namedropper. emma forrest. (273)

for 2015, i decided to do book riot's "read harder" challenge.  one of the challenges is to read a book that someone wrote when they were under the age of 25.  lucky for me, flavorpill had a post about authors who published great books before the age of 25.  this is how i discovered emma forrest and namedropper.  the flavorpill blurb nameddropped tavi gevinson and lena dunham and so of course i had to read this.  furthermore, it mentioned that the book came out when forrest was being called "the teenage 'voice of her generation'".

i have to say that if i read this back in 1998, i would have been obsessed with emma forrest and namedropper.  i really wish i would have found it in high school, like i stumbled upon blake nelson's girl.  i mean the cover would have won me over.  oh well.  adult me read it and loved it, but not as much as teenage me would have.

namedropper follows the life of teenager viv cohen.  viv was obsessed with old hollywood, best friends with a druggy hot girl, treena, and an aging pop star, ray, and was raised by her gay uncle.  (i would have loved to have been raised by a gay uncle!)  the heart of the story is one night, she met the opening act for ray, a boy named drew, his band named "kindness of strangers" (which is cute now that i think about it. lol) viv and i have the same taste in men because i would have been all about drew.  scrawny, pale kid, artsy, bookish, into things from the past and depressed.  i imagined conor oberst as i read. lol.  after a lovely evening, in which viv falls in love.  drew winds up missing and she decided to go on a search for him.

  

viv and ray go on a hunt for drew, but the end result was that viv discovered her night with drew was nothing special for the desk girl at the hotel had a similar night as well. 

but life is not sad for too long, because ray invited her and treena to los angeles with him while he promoted his new album in the states. maybe i was smarter than average bear, but i knew that treena and ray were fucking. i knew the second he left viv on the drew hunt.  anyway, i felt bad for viv cos i have been in that awkwardness before.  but it wasn't that bad, because viv had her adventure with the lead singer of ray's rvial band.  i wish there love affair would have lasted, but it had to end.  he had a girlfriend.  also i like uncle many was pissed about tattoos.

so that is a run down of the story, which was enjoyable.  i, of course, loved the bit about hollywood.  i have to add that it made me sad that i never visited the rocky and bullwinkle gift shop that viv mentioned.  i googled the dudley-do right emporium and it closed in 2005 and i was in la during the time.  i used to always take the  bus down sunset to the greyhound so i know i passed it but it didn't strike a cord in me.  i definitely got drunk on sunset too.  i googled and looked at pics, and it looked vaguely familiar, but i could just want the memory.

so as i said, i would have been obsessed with this book, if i was a teen, because i would have loved reading about her fun adventures with bands.  but what made me love this book now was all of the witty writing.  here is some of my favorite:

from their black miss haversham clothes, i guessed the former.  (i love the description of the goth wear!)

my moods are the equivalent to madonna's dancing:  inappropriate but all-out. 

tears sprung in my eyes, like russian ballet stars.

she looked like a quentin blake illustration in a roald dahl book.  (so cute right?)

all in all, a delightful book, which i recommend if you love tavi and lena.  oh and i have to add, it totally made me crave salt and vinegar crisps, which viv ate and so of course after reading, i had to do!

                                                                                                         

i am malala: the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the taliban. malala yousafzai. christina lamb. (239)

i am a horrible person and never really keep up with anything outside the realm of my little world.  i am  horrible about knowing what is going on in the world, current events and politics are sadly not concerns of mine.  i get most of my news scrolling through facebook, but never take the time to read an actual article, must headlines, nor do i take the time to research anything.

and to be perfectly honest, i knew of malala only because madonna had her name written on her back at the concert i went to at the staples center.  madonna, of course, also spoke about what happened to malala. but again to be horrible and honest, i don't remember much, i mean i was in the golden triangle for a madonna, my mind was freaking out over that fact.

i had seen post about i am malala, but when malala was awarded the nobel peace prize and became the youngest recipient of the award, i decided to put in my request for it at the library.

