So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

Author: Jon Ronson

Original title: So You've Been Publicly Shamed
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Nonfiction
Format: Audio book
Read by: Jon Ronson
Duration: 8h16m
Goodreads

Blurb:
    For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are people like us - people who, say, made a joke on social media that came out badly, or made a mistake at work. Once their transgression is revealed, collective outrage circles with the force of a hurricane and the next thing they know they're being torn apart by an angry mob, jeered at, demonized, sometimes even fired from their job.

My thoughts:
       I loved this book so much and I was also properly terrified by it. It seems that I live in a bunker and has never thought that public shaming grew to such absurdity and cruelty. I keep away from social media mostly because it is boring and time consuming, but it amazes me how many people are obsessed with following and "teaching" others a lesson. This was a fascinating read about shame in the modern world and how it can impact a life of ordinary people. 

    The Internet has made it easier to make a mistake and then be publicly humiliated for it, and Jon Ronson researched and wrote about a few famous cases. I have never heard of the cases stated here, but all of them gained my compassion. A person is being torn apart by people like us for so little, that in real life would be mostly reprimanded or harshly commented. It seems that compassion is gone from virtual world or people are being afraid to stand for a shamed person, so they would be not objectified as well.
    It's not a perfect book. In fact, Ronson goes a number of paths in history and origin of shaming, modern technologies to deal with shame and so on - and yet it is still quite fun to go on the journey with him. The book has a lot of gaps as well, many important topics are just slightly covered, but I guess it was not the aim of this book to cover everything and everyone. It raises the question of our behavior online, appeals to our morality and asks what are WE going to do next time someone will be butchered online. 

     A book is incredibly actual, 5  years since this book has been published and it’s still as relevant. I am thinking about recent J.K. Rowling shaming, which took ridiculous proportions for a single tweet.
    This book I definitely recommend. Narration by the author really gives this audiobook the perfect voice. All the information and examples provided were very interesting.

Rating: 

         5/5 

Nonfiction November 2020

Nonfiction November is a month dedicated to celebrating nonfiction and runs from 1st November to 30th November 2020. 

    I do read a reasonable amount of non-fiction throughout the year anyway, but it’s great to have a month where I focus on reading more non-fiction than fiction. I know about Nonfiction November from Olive's channel 'A Book Olive'. This is the first time I am taking part, thought I followed this initiation from the beginning.
 
     I’ve really struggled to pick my TBR, as I have so many other books that I want to read. So I’ve decided to pick one book for each challenge and hope to finish each of them in every week of the month.
 

So without further ado, here is my TBR

TIME
I am going to read When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, who unfortunately died before he finished the book, he ran out of time.

MOVEMENT
 Here I choose Развивающие занятия "ленивой мамы" by Anna Bykova. Educational games for children from "lazy mum". This book aims to develop and educate children in a less intrusive manner. And children are in constant movement as you all know))

 

 

BUZZ
For this prompt I am reading Happy Accidents by Jane Lynch. I know about Jane Lynch from TV show Glee and I loved her character and how she made it shine. She also played in one of my favorite middle grade movie Sleep over, and thought her character is not that prominent I loved her in it. So I look forward to reading about her life and her way to success. And Glee was quite a buzz in its time. 

 

 

DISCOVERY
The last book I am going to read is French Women Don't Sleep Alone: Pleasurable Secrets to Finding Love by Jamie Cat Callan. I do not know much of it as it was a present, but I hope to discover some new secrets and ways to enjoy life.

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Author: Jenny Lawson  
Original title: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things Edition Language: English  
Series: no  
Genres: Memoir  
Format: Audio book
Read by: Jenny Lawson  
Duration: 8h20m  
Goodreads  

Blurb:  
 FURIOUSLY HAPPY  is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it's about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn't need a bit more of that?  

