Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

Book Club Book #2

There's a scene in the book where a teenage Noah and his buddies end up in front of kids and teachers in a Jewish school for a performance. One of the kids performing is named Hitler. You'll have to read the book to see how awkward things get, but it all happened because Noah had never learned that the "original" Hitler was a bad man. He had no idea, at that time, what had occurred during the war. Additionally, the magnitude of WWII was felt on a totally different level being raised in a country where being the lesser ethnic group was standard for so long.

It's just a snippet from the book, but one that clearly illustrates the difference in Noah's childhood. It also was a point that hit me personally, I know as much about life in apartheid South Africa as he knew about WWII.

Having always known people from South Africa, it struck me as odd that I had no concept of life in the country. Then, I couldn't help wondering about the specific stories of the South Africans I knew. They're all Jewish, they're all white. Did they identify with the white community because life was based on skin color, or did our history as a people create a kinship with those suffering? It's a completely separate issue, one that I might need to find a book on to learn more.

As far as Born A Crime goes, it was an intense and enlightening read. Noah takes his extremely personal reflections and pulls back the curtain on this unique society. My own experiences make his life look very hard, very sad, yet within the community he builds through own stories, he always seems to have an edge to support him doing more with this life than adhering to the status quo. Even if it took a while for him to get there, his perspective felt unique compared to the other people he associates with as he grows up.

This is in part thanks to his mother. She's definitely a gift in his life. He never paints her as such, but takes an almost casual observer approach to her resourcefulness and unwillingness to conform. Although not the focus of his stories, Noah gives his mom a lot of "page" time and she's quite an impressive lady. I hope he thanks her for all she taught him, even if the lessons were rough.

The book focuses solely on his childhood in South Africa. Stories aren't totally chronological, but they do come together to tell the story of how Noah's life began. He basically lived in two different worlds because of his parentage, but Noah never takes a "poor me" tone to his stories; he never asks you to appreciate all that he's overcome. He seems to look at his life as just what happened and prides himself on how he figured things out to keep going forward. And, I guess that is what you'd have to do living in a world entrenched in seeing how everyone else is different rather than trying to come together because we're all simply people. 

As an outside, Noah's life is so very interesting. The sheer will to dig out of a situation forced on you by people who simply decided they were better than you is fascinating, and sad. The book took me through so many different emotions, but I feel like I know more now about my world's history than I did before, and understanding the past is the only way to prevent if from happening in the future. Read this book!

The Globe: The Science of Discworld II by Terry Pratchett

Thinking this book was going to further expand on our planet's evolutionary history -- from the title -- I dived into the second volume in this comical/scientific series. 

That's totally not what it's about.

On the fun, fictional side of things, the Discworld wizards have come to Earth to prevent an invasion of elves from essentially taking over the minds of humanity as we develop as a species. We're talking centuries ago, at the birth of man's ability to think creatively. 

Scientifically and historically, this book studies humanity's dependence on narrative thought. Our innate desire to tell stories, to fixate on the stories of others, and how our ability to depict characters and events through stories has impacted our connection to the unknown.

The "globe" referenced in the title is in dedication to someone who Pratchett very clearly values as the pinnacle of creative thought...William Shakespeare. Transferring the unseen into real characters is deftly done in A Midsummer Night's Dream as fairies are given names and personalities. This tactic, the book speculates, demystifies the mystical to a point that they're no longer revered or feared; they no longer have the same power. It becomes the greatest weapon the magicians have against the elves. Their "real" power is essentially dumbed down to a flitting fairy of no consequence through Shakespeare's play, turning them into an ineffective foe regardless of what abilities they actually possess.

This fictional clash in creativity aside, the real concepts discussed in this book are fascinating. Are we really the Great Ape we've named ourselves or just the ones who've mastered storytelling? What impact on belief does putting a face to a name really have when talking about mystical, spiritual, or magical beings? How does humanity's obsession with stories alter our reality? Do we really seek truth or just the next piece of gossip?

I feel like I could talk about the topics in this book forever. They fully peak my interest as a creator of content and as a lover of stories. I would almost suggest skipping volume one, this book is that interesting, but then you'd miss the whole comical setup of Discworld's connection to ours. In true Pratchett style, it's pretty funny. 