before i go on, i must share one critique, since this work was written with christina lamb, i couldn't help but be skeptical about what i was reading.  i know it doesn't really matter because at the end of the day, it's the message that is important versus how authentically this was malala.  but i couldn't help but wonder how much of what i read was framed by lamb.

in addition to this, i know that malala's cause is important, but the book did become redundant with malala really driving to home her point about education.  it was like okay, i get it.  at some points.  the book also seemed to be very aware of its audience and played it safe for the most point, it painted malala as this very pious and studious girl.  i mean i complained about anne frank being too #teenageproblems but it would have been nice to see malala the girl versus malala the advocate.  i hope when she is an older she will write another book on her own and be completely honest.

other than that this is amazing book because malala's story is truly amazing.

i am confused by the middle east, i don't whose side to be on or who to trust.  i don't know who should be allowed to rule over what area and who has actual claims to what lands.  this work demonstrated just how chaotic it really is.  everyone is confused.  malala lived in the swat valley of the pakistan.  the book discussed the history of swat valley. it went through and explained the confusing past of the militant leaders that plagued the area.  some of things mentioned reminded me of salman rushdie's midnight's children.  i can not give you a clear time line or explanation of leaders.  however, the real trouble of the area started with a radio personality, maulana fazlullah, leader of the taliban.  he began to call minor adherence to islamic law ie. destroying CDs and DVDs but soon it snowballed into bigger things like the restriction of women rights and girls' rights to education. it is scary to think how easy it is for someone like fazlullah to come into power and how willing people are to follow his lead though it destroys lives.

i was appalled and frighten by all that had occurred in swat, even more so because i had no idea how bad it truly was.  when i read about horrible things in history, ie the holocaust, i was always think to myself, how did the world allow this to happen?  why didn't anyone stop it?  pre-internet, the excuse that no one knew what was going on was acceptable.  but what about now?  i mean malala had a blog on the bbc website that explained how her daily life was in swat and yet i had no idea about it. furthermore, how did pakinstan not intervene with all of this?  or the us?  i mean we were all for stopping al-qaeda yet didn't help out against the taliban.  i have to add that i admired how malala did critique the us government.  our relationship with the middle east is always messy and at times we truly are the enemy, and this was demonstrated here.  the taliban is truly frightening.  i can not imagine living with all of that violence and having to see dead bodies everywhere.  its sad to think how destructive humans can be, have we not learned from the past?  but then again, i am part of the problem not knowing what is going on in the world.

majority of this work was the history of the swat valley and malala's background.   i had always assumed she was just a random girl that was shot but it turns out that there was more to it.  kinda like learning that rosa parks and the bus incident was staged.  her father was an owner of a school and spoke out against the taliban and another political leaders.  as malala grew older, she began to speak out as well ie the bbc blog (though it was anonymous).  there was discussion about how her father putting her up to everything, which she addressed.  malala did it for herself and i believer her.  but obviously if she did not have her father as her father, i doubt any of this would have happen.

the last handful of chapters are devoted to the actual shooting.  again, i had no idea what was going so was very confused when she mentioned that she was shot in the eye in the foreword.  i even looked at pictures to see if she had a glass eye (i told you i'm horrible).  she was on a bus and man came up on the bus and asked who is malala?  no one answered but the other girls looked to her and she was shot at three times.  she was taken to the hospital and started to be treated.  two visiting doctors from england were in pakistan and asked to check on her.  one of the doctors remarked that the hospital was unfit to care for her and sadly none of her suggestions were taken into account.  they then decided to take malala abroad to have her treated.  and here is what shocked me, how political issues were the main priority in her recovery versus where would malala be treated the best.  there was an offer from john hopkins in the states, but due to the recent killing of osama bin laden (which the us did without notifying the pakistani government) the pakistani government did not want to send malala here.  i am not saying that america is the best place to be treated (though it probably is, see recent ebola outbreak) but politics should not have been a factor in helping malala recover.  i was appalled by what i had read.  malala ended up going to england, where she was taken excellent care of. sadly, she went on her own with a doctor as her legal guardian.  there was an issue with her parents passports, having to do with the pakistani government  being worried that her family would seek asylum in the uk or something.  again, really? that poor child woke up in a foreign country, after being shot in the head and her parents have been stopped by their own government from being with her.

