Review: Vincent and Theo

Title: Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers
Author: Deborah Heiligman
Publisher: Henry Holt
Year Published: 2017
Source: Library
Rating: 5/5 stars

I thought I knew a decent amount about Vincent Van Gogh. Turns out I only knew the most basic facts.

This beautifully written biography of Vincent and his brother Theo is based on the many letters they wrote to each other and to friends and family. Heiligman writes short chapters in compelling prose that makes you want to keep moving through the story; in fact, I read this book - over 450 pages! - in 3 days.

At first it seems odd that this biography also includes Theo Van Gogh, but once the brothers become adults, it is clear that Theo is as important a player in this story as Vincent. There would have been no Vincent without Theo, in fact (and don't get me started on the epilogue with Theo's wife!). Their lives were so intertwined that full understanding of Vincent MUST include knowledge of Theo as well.

I had a few small quibbles with the book. The first was that there weren't enough images, especially of the sketches. I understand that color plates of the paintings make a book more expensive, and I was happy with the number of plates, but more black and white images of sketches throughout would have been helpful. (I was often reading in the lunchroom at work which somehow has the worst wifi reception despite being right next to the router and I couldn't look anything up.) The second problem was that mental health issues were brought up often but covered very minimally. Since Heiligman used the brothers' letters as her main inspiration, and since mental health was barely understood at the time, it's understandable that there wasn't much in the book about it. However, a chapter outside the narrative with a basic explanation of bipolar disorder would have added a lot though.

Appeal Factors: narrative non-fiction, fast-paced, lyrical
Awards and Nominations: 2018 YALSA Nonfiction for Young Adults Award nominee, 2017 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction winner
Read-alikes: Charles and Emma (also by Heiligman)

Review: Bomb

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, and I read even less Young Adult non-fiction, but when I saw review after review giving high praise to Steve Sheinkin's Bomb, I thought I should at least give it a try.

And now I'm wondering why more history books aren't written exactly like this one. It's like reading a thriller spy novel, except I knew that it was all real! Sheinkin did massive amounts of research (as you would need to for a book like this), but most importantly, he included TONS of direct quotes from the people involved. It gave the whole story a much more immediate feel, which is definitely part of its success. In fact, while this makes a perfect YA history book, I'm sure there are many adults who would love this book too.

My only issue with the book was that I had problems following all the different people involved. This is a story, after all, that takes place over years and years and over the span of the ENTIRE globe. There is a substantial cast of characters. And while there were some photos of the people throughout the book, I would have loved an appendix listing everyone with a short description of their roles or even a photograph of them. A map or two wouldn't have hurt either, but then, I'm a very visual learner.

For history buffs, Bomb is definitely a must-read.

Review: Charlotte au Chocolat

As a Boston-area food blogger of almost 5 years (and a life-long diner in the Boston area), I always want to know more about the restaurant scene, past and present, around town. That's why I was so excited to hear about Charlotte au Chocolat by Charlotte Silver. It's the story of growing up in a restaurant - and not just any restaurant, but Upstairs at the Pudding, a real Harvard Square establishment.

I never dined at the Pudding (it closed before I gave two cents about good food), but I have since dined at its replacement, Upstairs on the Square. The owners have remained the same, and Silver talks about many of the reasons why the restaurant moved. The one time I ate there, I found that the atmosphere (bright and garish) outshone the food. It's one of those spots that I've been meaning to try again ever since, but it keeps getting bumped down my list.

The back cover of the book makes it sound like it's the story of a girl in frilly dresses, drinking Shirley Temples until her lips were pink from the grenadine. And yes, there is a lot of that in the story. But what makes this an interesting story is seeing the rise and fall of a local institution through the eyes of a child who is forced to spend much of her time within its walls. I'm sure Silver had other things she could have been doing instead of napping under the bar to stay out of the way during service, but there she was, year in and year out. She marks her own growth along with the demise of her parents' relationship and the cracks in the restaurant. She paints restaurant life in very realistic ways, perhaps in ways that only a child growing up in that environment could catalog.

Of course, the little bits of Harvard gossip make this a fun read for anyone in the Boston area. Who here doesn't enjoy watching clips of the Hasty Pudding Awards on the news (all female winners of the award dined at Upstairs at the Pudding, while the males were taken to other restaurants)? I especially loved hearing about the discordant relationship between the Harvard a capella group that would sing during brunch and the wait staff.