My thoughts:
      It is a good book to read and a great one to listen. Jenny tells about her life and how she is experiencing it.  She also tells about her illness and how she came to turns with it. The book is full of stories about her struggle with the illness: sometimes funny and sometimes depressing. I must say this is the first time I encounter such an honest view on yourself and your instability. At the same time, this is the first time the illnesses like depression were explained in an easy and understandable way, so a person,who is not familiar with it, did not mistake depression for mood swings.  
    I admire the author for courage, because it is not so easy to talk about such personal things. No one can imagine how difficult it can be to be to fight with yourself for “normal” life. And though Jenny describes some scenes, say when she fell and her body was numb, with a lot of humor, I can imagine how helpless she might have felt and how much frustration that added in everyday family life.  Anyway the book is very educating and positive about not so positive things and I believe I will re-read it quite soon.

Rating:  

    4,5/5 

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

Author: Malala Yousafzai
Original title: I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Nonfiction
Format: Audio book
Read by: Archie Panjabi, Malala Yousafzai
Duration: 9h53m
Goodreads


Blurb:
     When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. 
    On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.
     Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
       I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.
My thoughts:
   I had to write a review when it was fresh in my mind, now the book is fading a bit.
The first thought I got when I started the book was: it is a huge speculation of a singular tragedy of a girl. There might be thousands of books written by victims of injustice and unfair world and not many are rushing to publish those. Then I relaxed a bit and just started to enjoy the book without prejudice as this story is deserved to be told.
   Firstly, I like the poetic depiction of the countryside and nature, it was very vivid and full of love and affection. Secondly, I actually enjoyed Malala Yousafzai retelling on her school, true childhood with plays and friends and little mischief; her father's dream; her daily life.
     I had difficulties with the political and historical parts: it sounded like memories or like knowledge gained through experience, but could not be so. I had to remind myself all the time: these are memoirs of a young girl, 14 yeas old, she cannot have this experience or vision of the world. It is obvious that Malala was greatly influenced by her father and I believe was speaking his words and making his dream reality. Of course she is a brave girl and has merits of her own, but she is just a girl with ambitions and desires, which is quite normal at that age, but there is no point of putting this in absolute as it is done in the book. Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell what is  written by Malala and what is done by her co-writer.
  Another point for me was that, throughout the book the topic was so obviously dragged through: Malala suffered because she spoke for education. Yes, I do believe that that can be so, but it was written on every page and every chapter in case we forgot about it. Malala and her family went through unimaginable and here come my feeling of speculation on this tragedy: she is a great hit in the western world, but she is not understood by her own country, even by some members of her family.  From their point of view what she has done? Just talked a lot as many others at many other occasions; this is their reality: Malala writes it herself about politicians who just talk and do nothing, even her brothers asked her what she has done to earn all the buzz.
    Still a worthy read and I really appreciated the insight into the young girl's life with her family; into the country so unfamiliar to me and its traditions. And this book reminded me again how blessed I was to have a carefree childhood without any troubles and hard choices. 

Rating:  

    3,5/5 

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Author: Tina Fey
Original title: Bossypants 
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Memoir, Biography
Format: Audio book
Read by: Tina Fey
Duration: 5h35m
Goodreads

Blurb:
   Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.
    At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon—from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.
    Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.
My thoughts:
    I went into this book totally blind. Names Tina Fey and 30 Rock meant nothing to me until this book came out. I listened to the audio book, which is really the only way to go with this one, because face it, memoir should be read by the author. It's a slightly bizarre mix of memoir, self-help book, and jokes from Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. 
     I had zero connection to the series, Saturday Night Live show and personality of Tia Fey, but still I enjoyed and smiled some passages that revealed the life of this quite funny and extraordinary woman. I wish I had more background to enjoy references and jokes about people and shows, but still it was entertaining and light read.

Rating:

    3/5 

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

Author: Art Spiegelman
Original title: The Complete Maus
Pages: 296
Edition Language: English 
Series: no 
Format: Paperback 
Genres: Comics, Non-fiction
Goodreads

Blurb:     
Combined for the first time here are Maus I: A Survivor's Tale and Maus II - the complete story of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife, living and surviving in Hitler's Europe. By addressing the horror of the Holocaust through cartoons, the author captures the everyday reality of fear and is able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary sensation of survival - and how the children of survivors are in their own way affected by the trials of their parents. A contemporary classic of immeasurable significance.

