Tagged: 2015
Pirate Hunters
Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson, 5/5
This is one of those rare real-life stories that is crazier than fiction. The author does a great job of weaving in historical and biographical information about all the main characters, without losing momentum. I read the whole book in one day and stayed up until 2am to find out how it ended. Ultimately, I thought the ending was a bit anti-climactic, due in part to the photo insert (which felt inadequate, while also providing spoilers), but also due to the interventions of human nature and bureaucracy in an otherwise fantastical tale. However, I had no hesitation recommending the audio book to my husband and have ordered Kurson’s Shadow Divers, which is referenced in this book, from the library.
Why I read it: I salvaged it from my mother-in-law’s thrift store donation pile.
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, 2/5
This book is shallow as a parking lot puddle, full of cringey anecdotes and generic advice. The reader is encouraged, regardless of their own psychological state, to assess problematic people in their life using criteria so broad and subjective that a diagnosis of “emotionally immature” is practically guaranteed. Once their problems have predictably been blamed on childhood and upbringing, the inevitable advice to “awaken your True Self” by finding your inner child ensues. If the author is correct that who you were before fourth grade is key, then I guess my True Self is a horse?
Why I read it: Lent to me (but pointedly not recommended) by a family member who evidently knows me extremely well.
Extreme Ownership
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, 4/5
This book’s layout is flawless: each chapter starts with an engaging war story, extracts a leadership principle for further analysis, and concludes with a real-life application to business. My only complaint is that the authors often stop short in each example of exploring the actual results of their approach, sometimes failing to address the outcome altogether and other times glossing over it with vague descriptions of generic success. The question left, for me, is not whether the authors are effective hammers, but what scenarios realistically constitute appropriate nails.
Why I read it: It’s been on my radar for quite a while.
Autumn
Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated by Ingvild Burkey, 3/5
Reading this collection of short essays, mostly on such prosaic topics as “apples” and “plastic bags,” is a calming and grounding experience. Knausgaard combines the sensibilities of a sophisticated writer with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, rendering even the most commonplace subject somehow remarkable. The simple and honest manner in which the author’s thoughts and everyday life experiences permeate the text give one a sense of voyeurism without its intrinsic guilt; as if someone has left their curtains open solely to warm the hearts of passersby in the dark.
Why I read it: a recommendation by my sister, Anna.
My Fight / Your Fight
My Fight / Your Fight by Ronda Rousey with Maria Burns Ortiz, 3/5
I’ve never been much of a Rousey fan, but there’s an undeniably voyeuristic appeal to this first-hand account of the rise of the first woman to make it big in MMA. Rousey’s work ethic, mental strength and accomplishments are inspiring and her prose is tolerable. However, written before her only two losses, the book feels premature and some of the warrior rhetoric rings a bit hollow in light of her subsequent complete disappearance from the martial arts scene.
Why I read it: A guy from the gym brought his copy in for me.
The Total Dirt Rider Manual
The Total Dirt Rider Manual by Pete Peterson and the editors of Dirt Rider, 5/5
Well-illustrated and written with a healthy dose of humor, this book seems about as helpful as it is possible for a book about something like dirt biking to be.
Why I read it: Lent me by a friend who rides, doubtless as an elaborate set-up for asking if I forgot to read the part about “not falling off the bike” when I wipe out for the first time.
Better Than Before
Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin, 3/5
They say that opposites attract, in which case I suspect that I may be very similar to the author, who I found to be thoroughly grating. Perhaps it’s her approach to the topic, which is somehow both overly analytical and overly anecdotal, or perhaps it’s because studying how to make habits seems pointless to me (surely the hard part is deciding what habits to have, not how to keep them up?). I knew I was in trouble when Rubin’s first attempt (of many) to organize her readers into overly-tidy categories failed to resonate with me–am I an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel? Does it even matter? At any rate, I felt so little interest in this book that I had a difficult time finishing it and remember practically nothing about it now. It has joined the growing ranks of faceless self-help books that have made the New York Times Best Seller list but not an impression on me.
[Why I read it: my friend Joy recommended it to me.]
OmniRambles 