Read in 2016

What I’ve Been Reading in 2016

April 5, 2016 by Abbigail Kriebs 4 Comments

I’ve been talking about how it’s a “Middle Season” in life right now. It’s felt like that lot here on the blog and with the podcast and in the novel-writing – I’m just getting stuff done lately, not launching anything, not wrapping anything up – just doing the tasks that keep all the boats floating down the river.

But nowhere is the idea of “Middle Season” more apparent than where Scott and I are in life right now physically. We’re on the cusp of a dozen different decisions that need made, and we can’t make a single one of them right now. We’ve kind of started building a house, but there’s nothing to do at the moment. We applied for the loan, and now it’s a matter of sitting still until the appraisal is in and the banks says “yes” or “no.” We’ve signed bids and contracts and discussed floors and cabinets and now we wait – we can’t purchase or order anything yet. We know we’re moving in two months, but it’s still too far out to pack up anything or change our address or even start cleaning out the cupboards in earnest.

The longer I walk this earth, the more I discover that when life is in a season of upheaval, I read my favorite books over and over again. It’s almost a way to quiet my mind, to slip back into familiarity a few pages at a time. Books like Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and all the Anne of Green Gables novels.

I’ve also noticed that when life is just puttering along and I’m anxious for the next big thing to happen, I read books that change me. Books like Essentialism and Start and Grace for the Good Girl.

But what do you when life is a little of both? It’s a little stagnant, but you know big things are coming any day now?

Well, you read a little of everything.

So, here’s what I’ve been reading in 2016:

JANUARY

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

If you are a writer, I encourage you to read this one. Amy is a phenomenal storyteller, and sometimes she has a line that just zings the right way. I wrote a full review here.

The Searcher by Simon Toyne

Scott bought this book for me for Christmas at a local bookshop here in town. While mystery is not usually my genre, the book was well done. It is the first in the series, and I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the others or not. There’s too many books I want to read, that reading books that are “OK” is hard for me.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

I am rarely at a loss when it comes to words about books, but this one defies category. It’s a stunning debut novel, filled with longing and sadness. It’s a story about grief and one girl’s bravery to reach out to overcome it. I wrote a full review here.

Those Were The Days by Jenny Bravo

This short novella is a companion to Bravo’s These Are The Moments that I read last fall. I loved that book, and also enjoyed this take on the original’s heroine, Wendy, told from the perspective of her little sister Claudia.

FEBRUARY

A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for awhile, but I’m so glad I read it earlier this year as Ashley and I launched the Chasing Creative Podcast. I needed it in 2016. I wrote a full review here.

Euphoria by Lily King

This book. I can emphatically say that I enjoyed the book, but I did not like the ending. No one got a good ending, and I can’t decide how I’m supposed to live with that.

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

Amber of Mr. Thomas and Me told me to read this, and I am so glad she did. If you liked Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, read this book. If you liked The Hunger Games or Divergent or The Maze Runner or any of the dystopian novels out running around these days, read this book. Plague and sacrifice and a mission to save the world. Woah.

MARCH

Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maude Montgomery

You’ve probably heard me say that Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books in the world. In fact, my novel-in-progress draws a lot of influence from this perennial favorite. But what happens to Anne after she decides to teach a year in Avonlea? This dear book shows her growing up just a smidge more than the original, while still keeping the girlish spirit that is just so Anne.

Anne of the Island by Lucy Maude Montgomery

And what does Anne learn at college when she finally get the chance to go? She learns herself, even more than Latin and Greek. This is the book where we see her become a full-grown lady and finally fall in love with Gilbert and start making plans for the future with him in them.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

I was looking forward to this book so much, and was a good bit disappointed when I finally picked it up. It was good – it was well crafted, well written. But I felt like there wasn’t a whole lot there. The protagonist was extremely passive and hard to relate to. After chatting with a friend from Ireland, the homeland of the main character, the novel made more sense, that the author was writing ironically with the position of women in mind, who didn’t have much say in 1950s Ireland, and even often today. It’s still not a book I’m going to recommend to anyone, but I may watch the movie and see how it shapes up in relation to the book.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I’m almost halfway through this novel, and it is amazing. It’s a fictionalized memoir from the perspective of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife during their time in Paris. The writing is lovely, and even though you know that their marriage ends even at the beginning of the book, you can’t help but root for Hadley as you read.