Buy Charlotte au Chocolate on Amazon
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Full Disclaimer: This book was sent to me for free for review. The thoughts about it are all my own.

Review: The Nerdist Way

I've been a huge fan of the Nerdist podcast since shortly after it began almost two years ago. I often bring up the show in conversation, and I've even created an embroidery based on one episode. I've followed Chris Hardwick's progress as he wrote this book through the podcast as well. There was no way I wasn't going to read this as soon as it came out.

This is not a comedian's memoir (although there are plenty of stories from Hardwick's life throughout). This is a self-help book that is hilarious and very easy to read and puts things in terms that nerds will understand. The book is built around the gaming concept of leveling your character (in this case, you) but determining strengths and weaknesses and then expanding upon them.

The concept is nothing I haven't heard before. What made me really enjoy this book, though, was Hardwick's voice. It felt like my nerdy older brother telling me all the ways he had screwed up so I wouldn't have to make the same mistakes. Am I following all the recommendations he made? No, but that's besides the point. At the very least, this book put me in the mindset to make helpful changes to my life (whether they're the changes Hardwick implied or not).

Also, anyone who is a fan of the Nerdist podcast will enjoy this book because of the little glimpses into the Nerdist life. The stories aren't the main reason for the book, but they're quite enjoyable along the way.

Buy The Nerdist Way on Amazon
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Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

I have a new best friend, and she doesn't even know it. To be fair, I think Mindy Kaling is going to have a lot of new best friends after writing Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns).

If you're reading Kaling's book because you love The Office, you'll get some interesting behind-the-scenes stuff (but more about the writers room and less about the acting portion of the show). If you're reading Kaling's book because someone had already taken Bossypants out of the library, you're still in for funny ride. If you're reading Kaling's book because you enjoy awkward tales of youth, you're in luck (I mean, just look at the author photo on the back cover and try not to simultaneously cringe and chuckle). But mostly, if you're reading Kaling's book because you enjoy good humorous memoirs, you've come to the right place.

The book is a good mix of Mindy's life, which I especially enjoyed because we're roughly the same age and we grew up in the same area, so I've been to ALL THE PLACES, and quirky essays about Mindy's thoughts on things like karaoke, chest hair on men, and the "Irish exit."

There is no way for me to adequately describe how funny this book is. I read it in drips and drabs during lunch breaks at work, which I take in an office shared by two women. I had to continuously stifle my laughter because I knew I was interrupting their work, but quite a few snorts, chuckles, and hoots of joy escaped. Somehow, they didn't kick me out.

4/5 stars

Buy Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? on Amazon
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Review: Galileo's Daughter

Galileo's Daugher by Dava Sobel is, truth be told, not a book I would have picked up on my own. I recently joined a book club (well, a more traditional book club), and Galileo's Daughter was this month's pick. I took the book along on a long car ride with me, hoping I would be able to fly through it, but I found that I kept getting stalled. The night before the book club meeting, I forced myself through the second half of the book, often skimming sections.

And when I showed up to book club, I found out that I was one of the few who had made it through the whole thing. I guess we'll be staying away from historical non-fiction for a while...

Galileo's Daughter is a very different book than it sounds like it should be. The book is based around the letters sent to Galileo by one of his daughters, Maria Celeste, a nun at a Florentine convent. It is pointed out that Maria Celeste chose her name based on her father's work, and that Galileo often noted that she was one of the few people intelligent enough to help with his work. Sobel also bases the book around the very touching fact that a female body, presumably Maria Celeste, is interred anonymously alongside Galileo. What an interesting premise!

It is in the telling, however, that things fall short. The story follows the life of Galileo, and Maria Celeste is hardly mentioned for the first 100 pages or so. There are large sections of the book where she doesn't appear, and often when her letters are quoted, they seem to contradict the idea of the strong and smart woman that Sobel is trying to present.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it wasn't named Galileo's Daughter. I realize that her letters are the hook and are what makes this book stand apart from other biographies of the scientist, but I found Maria Celeste to be such a minor character for a book that is named for her!

