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I read Relish, by Lucy Knisley, which is an adorable graphic coming-of-age memoir that's centered around food and travel. I loved how she showed her parents' parallel interests post-divorce: both parents are extremely food-oriented, and both are world travelers, but they prefer to experience food and the world very differently, which in turn allows Lucy a broader range of experience. And I loved her philosophy about food, which lines up quite neatly with mine about books: like what you like, and make no excuses for your taste. ALSO. Each chapter ends with a related recipe (huevos rancheros! pasta carbonara! sushi!), and MAN OH MAN, if Knisley wrote an entire cookbook in this format, I'd buy it in a hot second. Love.

I also read Stephanie Kate Strohm's Confederates Don't Wear Couture, which, like its predecessor, is funny and light and chock-full of cool historical facts. While the rom-com angle wasn't as strong as in the first book—I never find it as satisfying when characters have gotten together and then conflict is introduced purely to Create Tension—it's still an entertaining, fun romp, and I very much hope for more. (Yay for more Dev Ravipati in this one, though I do admit that I was completely thrown when he used the word 'tranny'. Use of the word—in that specific situation, especially—would be in keeping with his personality, though, as he tends to not be remotely interested in political correctness, etc. See: his response to Libby's surprise about his lack of qualms re: the murky ethical questions that surround Civil War reenactments.) Bonus points for all of the info about historical reenactments (cultural as well as mechanical), for the suggestions for further reading, and for discussing the problematic aspects of celebrating and glorifying certain parts of history without ever completely taking sides on the issue.

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Book source(s): ILLed through my library.

From the NYT:

The College of Charleston, a public university, provided copies of Ms. Bechdel’s memoir to incoming students for the 2013-14 academic year, as part of its annual College Reads! program that tries to encourage campus-wide discussion around a single book each year. The books are not required reading.

But one state representative, Garry Smith, told South Carolina newspapers this winter that he had received a complaint about “Fun Home” from a constituent whose daughter was a freshman at the college. Mr. Smith contacted the college to ask about other options for College Reads!, and said he was told there were none. Mr. Smith then proposed cutting $52,000 – roughly equivalent to the cost of the reading program, he said – from the college’s $20 million appropriation from the state. The budget cut is now moving through the legislature; South Carolina news media coverage indicates some sizable political support for the cut.

...in a nutshell:

(Minus the sentimental part. Basically just, I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU.)

Roshi Fernandez on Maya Angelou at NPR:

I had entered the second year of the six years when I didn't speak of the-thing-that-happened-to-me-when-I-was-11, and I was looking for explanations of that thing. And I was looking for ways to introduce the subject to my parents, so they would say, "Oooh, I understand," in an unemotional, chatty way, and we could get thatthing out into the open.

In Maya Angelou, I found some answers. Reading I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings explained more to me than the Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins novels that we passed around the classroom ever did. Maya Angelou told me quite clearly — your body is yours.

CARY ELWES.

ON THE MAKING OF THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

From the CBC:

More than 25 years later, Cary Elwes still has the fondest memories of starring in The Princess Bride.

The actor has a deal with Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for a memoir about the beloved fairy tale. The book is called As You Wish: Tales from the Princess Bride.

Touchstone announced Friday that it has scheduled publication for the fall of 2014.

From Comic Book Resources:

The school board in the Japanese city of Matsue has restricted student access to Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen, the autobiographical story of a six-year-old boy who survived the Hiroshima bombing.

The board ruled that the book will remain in elementary and junior high school libraries but only teachers will have access to it; students will not be allowed to check it out.

From Today:

Since his heyday as beloved character Brandon Walsh, the 43-year-old has battled legal woes and a life-changing car crash, gotten married, had kids, stepped behind the camera a few times, and, as a native Canadian, even become an American citizen.

And soon, Priestley will be adding "author" to his resume — he's penning a memoir about his personal life that will hit bookstore shelves next spring.

The as yet untitled tome will delve into some never-before-revealed behind-the-scenes action on "90210," the teen hit that skyrocketed Priestley to stardom in the 1990s.

I shouldn't be this excited, but here we are.

...I wrote about Aaron Hartzler's Rapture Practice:

Capital-b Belief is something that I have immense respect for, but I’ve never felt like I’ve succeeded in completely wrapping my mind around it. Maybe it’s one of those You Know It If You Feel It things? But this book, despite the vastly different life experience that it depicts—...when I say we believe that Jesus is coming back, I don’t mean metaphorically, like someday in the distant future when the lion lies down with the lamb and there is peace on earth. I mean literally, like glance out the car window and, “Oh, hey, there’s Jesus in the sky.” There will be a trumpet blast, an archangel will shout, and Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds.— has come the closest to helping me understand something that I’ve spent years trying to grasp.

Loved it.

...in a Michigan high school:

It never dawned on Heather Campbell that she'd one day work to get a book banned from a school's curriculum.

But Campbell found herself in just that position after she read Jeannette Walls' memoir "The Glass Castle," a book assigned to her freshman daughter over the summer as part of the 9th grade honors English course at Traverse City West Senior High School.

Well, this was one of the more depressing books I've read this year.

My Friend Dahmer is an account of Jeffrey Dahmer's teen years—the years just before he began killing—written in comic book format by one of his high school classmates, Derf Backderf. As Backderf draws heavily from his own recollections of and interactions with Dahmer, it works, in part, as a memoir, but he also spoke with former classmates and did a huge amount of research—there are pages and pages of notes at the end* in which he lists all of the various places (books, news reports, interviews) he pulled details from—so it works as a work of nonfiction as well.

That was probably a more long-winded explanation than you needed, but I always find it annoying that "graphic novel" is used as a catch-all term for the format, even in the instances in which the book in question isn't a novel. Anyway.

