(audio)book review: Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Yes Please

Written and read by: Amy Poehler

Published: 2014

Synopsis: In Amy Poehler’s highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy’s charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book is full of words to live by





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“I have the Angelina Jolie of vaginas.”

I have found my book soul mate.

Am I surprised that I loved Yes Please? No. Of course I loved it. It's Amy FREAKING Poehler. I was guaranteed to enjoy the crap out of this book. But I am surprised that I loved it this much. When I read Tina Fey's Bossypants I had a ball. I laughed a lot and I gained a huge appreciation for her creativity, work ethic and feminist views. But once I finished it and wrote a gushing review that was kind of it. I'd recommend it to friends who liked 30 Rock and I'd occasionally reblog tumblr posts of quotes from it but it isn't like it shook the foundation of my world y'know? But I can't imagine that I'm going to pop Yes Please aside when I finish this review. It's the kind of book I'll keep around so that I can flip to those particular parts that resonated the most when I need a pick me up or a laugh. I've already replayed chapters to Tom so he can understand why I was cackling to myself in the bedroom for 20 minutes.

One of the reasons I love this book is how much effort was put into it. Audiobook memoirs are always better when read by the writer, they take on a much more intimate feel than I think you'd ever get from reading the physical copy. But Amy Poehler's audiobook is insane. It's an actual production. Aside from her reading and yelling and laughing a lot (her laugh is so infectious), she has Patrick Stewart reading haikus and Kathleen Turner reading the chapter titles and narrating the more serious moments. Her parents come by to offer their lists of important things to do as parents. Carrol Burnett drops by to reiterate that Poehler isn't exaggerating about their first meeting. Michael Shur annotates her chapter on Parks and Recreation, adding little nuggets of gold about one of my favourite comedy shows. The final chapter is read live to an audience, and their laughs and applause are the perfect button to the 7 hour journey Poehler leads. It's unlike any audiobook I've listened to. It's like a variety show for your ears.

Narratively, this book is very similar to Bossypants. But as friends who met in their early 20s and have travelled a very similar career path that isn't really surprising. Poehler also talks about growing up and her first forays into improv and "making it" as an actor and then juggling marriage and having babies with this hectic career, and while they approach these subjects from two very personal perspectives (and hey, it's not like there aren't eleventy billion memoirs about dudes doing the exact same thing) this is probably the main reason I would recommend the audio over the physical book. I'm sure it reads well enough as a physical book, but as a book that stands out from the crowd, I think you need the variety show element that the audio introduces. And while I would never want to say a negative word about my book soul mate, there are some rough chapter transitions and clunky sections every once and awhile. I didn't find them to be glaring in the audiobook, but they might have bugged me if I were actually reading them on a physical page. There are also moments that I think perhaps translate better to audiobook, although without reading the physical copy I'm not even sure exactly how they appear in the physical copy. For instance, during the Parks and Rec chapter there is a moment where she addresses each of her co-stars and then mentions a favourite moment or scene with them in the show. In the audiobook this is a really sweet and funny section where she conveys not only her love of the show but  for each of her co-workers. I don't know how well this would read on the page though. Maybe it'd be fine, but maybe it'd feel a little disjointed or filler-ish.

All that said though, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well Poehler could write. I knew the comedy elements of the book would be fantastic, as would the bursts of outrage or excitement, but there were also some beautifully crafted moments in the book that were really touching. Any time she mentioned her kids her writing softened and glowed. You could tell the moments in her life that have had the biggest impact because the writing was sharper, like she'd been replaying and  rewriting the moment in her head ever since it happened. She's brutally honest about moments in her life that can't have been easy to talk about, like her divorce for instance, but she also tempers those moments by including a section devoted to coming up with self help books for divorcees that are more realistic and, of course, hilarious. This isn't a typical memoir. It reflects Poehler's improv origins, full of short, sharp and eclectic moments. And like improv some of it works while some of it falls short. But the entire package, the entire 7 hour variety show/improv performance is bursting with creativity and heart and far more hits than misses.

Amy Poehler is a really special lady. I'd love to say that I see myself reflected in these pages but when it comes to the personalities of famous funny ladies I probably fall closer to Tina Fey. But Amy Poehler is the kind of girl I would want by my side. There's that Groucho Marx saying that "When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'.” Amy Poehler is definitely the best friend saying "damn that was fun" but she'd also probably be the reason you're in there, maybe because she picked a fight with a guy in the airport who told her she shouldn't be in first class because she talked too much.