This second volume continues to recommend the series as a perfect companion set for all aficionados of the Discworld universe. Happy reading! 

Read this first:
The Science of Discworld (Volume 1)

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

Book Club Book #1

It has been so long since I've picked up a typical beach read, a standard piece of chick-lit any other time of year, that I'd forgotten how much they bug me. The predictable, formulaic, cheesy storyline of so many books in this genre make my literary brain hurt for at least three quarters of the novel. At that point, I've given in, and, knowing a "Hollywood ending" is on its way, just try to enjoy the ride. 

How to Walk Away starts off immediately rubbing me the wrong way when the central character, a woman, is told to, "act like a man," in order to have better job interviews while she's on the hunt. She's just gotten her master's degree! She doesn't need to act like anyone but herself! It's all moot though since immediately after this disturbing introduction, Margaret and her boyfriend get in a plane crash and SPOILER ALERT she ends up in the hospital recovering from severe burns and a possible permanent paralysis from the knee down. This provides the right setting to introduce the brooding physical therapist, who also happens to be Scottish and incredibly cute, to use his tough-love facade to whip Meg back into shape. Her attraction to him seems one-sided, their love is forbidden, they've so many obstacles to overcome, blah, blah, blah. 

I'm not going to lie though and say I didn't begin to care a little about the characters, because I did. I didn't necessarily appreciate everything they did or how haphazard some of the prose got simply to move the story along, but I was entertained. Sometimes the silly turns the story took were more entertaining than the story itself. 

This soap opera of a book definitely was equal parts annoying and entertaining for me. Now I just have to figure out how to talk about it at book club without seeming too tough on the genre. It's hard to do for someone whose favorite books were all published in the previous two centuries.

So, I joined a book club

This wasn't something I had ever actually planned on doing. The very idea of being rushed to finish a book within a month, with two kids running my life, has never seemed like a possibility. I maybe read a little every other night before bed, a little being less than ten pages before I nod off onto my book. I maybe sneak in 20 additional minutes twice a week when my daughter has reading homework and I can sit with her without being interrupted. It's not an easy thing. It has actually been a little torturous for an avid reader like myself.

Which brings me to my second point for not joining a book club - I don't like being told what to read. I have eclectic tastes in books, as I hope this long-standing blog can prove. The idea of having my book selection, for what little time I have to read, dictated by someone else is such a terrible idea. How would I have time to read all the books on my "to read" shelf? How would I ever tackle the ebooks on my Kindle? I'd essentially always be reading to the deadline of book club. It would be like being back in college, in a lit class, only without the satisfaction of getting a really good grade.

So, I'm the worst book club candidate ever. That's quite obvious, and I didn't even mention yet that I'm a bit of a lit snob, who loves classic literature almost as much as modern-day stuff. Yet, here I am, almost done with my first book club selection, about three-and-a-half weeks away from my first meeting. How did I get here?

This book club only meets every other month.

What a revelation! Give me two months to read one book, and the pressure is off. I can easily read a book in two months, probably even add in another book of my own so I'm whittling down my own to-reads while being exposed to new stuff. I actually jumped at the opportunity to join this book club because of the instant flexibility I felt in its set up. Why don't more book clubs do this?

I love talking about books, and often do with most of my friends and a lot of my family. I love talking about what I read so much, I have this blog devoted to me reviewing everything I read. Of course it makes sense I'd want to get together with a group of readers and talk about what we all just finished reading over wine. And yet, it wasn't until I found this low-pressure environment that I ever considered being a part of a book club. I'd always fantasized about having a book club where everyone just read whatever they wanted, then regularly got together and recommended books to each other, but nobody ever seemed interested in that. So instead, I'm really looking forward to my first book club meeting of the first book club I've ever officially joined.

The point of this post is to remind all the different readers out there that you don't have to read in a vacuum. There are people out there who read like you, who accept their limitations when it comes to time, but still do what they can to come together and share a passion for the written word. Seek them out. Always be looking. And while you're at it, cross your fingers that my brazen personality does okay in this book club because I've got some harsh things to say about this first reading selection (review coming soon.)