Review: Black Klansman: A Memoir

By Ron Stallworth
Available now from Flatiron Books
Purchased copy

One day, a nineteen-year-old guy who wanted to be a PE teacher applied to be a police cadet so that he could get his education paid for. Little did young Ron Stallworth know he would become the first black detective in the Colorado Springs police department, lead a successful intelligence investigation against the Ku Klux Klan, and go on to have a storied career.

BLACK KLANSMAN is the story of Stallworth's investigation into the KKK and various organizations that counterprotested them, especially the local Communist group. Stallworth has an interesting perspective on race relations as a peace officer. He is well aware of racism and other issues within the police. He reports things said to his face that white officers didn't even realize were offensive, and describes what happened when one of his colleagues shot an unarmed kid. At the same time, he believes in the duties of a police officer and in making a difference from the inside.

While the KKK are the villains of the story, Stallworth does not approve of terrorist action against the KKK. His goal in his intelligence investigation is to keep the peace within the community and protect the innocent. This is not a police story where a bunch of people go to jail in the end; however, it is one where no crosses are burned and no gay bars are bombed because of the police who infiltrated the KKK.

It's a compulsively readable story. Stallworth is not an expert writer (he thanks his English teacher at the end for helping him polish his memoir), but he tells what happened in a straightforward fashion. The simplicity helps keep the pages turning. There's suspense, such as the mounting tension in anticipation of David Duke coming to town. There's humor, as KKK members speak to Stallworth on the phone and make it obvious just how clueless they are. There's the horror of how David Duke in his suit and with his good manners made the hate of the KKK more palatable to the masses. The resurgence of the KKK under Duke, during the time period of BLACK KLANSMAN, has a direct line to the explosion of racism and fascist ideals in the US today.

In 2014, BLACK KLANSMAN was released without much fanfare from the small publisher Police and Fire Publishing. In 2018, it has been re-released from a Big Six publisher to coincide with one of the movies of the summer, BlacKkKlansman. I am thankful to Jordan Peele and the other filmmakers who saw the potential in the story of this once buried investigation and brought it to the forefront of the public consciousness. It's a fascinating story, and a reminder that all of us can act against hate.

Review: Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir

By Maggie Thrash
Available now from Candlewick
Review copy

Maggie Thrash, a writer for online teen mag Rookie, writes about the summer of 2000 in her debut work, an autobiographical graphic novel.  That summer she went to Bellflower Camp, a Christian girls' camp in Georgia, as she did every summer.  She also came to realize that she was a lesbian due to her (requited) crush on one of the counselors.

Thrash does a wonderful job of capturing the time and place.  Backsteet Boys' Millenium is still on top, and everyone is passing around their copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For Thrash, coming out is about as easy as you would expect at a Christian girls' camp in Georgia.  The title HONOR GIRL refers to the girl chosen at the end of each year who embodies the ideals of the camp.  It is an honor Thrash become less and less interested in pursuing as she struggles with her identity.

I thought the daily life at the camp was well represented.  More people than Thrash expects take her sexuality in stride.  She suffers from the attention of a bully, but more due to her skill on the range.  However, homophobia still rears its ugly head.  Tammy, one of the camp authorities, is right that letting a nineteen year old and a fifteen year old have a romantic relationship would be irresponsible of the camp no matter their genders.  Unfortunately, not much else about how she handles the situation is right.

HONOR GIRL is drawn in watercolors, a medium that suits the subject matter well.  The soft colors look nostalgic, and reminiscent of projects one might make at camp.  Thrash is better at drawing objects than people.  I thought the art was amateurish.  Everyone has pupil-less eyes and sloping noses.  It gets the story across, but isn't particularly engaging.

Thrash's story is one of first love, friendship, and alienation.  It's a little choppy and messy, with a somewhat unsatisfying ending, which reflects its autobiographical nature.  I thought it was well told, even if I wasn't enamored with the art.