as we know, malala did recover.  i was shocked to read about how they removed part of her skull and put in her stomach! her brain was swelling and part had to be removed to allow it do so.  her skull become infected so they couldn't use it so they gave her a platinum skull piece.  she also had an issue with one of her nerves and couldn't smile.  this was big thing for her parents apparently, but i felt like it was played up a bit.  i mean if my kid got shot in the head, i would be happy s/he were alive and alert and not the least bit concerned with a smile.  but to each their own.

malala also mentioned the hollywood celebs that tweeted about her etc.  and madge was actually trumped by angelina jolie in her book, i mean jolie did make a donation to her organization.

but this was an excellent read and i highly recommend it.  especially to every girl and woman!  as i said before, malala's story is truly amazing, and this book is a must read.  i mean the girl is the youngest nobel prize winner and the un has given her her own day.  and everyone, especially girls should have the right to learn!

  

mr. peabody's apples. madonna. (221)

i came across madonna's mr. peabody's apples while looking for books to read with my little friends.  i think i bought a copy back in the day but never read it and its prolly in storage somewhere.  i decided to check it out and finally read it.

i want to add that it made me sad because i think i was the first person to check this book out.  it is in too nice of condition for a kids book.  i know kids don't know who madonna is but shouldn't their parents be excited and check it out for them?  so sad.  and i mean the book was marked 2011, that is  three years! poor book!

mr. peabody's apples is the story of mr. peabody, a history teacher that holds weekend baseball game for the boys in the town.  the boys are not very good at baseball but they have fun and that is all that matters.  one day after a game, one of the boys, tommy, saw mr. peabody take an apple from a market and not pay for it.  he then told the other boys that mr. peabody stole apples.  this gossip then spread to everyone and they then shunned mr. peabody.  the boys stopped going to the games and the townspeople stopped waving hello to him because they thought he was a thief.  when mr. peabody discovered the news via a boy named billy, he took billy to the market and the owner explained that mr. peabody paid for this apple every saturday when he paid for the rest of his groceries.  billy then told tommy, who apologized to mr. peabody.  tommy asked what he could do to make things right and mr. peabody told him to bring a pillow to the baseball field. mr. peabody then had tommy cut it open and shake out all the feathers and then told him to pick every single one of feathers up.  tommy said it is impossible and mr. peabody replied that each feather represented a person from town and that the damage from the thief rumor would be impossible to undo.  he then reminded tommy that "next time, don’t be so quick to judge a person. and remember the power of your words.”

as i was reading, i kept on asking myself, i wonder what the moral is going to be.  madonna was pretty direct with this one, no need to read between the lines.  i also wondered if this story was based on a jewish folktake, because i mean this was written in madonna's kabbalah era.  and i was right there too!  she addressed that the story was inspired by a story she heard via kabbalah.  well in nicer words, i am just paraphrasing poorly.

a nice story though kind of morning.  i mean if it didn't say madonna on the cover, i would have never thought the material girl wrote this.  i mean when she was spiritual she still had an edge, and there is no edge here.  i mean i never thought madge could be boring, but i guess she can.

also the illustrations were nice, very americana.

this one was my favorite:

check it out, because it is madonna, but don't expect it to be amazing.

turn around bright eyes: the rituals of love & karaoke. rob sheffield. (180)

i have read rob sheffield's two previous works love is a mix tape and talking to girls about duran duran.  love is a mix tape was the story of how he lost his wife at a young age to a brain aneurysm, a sad yet great tribute to her via the music they loved.  so i kind of have a soft spot for him.  however, to be completely honest i don't remember what talking to girls about duran duran was about, i do own a copy, but i am sure it was entertaining.  anyway, i like sheffield, he is a music geek and i love a good music geek.  so when i saw that he had written a book about karaoke, i immediately put in a request.  