Sobel does an excellent job describing the times that Galileo lived in, and it is clear that she did a huge amount of research. We had a lively discussion around the machinations of the Vatican and the plague (some members even said they wanted more on the plague!). I can't say that's where we expected our discussion going, but it worked.

Have you read Galileo's Daughter? How did you feel about Maria Celeste's role in the book?

2/5 stars

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Review: Geek Wisdom

When I first heard about Geek Wisdom, edited by Stephen Segal, I was more than a little skeptic. As a self-proclaimed Nerd and Geek (by my definitions, nerd = passionate about academic subjects and geek = passionate about pop cultural subjects), I've seen how geekery has become widely accepted over the past few years. Often, that means it is co-opted by brands and companies that have no idea what being geeky actually means. So I figured this quirky little sampler of quotes wouldn't necessarily mean all that much to real geeks.

Man, was I wrong. There is so much truth in this book. Each page features a quote or two from famous geek texts (ranging from Shakespeare to internet memes, with plenty of television, movies, and novels in among the mix) along with a brief discussion of why this is important to the hordes of geeks out there or what it has to say about how we geeks see our world.

That's not to say that every single brief essay in this book works. With some quotes, the author's barely touch upon the quote itself and deal with another matter entirely. The best of the essays, though, (and I'll say the majority of the essays are among the best) really touch the heart of the quote in question, distilling the ideas that geeks feel in their hearts, even if the mind can't explain it so succinctly.

For example, the first quote in the book is "With great power comes great responsibility," written by the great Stan Lee. This has become one of the tenants of geekdom (closely followed, I would think, by Wil Wheaton's "Don't be a dick"). And really, it's something we all understand without too much thought. But the authors of the book point out how this affected not just Spiderman, but also George Washington, King David, Albert Einstein, and Franklin Roosevelt (and that Paris Hilton has somehow not come to understand it at all).

Even if you don't care about the discussion, this is a great collection of geeky quotes. I kept saying to myself that a particular quote was my favorite quote, but then I'd turn the page and find one I liked even more. I just have so much love for this book! It really is the perfect gift for any geeks in your life (in fact, I'm thinking I should just buy a box to have on hand as ready-made gifts).

5/5 stars

Review: The Girl Who Was On Fire

It probably took me ten or so pages to absolutely fall in love with the Hunger Games a couple of years ago. I devoured the first book, then held off on reading Catching Fire because I had heard it ended with a cliffhanger, and I don't have a good track record with unfinished series. But the pull was too great, and I dove into book 2 well before Mockingjay came out. And you better believe book 3 was waiting on my doorstep the day it came out.

I routinely try to push the series on readers who come into the bookstore, even one older woman, who was going on vacation and seemed to like everything else I suggested for her. When parents say it sounds too scary or gory (I have a whole rant on this, believe me), I assure them that the themes of the book are much larger than gore, and that I think the whole series (really, the third book, but you can't get there without the previous two) will be taught in schools one day. Most of them don't believe me and choose books for their kids that are "safe." But I digress.

I have been a big fan of the types of books that look at pop culture through a more academic lens (The Simpsons and Philosophy was the textbook for a class I taught in college about our favorite yellow family and American society). So when I heard that there would be a Hunger Games equivalent, I couldn't wait to read it.

The Girl Who Was on Fire is not another Steig Larsson book, but it is a dive into the world of Panem and the Hunger Games. The assorted essays from authors of all sorts and edited by Leah Wilson touch on the topics of reality TV, politics, the science behind the muttations, why the Capitol should have realized that Katniss might not be the best person to act as Tribute, and a variety of others.

My two favorite essays are "Bent, Shattered, and Mended" by Blythe Woolston and "Team Katniss" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Woolston examines the instances of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) throughout the series and shows how the events in Panem affected the characters in different ways. Barnes creatively turns our society's willingness to turn books like this into battles between the love interests (Team Gale vs Team Peeta) into a look at why Katniss' pick of a partner has less to do with who she loves and more to do with her discovering who she really is.

Some of the book is repetitive, but that's always true of compilations in which the authors don't necessarily know what the others are writing about. If you were left unhappy by Mockingjay like so many people were (I was not among that group), this book might help resolve some of your issues by helping you see why certain events actually made sense (the PTSD chapter was particularly helpful in this, I feel).

3/5 Stars