“All of my lower-middle-class Boston issues rose to the surface. I don’t like it when bratty, privileged old white guys speak to me like I am their mouthy niece. I got that amazing feeling you get when you know you are going to lose it in the best, most self-righteous way. I just leaned back and yelled, “FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU.” Then I chased him as he tried to get away from me.”

She's a firecracker, hilarious and tiny with a mouth like a sailor and definitely the person you want in your corner. She's put together one hell of a book, one that is an absolute must read (or must listen. DEFINITELY a must listen) for anyone who fancies themselves an Amy Poehler fan (which honestly, is anyone who has ever heard of her).

Book Review: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Broken Monsters

Written by: Lauren Beukes

Published in: 2014

Synopsis: Detective Gabriella Versado has seen a lot of bodies, but this one is unique even by Detroit's standards: half-boy, half-deer, somehow fused. The cops nickname him "Bambi," but as stranger and more disturbing bodies are discovered, how can the city hold on to a reality that is already tearing at its seams?


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“Shakespeare would have it wrong these days. It's not the world that's the stage - it's social media, where you're trying to put on a show. The rest of your life is rehearsals, prepping in the wings to be fabulous online.”

This is going to be a tricky book to review. Like Gone Girl or any mystery book ever, it's best to go into this one knowing the bare minimum. So I'm going to be tip toeing around a lot here, but bottom line, you should probably read this book.

Talking broad picture, the book is about the hunt for a serial killer in Detroit. The book is told from multiple perspectives, the lead detective Detective Versado, her theatre-loving daughter Layla, writer/douchebag extraordinaire Jonno, TK the homeless guy with a heart of gold and struggling artist Clayton. Detective Versado gets the lion share of the narrative, but the others weave in to add new perspectives and depth and transform this from your typical whodunnit. Talking a little more specifically though, it's not really about a serial killer at all. Well. That's not entirely accurate. The serial killer is critical to the narrative and it is a compelling story in its own right, but Beukes uses the serial killer to build a much stronger story of life in today's world of technology and the ramifications of all of these digital versions of ourselves.

The characters may seem a little cookie cutter-ish from my quick summary above, and on the surface they are. But even for the smaller characters like TK, backstory is woven in to give them their motivations, and the greatest motivation for all of them is the city they live in. I know it's cliché to say that the setting is a character in the book, but Detroit couldn't have been exchanged for just any other city. These characters are pushed beyond their limits by the city they live in. Detective Versado is underpaid and overworked, a female struggling to find footing in a career dominated by men, in a city where crime has become a fact of life. TK's struggled his whole life because of a choice made in his adolescence, and opportunities aren't exactly plentiful for a black ex-con who lives on the street. Jonno crashed and burned in New York and is now dependant on Detroit to lift him from the wreckage. Detroit shaped their pasts and motivates their futures. It is this great big shadow that lingers over everyone's lives and decisions and choices. It's oppressive and dangerous. We see the families leaving home because their houses are being foreclosed on, we walk among the ruins of the factories that were abandoned when the town went bankrupt and we watch as people sleep in their cars in a Walmart carpark because the shelters are full. We get stats about the crime rate and discussions on Renisha McBride. But amongst all of this we also see a burgeoning art scene, gorgeous art deco architecture, secret beaches and a committed community. While the novel never ventures into uplifting territory, it does a solid job of showing us that life does continue even when everything seems lost. People adapt to their environments. Unfortunately, while some people adapt for the better creating something from nothing, for some people this adaptation take on a darker role.

While this book is a crime and mystery novel first and foremost, it also has some really creepy scenes. I wouldn't go so far as to say it crosses into horror, but it definitely flirts on the border. Again, it's better to go in knowing very little. So maybe just trust me when I say that I think this novel is a real gem and worth discovering for yourself.

November in Review

It's December. You know what that means!

