I’ve had I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids (2013) on my to-read list for quite a while. But with so many other books to read, I never got around to it. That is, until I finally picked up the audio version and started listening on my, lately, significantly increased drive time. The subject of this memoir by stand-up comedian Jen Kirkman is pretty obvious from the title. Kirkman shortly describes her life, from right after college, deciding to […]
I’m Not Like Those Other Pastors, I’m the Cool Pastor
I’m sure a lot of people will get a lot out of Nadia Bolz-Weber’s memoir Accidental Saints, but I’m not one of them. Reverand Nadia Bolz-Weber doesn’t look like your typical Lutheran Pastor. Rocking tattoo sleeves and a foul mouth, she’s a new type of preacher, the type to welcome those who have normally been turned away by the religious establishment. Her church is founded on the principle that humans are going to fuck up (so edgy with the swearing!) but that a good heart […]
Her best travelogue yet.
This light but still quietly devastating little travelogue might be the best thing Lucy Knisley has ever written. (Drawn? Created? Mixed media confuses word choice.) Her first two travelogues (French Milk and An Age of License) were explorations of her own maturation as she saw different parts of the world, but this one is on a whole other level. Her grandparents Allen and Phyllis are 93 and 90 years old respectively, and have signed up to go on a Caribbean cruise with a group from […]
“I would not have you descend into your own dream. I would have you be a conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.”
Let me cut to the chase-this book is a must read. Usually when you hear about a book hyped as much as Ta-Nehishi Coates’ Between the World and Me, you’re going to be disappointed. This is the rare exception. Before I even finished the 152 page book, I knew it was the type of work that will outlive all of us, a permanent fixture on bookstore shelves and college syllabi. This book-written in the aftermath of the Ferguson protests and published ahead of schedule after […]