born standing up: a comic's life. steve martin. (268)

i have to admit that i wasn't a big fan of steve martin the actor.  my love for him started off with steve martin the writer.  i remember watching shopgirl because of jason schwartzman and decided to read the novella by martin.  which then resulted in me reading his books and becoming a fan of steve martin, the author.

what made me fall in love with steve martin the actor was it's complicated with meryl streep and alec baldwin.  as his character, adam, wooed streep's character, martin wooed me!  seriously them getting high was the best!  and due to all of this, i am a fan of martin, also love that he has a band.

due to all of this, born standing up has been on my to-read list but after seeing it listed somewhere as a memoir to read, i added it to my library request.

this memoir is a wonderful read.  and though it was a bit of challenge for me to imagine his stand up routines, thanks to the internet, i was able to watch his groundbreaking performance on johnny carson (it was archived on the smithsonian website!) and some of his other skits!  though i didn't find him laugh out loud hilarious, he was funny, but wonder if its a generational thing.

what i loved most was reading about was how  martin used to work at disneyland as child! he sold maps and then worked in two of the magic shops! disneyland got way more cooler for me!  he also

worked at knott's berry farm at their theater.

i also enjoyed the little tidbits he shared about his art collection as well.  like how once when leaving disneyland he came across diane arbus taking a photo of the sleeping beauty's castle.  which after googling, i was able to see what the photograph looked like.  he also discussed the influence of dalton trumbo was on his collecting of art, (he dated his daughter) and was surprised to find that trumbo wrote one of my favorite books in high school, johnny got his gun.

it was sad to read about the poor relationship martin had with his father and inadvertently with the rest of his family.  he was a bit of a loner which being on the road especially after his success grew detrimental to his mental health.  it was sad to read about how all alone he felt and he went through a very dark period on the road, which i saw as a result of his family life.  however, his relationship with his father and mother improved.  and he stopped touring which helped relief some of the stress in his life.

i have to add it was great to read about his time on snl.  today, snl has a permanent cast but it seemed like back then, he would drop in randomly to do guest appearance on the show, which seemed cool.  i don't know if he was just an exception or if that is how it was then.  and thanks to google also watch the snl skits he mentioned including  "jeopardy 1999" (which included very cute chevy chase, what a hottie when he was younger.)

i wish i was more familiar with martin's stand up routines but after reading this book will look into watching some youtube videos.  this was a wonderful memoir, i was surprised by how dark is family history was but i am now a fun of steve martin, the stand-up comedian.  

the misadventures of awkward black girl. issa rae. (267)

my best friend, tiffany, introduced me to the webseries, the misadventures of awkward black girl.  whenever i stayed at her apt, there was always a mini marathon until we finished this season.  since there was never a follow up to the second season, awkward black girl

feel off my radar until i saw that issa rae came out with a book.  and of course, i had to check it out from the library!!! (i am hoping to purchase a copy to get signed at the festival of books.)

about 8 pages in, i texted tiffany to tell her that if issa rae went to school with us, we would totally have been BFFs with her.  the first chapter, "a/s/l", took me back to our aol days.  tiffany was the first of our friends to have a computer and internet and so she introduced christy may and i to instant messenger.  i remember going over to her house after school and chatting with random people.  there was one program that allowed you to use avatar and i remember we spent one afternoon trying to convince people we were trapped in a penguin's body (we had chosen the penguin avatar.) and like issa rae, i would go out trolling for guys to talk to.  of course, i knew the dangers of online predators and when older guys would ask about my age, i would be honest and then tell them how inappropriate it was for them to talk to

me like how when i was born there in the 5th grade or that when they graduated from high school, i was still in elementary school.  but like rae, i also did my fair share of sexting though it was online and i never masturbated while i did it, just typed back inappropriate.  though i did never catfish (or as rae explained back then we just called it lying) but did fall in love with boy once only to discover that his photo was really damon albarn from blur! i was too young to notice how professional the photos were.  but yeah, i am sure most people our age have similar stories but totally bonded with rae over this chapter.

in "fat", i totally identified with rae's body issues.  i have the same problem with food though i was never vegetarian.  i am also tempted to do that beyoncé cleanse though i know it's not healthy!  

in "leading lady", i realized just how much better we had it i. the 90s.  rae explained how television was so much more diverse with shows like the fresh prince of bel-air, living single, all-american girl, moesha, and family matters (to name a few that she listed, also i wish that netflix will bring back all-american girl.) and how reality tv ruined it all.  and how it's important for everyone to have an authentic reflection of themselves in media.  she also shared this great junot diaz quote to demonstrate her points:

seriously, the realest shit ever.