Review: In Order To Live

A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
By Yeonmi Park
With Maryanne Vollers
Available now from Penguin Press (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I don't often read memoirs.  But when I heard about Yeonmi Park, I wanted to read her story.  She wrote IN ORDER TO LIVE: A NORTH KOREAN GIRL'S JOURNEY TO FREEDOM with Maryanne Vollers, an experienced journalist.  Vollers previously collaborated with such luminaries as presidential Hillary Clinton, and she helps tell Park's story with clarity and a sense of openness. 

Park was born and raised in North Korea along the Chinese border, a closeness that helped her father smuggle goods - until he got caught.  Park experienced both good times and bad times in North Korea before defecting. She escaped to China only to be trafficked with her mother.  Her sister Eunmi went missing when she crossed earlier.

Park's story is one of a family struggling to survive and come back together.  It is also one of illumination.  Very little is known about North Korea due to its isolation.  IN ORDER TO LIVE vividly describes everyday life, from food to traditions to fear of who might be listening to careless words.  Human trafficking is an issue that people like to ignore, sweep under the rug because it is ugly.  Park writes about how the crackdown in China during the Beijing Olympics affected her ability to live as someone without documentation, in fear of being sent back to North Korea. 

She writes about finally reaching South Korea, and the difficultly of making choices and overcoming childhood brainwashing, as well as the difficulties of trying to get an education after being denied it for so long.  She and many other North Koreans find themselves living a life they weren't prepared for, in a country that doesn't have resources for all of the refugees.

I think the subject matter of IN ORDER TO LIVE is fascinating, particularly since much of it isn't available outside of such primary sources.  It is definitely enough to make me overcome my reticence about reading memoirs.  I think Park's story is valuable, and understand why she is driven to share, despite the risk to herself and her family.

Review: Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own

By Kate Bolick
Available now from Crown Publishing (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I'm finding it hard to review SPINSTER: MAKING A LIFE OF ONE'S OWN.  Kate Bolick is a gifted writer.  She weaves together biography and sociology and history in a compelling blend.  I certainly learned things about her five "awakeners" - Maeve Breenan, Neith Boyce, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edith Wharton, and Charlotte Perkins Gilmore that I never knew.

Much of the book is devoted to biography of those five women, discussing how their writing and their unique, vivid lives inspired Bolick and helped her through tough times in her personal and professional life.  Those chapters are absolutely fascinating, both for the literary criticism and the glimpses of feminist history through the past century or so.

However, they don't actually have much to do with spinsterhood, no matter how Bolick tries to spin it.  All five women were married at some point in their life.  They led unconventional lives and made art, both worth celebrating in their own way, but that does not make them unmarried women.  Bolick has good taste in personal heroes, but that doesn't make them on topic.

I do like that Bolick acknowledges both the benefits and disadvantages of single life.  You might get to decorate your apartment entirely as you like (and pick out the one with all the details you want), but you've got to pay for it on one income.  It doesn't mean never dating.  (Although for a book about life on one's own, Bolick writes a great deal about her many long-term relationships.  She might not be married, but she's rarely single, and often seems like she doesn't know how to be.)  She also acknowledges one of SPINSTER's weaknesses - that it can't even begin to approach the way that being permanently single is different for white women than black women, or for other women with less privileges.

SPINSTER is a wonderful story of Bolick's life and of the ways women have struggled to have their own independent, sufficient lives even within the bonds of matrimony and motherhood.  It is not really about single women, as it promises, but it is a fascinating look at the changing ideals of femininity.  I've also made a list of some new books and collected columns that I must read.  I liked the book, but it definitely isn't the book I was sold on based on the covers.

Review: Visions and Revisions

By Dale Peck
Available now from Soho Press
Review copy

I'm breaking my "no memoirs" rule again.  At the same idea, I'm obeying my rule to read things outside my usual interests, to shake up my rut.  I was intrigued by the idea of VISIONS AND REVISIONS, a memoir that focuses on "the second half of the first half of the AIDS epidemic," that is, 1989 to 1996.  I'm also familiar with author Dale Peck from SPROUT and a few other novels.