My thoughts:
        Absolutely heartbreaking story. I had real difficulties not read this book as the topic is really heavy and I felt it weight and had to make stops. The structure of the book allows breaks as well: the two story lines in "now" and "past". When "past" becomes too overwhelming the focus is switched to "now" with its day-to-day problems and small conflicts in Spiegelman's family. 
       Vladek Spiegelman is frankly speaking is not the nicest character, he even repulses and it is difficult to sympathize him and it not possible not to sympathize him. And I think in this contradiction the writers talent is seen: to portrait a real person with shortcomings and faults, but still real, who is able to evocate sympathy but not pity.
       I discovered a lot of new information in this book. Though I know enough about the WWII, I did not know much about Polish Jews (I read mostly about Austrian and German Jews). It never occurred to me that Auschwitzh was been not only chosen for location. Secondly, I was really taken aback by the fact how people were taking the last belongings from Jews and then betrayed them. I understand that this was unthinkable time but I have not seen any scene in the book where someone helped free of charge and out of heart. Maybe I have a bit idealized vision, but did all people lost their conscience and compassion? There might be at least motivation to help your countryman against invaders. But again this was unthinkable time...
     The most heartbreaking scene for me was when Vladek was coming back to Poland and someone told him not to claim his property as one man was killed by Poles by daring to demand back what is now theirs. This is so beyond cruelty: to survive Holocaust and be killed by your countrymen when the war was over!! The description of gas chambers was so vivid that I needed fresh air, it was insufferable to know what one human being is capable to do to another without any particular reason. 
      There are many Holocaust stories out there, and they're all important. This book offers a story in a strikingly easy format that will likely attract those who usually steer away from this topic. This book is terribly good and I would recommend it to anybody, but it will never become my favorite due to its topic, it is too painful. 

Rating:  

    5/5 

The Making of Pride and Prejudice by Sue Birtwistle, Sue Conklin, Susie Conklin

Author: Sue Birtwistle, Sue Conklin, Susie Conklin
Original title: The Making of Pride and Prejudice
Pages: 120
Edition Language: English
Series: no 
Format: Paperback 
Genres: Non-fiction
Goodreads

Blurb:     
   The Making of Pride and Prejudice (BBC)

My thoughts: 
      What can bring more pleasure than a book about your favorite movie. It was a great book with a lot of information about almost everything: cloth patterns, hair, lightning, flowers and wallpapers, something we do not even pay attention while watching. But it still requires a lot of work, time and money to connect all those tiny details into a whole picture that it respond to the time shown.

Rating:  

    3,5/5 

Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop

Author: Fuchsia Dunlop
Original title: Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
Pages: 554
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: Kindle Edition
Genres: Cookbook, Travel Writing 
Goodreads

Blurb:
English woman moves to Chengdu, China for post-graduate study only to end up as the first Westerner to train at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine. The author’s following 14 years of Chinese culinary exploration is recounted in this memoir/travelogue/cookbook. This is a very informative book about Chinese food culture and particularly Sichuanese cuisine.

My thoughts:
      For no reason this book took me ages to finish: a memoir about China written by a western woman. In the end, I was so happy finally to finish it. Dunlop really knows Chinese cuisine and culture, but in her book she does not say much about herself. When she spent all that time in China, was she sick? Did she experience homesickness? She tells us she had a tough time in the beginning of her year in Chengdu, but then stops telling about anything apart from her culinary experience. I find the first parts of the book, which are mostly a memoir of her early experiences in Chengdu in the 90s is interesting and inspiring, while the second part of the book was less gripping.
    The author's love of food really comes forward, and it goes without saying that this is not a book you should read if you are hungry. It's also not a book you should read if you have a soft sport for animals and you are quite conventional in food.
  

 A well balanced Sichuan meal ‘will awaken your tastebuds through the judicious use of chilli oil, stimulate your tongue and lips with tingly Sichuan pepper, caress your palate with a spicy sweetness, electrify you with dry fried chillies, soothe you with sweet and sour, calm your spirits with a tonic soup’.