another chapter i enjoyed was "when you can't dance", in which rae had bragged about how she could dance but actually couldn't.  she studied videos (sean paul was big at the time) and then got crazy freaky at the party which covered the fact that she couldn't dance! lol.  i have good rhythm but would crazy on the dance floor for a good laugh! 

race is the focus of a handful of chapters. the topics include: how to identify different types of blacks, how to connect with blacks, and one on how to deal with hair.  i also loved reading about her decision to go bad.

rae also discussed her family.  her dad not being open and forthcoming as she would like.  she also shared about her parents divorce, how initially she blamed her mother only to discover that her father had cheated.  this caused a rife between her and her father which she and he worked through.  she also discussed family trips back to senegal, which sounded like a blast!

there was also an interesting chapter on black women and asian men dating!!  which totally reminded me of my friend tiffy.

but what makes this book great are all the little funny side comments she adds as she writes.  the same said to self comments that made awkward black girl so funny to watch.  

this book was a hilarious read and i look forward to reading and watching more from issa rae.  she has an HBO show in the works!!

station eleven. emily st. john mandel. (266)

i read about station eleven when it first came out but the title didn't attract me. however, when it started to show up on best of 2014 list, i decided to check it out.  i have to admit that i was pleasantly surprised how much i enjoyed it and it might end up in my top 10 books of 2015.

the title station eleven came from a comic book within the book that links three characters together though the last link isn't revealed until the end though there is enough foreshadowing to let you know it will happen.  i think the publisher should turn station eleven into an actual comic book.  it would have been a cool promotion for the book!  station eleven, the comic book centered around dr. eleven, who is on an artificial planet after aliens took over earth.  however, the people of the station are torn between returning to earth and continuing on as they are.  the comic book paralleled events in some of the character lives of the novel while also acting as a foil to the events that took place.

station eleven, the novel was set in a post-apocalyptic world.  though to call it the apocalypse frames it as a religious cleansing of the earth but only crazy characters, the prophet for example believed it.  a flu that was highly contagious and resulted in death within weeks, killed off most of earth's population.  due to the world as a whole fell.  it was interesting to read how the world would fall apart because we are currently the society that these individuals thought of as pre-apocalypse.  and from what i learned i probably would just kill myself like one of the characters, frank, did. i have no real survival skills, i can't hunt or cook, though i guess i could gather berries, but seriously i would take the easy road out.  

there are several characters that the reader follows, but they all center around one, an actor, arthur leader.  though the novel does center around his death.  the novel covered his life and his last show, king lear, where we were introduced to two other characters, jeevan, another main one kirsten.  it was through jeevan that we learned of the apocalypse.  kirsten, who became part of a traveling symphony after the collapse, was how we learned of the post-apocalyptic world.  she also possessed the comic books which were written by miranda, arthur's first wife.  i liked miranda, a odd art student turned comic book artist turned business exec. but my favorite character, was clark, arthur's best friend and who was a punk that shaved his head after the collapse to feel more like himself.  his flight to new york was redirected and he ended up at an airport.  that turned out to be a good situation and i hope to have luck like he did.  he also started a museum to persevere items from the past ie phones, credit card, etc.  he was a wise and caring person and as a result had the best situation after the collapse.

the novel jumps in sequences, presenting the reader with events and items then giving them the back story.  and maybe it's just the type of person that i am but i loved seeing how everyone was collected and how it all came together in the end.

my only critique was the death of the prophet.  it is scary to think how cult start and how willing people are to label themselves as chosen after a disaster instead of being glad that they survived.  the prophet thankfully ended up being shot by one of his whole followers but i would have liked to have seen a showdown at the airport and clark having to kill him.

i will have to say i also enjoyed how the arts became a means of helping the human spirit survive.  the traveling symphony that kirsten was a part of, went around and performed music and shakespeare plays.  the link between the black plague and the flu plague of the novel.  the arts are a healing and motivating tool and it was nice to see this novel highlight that characteristic.

i was truly surprised by how much i enjoyed this novel and regret not reading it last year.  i also have to share that carrie brownstein instagramed it the week before i got my copy from the library!  i love her so was excited to see i was reading the same thing as her!

cherokee bat and the goat guys. francesca lia block.

i have to admit that after reading witch baby and not enjoying it that much, i was wary of reading cherokee bat and the goat guys, but it restored my faith in the dangerous angels series.  i would even say it's my favorite so far, well second to weetzie bat, of course.

