Book Review: The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This tiny book was originally an essay Jhumpa Lahiri wrote for a writers festival in 2015.

I listened to the audio book, read by the author herself and I thought it was lovely, as usual with her writing. Jhumpa has a lovely voice and she is definitely one of my favorite writers. The audio only takes 1 hour which felt like a breeze after my last audio book that was 16 hours plus long.

While I was listening I thought about the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover”, which I feel we do all the time, and of course not only with books, but we really should be careful. At least I know I have picked up books that pop up among others, drawn to them by their cover, at least a few times. And sometimes I am really surprised while I read them and find out I had a totally different idea in my head. I do think the book covers set an expectation in the reader and I thought it was so interesting she mentions Virginia Wolf collaborating with her sister on the selection of the covers for her books. The sister didn’t even read the books but Virginia Wolf would tell her the story.

Since I love visual art and illustration I think a beautiful cover would be the cherry on top of a good read. Still, I will try to remember we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover!

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Book Review: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Another Audio-Book!
It was read by the author and I felt like listening to a podcast. It was cool to hear the tone of the author in some parts of the reading, as his voice got a bit shaky as he recounts some difficult memories and you could sense the change of his emotions. Peterson combines his professional experience as a therapist, along with his personal stories and a lot of different topics including religion, science, equality, communism, politics, gender equality, pets, animals, etc, etc. I think is a good read. He really goes across a lot of branches in one topic but comes back to the main idea eventually.

Here is the summary of the 12 rules:


Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back. (Like the Victoria Lobsters.)

Rule 2: You can begin by treating yourself, as if you were someone, you were responsible for helping.

Rule 3: Make friends with people who want the best for you.

Rule 4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.

Rule 5: Do not make your children do anything that makes you dislike them.

Rule 6: Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.

Rule 7: Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient.

Rule 8: Tell the truth, or at least, don’t lie.

Rule 9: Assume that the person you are listening to, might know something you don’t.

Rule 10: Be precise in your speech.

Rule 11: Do not bother children, when they are skate boarding.

Rule 12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street. Dogs are ok too.

PS:

What will you write with your Pen of Light?








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Book Review: Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A tragicomic memoir of genius, heroin, love and loss by Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love and Loss by Stephanie Wittels Wachs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A few days ago, my cousin’s son died from a very similar cause as the story on this book.

I have no other reference or know anyone else that has battled with this type of disease, a really tough one and a devastating one for any parent. I found this book because I started searching for ted talks about grief and I found a very good one by a lady called Nora McInerny, where she talks about losing her unborn baby, dad and husband from different illnesses in the last quarter of the same year. Most people don’t want to talk about these rough moments or they may not even have the energy to do it. I found that she has a podcast call Terrible, Thanks for Asking, which talks about the sad realities that people go through when they lose a family member or a closed one. I then found a specific podcast where McInerny interviews this writer and her mom and they talk about what they went through with their brother/son Harris Wittels, who was a famous comedian and writer for shows including Parks & Rec, and how it has impacted their lives in a very raw, very honest way.

I didn’t read the book, but heard the audio version narrated by the writer herself and she is very good at it. This book includes very sad, horrifying moments and also very sweet ones after such immense loss.

May my young cousin rest in peace and may my cousin (his mom) get the strength and comfort to carry on, and all of those battling! 🙏

“let’s stop finding a new witch of the week and burning them at the stake. We are all horrible and wonderful and figuring it out.” Harris Wittels



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Listening to my first Audio Book, not in a car!

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ok, this is the first Audio Book I have been able to actually listen to and finish! Amy’s voice talking about her life was a good companion when I woke up at random hours in the middle of the night, and I was so alert that couldn’t go back to sleep easily, so I started playing some podcasts, and then I tried this book! I think this book is probably funnier listening to, than just reading it by yourself. You get the intonation, the pauses, the laughter, the excitement, and you get a much better picture about her, or it seems that way. I also listened to this audio book while cooking and that was good too! I am not really able to concentrate in audio if I am out and about, or in public transit, I find it too distracting, but I can read during my commute and this works better.

About the book content, well, it’s about Amy Poehler’s life, some highlights of her childhood, her family, growing up in Massachusetts, her years in Chicago doing comedy and then her move to NY and her career taking off. Obviously, comedians, like artists, dancers, athletes, etc, don’t do it for the money, and this is her case. She had a blast during the years when she was not famous and of course still has a blast. I liked that she mentions some of her bad life moments like her divorce, or depression in a light way, but honest at the same time. Her love for her children is just so relatable, and her account of her trip to Haiti is so sad, I am not sure why, but I even teared up a bit about the baby she was trying to pass to the mom, then realizing there was no mom, she was visiting an orphanage. 😥 She tries to compare Haiti with his rich cousin Dominican Republic, and maybe she has been to Punta Cana or la Romana, but DR is also very very poor, except maybe not as bad as Haiti… small observation there. We tell our stories from our own little place where we stand, this is true!



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