As the back of the book says, VISIONS AND REVISIONS started life as discrete essays and articles which have been rewritten and put together.  That lack of cohesion is felt.  The writing is solid and compelling, but the subject matter often doubles back on itself, sometimes repeating, never going quite as deep as it could if it had a more definitive focus.  It bounces from serial killers targeting gay men to criticism of criticism of PWA narratives to musings on past relationships to the fervor of young activists.

But many of those sections are very good.  Peck's anger and passion are clearly communicated.  He's blisteringly critical of those who defang gay narratives, who only accept them if they've been desexed and idealized.  And as much as he points to the protease inhibitors and combination therapy of 1996 putting an abrupt stop to AIDS as it was, he's critical of those (especially Andrew Sullivan), that it mostly ended the death sentence for gay middle white men who could afford it.  IV drug users, Haitians, African-Americans, and Africans are still dying in massive numbers (especially Africans).

While VISIONS AND REVISIONS sometimes doesn't go into as much depth as I like, Peck touches on many places to go next.  He names essays and plays and books, he names activists and other influential LGBT people worth looking up.  The narratives of the scene are often inseparable from the plague ravaging it.

I'm not sure I could've read a longer work in this style, but VISIONS AND REVISIONS is short enough not to outstay its welcome.  It's definitely of interest for those who enjoy memoirs or books about LGBT history.

Review: Bon Appétempt: A Coming-of-Age Story (with Recipes!)

By Amelia Morris
Available now from Grand Central Publishing (Hachette)
Review copy

I avoid memoirs as a rule of thumb, but I was intrigued by BON APPETEMPT because it promised cooking misadventures and author Amelia Morris's "ill-fated twenty-something job at the School of Rock in Los Angeles."  I think I shall continue avoiding memoirs, because they make me feel like I'm judging someone's life in a bad way.

If you came for the School of Rock story, it lasts about a chapter and can be summed up thusly: Aging musicians rarely show up to work on time, bum money from people, and eventually Morris was fired for someone with the administrative and accounting experience to keep people in line.  Fascinating.  As for the cooking, Morris doesn't reach that life interest until halfway through the memoir.  I can't even imaging that fans of her book-turned-blog Bon Appétempt are that interested in a litany of jobs she worked for a bit in her twenties while she and her boyfriend to find something steady to make ends meet.

It doesn't help that BON APPETEMPT is so very dry.  Morris is find at expressing when she's angry at someone, like her mother and grandmother for not immediately supporting her impending marriage.  She's less good at other emotions, which lends little vibrancy to the central relationship of the memoir, that of her and her husband.  She's led a fairly normal life, which doesn't give the memoir much color, and doesn't have the voice or perspective to make that life compelling. 

The recipes are awesome, and their connection to the chapters goes stronger and better integrated as BON APPETEMPT goes on.  However, she sometimes doesn't even say if a recipe turned out well.  Why describe how you made something if you're not going to include the best part, the delightful food porn of flavors and texture and deliciousness that made this recipe a must have in your life story?  Maybe I should just look it up on the blog?

This one if for die-hard fans of Amelia Morris's blog.  For everyone else, just check it out from the library and photocopy the recipes that appeal to you.  I do like the book trailer (shot and edited by her husband Matt), and it makes me wish I liked the book more:

Review: Sisters

Companion to Smile
By Raina Telgemeier
Color by Braden Lamb
Available now from Scholastic Graphix
Review copy

Raina Telgemeier's SMILE is hugely successful, critically acclaimed, and basically everyone was excited when news of a companion graphic memoir broke.  SISTERS is about (surprise surprise) Raina's relationship with her sister Amara.  Raina wished for a sister, but the reality wasn't quite what she hoped.