BOOKS:

What I Read:

*Looking for Alaska by John Green (my review)
*An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield (my review)
*Suicide Squad: Kicked in the Teeth (V1) by Adam Glass, Ryan Benjamin (my review)
*Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
*The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith
*I feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
*Yes Please! by Amy Poehler

Book Stats:

43% male / 57% female
57% American / 43% International
28.5% ebook / 28.5% audiobook / 43% physical
57% fiction / 43% non-fiction
15% graphic novels / 85% novels

Thank god for the minithon, I actually read stuff this month! And look at those stats! Look how much variety there is. They're the most beautiful stats I've had all  year! Not only are comics in the minority (mostly because I was reading single issues which I don't count but shhhh) but I have hella female representation AND actual non-fiction books. When was my last non-fiction read?! (July. The answer is July) So huzzah for me!

What I DNF:

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R Carey

To be honest I'm not sure if I'm going to officially DNF this one, or just shelf it for a few weeks/months. I thought I was going through a reading slump because I just couldn't get through more than a couple of pages at a time. But every other book I've picked up while reading this, Looking for Alaska, Broken Monsters and I Feel Bad About My Neck, I've read without the same stuttering. Maybe this book and I just aren't made for each other. Maybe I just need to give myself a bit of a break. The writing is fine, the characters are fine. They're not world changers - for me anyway - but they could be the recipe for a really solid read. So I'm DNFing for now and I'll pick it up again after Christmas and see if anything has changed.

GIF Rating:

MOVIES

It's been a light month for movie viewings. At the cinema I only saw three movies,the Keanu Reeve's action film John Wick and the epic Interstellar,and part 1 of Mockingjay. I really enjoyed all of them, but for very, very different reasons. If you like big, silly action films then John Wick is a must see, it was delightful! Interstellar was a real mind trip. It's definitely not for everyone (it is 3 hours after all), but I really enjoyed immersing myself in that world. And I thought Mockingjay was solid. But the first half of Mockingjay was always my favourite in the book, what with the commentary on propaganda and using Katniss as a prop for their rebellion, so I think the real test will be whether they can make the second half not suck. I also found the film incredibly emotional given the current events happening in the US and overseas. The release date might have been a coincidence, but it's definitely timely.

DVD wise, a few friends and I spent a night having a bad movie night and we watched the delicious Patrick Swayze treat Roadhouse and the majestic Miley Cyrus vehicle, LOL. If you like bad movies and haven't seen LOL you need to move it to the top of your list. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard at a movie. It is straight up one of the most bonkers films ever made. So stupid, so dumb but so, so great.


LIFE: 

Pretty much all I want to talk about in this section is the amazing package I got in the mail the other day. Nahree had promised to mail me a PhD care package but I had no idea she'd be SO generous.

The zombie apocalypse could come tomorrow and I would not need to worry about getting hungry for MONTHS. Okay, I may end up getting diabetes and dying of heart failure if this was all I ate but for the love of God, how insanely wonderful was Nahree for sending me this! No one does junk food quite like America does junk food*.

Oh, on other life matters. Now that it's December and officially okay to discuss Christmas, does anyone want to do a Christmas card swap?


*I feel like this could be taken as either a compliment or a criticism, but it's definitely meant to be a compliment here.

Graphic Novel Mini-reviews #28

The Wicked and the Divine: The Faust Act (Volume 1)

Written by: Kieron Gillen; Illustrated by: Matt Wilson, Jamie McKelvie

Published: 2014

My Thoughts: I've been reading this since the first issue was released a few months ago and now that the first volume has been released I can finally review it! This is a really interesting series, it uses various mythologies to comment on modern celebrity status and popular culture. The basic concept is that the every 90 years the pantheon of 12 gods are reincarnated and given another 2 years on earth before they die again. During that time they inspire hatred and adoration in equal quanities and are credited with being the trendsetters and muses that push humanity forward. This iteration takes place now and most of the gods are on Earth as rockstars. There's the David Bowie-esque gender bent Lucifer, the Kanye West inspired Baal and my personal favourite, the triplet Morrigan who is a little bit Florence Welch, a little Sinead O'Conner and a whole lot awesome. As much as I enjoy the series, I found reading it as each issue came out a little disjointed, especially in the earliest issues. I think this is the kind of narrative that it helps to give your full attention to from start to finish. And while I'm not really sure where the narrative is headed, I am loving the journey. The art, by the way, is flawless. Really vibrant and clean. And the gods are iconic and completely individual, while also beautifully tying into the symbols and iconography of the gods they represent. I have so much wardrobe, make-up and hair envy - those gods sure know how to put together a look.

