Born a Crime

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
On Sale November 15, 2016 by Spiegel & Grau
Rating: ★★★★

Trevor Noah was the only white kid in the black neighborhood, the only black kid in the white neighborhood, and the only mixed-race kid in the colored neighborhood. He didn't always know where he fit in, but he always knew who he was.

Noah was born in South Africa while it was still under the system of apartheid. He is the product of a black woman from the Xhosa tribe and a white Swiss father, who broke the racial purity laws that could have landed them in jail for several years if their "crime" of having a son together were ever discovered. Noah spent the first couple years of his life hiding indoors, his family not wanting to attract too much attention or have people asking questions. 

More than anything, this book is a coming of age story, set on a backdrop of insane social and political injustice. The star of the story is not the author himself, but his mother-- a no-nonsense and deeply religious woman who was determined to raise her son to be able to withstand the harsh treatment he'd get from the world.

I'm going to be honest: I didn't think this book was all that funny. That didn't surprise me, because I don't find Noah funny on The Daily Show. That said, this book contains occasional gems like this:

"But the more we went to church and the longer I sat in those pews the more I learned about how Christianity works: If you're a Native American and you pray to the wolves, you're a savage. If you're African and you pray to your ancestors, you're a savage. But when white people pray to a guy who turns water to wine, well, that's just common sense."

However, I really did enjoy his insider view of apartheid and the transition years right afterward. It's the larger perspective that earns this book my recommendation.

The Romantics

The Romantics by Leah Konen
Published November 1, 2016 by Amulet Books
Rating: ★★★★

Love is patient. Love is kind. Love totally dropped the ball with Gael Brennan's parents and feels the best recourse is to save Gael's own love life. And that means keeping him away from the rebound girl.

"... leave it to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope to convince a guy that someone who straight-up irks him will also somehow save him."

I might cross-stitch that onto a pillow.

The problem with Gael is that he's a romantic. Not like he's into romantic comedies or anything like that, because he's not. He likes real movies, like Wes Anderson ones. But he falls in love too hard and too fast. So it's not surprising that his very first relationship ends in disaster when he blurts out the big ILY way too early. Hurt, Gael is desperate for a reminder that love is real. So when he runs into Cara in a meet-cute, he puts too much importance on the moment. But even as Gael is perusing Cara, Love knows his real destiny is with Sammy, his younger sister's babysitter.

This is a cute, fun read. That said, if you remove the quirky element of Love as the narrator, this becomes a very basic, expected romance. It's clear early on that a Sammy and Gael pairing is the endgame, and while I accepted the premise, I didn't think it grew organically. Sammy was supposed to be perfect for Gael, but I didn't really see it. In any case, this is a quick and mostly satisfying YA romance for those so inclined.

Dead Girl's Society

Dead Girl's Society by Michelle Krys
On Sale November 8, 2016 by Delacorte Press
Rating: ★★★

"The Society. Weird. Sounds like spam, but you know what they say: life is short, read spam." 

Hope is facing a shorter, more sheltered life than most: she has cystic fibrosis and a mother who keeps her trapped inside the house. The only person she has outside contact with is her best friend, Ethan, who is also the object of her crush (go figure). So when "the society" offers her a bit of excitement and a chance to break out of her narrow mold, the email invitation to join the "games" proves too tempting to pass up. Hope finds herself in a twisted competition with a handful of other girls from her old school (when her mom used to let her go to school, that is). The winner gets a huge cash prize, but losers will be severely punished. At first, the society almost seems like a blessing. Hope is being raised by a single mother working a cashier job, and the medicines she needs do not come cheap. But as the consequences mount, Hope starts to wonder why the society is after her and will do anything to quit the game.

It was hard for me to take this book seriously. A couple of teens playing games set up by a "mysterious society" with "consequences"-- I was just at the very edge of my seat. So when real, dark stuff starts happening to the characters, I was kind of thrown for a loop. Where did that come from? This book goes from 0 to deadly serious very quickly, and I just didn't find it believable-- any of it. I also thought Ethan could have been eliminated from the book entirely. His character adds little to the story beyond being Hope's love interest, and that proved a pretty average and expected subplot. A teen girl whose best friend happens to be a hot, understanding guy that she happens to be in love with-- is that well not dry yet? I would describe this book as: good, not great, it has it's fun moments and logic does not apply.