for those of you who know me, i am pretty good at karaoke, please note i said karaoke not singing.  i agree with sheffield that karaoke is not about singing ability.  i always tell people that i can't sing but i can put on a good performance.  my training ground for karaoke was high school.  when i was in high school, mtv's say what karaoke (which i was shocked sheffield failed to mention in this book) was popular and i took the idea of their idea of random shuffle karaoke and turned it a noontime rally game (i was an asb geek).  i may have forced my high school peers to play that game too many times, oh well, my friends and i loved it. 

my first memory of doing a crazy wild karaoke performance was at an end of the year work "party" (i use the term "party" loosely because there were only like 12 of us there) from my first year at the front desk at ucla's covel commons.  we had a karaoke party and i performed a song by my vocal doppelganger, gwen stefani.  sheffield explained that everyone has a vocal doppelganger, "when you start singing you find out whose voice suits yours and who doesn't, and you don't always get to make the decision."  he goes on to share that "the voice gets into your soul and this guy means more to you than he ever did before.  your doppelganger becomes your spiritual mentor."  and it's true, gwen stefani has always been my go to girl when karaoking; i do no doubt songs ("just a girl", "sunday morning"),  i her solo stuff ("what you waiting for?" and "wind it up"----quick digression, i used to have the dj at westwood brew co, play my ipod but so that i could do those two songs because they weren't available as karaoke songs.)  but back to my first karaoke "performance", i performed "just a girl" and was so into it that i jumped off of the speakers like i was some pop princess.  i may have even done a push-up (i like to incorporate moves from music videos into my performances) but yes, i went all out, and set the standard by which i karaoked.

i have had some pretty memorable performances.  "like a virgin" at brass monkey, the first time i did it and i did it in the style of madonna's vma's peformance aka i rolled around on the ground.  i even added a little introduction to it when i would perform it at westwood brew co, i would ask all my fellow v-card holders to hold up their vs for me (my friend richard once thanked me for letting him know which girls were virgins.) in vegas, at this one karoake place my friend rolly took us to, i did a crazy rendition of system of a down's "sugar" and had some guys off the street come in to watch me perform.  there was the time i did "don't speak" and my friends tiffany, jaye and i discovered the power that is "miss cleo karaoke" (my friend and i were going through a rough patch and this song expressed exactly what i felt.)  i have also been known to do amy winehouse's verison of "valerie", and some selena (faking spanish of course).  these two i perfected in my friend cody's apt.  i don't know how it started but we would host karaoke nights at his apt.  and not like filipino machines karaoke, but literally a mike and a CD player.  you had to really know your songs.  it was a little rundown but made for some amazing karaoke nights.   i have also started to add "part of your world" from the little mermaid, i have perfected my singing of it at my friend's danny's dinner party.  

as you can see i love karaoke, and when i heard about this book, i imagined it to be filled with fun stories of random adventures in karaoke bars, similar to the ones that i have shared.  i saw each chapter as a song that pertain to some crazy night.  however, the subtitle "the rituals of love & karaoke" hinted that there would be more.  after reading the first chapter, i saw that it would also be about how karaoke brought sheffield and his new wife together.  sounds sweet, i would enjoy that, but in reality this book was not limited to just that storyline too.  in fact, it was more of a hodgepodge of stories that shared the theme of karaoke (and at times very loosely).

to be perfectly honest, turn around bright eyes felt thrown together.  i imagined his agent calling him one day, telling him "ummm, remember that three book deal you signed?  well they want that third book." and sheffield was like "hmmm i like karaoke, i can write about that!"  so he started writing this book but realized he only had so many stories about his nights out karaoking and so he decided to add in the element of his wife for length.  however, this topic only gave him a handful of more chapters.  as a last resort, sheffield started to add in anything that remotely resembled karaoke, for example, the essay on rock'n'roll fantasy camp.  seriously, i am pretty sure his logic about using this piece "hey, i have that rejected rolling stone piece, and i did sing at camp, so yeah lets add that in too for filler".  some chapters would be some music related story and then sheffield would add in a concluding paragraph with the word karaoke in it somewhere to make it fit into the theme of the book. 

