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Genre: Memoir
How it got in my house: I bought it last week in the local bookstore sale
Recommend: Yes
Apparently this is the year where I delve into memoirs and personal nonfiction! Not usually my wheelhouse, and I'm enjoying the experience of something new. It's a different experience connecting to an author than to a fictional character, to say the least.
I'm also glad to be reading these memoirs because it means I'm doing better than last year--for many, many pandemic months, all I could read was fanfic and romance (with one N. K. Jemisin thrown in there, because she's amazing like that). My mental state has improved enough that I'm seeking out real people and real struggles in my books, instead of the safely fictional.
John Paul Brammer's advice columns always warm my heart, with wit sprinkled throughout, so I've been looking forward to this book. It flew by--I could barely believe it when I was done. His prose is clear, straightforward, and easy to connect to--and it helps, I think, that we're about the same age. That's something that still delights me, even after several years as a Certified Adult, that the books I'm reading are written by my peers. The book as a whole, like his columns, is full of hope in a flawed world. Honestly, the hopefulness and encouragement I feel from it surprises me in retrospect, as the memoir is mostly about past relationships, past traumas (sometimes separate, sometimes overlapping). If I was John Paul Brammer, I could draw a wise, inspiring conclusion from this; but I am me, and it's past my bedtime.
*
Content warnings for suicidal ideation, bullying, homophobia, sexual assault
Lifetime blog tally:
Number of books read: 3
Net change in unread books in my house: +2
How it got in my house: I bought it last week in the local bookstore sale
Recommend: Yes
Apparently this is the year where I delve into memoirs and personal nonfiction! Not usually my wheelhouse, and I'm enjoying the experience of something new. It's a different experience connecting to an author than to a fictional character, to say the least.
I'm also glad to be reading these memoirs because it means I'm doing better than last year--for many, many pandemic months, all I could read was fanfic and romance (with one N. K. Jemisin thrown in there, because she's amazing like that). My mental state has improved enough that I'm seeking out real people and real struggles in my books, instead of the safely fictional.
John Paul Brammer's advice columns always warm my heart, with wit sprinkled throughout, so I've been looking forward to this book. It flew by--I could barely believe it when I was done. His prose is clear, straightforward, and easy to connect to--and it helps, I think, that we're about the same age. That's something that still delights me, even after several years as a Certified Adult, that the books I'm reading are written by my peers. The book as a whole, like his columns, is full of hope in a flawed world. Honestly, the hopefulness and encouragement I feel from it surprises me in retrospect, as the memoir is mostly about past relationships, past traumas (sometimes separate, sometimes overlapping). If I was John Paul Brammer, I could draw a wise, inspiring conclusion from this; but I am me, and it's past my bedtime.
*
Content warnings for suicidal ideation, bullying, homophobia, sexual assault
Lifetime blog tally:
Number of books read: 3
Net change in unread books in my house: +2
