A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature by Adam Morgan

genre: biography

Margaret Anderson's decision to leave Indiana and go to Chicago to find a way to be a writer would pivot her life in ways she could've never imagined.  From editing a pioneering art and literature magazine to being arrested on obscenity charges for serially publishing the new work Ulysses by James Joyce, Margaret lived a big life.  She wanted to be surrounded by new and beautiful things and ideas - and, most especially, perhaps, to live her life openly as the lesbian she knew she was.  The circles she found herself in and the relationships she made show a portrait of a women full of contradictions who wanted to create something that could spark discussion and expose a core of creativity and modernism.

I'm not sorry I read this because I'd never heard of Margaret Anderson before.  I sure have heard of a LOT of her friends and contemporaries though!  There is so much name dropping in this book that even with the cast of characters in the front, it got a little exhausting.  I appreciated, so much, what she was trying to do while living during a time when women were really only expected to show up in particular ways and when freedom of speech depended solely on one slim perspective of what was acceptable.  As she got older and it was just lots of moving around and being with different partners before more moving around some more with other different partners.  I learned a lot but I was also kinda bored. 

The Wright Sister: Katharine Wright and Her Famous Brothers by Richard Maurer

genre: history

Until I was visiting Kitty Hawk last year and noticed this book in the gift shop, I had no idea that Wilbur and Orville had a sister. How sad is that? And she was SMART, a Latin teacher! She was capable and educated and her life exploded just like theirs did when they because famous. This is a slim book with lots of wonderful photographs from the period and while it is a lot about the brothers (too much so, if I'm honest), it does focus on her life and how it was woven into the Wright family. She was an avid letter writer and a sincerely dedicated sister and daughter. It is sad to think about how limited her options were in the time when she happened to be born a woman, but it's still impressive all that she was able to see and do.

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig (audiobook)

 genre: magical realism

When Grace Winters receives an email from an old student of hers, it arrives at just the right time.  Her life has taken a fantastical pivot and she is ready to share the story.  To this young man, who has written to his old math teacher about his present troubles, Grace writes the kind of tale that one must actively choose to believe.  It's a story of a small Spanish island, of healing waters and the strength that can come from knowing you are an important part of a grand whole.

I mean, I had NO idea where this one was going.  Like, ever.  Even now that I'm done, it still feels like a very strange ride. But here is the thing.  Even though it was pretty unreal out there - I was really into it.  I did believe that frumpy and desperately lonely Grace Winters could have this wild and life-altering experience.  I don't even want to tell you the kinds of things you have to believe but I really enjoyed the magic of it.  I liked being on this unique island and going along with Grace as she tries to figure out what the heck is happening.  I liked that it is a reminder of how beautiful our existance can be on this planet.  It was a little rambley and a little pedantic sometimes, at the end, but overall, I just wanted to listen all the time - which for me, gives it four stars no matter what.

Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown

genre: biography, graphic novel

I've only ever thought about Andre as the lovable "giant" from the movie The Princess Bride.  When I saw this book about his life I was intrigued.

It's a very fast read and although it wasn't particularly deep, I do feel like I know a little bit more about professional wrestling (for whatever that's worth, ha!).  He lived a full and exuberant life, overindulgent and full of excess.  The wrestling was mostly pretend but you do get the impression that Andre was proud of what he did and enjoyed the spectacle.  I'll be honest, my impression of him has changed now, and not particularly for the better, having read this book.  I do appreciate the physical pain he was in, due to his condition, and I recognize that we're not getting the WHOLE picture, but it's a little disappointing to learn about the parts of his personality and his choices that weren't always for his good or anyone else's, either.

Note: a fair amount of cursing and a bit of crude humor/art

Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand

genre: biography

Louis Zamperini grew up a tough kid, always in trouble, until he found his life's passion: running.  He ran himself straight to the Olympics before joining the Air Force in World War II.  This is where the book truly begins, with his odyssey as a soldier, a captive, and a survivor.  Zamperini's story is so amazing, so inspiring and heartbreaking, it is almost hard to believe.  But believe I did.  And Zamerpini stole my heart with his steel-like grip on life, even when his existence was hanging by a thread in a life raft and his dignity was literally being stomped underfoot in the pigsty.

Unbroken is the kind of book you want to talk to other people about.  As hard as it was to  listen to sometimes, I always needed to know how Louis was going to make out.  But Hillenbrand also does such a great job at putting Louis in context, setting the stage for me as a reader so that I can sort his existence into the wider story of the war and of the culture at the time.  A solid narration that kept the attention of a girl who really isn't a fan of biographies, particularly not militarily-focused ones.

His is a story of courage and resourcefulness, brutality, heartbreak and almost miraculous tiny mercies.  Parts of Unbroken nearly ripped my heart out with their horrific violence and human suffering.  It's so hard to believe that we do things like this to each other, it makes me want to just shake someone and scream.  I had tears on more than one occasion, while listening to this book, both from sorrow and, amazingly, from joy.  Joy for Louis and what happens to his soul so that he is finally able to find peace.  Because, find peace he does, and I would have never imagined that a story like his could have a happy ending.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

genre: non-fiction, biography

Talk about someone who lived an amazing life. I'm not usually a biography reader, but something about Louisa and the world she grew up in intrigued me - and rightly so. This very readable book tells Louisa's story from beginning to end, weaving in her writings as well as pertinent historical information that fleshes out the scene of her days.

Growing up with Emerson and Thoreau as surrogate uncles, the Concord and Boston of Louisa's day is the stuff of legend. What I really enjoyed about this book was learning about how her own life experiences made their way into her writing. Her deprived "Utopian" childhood, the Civil War, her slow road to fame - she wrote about it all in both personal journals and in hundreds of sketches, poems and stories.

I also came to appreciate how much family troubles, ill health and other people's choices influenced her decisions - I liked when the author made those connections for me. Clearly, her vigor and "can-do" attitude made her such an asset to those who depended on her and the author does well, I think, at combining Louisa's journals with other sources to help us piece together her whole story - since all was not always happiness and "can-do."

While I did really enjoy it, it was certainly a slower read than usual. The author is thorough and I was always happy to pick it up, but I wouldn't call it a huge page turner. As a portrait of an exceptionally prolific and creative writer, as well as a snapshot of an American Life, I came away from this book with a much greater appreciation for the struggles of early American women and a sense of pleasure at knowing this incredible woman a little better.

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fingertips of Annie by Margaret Melton Taylor

genre: biography/autobiography

Annie was born in 1915. She spent her entire life in farm country of North Carolina and this book is a collection of stories and thoughts that were told to her daughter, Margaret.

Was Annie's life exemplary in any sort of huge and radical way? Not particularly. Her life was incredibly hard, getting married during the depression, farming and working her fingers to the bone so she could put food on the table for her children. But she did these things with faith and with a sure knowledge that with hard work, anything could be worked out. I actually really enjoyed reading about what life was like back then and how things changed and modernized.

The thing is, this book was self-published so it wasn't really edited, which can be very distracting. Spelling and punctuation errors are all over the place, but if you know that going into it, you can just let it go. What this book is, besides just being a treasure to her family members, is an account of a life. A life like Annie's can't happen anymore - we've come so far from her feed-sack dresses and cotton-filled mattresses. But I love that this life is recorded so we don't forget how far we've come and how we can be grateful for all the things we do have. Especially since my husband's grandmother grew up under very similar circumstances in a very similar place, I appreciated learning more about the Depression/War Years in a real way.

I'd love to read a book like this about my own grandmother's or mother's life. It makes me want to write one.