ONGOING

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Nearly every guest on the Chasing Creative Podcast has mentioned this book as a creative influence, so I finally bought a copy and have loved reading it so far. I am slowly reading this book, trying to soak up each chapter and even journal a response as questions arise. It’s proving good for me – I already feel like I’ve been overcoming some creative obstacles as I journal my way through them.

Fiction in Review: Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

March 8, 2016 by Abbigail Kriebs 2 Comments

It’s so hard to describe this book, and that is really a first for me. I describe dozens of books to people each week, here on the blog and in real life. I am rarely at a loss when it comes to words about books, but this one defies category. Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt is a stunning debut novel, filled with longing and sadness. It’s a story about grief and one girl’s bravery to reach out to overcome it.

The novel follows young June, a 14-year-old girl battling the heartache of being in high school and being different. But she’s also battling the fact that her uncle, the person she loves most in the world, is dying of AIDS. The story is one where family misunderstandings, the hurt that a sister can inflict, and the value of objects are all threads intricately woven into one. It’s a story where the memories have a currency, but also mean so much more when viewed with a different lens.

My favorite quotes from Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt:

(This is hard, because there are so many. Also, read on Kindle, so sorry no page numbers!)

“Watching people is a good hobby, but you have to be careful about it.”

“I felt like grabbing the paintbrush right out of his hand so I could color him in, paint him back to his old self.”

“I lay in bed thinking about everything in my heart that was possible and impossible, right and wrong, sayable and unsayable, and when all those thoughts were gone there was only one thing left: how terribly much I was going to miss my uncle Finn.”

“I’ve never met anyone yet who might make that kind of promise.”

“Greta always knew how to make me lose my words.”

“I stared out the car window and understood that I was in a place where nobody knew my heart even a little bit.”

“Either you’re a falconer or you’re not. Either the birds come back to you or they fly away.”

“Everything she said was vague, like the details might stab her if they got too sharp.”

“That’s what being shy feels like. Like my skin is too thin, the light too bright.”

“That’s what I want for you,” he said. “I want you to know only the very best people.”

“And until then I don’t think I really understood the meaning of gone.”

“I felt like I had proof that not all days are the same length, not all time has the same weight. Proof that there are worlds and worlds and worlds on top of worlds, if you want them to be there.”

“A portrait is a picture where somebody gets to choose what you look like. How they want to see you. A camera catches whichever you happens to be there when it clicks.”

“I stared hard, trying to find a pattern. Thinking if I kept looking hard enough, maybe the pieces of the world would fit back together into something I could understand.”

“And I suddenly understood that getting drunk was just one more way to leave this place, this time.”

“I really wondered why people were always doing what they didn’t like doing. It seemed like life was a sort of narrowing tunnel. Right when you were born, the tunnel was huge. You could be anything. Then, like, the absolute second after you were born, the tunnel narrowed down to about half that size.”

“I thought of all the different kinds of love in the world. I could think of ten without even trying.”

“I know all about tiny things. Proportion. I know all about love that’s too big to stay in a tiny bucket. Splashing out all over the place in the most embarrassing way possible.”

“It felt good to say yes. To agree to something so ordinary.”

“One thing I do know is that my superpower is gone. My heart is broken and soft, and I am plain again.”

“Everyone needs to think they have secrets.”

What made this a great story?