i know i sound harsh, i am normally okay with a hodgepodge of essays (see:  the fact that i have read everything by chuck klosterman), but sheffield narrowed his scope with his subtitle (though i guess ritual is pretty general) and didn't deliver on it.  even with the lack of cohesion among the stories, there were some great chapters.   

i enjoyed reading about how sheffield and his new wife met.  it was adorable how he heard her voice on the radio and then stopped by to meet her.  it was sweet to see how he was so unsure how to court her and how thoughtful he was in their relationship.  

the chapters about 9/11 and post 9/11 were interesting.  sheffield lived in the financial district near the twin towers which allowed me to see that situation in a different light.  for example, i never knew that the financial district was a wasteland nor did i know there was a mall in the twin towers.  i really enjoyed the chapter 99 luftballoons, seeing how the city and people started to piece themselves back together after 9/11. what an incredible scene and how therapeutic to sing a song about bombs after a tragedy like that.

i also enjoyed the beatles chapter, though again what did it really have to do with karaoke.  

the parts about karaoke that i did enjoy;  it's history, the story about the guy that is paid to perform at karaoke bars to get the crowd going (possible side job, once karaoking in k-town in a private room with my friends, i was instructed to sing so everyone could get over those initial fear), and of course the tales of sheffield actually performing karaoke.

this book was seriously all over the place, and it's lack of cohesion, left me bored. this is the kind of book you leave in your bathroom and read occasionally like a magazine.  good but not great enough to devote a serious reading off.

the impossible lives of greta wells. andrew sean greer. (128)

a week after learning about "life after life" by kate atkinson, i received an email from barnes and noble (i think) highlighting "the impossible lives of greta wells" which was also about a woman living multiple lives.  i figured maybe quasi-reincarnation was the new literary trend so decided to check it out.

(*i really enjoyed this book and if you haven't read it, stop here and go read it.  this is your spoiler alert if you decide to continue on.)

i have to start off by sharing that it is nothing like "life after life", while ursula would die and return to the same life, greta time-travelled to her own life in a different era.  we meet greta in 1985, her twin brother, felix, had just died of AIDs, her lover left her because she had neglected him and due to these events, she fell into a depression.  to treat her depression, greta begins electroconvulsive therapy (a milder form of electric shock therapy).  it is through these electriconvulsive treatments that she time-travels to 1918 and 1945.  greta discovered that she always travels in sequence and as a result of the other gretas having the same treatment.

1985 greta was not exactly in the greatest state of mind prior to the treatment and time-traveling must be overwhelming and scary.  however, greta discovered that her 1985 family and friends are her family and friends in 1918 and 1945.  and of course, she is always greta.  also, luckily for greta, her eccentric aunt ruth (who i absolutely loved) had a open mind in 1918 and 1985, and believed greta was time-traveling and became her confidant.  the stress of time traveling was less because greta time-travelled to familiar settings.

in 1918, greta's twin brother, felix, came back from the dead, figuratively.  her aunt ruth is still has wild as ever, filled with that fitzgerald-esque flair for partying.  and her lover, nathan, that left here in 1985, is her husband but he is away at war.  she also has a lover, leo.

in 1945, greta's twin brother, felix, is a live and married with a child.  her aunt ruth is dead. ruth died in an accident, at the fault of greta, and greta's treatment is a result of the trauma from the accident.  nathan is her husband and they have a child named for her brother, felix.

it appears that all three gretas are leading very different lives but actually their lives are very similar, the only real difference is the era they live in.

for example, greta's brother is gay in all three eras. in 1985, felix was out and had a partner, alan.  in 1944, he was married with a son but was seeing alan on the side.  it was sad to see them having to masquerade their love with a friendship but at least they were able to be together.  then, felix was caught in a gay bar and as a result his wife leaves him.  in 1918, felix was a bachelor and about to marry a senator's daughter.  greta attempted to set up alan and felix by having them meet at a party like they did in 1945.  however, her scheming was pointless because they had already met.  it made my heart smile when greta realized because it proved felix and alan's love to be true because they always found each other in every era.  sadly though, because it was 1918, their affair was brief and alan ended things.  