SISTERS moves smoothly back and forth in time, the borders of the panels helping mark flashbacks.  The bulk of the action takes place on a family road trip to Colorado.  Raina, Amara, their mother, and brother are all in a car (kind of old and broken down), while their father is flying.  Between each "present" section is a flashback to the family growing - sister, brother, pets, and all that comes with.

Some of the darker developments might surprise younger readers, but the astute ones will catch on to some of the underlying family tensions.  At the same time, SISTERS is just as charming and cheerful as expected.  Raina and Amara's combative relationship will be familiar to anyone with a sibling -  as will their moment(s) of detente.

From SMILE by Raina Telgemeier

As always, Telgemeier's art is expressive, albeit deceptively simple.  It's very easy to follow and well laid out, perfect for readers new to or familiar with graphic novels.  There have been no radical changes in style; why change what works?

SISTERS is a slightly looser work than SMILE in addition to being slightly more mature.  It is an excellent companion.  I enjoy Telgemeier's fiction too, but she does a terrific job of mining her own life for story.  The events of sisters are mundane, but the telling is funny and affecting.  SISTERS is sure to please Telgemeier's many fans.

Review: Girls' Night Out and Devil Doll

I reviewed five Shebooks back in January, and I mostly enjoyed them.  I've read a few since, including the two I am reviewing in this most.  I must say that they continue to be high quality, but priced a bit high for me.  I know Amazon gives greater royalties at the $2.99 price point, but it took me one lunch break to read both of these stories.  That's not much reading for $6.  It might be a better option for slower readers.

Girls' Night Out: a mystery by Kate Flora
Available now from Shebooks
Review copy

The blurb for the novelette is simple and enticing: When the man who date-raped a friend is found not guilty, the women in her book group decide to take matters into their own hands.  The story opens with the friends moving a body, letting the reader know the plan has gone wrong.

I selected "Girls' Night Out" because the blurb reminded me of Fern Michael's Sisterhood series.  I must have good instincts, because that is exactly what I was reminded of.  Local district attorney Jay Hanrahan date raped Ellen Corso - and was found innocent.  Ellen's book club decides to take matters into their own hands and give Jay a taste of his own medicine.

"Girls' Night Out" is a fun bit of black comedy.  It's pretty slight, but it is a fun bit of comeuppance.  I'd certainly try a full-length novel by Kate Flora based on this work.  She's got a nice, wry humor.

Devil Doll: a friendship gone awry by Bonnie Friedman
Available now from Shebooks
Review copy

"Devil Doll" reminded me of one reason why I don't usually read memoirs.  I really felt for Catherine (name changed?) who has quite a bit of her personal life exposed in this memoir, in addition to author Bonnie Friedman's generally low opinion of her.  It can't be nice to have yourself immortalized negatively in a true story.

Bonnie and Catherine were fast friends when they studied abroad, but years later Bonnie dropped her without a word.  "Devil Doll" explores why.  Their relationship had strange ups and downs, including Bonnie sleeping with Catherine's husband, with her permission.  Neither woman comes off very well.  Catherine has a bit of a superiority complex, while Bonnie is judgmental and capricious.  It's well written, but not that enjoyable.

9 Books to Get in a Winter Olympics Mood!

I mentioned having a Winter Olympics reading list in my BEING SLOANE JACOBS review, and Bookworm1858 asked for more detail.  So I decided to actually post my list instead of burying it in the comments.  This list will be heavy on the figure skating, since that's my favorite.

Let's start with a new book I haven't read before but want to read. GOLD MEDAL WINTER by Donna Freitas is the story of Esperanza, who is advanced to the Olympic team when another skater is injured.  She's younger and less experienced than her teammates, but just as determined.  This title promises lots of competition, a bit of flirting, and a Latina heroine.  It's definitely aimed at the younger crowd, but that means it should be easy to fit in when I have a spare moment!

Now let's move on to some winter sports romances!



BEING SLOANE JACOBS by Lauren Morrill (review linked above) is a cute story about a figure skater and a hockey player who switch places.  Both girls mature and fall in love during their summer of intense sports practice.