The Sound of Gravel

The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir, by Ruth Wariner
Published January 5, 2016 by Flatiron Books
Rating: ★★★★★

Holy Moses, this book just about destroyed me.

This book isn't a TLC show, and readers going into with a certain sense of schadenfreude about polygamist compounds are going to be disappointed. In the end, this is a tale of what happens when people pursue selfish desires (like religious fervor, ideological purity, and attention from a lover) over the well being of their children. The themes that prevail throughout this book hit a lot closer to home than LeBaron, Mexico.

LeBaron is the remote location Ruth Wariner's grandfather, Alma LeBaron, chose as the home for his polygamist cult. The Firstborns, as the group becomes known, believed the modern Mormon church had lost its way, and that polygamist marriage was one of God's most important decrees, as well as the only path to salvation. They refer to the United States as Babylon, and they feel God will sweep down from the heavens any day now to smote it. No surprise the group feels safer in Mexico-- and it doesn't hurt that government officials down there turn a blind eye to their polygamist and child bride practices.

Ruth never knew her father, who was at the time of his death considered the great prophet of the church. He was murdered just months after she was born, at the hands of his own brother in a family-feud-turned-holy-war. Her mother remarries her stepfather, Lane, and Ruth never ever feels comfortable around him. Her young instincts will turn out to be devastatingly correct.

Life is always turbulent as Ruth grows up. Her mother and Lane fight a lot, and Ruth can't understand why her mother keeps having babies with him. Unfortunately, several of Ruth's siblings have mental and physical disabilities of varying degrees. It's not an easy challenge to face in any situation, but Ruth's family also has the burden of being dirt poor and living area with no doctors and no social services. They struggle to survive without even the basics-- no electricity or indoor pluming, no telephone, inadequate food. Her family moves around a lot-- in one hovel more cramped than the next-- and when they are in Mexico, they still have to come back to the US frequently to claim benefits. As a "single mother," Ruth's mother collect food stamps and other types of taxpayer aid. The Firstborns see nothing wrong with living off the teat of Babylon.

I was definitely left with mixed feelings about Ruth's mother. You could tell she loved her children, but she wasn't willing to fight for them when it counted. It seemed like the more children she had, the more pressure put on her by the polygamist compound lifestyle, the more she lost her free-thinking spirit. It's hard to understand why she put so much faith in Lane when he made a fool of her time and time again, and why she didn't protect her children more. But then I have to wonder she owned total responsibility for her actions when she was so brainwashed and beat down.

Through this tumultuous tale, it becomes ever more clear that Ruth is a survivor. She endures more suffering and loss than most and does so with admirable strength. By the end of the book, I was at the edge of my seat, waiting to see if she would escape the cult. I don't think I've come across a memoir where I felt so invested in seeing the author getting a happy ending. I highly recommend this.

Non-Fiction November

This month, I'm participating in Non-Fiction November. The goal of this challenge is to read more non-fiction than you would usually read in a month. I estimate I read 2-3 nonfiction books a month, so for this challenge. I'll be reading 4 books. At least I hope. In addition, there are 4 category challenges: new, fascinating, important, and controversial. Here's what I'll be reading this month:

For the category fascinating, I'll be reading Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah. This book won't be published for another couple of weeks, but I was lucky enough to win it in a giveaway. I don't know a lot about apartheid. The system was abandoned before I got old enough to be aware of socio-political issues in far away countries. But when I read the book blurb for this, I was fascinated. Because Noah is the child of a white man and a black woman, his existence was literally considered criminal by the state. Can you even imagine? He had to hide for the first five years of his life. I can't wait to read more.

In the new category, I'll be reading Sing for Your Life: A Story of Race, Music and Family by Daniel Bergner. This book was published back in September, and I have an ARC copy of it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. This is about a boy who grows up in poverty in a trailer park only to become a singer with the NY Metropolitan Opera.