Carol Rifka Brunt tells a rather dark tale with dignity and grace, allowing June to be a kid and an adult at the same time. Its an accurate depiction of a young girl in search of her someday self, having to wade through some deep waters on the way.

There were so many moments where I want to stop and really soak the words in, her writing style is so fluid and lovely. As soon as I finished this novel, I quickly searched online to see what else she has written, and I was so, so sad when I realized this was her first book, and there are no others. This is a woman who was meant to write novels.

Have you read Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt? If so, what did you think about it?

P.S. If you liked the language of this novel, you might like Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin. Colwin has a similar style, but with a novel that is of a brighter hue throughout.

Writing Lessons from Amy Poehler’s Yes Please

February 16, 2016 by Abbigail Kriebs 2 Comments

I’m a big fan of Amy Poehler. She and Tina Fey are probably the two people that I would be most tongue-tied in front of if I ever got around to meeting them. Seriously. I’m pretty sure I’d have more words at my disposal if I met Matt Damon than if I met one of these two strong, awesome ladies. So, I don’t really know why it took me so long to read Amy’s Yes Please. I really don’t.

I read Tina’s Bossypants a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. Learning about her quirky family and how it influenced her comedy was a riot, truly, and Amy’s book doesn’t disappoint in that department. She shares how she grew up in Boston and worked at an ice cream shop just like every other high schooler. She also dives in a little more deeply and discusses how hard it is to get to the top, and how awesome and terrible and amazing it feels once you are up there.

She also writes a lot about writing, which is something that the other comedian memories don’t quite hit on. As a writer, I was of course intrigued by these little bits and pieces scattered throughout the novel. As Ashley and I have launched our podcast about finding time for your own creativity, it was interesting to see how a high-profile entertainer found time to write her book. While Amy’s and my lives are VERY different, it was encouraging to see that even with all the money she could need and the ability to hire a housekeeper and the support of friends, it was still hard for Amy to write. Because writing is hard. It’s also rewarding and frustrating and gives you a rush like nothing else on Earth, but a lot of times we forget to mention that it is hard, too.

Some of my favorite quotes from Yes Please:

“You do it because the doing of it is the thing. The doing is the thing. The talking and worrying and thinking is not the thing. That is what I know. Writing the book is about writing the book.” – p. XV

“Decide what your currency is early. Let of of what you will never have. People who do this are happier and sexier.” – p. 21

“It takes years as a woman to unlearn what you have been taught to be sorry for. It takes years to find your voice and seize your real estate.” – p. 65

“I didn’t really know who I was, but improv had taught me that I could be anyone. I didn’t have to wait to be cast – I could give myself the part.” – p. 117

“The biggest lie and the biggest crime is that we all do this alone and look down on people who don’t.” – 152

“Sleep can completely change your entire outlook on life.” – p. 177

“This routine seemed Sisyphean at first, but I soon learned the satisfaction of working at a place that truly closed… It was deliciously obvious and final.” – p. 209

“It’s important to know when its time to turn in your kazoo… I was aching for what came next.” – p. 211

“Your career and your passion don’t always match up. Plenty of untalented people don’t have the careers they want. Plenty of untalented people make millions and make movies. There is a difference between determination and talent.” – p. 221

“Creativity is connected to your passion, that light inside you that drives you. That joy that comes when you do something that you love… Career is different. Career is the straining together of opportunities and jobs… it will not fill you up and never make you truly whole.” – p. 223

Should you read this book?

Yes. If you like the comedic memoir in general, you will enjoy this. As a memoir, I enjoyed Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? a little better, but this was still good and entertaining. If you are a writer, I encourage you to read this one. Amy is a phenomenal storyteller, and sometimes she has a line that just zings the right way. Her mini pep talks for women are encouraging, and her tidbits on writing scattered throughout are encouraging. She reminds us to sit down and do the hard work, but to enjoy the ride, too.

So… have you read Yes Please by Amy Poehler? What did you think? Any other comedic memoirs I should try out?