Hellblazer: The Devil You Know (Volume 2)

Written by:Jamie Delano; Illustrated by:  David Lloyd


Published: 2014 (original comics from the late 1980s)

My Thoughts: While I'm still really enjoying Constantine as a character, this volume was all over the place. In the first volume I really enjoyed how segmented the issues seemed to be but this time it seemed like a fault rather than a positive. The first couple of issues resolved the primary arc from volume 1, but after that they seemed to hop and skip backwards and forwards in time - at one point he mentions being 30 while he was set up as 35 in volume 1 and another story seems to be set in the late 1990s instead of the 1980s - not completely unexpected since this volume is made up from different arcs. My main issue is that there are vague mentions to haunted pasts and demons hunting him, but because of the time shifts it's hard to work out if it's a threat we've met before or just the kind of hazard most magicians would face. Couple that with some non-traditional panel layouts and I just felt off-centre as I read through. The stories themselves were pretty solid outside this confusion though, there's one in particular "Antarctica" which just kind of blew my mind. So while this one didn't hit the same exact heights as the first, I'm still eager to move on with the series to see where it goes.

Suicide Squad: Kicked in the Teeth (Volume 1)

Written by: Adam Glass; illustrated by: Ryan Benjamin

Published; 2012

My Thoughts: Suicide Squad was a pretty creative way to reintegrate a bunch of out of work villains back into the DC world. Some you'll have heard of (Harley Quinn and Deadshot) while others (King Shark and yo-yo) are probably absent from your memory for a reason. But the rag-taggyness of the group is kind of the point. The higher-ups consider them to be fully expendable, worthless criminals who are only useful as cannon fodder. It's not surprising then that the turn over is pretty high. New villains join the squad only to die five panels over, and unless they're literally falling apart they're not going to see a hospital bed any time soon. One of the things that I really enjoyed in this comic is that the missions rely on the villains acting villainous. They're not jobs Superman or Batman could take on because they have morals. They want to save lives and they're always looking for a way to avoid sacrificing a life to achieve a result. These guys are ruthless. They want to save their own skin and they aren't ashamed of it. At the same time some of the team are vigilantes rather than villains (think Black Spider) and have to wrestle with the moral compass while trying to stay alive. It's not always elegantly depicted, but it's interesting and action-packed nonetheless.

Time to teeny tiny minithon!

Konnichiwa fellow readers!

I skipped the intro post this time around because I was joining everyone half way through and there was zero chance I was going to be organised enough to get a post written before hand.

Before I launch into talk of books and snacks THANK YOU to the ever wonderful Tika for organising this and hollering about it on twitter so I didn't forget.

I came into this 'thon with no actual plans. I didn't know what books I'd read and I had no mini snacks. I KNOW. I'M A TRAITOR TO THE CAUSE. But hear me out, we're going to lunch for Tom's grandpa's 90th this afternoon and it's a swanky place and I want to get my money's worth. So no tiny pies or sandwiches or popcorn for me this year, just an extra large cup of coffee and then a decent sized cup of tea when I realised I had no coffee left. But I did enjoy looking at what tiny treats everyone else indulged in. I think I need to get Tom to start baking me mini pies, because Alice's girlfriend has made me realise that I need that for my next minithon.

So this was my minithon.

Aforementioned cup of coffee, Zadie Smith's short story The Embassy of Cambodia (which is also tiny in stature) and Nora Ephron's book of essays I Feel Bad About My Neck. So much tiny in that selection. I didn't even have to stretch for reasons why they were mini this time around. I feel like that's an achievement in and of itself.

  I managed to finish Zadie Smith's short story (67 pages, but it's probably like 20 in a normal sized book) and read 139 pages or 8 of Ephron's essays. I think this might be the most I've ever read during one of these minithons. Probably because I wasn't distracted by tasty, tiny food.

(Audio)book review: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

Written and read by: Chris Hadfield

Published: 2013

Synopsis: Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst-and enjoy every moment of it.

In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement-and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.

You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth-especially your own.
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“If you start thinking that only your biggest and shiniest moments count, you're setting yourself up to feel like a failure most of the time.”