i appreciated greer's representation of homosexuality as something innate and not the product of a time period.  how often, homosexuality is painted as a modern epidemic when homosexuality has been around since the beginning of time.  it was heartbreaking yet inspiring to see felix's changing attitudes towards his sexuality.  in 1918, he is ashamed and full of self hate but in 1985, he is out and proud, demonstrating that it is and will get better.  the only thing that i found frustrating was 1985 greta's desire to force her brother out of the closet in 1918 and 1945.  even though she was accepting of his sexuality, he had not accepted it.  and in all my years of being the straight girl BFF to gay boys, i have learned you have to let people come out when they are ready and simply shower them with your support when they do.  

the lives of greta were also tainted by infidelity.  1985 and 1945 nathans were both unfaithful to greta, proving once a cheater, always a cheater.  however, in 1918, it is greta that has the affair with a younger man named leo.  granted it is 1985 greta that eventually slept with leo, it is quite obvious that 1918 greta loves him because she searched for him in 45 and 85.  as a reader, i kept on wondering why 1985 greta didn't seek him out in 1985, he was so in love with greta, maybe he was her true love not nathan.  also 1918 leo gave me some insider scoop on new york.  leo took greta to a secret chamber in the washington square arch!  (i googled to see if it was true and it is!  if you want to read more here is a curbed post.)  but it was interesting to note that nathan and greta's relationship was plagued by infidelity.  i have never been in a relationship in which someone cheated on me so i can't speak from experience, but i can imagine it is easier to cope with infidelity if it's an inevitable part of your relationship versus your failure as a partner.  i am not trying to let cheaters off of the hook, i think individuals need to be honest about their lost of feelings but i do feel that greer is trying to demonstrate that some relationships are just doomed.  

since greta's electrotherapy sessions were not forever, greta's time traveling had a deadline.  she was only having 12 procedures and the 12th procedure would restore all of the gretas to their correct era.  but with a interesting twist of fate, 1985 greta decided to stay in 1918.  granted, her love affair with leo did result in her being pregnant with his child, and nathan was very much aware of it.  nathan attempted to make greta and the unborn child sick and as a result, 1985 greta as 1918 greta leaves nathan.  so it makes sense that 1985 greta decided to stay in 1918, she had created a world in which she was only greta equipped to survive.  1918 greta, after leaving nathan (something 1918 would have never seem fathomable), was a single mother and 1985 greta was the only one thanks to her era was capable of the independence required.  furthermore, in 1918 she had her brother felix and her aunt ruth.  consequently, 1945 greta stayed in 45 where she would live happily ever after with nathan and 1918 greta would stay in 1985 where she could seek out her one true love, leo. that clever greta even hunted him down!  

i was shocked at first for the novel ending this way but realized it made sense and couldn't end any other way.  life is too fluid for our self identities to be so stagnant.  we sometimes fail to see the many selves that we have.  as a gemini, i have always felt like i have multiple selves for example the krisha i am with my friends is not the same one that my co-workers see or even my family.  but there are traits that are very much me, just like all the gretas were alike but not alike.  

as greer wrote:

perhaps one day they will invent a camera to capture the fleeting self--not the soul, but the self---!: we can truly see how we were on any particular day and mark the shifting of lives we lead that we pretend belongs to one person alone.  why is it impossible to believe:  that we are many headed as monsters, as many armed as gods, as many hearted as the angels?

we do have multiple lives that belong to different people.  it makes us all sound like we have disorder but in actually it's how we survive.  in order to make our impossible lives possible we have to grow as an individuals and become the best person for whatever life throws at us.  just as greta did.  (granted she had time travel to aid her with her mission.)

before i close i also have to share this wonderful quote:

morning had awakened like a girl in a tantrum who will wear nothing but her party dress, and unseasonal warmth spread over things.

i just loved that simile!

oh and one last note, read on huffington post that madge just got the movie rights for this book!  i am not one for novels to movies but madge did call him personally! how cool!!