   The only thing I can say for sure I did not like are the recipes. First of all, I do not find a mix of memoir and cookbook very enchanting idea. Here I am reading about delicious meal in a train and the next page is actually the recipe. So what I am supposed to do with it in the middle of nowhere? Next thing is cooking itself: to cook Sichuanese dish you need Sichuanese spices and ingredients. I know you can find anything in the shops now, but really anything? So I find this part of Dunlop’ writing is useless and absolutely out of place.
      Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Firstly, I liked Dunlop’s style of writing. Secondly, I think she does a great job of explaining some things about Chinese food that is not immediately obvious to many Westerners. And finally, she does do some interesting exploration of some sensitive political areas as the legacy of Mao and situation in removed regions; as well as spiritual matters:  believes, habits, superstitions. This book let me know the Chinese culture more, even though it is only about ther Sichuan region and through the taste and smell perspective

Rating: 

    2/5   

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

Author: Anna Kendrick
Original title: Scrappy Little Nobody
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Autobiography, Memoir
Format: Audio book
Read by: Anna Kendrick
Duration: 6h
Goodreads

Blurb:
A collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the Academy Award-nominated actress and star of Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect. Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air, Twilight, and Into the Woods, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, and “10 percent defiant.”

My thoughts:
      Scrappy little book about nothing. I do not like the book, and I had 3 moments when I wanted to DNF it, but since it is not that big I finished it. I did not find either anything interesting either about Anna herself or about the people around her. There were quite a lot of speculation and a lot of description of movie events, which were ok, not grasping but eatable. I found the part where she describes her adventures during High Society performing in New York City most interesting actually. The rest was kind of dull, not in the since it was not interesting what happened in her life but the writing was not that good.
      On the whole I had a feeling that this book was written for the sake of the book, I do not see any other purpose. It is not that informative about Anna herself (do not see much relation description with her parents or friend), nor about her career development and the effect every movie had on her (everything is described so vaguely and common), nor it has any educational value. What nagged me a lot is the attitude towards drugs (I count weed here too). Sometimes there was some kind of advises to the reader, and then something like "I was so happy he had a joint" comes out in the middle of nowhere. The usage of the f*** word combination and female organs are also were not so much in place. It just did not coincide with the whole picture of the book and set the teeth on edge. The reading of the book was also average, sometimes I felt so uneasy when she screamed to emphasize the line.
      Altogether, I guess it is a book to read for a teen who thinks about acting career, to see the obstacles and difficulties or for truly loyal fans of Anna Kendrick but for me it was a waste of time.

Rating: 

    2/5 

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

Author: Amy Schumer
Original title: The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Autobiography, Memoir
Format: audio
Read by: Amy Schumer
Duration: 8h6m

Blurb:
In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is - a woman with the courage to bare her soul to stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh.

My thoughts:
           I truly liked the book. It is definitely not a masterpiece and for sure it is not the read for everyone. But being a grown up woman I can relate to so many things Amy is talking about.
I had no idea who Amy Schumer is when I started the book, and was I shocked by the content of the book at the beginning? Hell yeh!  She speaks freely about many girls' subjects, even about the ones which are discuss in close friendly circles only. Maybe she is too open in revealing her faults and intimate parts of her life, but on the other hand who talks about that really? Mothers? There are some things you cannot even talk with your mom about. Friends? They can be the same inexperienced as you are. But some topics need to be raised. Perhaps the biggest minus of the book is that the narration is too blunt, no hints or reading between lines, Amy delivers her opinion, without much space for discussion, but I guess this is her style on stage and life, so it is not bad after all.
           In any case, if you know Amy Schumer and looking for some fun, this is not the book to choose. Actually it is there is a lot of speculation on many important topics: as domestic violence, parent-children relationship, rape, gun prohibition and gender inequality. Of cause, there are sparkles of humor (how it is without it?) but, I had a feeling that the book is not only aiming to entertain the reader, but educate to some extent.

 Rating: 

    4/5