Maybe it's corny, but I truly feel like there isn't anything truly outside my grasp. Obviously it's highly unlikely that I'm about to become prime minister or the next Angelina Jolie, but I can get in the ballpark (or at least in the carpark next door to the ballpark). I could get involved in local politics or try my hand at community theatre. I can take tours of studios and Government House and at least get a good idea of what it would be like to fill those shoes. But space is an entirely different kettle of fish. I could visit NASA and take astronomy classes and visit every space exhibit at every museum on the planet and it won't come close to life in space. It's utterly unachievable unless you dedicate your life to becoming an astronaut, and as much as I'd love to look down on Earth from space that was never a career for me.

Which I think is the main reason Chris Hadfield has become such an internet success. He brings space to the masses, whether by crying into a camera to show us how tears work in zero gravity or by writing a book that  gives an incredibly thorough look at the business of being an astronaut. He's such a genial guy that it's hard not to get swept up in his excitement when he talks about smiling so hard at his first launch that his face ached or empathise when he recounts how hard it is to be the family of an astronaut. A great deal of this book is about confronting people's stereotypes of this particular career. Like how much money it costs to launch people into space and what it actually achieves. While Hadfield is clearly passionate, he also doesn't completely let go of his objectivity, especially when it comes to money.

“Many people object to “wasting money in space” yet have no idea how much is actually spent on space exploration. The CSA’s budget, for instance, is less than the amount Canadians spend on Halloween candy every year, and most of it goes toward things like developing telecommunications satellites and radar systems to provide data for weather and air quality forecasts, environmental monitoring and climate change studies. Similarly, NASA’s budget is not spent in space but right here on Earth, where it’s invested in American businesses and universities, and where it also pays dividends, creating new jobs, new technologies and even whole new industries.”

Not only are there misconceptions about what astronauts do, but I think there is a large gap between who actually becomes an astronaut and who Hollywood leads us to believe is right for the job. Because of its exclusivity, astronauts have always seemed sort of larger than life. They're space cowboys, explorers in a new frontier. Even though I know they have to be incredibly intelligent, I always imagine them as kind of jock-y. Macho and tough and tall. Visual cues that I think probably have a lot to do with the people hired to play astronauts in the not-even-close-to-realistic sci-fi movies. So I found it fascinating that Chris Hadfield sounds like any guy I'd see walking down the street. You mean he doesn't faintly glow and hover off the ground? Or have muscles as insane as The Rock? Not only that but Hadfield manages to make being an astronaut sound...dull. And I don't mean that the book or Hadfield's narration is dull - I was captivated from start to finish, but life as an astronaut is nothing like the movies. Being an astronaut actually rarely involves going into space. And whether or not you do, it's ruled by rules and safety checks and infinitesimal tiny details. It sounds so repetitive and ordinary.

And while I'm sure some people would consider that a negative, I think it's a huge positive. Working for NASA, whether as an astronaut or in some other role, is a totally achievable job. Yes it's a competitive field, but you don't have to be Superman to be hired. And I think that's a fantastic lesson to impart on kids. Astronaut is so often the job kids say they want, but it's also considered this entirely mythical position for only a special few chosen people. Hadfield brings the profession back down to Earth. Yes you need to work hard. Yes you need to be passionate. Yes you need to be intelligent. But the things most worth doing are the things you have to work for.

Hadfield manages to combine personal anecdotes about college and marriage and parenthood with stories about life on the ISS and working in Cape Canaveral and a motivation self-help book. While I loved learning about life in space and the career path that led to it, it was Hadfield's mentality that I think I'll take away from this book. There's a reason this book is called "an astronaut's guide to life on earth," while some of the advice may be a little intense for life as a retail clerk or banker, the general attitude and lesson that the advice aims to impart can benefit anyone. 

“In any new situation, whether it involves an elevator or a rocket ship, you will almost certainly be viewed in one of three ways. As a minus one: actively harmful, someone who creates problems. Or as a zero: your impact is neutral and doesn't tip the balance one way or the other. Or you'll be seen as a plus one: someone who actively adds value. Everyone wants to be a plus one, of course. But proclaiming your plus-oneness at the outset almost guarantees you'll be perceived as a minus one, regardless of the skills you bring to the table or how you actually perform.”

Each chapter, or there about, centres around these kernels of advice. From "sweat the small stuff" to "aim to the a zero", Hadfield discusses how these have helped be a better astronaut, a better husband and a better father. Perhaps most importantly though, he describes his failures, both personal and professional, and how he moved past them. Combine all of this advice with an amazing career and a really, really nice guy and you've got a really great read on your hands.