transform from a business-obsessed yuppie to an enoying-life-as-it-comes homebody was nice. My only other real problem with the book, besides all the twists and turns towards the end, was the whole we’re-keeping-secrets thing. Now, I know this is the plot of many books. A lot of my own books involve secrets and deceptions. However, Heather suspects right from the start that something’s fishy but it takes until practically the end of the book before her mom, brother, and Blaine start confessing. I just got annoyed by the countless scenes of Heather wanting to know what was going on and everybody refusing to tell her or making her feel like she was crazy for being so suspicious. It dragged the book out and made me impatient.

Lisa Wingate has written a few other books, so if you liked those, you’ll probably like this. But for anyone who gets annoyed when everyone in the main character's life is lying to her, Blue Moon Bay is not the book for you.