in cherokee bat and the goat guys, the kids, cherokee, witch baby, and raphael are left at home while all the adults are filming a movie in south america.  coyote was in charge of them.

witch baby was acting weird, burying herself in mud and cherokee went to coyote for help.  he suggested that she make witch baby a set of wings.  (quick digression i think i am going to be witch baby for halloween or world book day, though i do need to find cowboy boot rollerskates!) with the wings and the return of angel juan, witch baby acted normal again, well normal for herself.

due to the magic of the wings and the return of angel baby, the kids decided to start a band, the goat guys.  they booked a gig but raphael had stage fright so cherokee went to coyote again and got goat pants for raphael.

the goat pants turned out to be magical, and helped the band become successfully, though things started to get weird. the kids were also weird cos they were going through puberty.  they started drinking, smoking pot, and having sex.  i have to say that the analogy of waves for cherokee and raphael was quite clever and if i was a teen, it probably would have gone over my head (i was do innocent back then.)

then, angel juan was jealous of groupies loving raphael, and witch baby was jealous of the other two having sex so cherokee went to ask coyote for horns for angel juan, but he said no, so witch baby stole them.  they were even more amazing a band, and the one day hoof boots came for cherokee.  then, things started to get really crazy.  angel juan was mutilating himself on stage and getting headaches and cherokee's boots were hurting her.  

one night at a party, raphael did blow and hooked up with this girl and cherokee lost it and put everything on, the wings, the goat pants, the horns and the boots (which i thought would be cool for halloween too but i guess i would end up looking like maleficient.) and has a moment on a roof but coyote came to save her.  and he realized that he needed to help the kids and they return their gifts to the animals and the family comes back and everything is back to normal.  oh and  moral of the story was don't be in a rush to grow up!

a great story and i have to say i am kicking myself for not reading this earlier because i could have ordered one of these goat guy shirts when they were in stock! (i didn't get the reference when i first saw it online.)

so cute, huh? and check out the back:

i messed up! oh well.  hopefully they get more in stock!  but so excited for the next book!!!

after tupac and foster d. jacqueline woodson (265)

after reading brown girl dreaming, i was looking up jacqueline woodson's other works online and came across after tupac and foster d.  since i had seen a tupac exhibit at the grammy museum in february, i decided to check out this book.

the novel centered around the narrator and her best friend neeka's life and their friend d foster that entered their lives for a moment.  the narrator and neeka's parents are protective and do not allow the girls to leave the block so part of d's appeal was that she could travel on our own and around the city.  however, the girls learned that her life is not that idealistic.  due to her mother being unfit to take care of her, d had been in and out of foster care.  her foster mother at the time took good care of her but she shared stories with the girls of starving.  due to her experiences, d identified with tupac.  all the three girls love him but for d, his songs were about her life.  

i hate to admit this but i only recently saw for myself how tupac's work was pretty high brow considering he was a rapper. i mean he had a song about van gogh!  and i know that there are college courses based on his songs and poetry, but i never look into his work like i should.  this novel and the grammy exhibit reminded me that his writing is an important part of sharing the black experience of the nineties.  it is important that the history of others is told and i am glad that woodson lets young adults know that music can be a means of self discovery and expression.  i think about how much music was important for me in high school, how i would listen to songs that seemed to understand me.  it's important for kids to know that they have this outlet.

though i have to admit i am disappointed that tupac did serve time for sexual asault. the novel does address it but played up the fact that tupac only touched some girl's butt and that the judge was bias. i googled to look up what happen but i mean no one will really know. and as a feminist, i believe we can't blame the victim or try to slut shame her.

the thing that i liked most about this work was that one of neeka's brother, tash, was gay. they did call him sissy which i found as tat offensive but perhaps it was trying to be authentic. i mean woodson did use queen which i didn't bat at eye at but which i use.  i think it was great to see a strong gay character in this book.  granted he was incarcerated (though it wasn't his fault and he was released early because it was finally realized that he was not involved with the assault and robbery), his message was about being yourself and not trying to act like a thug and ending up in jail.  also tash was gay and proud and i was happy to read about it.

all in all, a great novel for young adults.  it demonstrated that not everyone and their experiences are the same but what is important are the connections that you make.

lila. marilynne robinson. (264)

i picked up lila because it was on everyone's best of 2014 list and it won national book critics circle award as i was reading it, yet it didn't speak to me like it did to everyone else. it took me three weeks to read this book and it's only 261 pages.  i honestly thought i would quickly read it so i could get started on another book but i couldn't get into the story.