THE EX GAMES is one of the books Jennifer Echols wrote for the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies line.  Two exes decide to have a snowboard competition with each other that also ends up reigniting their old flame.  It's not as deep as Echols' later novels, but it's still got her spark.  (And the ex thing works better than it should because they "dated" back when they were 13.)

OUT OF PLAY by Jolene Perry and Nyrae Dawn is another one I haven't read yet.  It's a New Adult/Young Adult romance from Entangled Teen about a rock star drummer and hockey player who fall in love.  I've heard good things, and BEING SLOANE JACOBS certainly put me in the mood for more books about female hockey players.

Now for four childhood favorites, which includes a trilogy about the Olympics!



SKATING SHOES by Noel Streatfeild was out of print when I was a child, meaning that my mom paid around $40 for a copy from eBay!  Streatfeild, if you're not familiar with the name, is an English author famous for her stories about young girls in the performing arts.  This is about two young girls who become friends on the rink, but start to drift apart as one loses interest and one becomes serious.

Melissa Lowell's Silver Blades books were the thing to read back when I figure skated, but they're out of print now.  (They switched on me.)  The Gold Medal Dreams trilogy featured two skaters from the series: Tori Carsen and Jill Wong.  They've both reached Nationals and hope to go the Olympics, but there are complications.  Namely, Tori has just been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and it's getting harder for her to walk every day, much less skate.  If you can find copies of this trilogy used, it's pretty fun even if you aren't familiar with the characters.  (The series was meant to be picked up at any point.)

And finally, a touch of nonfiction.


There  are books about almost all of the Olympian winners out there.  (I should know; I own a lot of them.)  Ekaterina Gordeeva was a successful solo skater, but first she was part of a team with Sergei Grinkov.  They were a husband-wife team who won gold at two Olympics and four World Championships in pairs skating, before Sergei died of a heart attack at 28.  The memoir MY SERGEI: A Love Story by Gordeeva and E.M. Swift stands out from the crowd of Olympic books because it is very personal and tragic, rather than a pat tale of triumph.  (Also, it's a nice look into the USSR and their training methods.)

I hope that at least on of these nine books catches your eye!  Are there any books you read to get into the Winter Olympics mood?  Or just a book about a winter sport that you love?

Mini-Reviews: A Quintet of Shebooks

Shebooks first came to my attention when Beth Kephart posted about them.  Bite-sized books for busy women?  That's right up my alley right now.  And Beth's excerpts of Zoe Rosenfeld's "Owl in Darkness" certainly whetted my appetite.  All five of these titles are available now from Shebooks.  In addition to the story, each book includes questions at the end to help think about the reading.

"Owl in Darkness" by Zoe Rosenfeld
Review copy

"Owl in Darkness" is the story of a writer staying at a manor for six weeks (a special writer's residency), but who hasn't written a word since she's arrived.  Instead, she's preoccupied with the people and things around her.  Cups left by the nightwatchmen, noises in the wood . . . it's all rendered in beautiful, descriptive prose.

And though the tale of writer's block is familiar, Bert's struggles are eventually her own, as are her epiphanies.  The atmosphere throughout is wonderful, making the little things loom as large for the reader as Bert.  It's very easy to get caught up in the point of view.  (For all my YA readers out there, I recommend this one for fans of Maggie Stiefvater.)

"Stolen Moments" by Suzanne Antonette Paola
Review copy

I come to "Stolen Moments" next, because it is similar in many ways to "Owl in Darkness."  There's quite a bit of internal narration with a focus on slightly off relationships, but I did not like it near as much.  It kept striking me as the worst sort of navel gazing, although I did rather like the middle section ("Shoes").

And, well, it struck me as an ah-ha! moment when the back revealed that these three stories are part of a larger work to be published later.  That's why they didn't quite work, didn't fully connect, never truly went anywhere.  It's just a glorified excerpt!  There are some good moments in "Stolen Moments," but I found it rather dull overall.  (It doesn't help that the three narrators, from three different walks of life, sound basically the same.)

