meg reads and reads

Title: Born a Crime Author: Trevor Noah This is the first audiobook that I have made it through, beginning to end. And it's absolute gold. In Born a Crime, Trevor Noah takes us through his life, growing up as the son of a Swiss father and a Xhosa mother. In apartheid South Africa, his parents could have gone to prison because of their relationship and Trevor's birth. Apartheid ended when Trevor was a child, but of course the racial dynamics didn't change all that much. Trevor describes things that were very enlightening for me, things that I can never fully understand as a white woman living in America, but that I can at least get a glimpse of through his honest writing. He tells funny stories of the trouble he got into as a mischievous young man. He tells stories of struggle, of how he never really felt like he fit in when he was in school. He tells of his roundabout journey to comedy. He tells stories of his tough-as-nails mother who was his disciplinarian, his ro...

Title: Easy Go Author: John Lange Early in his career, Michael Crichton wrote some books under the pseudonym John Lange. I had never read anything by Crichton before (though, having grown up in the '90s, I'm obviously a huge fan of the film  Jurassic Park). This was not a good way for me to meet his work. I found the plot to be short on...well, everything, to be honest. I love a good heist story, but this is just not a good heist story. The racial and gender dynamics are problematic (he spends a lot of time talking about the female characters' breasts...I mean a lot of time; that's one example of many). Lots of cigarettes are smoked. Lots of pointless details are given that would have been great if something was done with them. It just...is sorely lacking in many ways. I finished the book relieved that I could finally move on to something else after having my time wasted. Two out of five stars. ---------------------------- QUOTE "All religions are co...

Title: I'm Done Author: Gurpreet Kaur I have always had a bit of a soft spot for confessional poetry, and Gurpreet Kaur's I'm Done  is no exception. I breezed through the poetry in this book, ravenously consuming words of love, heartbreak, despair, determination, and resilience. Almost any person can relate to Kaur's work, and I'm truly pleased with how the writing has matured since the publication of Warriors.  The layout of this book is stellar, with the alternating black and white pages and the creative spacing to enhance the reading. Kaur also employs strong use of metaphor. My only real complaints are that some of the word choices are a little awkward and repetitive and that the book could use a good editor to help smooth out some of the rough spots. I am quite glad that I read this one and give it a strong four out of five stars. ------------------------------------------ READING PROGRESS Ammey McKeaf by Jane Shoup: 73% Insomnia by Stephen King...

Title: When We Believed in Mermaids Author: Barbara O'Neal I actually really enjoyed this book. I liked the way the story slowly unfolded, keeping you interested without giving everything away. I liked the characters, even Josie/Mari. Even their mom. I liked the mystery of what happened to Veronica going on in the background. I liked the description of the landscape and culture of New Zealand. There was so much to enjoy in this book. I did have one thing that bugged me, and that was the fact that the author really likes to describe what's happening in triplicate. For example, "...he kissed me, and kissed me, and kissed me." That's one example of several in the book, and she used that one more than once. It was a little distracting for me. Anyway, it was good despite that, and I give it four out of five stars. ------------------------- READING PROGRESS Ammey McKeaf by Jane Shoup: 61% Insomnia  by Stephen King: 64% Easy Go by John Lange: 66% If You ...