blankets. craig thompson. (253)

blankets has been on my to read list for a very long time.  however, when i saw it on time's 100 best young adult books, i decided to finally check it out.

i really wish that i had read this when it first came out in 2003.  i identified with craig and would have enjoyed reading this closer to when i went through a similar experience.  blanket is an semi-autobiographical graphic novel about thompson's experience growing up in a religious household and his first love.  what i identified with was craig's questioning of his faith and the church leaders insistence on following christian path.  my questioning of my religion, as i discussed before was due to the church views on homosexuality and how i thought it was unfair that families were separated unless they were sealed in the temple.  for craig it was contradiction in the bible and the realization that though the bible may be the word of god it had been filtered through men.  also reading his pastor advise him against going to art school due to the possibility of exposure to nude models and the risk of becoming a homosexual, reminded me of an conversation i had once with a girl i went to church with.  (i may have shared this before in another post, so i apologize for being redundant.  a girl i went to church camp asked me where i was going to school, and i told her ucla.  she then asked me what i was going to do.  i explained study history.  but she asked again, but you go to byu to get married, how are you going to get married.  i think i just smiled as a response.  though i will say that i am grateful for being raised mormon.  as child growing up, we did not fear god, but saw jesus as a loving savior, and were not made to be scared of hell as i saw with craig.

but college was an eye opening experience for me, like craig.  i wasn't born in a completely rural area like him, but being exposed to the big city of los angeles, allowed me to realize that there was more out in the world.

the story of his first love was sweet and like should happen with all first loves, he grew as a person.  he was able to see the world for as it was and not for what he was told it was.  i think the greatest thing was that he reconnected with his brother after seeing how close raina was with her siblings.  it was nice to see them become friends in the end.  (i should also note know it was really difficult to read about his brother's molestation as a child.  craig should have done something, but easier said then done because he was a child himself, but still sickening to read.)

i also found it disheartening to read about raina's adoptive siblings.  i think it was wonderful that her parents decided to adopt two children with disabilities, however, their reasoning behind it seemed unsound.  they adopted the ben and laura as a thank you to god for blessing them with two children.  a beautiful gesture, but neither one were equipped to take care of them.  and in the end, resulted in their divorce and the responsibility becoming that of raina.  i might sound insensitive, but you should adopt to truly help a child not to prove a point about how blessed you are. 

but a wonderful coming of age story and beautiful illustrations.  i also loved that the library was a tool in helping craig discover the world and who he was.  definitely a top young adult book!

  

heartburn. nora ephron. (217)

i requested heartburn because i was under the impression that when harry met sally was originally a book.  the library didn't have it, so i requested heartburn instead.  i later discovered that when harry met sally is simply a screenplay, thanks alot goodreads for getting a girl's hopes up!

anyway, i felt it was about time that i finally read some nora ephron.  i, unfortunately, was not aware of her until she passed away.  i mean i loved the films she wrote and directed, sleepless in seattle, michael, you've got mail, i just didn't know she wrote them.  i also discovered that the female celebrities i adore, adored her, mindy kaling and lena dunham for example.  when she passed away, i remember looking her books up at the library but didn't commit to anything because i wasn't sure where to start.  well two years, later, i finally sorted it out, i started with her first and only novel.

heartburn, was the story of rachel samstat, a cookbook writer and tv personality, which in my head closely resembled rachel ray (including the critiques of not being a real cook).  we meet her at a very low point in her life.  she just discovered that her husband mark, a syndicated columnist, was cheating on her.  rachel was pregnant with their second child and discovered the affair via an inscription her husband's lover, thelma, left in a baby book!  how disgusting right!?!?! the message was horrible and mentioned mark and thelma as a couple singing to rachel and mark's children!!!! seriously some people are disgusting, i would have gone apeshit, if i read that.

the novel then covers rachel struggle with what to do.  does she take mark back and work through it?  or does she leave him.  it sounds heavy, which it is, but the story is actually funny.  as ephron writes via rachel, 

of course i'm writing this later, much much later, and it worries me that i've done what i usually do--hidden the anger, covered the pain, pretended it want there for the sale of the story.

she goes in to explain:

because if i tell the story, i control the version.

because if i tell the storyif i can make you laugh, and i would rather have you laugh at me than feel sorry for me.

because if i tell the story, it doesn't hurt as much.

because if i tell the story, i can get on with it.

this then confirmed my suspensions that heartburn was one of those memoir-ish novel (the second trend of this year of reading).  and sure enough, wikipedia informed me that heartburn was based on ephron's second marriage to carl bernstein.  the cheating bastard!

how horrible that ephron really went through all of this but kudos to her for turning her misfortune into a funny little novel and a movie!!

and can i just add, what a bunch of sluts in washigton d.c. though i am not surprised.  i don't trust politicians.

in the end, rachel made the right choice and leaves mark but not without throwing a pie in his face.  she took her two sons, the second child nathaniel was premature after she fell spying on mark and his lover, to new york to embark on next chapter of life.

this was an enjoyable little read and was even filled with recipes!  i want to try the cheesecake, linguine alla cecca, and potatoes anna.  so look for that happening too!

of course their are hilarous bits, rachel's jewish prince routine, her therapy group being robbed and of course, her starting the thelma has an STD rumor.  

and i loved that rachel's obstetrician helped her realized that she did believe in love.  as her thoughts to herself share:

sometimes i believe that love dies but hope springs eternal.  sometimes i believe that hope died but love springs eternal.  sometimes i believe that send plus guilt equals love, and sometimes i believe that sex plus guilt equals good sex.  sometimes i believe that love is as natural as the tides and sometimes i believe that love is an act of will.  sometimes i beige that some people are better at love than others, and sometimes i believe that everyone is faking it.  sometimes i believe that love is essential, and sometimes i believe that the only reason love is essential is that otherwise you spend all your time looking for it.

this is why ephron's romcoms are the best.  a sweet little book, short and worth a read.  i look forward to reading more of her works and course watching everything she made as well.