It's an outstanding book. The story isn't sensationalized, and there's no exploitation of Dahmer or his victims. It's a sad story about a tormented person set during a weird time in an everyday place. Backderf's inclusion of scenes featuring his own family and friends serve as a striking parallel to Dahmer's experience at home and at school, and in addition to the partial biography of Dahmer, the book also serves as a very specific portrait of a small Ohio town in the 1970s.

There's a big difference between searching for the reasons behind something—trying to understand—and making excuses. This book falls firmly in the former category. Backderf stresses in his introduction that he doesn't sympathize for Dahmer-the-monster, but that he has pity for Dahmer-the-lonely-kid. And that comes through: he successfully separates the pre-killings Dahmer from the post-killings Dahmer, and he makes it really easy to feel for the pre-killings Dahmer. In My Friend Dahmer, he's a kid with no one to turn to—if adults didn't even notice his rampant alcoholism, it's hard to imagine him turning to any of them for help—struggling against violent, ugly urges that he knows are wrong.

Ultimately, he gives into them, and we all know where the story goes from there.

Blerg. I need recommendations for a happy book, please.

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*Which are easily as interesting as the rest of the book.

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Author page.

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Amazon.

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Book source: ILL through my library.

From the interview:

GANTOS: And so, at any rate, so I go to court. I dress up. I look nice. And the judge, you know, asked me if I have anything to say for myself. I go, I'm guilty, Your Honor, but I'm a very nice boy.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

GANTOS: And he looks at me and he says "nice boys don't smuggle dope." And I was, like, oh, you got me there, Judge.

How'd you do on the quiz? I was 2/3. (Without guessing! I knew the answers! I don't know what that says about my brain, but there you go.)

If you haven't read Hole in My Life, you really should.

Ditto Love Curse of the Rumbaughs, though I do fully understand that it won't be to everyone's taste...

And before anyone asks, Dead End in Norvelt is near the top of my TBR pile. I SWEAR.

...or not.

From Tom Grimes' memoir:

"I began to consider the implications of having a book marketed as a baseball novel published by Disney. I imagined serious reviewers tossing it into a bin reserved for young adult novels, all of which ended with a World Series winning home run that completed the fairy tale season of a team of plucky underdogs."

Josh is re-reading All Creatures Great And Small, and as I was wandering by this afternoon, I noticed this bit on the back cover:

If Jonathan Livingston Seagull needed a doctor, James Herriot would be the one he'd choose...

Just... WHAT??

People who use the term "graphic novel" as a catch-all term for any book in comic format, EVEN IF IT'S A MEMOIR.

According to the Wikipedia page, it can be used in that way, but I protest.  Strongly.  On the grounds that IT MAKES NO SENSE.

People who use the term "graphic novel" as a catch-all term for any book in comic format, EVEN IF IT'S A MEMOIR.

According to the Wikipedia page, it can be used in that way, but I protest.  Strongly.  On the grounds that IT MAKES NO SENSE.

Salon lurrrves Hannah Friedman's Everything Sucks!

Want to know how to tell that they really, really love it?  That it's really super fantastic?

Because it's not like THAT OTHER YA:

Not only is Friedman's writing striking for its blunt, unromantic realism; her prose also displays a self-aware wit that is all too rare in the genre.

Her refusal to moralize or provide an easy resolution sets "Everything Sucks" apart from YA literature's preponderance of breezy, formulaic narratives.

Because a memoir marketed to YAs is exactly the same thing as a series novel marketed to YAs, or a SF novel marketed to YAs, or a historical fiction novel marketed to YAs, or a thriller marketed to YAs, or a romance marketed to YAs, or literary fiction marketed to YAs. 

I mean, heck, that's how we look at books marketed to adults, right?  When talking about whatever new memoir is taking the adult literary world by storm, it would be totally acceptable to say it was better than the majority of adult literature by comparing it to books by James Patterson, right?  Because not only does it make sense to compare a memoir to series fiction, it totally makes sense to take potshots at popular fiction while we're at it?

I am so over this garbage. 

(link via LizB who got it via Omnivoracious)

If the fat sandwich didn't do you in, you should go and read* Justine Larbalestier's hella-disgusting (and hilarious) first kiss story.

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*Or re-read, if you've already read First Kiss, Then Tell.

From PW:

HarperCollins Children’s Books has acquired world rights to 13 children’s books featuring the Labrador John Grogan wrote about in his bestselling memoir, Marley & Me.

I'm sorry, but gag me.

And also, BO-RING.

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*My mistake.  Apparently, there are already two Marley picture books in addition to the middle grade adaptation of the adult memoir.

From the Guardian:

"I'm always getting asked 'is this you in this book?'" said Burgess, "so I thought I'd say what I'd done. It was also a good way of looking at what it's like being a teenager. I did it, it was finished, and my publisher at Andersen Press was happy with it. Memoirs don't sell as well as fiction, but it was all sorted, but then they had it read for libel."

Well, I want to read it.  So I hope it works out, and I hope it works out so he can publish it as an actual memoir, rather than fiction.

From The Guardian:

I'd made up elaborate imaginary games ever since I could remember, and by the time I was six or seven I'd started writing about them in little Woolworths notebooks. I attempted my first novel when I was nine. I was no Daisy Ashford. It was only about 20 pages long and it had hardly any plot. It makes embarrassing reading now, but it's recognisably a JW novel, about an impoverished large family with many problems. I tackled marital arguments and difficult teenagers and sibling rivalries. I was very much a girl for gritty realism, even in those days.

I'm looking forward to it -- I haven't read NEARLY enough Jacqueline Wilson.

And here it is.