"Mating Calls: The Problem with Lexie and No. 7" by Jessica Anya Blau
Review copy

This is the final fiction Shebook I read and the only one by an author I was familiar with.  Jessica Anya Blau's two short stories aren't related, except by some uniting themes.  "The Problem with Lexie" is the tale of a school counselor making some very bad decisions regarding pills and her love life and "No. 7" is about (Alex)Zandra spotting a former lover by chance in a Ross Dress for Less.

I liked both narrators, although Alexandra has the advantage of being removed from her terrible relationship decision.   I enjoyed Lexie's narration even at her worst behavior, however.  I enjoyed how fun both of Blau's stories were, even when they dealt with unpleasant things.

"His Eye Is on the Sparrow: An Engagement in Black and White" by Ann Pearlman
Review copy

Ann Pearlman's memoir goes back to 1962 when she (a Jewish woman) was engaged to Ty (a black man).  It tells of them meeting each others' families, with episodes both funny and harrowing.  The way she writes about emotions is incredibly vivid, from love to humiliation.  It certainly convinced me that I want to read INFIDELITY, her Pulitzer-prize winning memoir about their marriage.

I particularly love the descriptions of food in "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."  Who doesn't associate food with community, hospitality, history?  It comes through so deliciously here, even when the food is divisive.  I'm not a big memoir fan, but this is simply a fascinating story.

"The Nigerian-Nordic Girl's Guide to Lady Problems" by Faith Adiele
Review copy

"The Nigerian-Nordic Girl's Guide to Lady Problems" discusses a serious lady problem: fibroids.  Faith Adiele had four painful ones and lots of conflicting advice about what to do about them - from her different cultures, different doctors - and much of it was fairly judgmental.

The medical system in America is highly flawed, and the treatment people get varies wildly depending on how you're perceived by your medical provider.  Honestly, the Nigerian, Nordic, and American ways all fail her differently - and all see Adiele as failing in different ways. Adiele's memoir is funny, painful, and quite insightful.    (And it certainly made me think about my mother's stories about her fibroids.)

Review: Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened

By Allie Brosh
Available now from Touchstone (Simon & Schuster)
Review copy

I, like most internet denizens, am a huge fan of the blog Hyperbole and a Half.  The first time someone linked me to one of the entries I thought that Allie Brosh might be stalking me and recording my life, since it hit so very close to home.  When she announced that she had a book coming out, I paid attention.

Now, it's finally here!  Let me tell you: it is worth paying money for.

Many blogs have resulted in a book deal, but sometimes they lose something in the transition to print.  Brosh is as hilarious, authentic, and insightful as ever in her memoir.  Some of the most popular internet pieces are in the book (not "Alot"), often with more material.  But even more of HYPERBOLE AND A HALF is completely new, never-before-seen stuff.  And it is good.  It is staying-up-late-and-waking-up-other-people-with-your-laughter good.

HYPERBOLE AND A HALF isn't perfect.  It helps to be familiar with Brosh's blog, because sometimes things get introduced without much explanation.  For instance, her boyfriend Duncan starts appearing in chapters quite a bit before he gets named.  However, part of Brosh's charm has always been that she isn't too slick, her art well balanced and proportioned yet clearly done with MS Paint.  Another part is her honesty, which was very important when she started writing about depression.

Much of the new material does deal with Brosh's depression (as well as her dogs).  She makes you feel what living with depression with is like, and she does it while making you bust a gut with laughter.  At the same time, there are bits that will tempt the waterworks. particularly if you know someone with or have depression yourself.

If you're wondering why you should buy something you can get for free, then know that there is a ton of new material.  Know that you're supporting Brosh and allowing her to spend more time creating.  If you're unfamiliar with Brosh, then buy this book and be prepared to fall in love.  Then go forth and buy a copy for everyone on your holiday shopping list.  Get two copies for the dog lovers.