For important, I'll be reading Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, by Timothy Snyder. I'll admit: I'm a little intimidated by this book. It's nearly 500 pages of small type and there's just so much material packed into these pages. I also know this won't be an easy read, as histories of genocide never are. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing what this book adds to the others I've read on the Holocaust (if you're my Goodreads friend, you might have already noticed I read a lot of books on WW2).

I wanted to read one book from every category, but, after racking my brain, I couldn't find a nonfiction book I owned that could be considered controversial. I really don't want to rely on library books for this challenge, because I just know someone will check out what I want first and keep it for the whole month. So I'm reading The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson by Jeffery Toobin. Honestly, I've had this book on my shelf for months, waiting for the perfect opportunity to read it. So thank you Non-Fiction November!

Would you like to join Non-Fiction November? Stop by the Goodreads group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/174090-nonfiction-november-2016. If you blog about what you're reading for the challenge, please feel free to link your post in the comments section below.

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
On Sale November 1, 2016 by Atria
Rating: ★★★★★


"We're in my brain, Noahnoah. And it got smaller overnight again." 

Noah and his Grandpa share a special bond. Together, they speak the language of numbers. Because mathematics will always lead you home.

Until it doesn't anymore.

Lately, Grandpa has been struggling to make it home. The distance between hazy memories and lucidness is growing longer each day. Grandpa doesn't want to forget all the numbers to pi, his favorite doctor joke, and especially not his beloved late wife. Luckily, Noah vows to help him remember.

This charming and heartbreaking novella is everything you'd expect from Fredrik Backman. It's a rare author who can wrap dementia up in sunshine and do it in a way that feels moving instead of flippant or manipulative. If you enjoy Backman's usual brand of quirky melodrama, this will be no exception. This is the kind of book I think I would get even more from on a reread (it can be a bit confusing at first to decipher what was in Grandpa's head and what was really taking place-- at least it was for me). And coming in at less than 100 pages, why not revisit Grandpa and Noah's special world?

Faithful

Faithful by Alice Hoffman
On Sale November 1, 2016 by Simon & Schuster
Rating: ★★★

Shelby is determined to pay a lifetime of penance. When she's seventeen, she's involved in a one-vehicle crash that leaves her best friend in a vegetative state and herself in psych ward. Shelby is convinced the accident is actually her crime, and she's volunteered to serve as the warden to her own emotional prison. Instead of going to college, she shaves her head, festers in her parents' basement, only making human contact with her weed supplier.


I thought the beginning to Faithful was really interesting. A young woman in pain, full of self-loathing and self-abuse. There were so many directions this story could have gone... but I don't think it went much of anywhere.

Things just happen to Shelby. Good things. Even though she doesn't want them, doesn't think she deserves them, and does nothing to earn them. First, her aforementioned pot dealer turns into a stable adult and falls in love with her, and they move to NYC. She gets a job at a pet store-- happy to stock shelves and avoid both customers and co-workers-- and is promoted to manager because. Then she starts going to college, surprises herself that it just all comes so naturally to her, and the state of New York throws money at her for her education. She's also the most wonderful babysitter in the world and can fix an entire family with her reluctant awesomeness. She also rescues (steals) pets all over the city because she loves animals so much and knows what is best for them.

Shelby, in her way, is a total Mary Sue. She's so determined to self-destruct, and yet just so special that all the forces of the universe conspire to keep her alive and give her a happy ending. All while she wallows in her own, endless pool of self-pity.

There are elements of magical realism here, but they play a minor role in the book and felt a bit out of place with the rest of the book. Romance played a much larger role, but, in the end, I only became convinced that Shelby makes horrible choices when it comes to men.

Shelby didn't grow enough for me as a character, especially considering the timeline of this book spans over a decade. It's hard for me to knock this book below 2.5 stars, because it is well written, decently paced, and many of the supporting characters possess the charisma Shelby lacks. And I did enjoy the relationship between Shelby and her mother. Ultimately, though, Faithful fell flat for me.