lila was the story of lila, who as a child was kidnapped (though her family was not doing a good job of caring of caring for her) by a woman, doll who cared for her.  she ended up in the town of gilead, which is the subject of other books by robinson) and married a minister, who was very much her senior.  it is then through flashbacks that we learn of lila's life, her time with doll, her suffering during the dust bowl era, her time in a whorehouse, and doll's arrest and disappearance.  lila had a rough life and as a result is bitter and lonely.  her relationship with the minister helped her grow as person and to learn to love.  it also allowed a raising of insightful theological questions like why does god allow people to suffer? the minister answered but nothing to truly satisfy lila or the reader, the usual trust in god's plan for us.  it was an interesting story but was slow in its development, it's only 261 pages but the first half is all lila

not ready to be honest with the minister. this slowness caused me to become bored with the book, which made it easy to put down.

and there is no denying that lila was beautiful written but i also had an issue with the sequence of the story, i constantly had to go back and forth to figure out if the present or the past was being referenced. and i never understand half of the things that were suppose to be inferred because descriptions were so vague. for example, the child's birth at the end, there were complications but it read as though the child had died though he didn't, so i was confused as to what had happen during child birth but it was never explained.  this vagueness plagued the book as well, but primarily due to lila not being very certain of anything that happen in her life, which is sad now that i think about.

lila was not for me, i think i will revisit it when i am a little bit longer in the tooth, but as of right now it, i didn't enjoy it.

the wilds. julia elliot. (263)

i actually had no idea what i was checking out when i picked up julia elloitt's the wilds, because it was a blind date book!  i had seen on the brooklyn library's instagram that they did a blind date books for valentine's day and shared it on my facebook.  my friend rovia told me that the beale library in bakersfield was doing it as well and of course i went to check it out.

so cute right.  i ended up picking up this book, because it was genre-bending!

and i wish the library had an actual dating service because i ended up enjoying this book.  it's a collection of short stories that are dark and weird, kind of southern gothic meets sci-fi, but very interesting!

my favorite stories were:

"the rapture", the story of two popular girls whose parents (in an attempt to teach them a lesson on life) forced them to spend the night for a classmate's birthday party.  the classmate was at the bottom of the social ladder and family was odd, an overly religious mother, a gay uncle who used to be a model, and grandmother who was religious but also

some sort of witch.  their stay was filled with creepiness and ended with a blondie reference (the story is called "the rapture.")

"LIMBs" it's a beautiful store with some amazing technology from the future.  a woman, elise mood, is in a nursing home, where she received treatment to help stimulate her memory which she is losing to alzheimer's.  in addition to this, elise was also given "leg intuitive motion bionics" or limbs to help her walk around.     while walking around the facility, an old flame ran into her.  initially, she did not remember him but then things to start to come back, as does memories of her husband.  elise and her husband had a rough life due to an injury he had and though he did cheat on him.  in the end, elise realized her husband was in the nursing home too and one day she escaped the home with him. 

"jaws" was a sad story of having to cope with our parents aging.  it's tough realizing the people that cared for you all your life will start to grow old and need your help.

"organisms" was educational for me.  i learned about a parasite that acts as the tongue of a fish (without the fish knowing) and how it lives by eating the food the fish catches.  it's actually quite scary how parasite organisms take over a body.  this story was like an episode of "the twilight zone" and would make an excellent movie! it was the story of three people but centered around an organism that is taking over the bodies of teens, the side effects are an appetite for junk food and long periods of electronic stimulation (ie video games and tv) sounds just like being a teen right?  which makes it even more difficult

to stop!

"the love machine" reminded me of  "her" and bj novak's short story, "sophia", was about a machine that loves.  it's funny when love is broken down to science, it's interesting to see our behaviors when it comes to love is framed by our knowledge and stimuli around us.

all of the stories are interesting and wierd and dark.  "feral" was about wild dogs that plague a town and a woman falling for a wild dogs expert. "the wilds"

was about a young girl that turns wild like a werewolf with a neighborhood boy. "regeneration at mukti" was about a resort where people go to cleanse their bodies and souls by having all of the horrible negativity and evils in their soul become manifested on their skin as warts and sores, etc. "caveman diet" poked fun at all or these trends to get back to some normal way of life by returning to primitive means.  "end of the world" was about a band getting back together and a woman getting closure from an old relationship.

all in all, a great collection of short stories and i can't wait for my blind date next year!!!