Another fun jump through the nostalgia of childhood. This collection contains new stories, written and illustrated in the style that I remember as a kid. It's cute, it's quirky and it was just a super fun selection to read.
(#18-2022)
Come on now, if ever there was going to be a book written about the joy of cookies, you knew it had to be written by Cookie Monster.
Full of fun cookie tidbits (not crumbs, just information) and even a couple of Mr. Monster's favourite cookie recipes, this is a genuinely fun little book.
COOKIES! nom nom nom nom nom
(#17-2022)
The Best of Archie Christmas Comics
Picked this up to get in the holiday mood - I always forget how amusing Archie comics can be and I'd never even considered that there would be enough Christmas-themed ones to make a collection. But this feels like a good way to round out the end of my reading year. I'm over my self-imposed double-my-reading-challenge goal, and now I can just read whatever I read.
#101-2021
This is a beautiful memoir of a normal family in a crazy industry. Opie Taylor, Mark Wedloe, Leon, Richie Cunningham. The story behind the characters is even more interesting than the shows they appeared in.
This book almost reads like its own television show. There is some drama and some antics (from Hee-hee man especially) and even a lesson or two sprinkled in for good measure. Written alternately in Ron's or Clint's voices in nice digestible chunks with the occasional sidebar to give us a glimpse at the still existing brotherly relationship. This is the Hollywood memoir that we needed. Even if we didn't know we needed it.
In this book, we go on a historical journey of the Vanderbilt family. The Rise and the fall as the title suggests. There is a lot to unpack here because anyone who knows anything about the Vanderbilts generally knows that they're rich. But are they still? The book would tell you otherwise, because of their own mismanagement and behaviour. From the patriarch who built the empire to his children and their families, the Vanderbilt family is still interesting even while they may not remain powerful or influential.
The Best of Archie Comics Book 4 Deluxe Edition
Not much to review here - I pick these Best of collections up randomly because I had a huge collection of Archie comics as a kid. Mostly Digests and Double Digests. Somewhere along the way, I decided I didn't want them anymore and they've gone to the wind. I guess I can take heart in the fact that someone else may have enjoyed them as much as I did. I do still enjoy the fluffy comic-book stories of the Archie-verse whenever I get a chance to find them.
#70-2021
I picked this up figuring that if I was going to read a book about Whitney Houston, who better to have written it than her mother. I should have realized by the subtitle of this that the book would really be more about Cissy's relationship than about Whitney. I've always had that impression of Cissy Houston anyway - that she's really more interested in how the world affects her than anything else.
It's kind of a mutual biography - of both Cissy and Whitney. It is interesting to read how Cissy got where she was and became who she is, as well as knowing how that framed her relationship with her kids. She's led a very musically influential life even without being Whitney Houston's mother, and I would imagine that she often gets overlooked because of that fact.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this. I watch Don Lemon on CNN regularly (way more regularly than I ought to really, and way, way more regularly since the pandemic and other issues in the US over the past year.) But I'm not always completely sure that I enjoy watching.
The show is smart, intelligent, but sometimes it's over my head. Sometimes it feels like that's intentional - that the point is to make everything seem so intelligent that it has to be true. I was afraid that would be the case with this book as well.
But I was also excited for the book's release. My mom and I both have been looking forward to it, because Don Lemon speaks so clearly and carefully. It's not that his language isn't passionate about the topic - he definitely is - it's just that it's also always so rational. Logical. Which the world, and especially the US, haven't had a lot of lately.
Michelle Obama: A Photographic Journey
A simple read as the second book of the new year. This one has some great photos of a great female role model/icon. The book also contains several of her speeches which reinforce her iconic stature. The best part about that is that she doesn't aim to be an icon. She just is.
I'll be keeping this one handy for the moments when I need some inspiration on how to lead a strong life.
#2-2002
Sadly, I wasn't motivated to read this book until after Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death this year, but I'm still amazed at how influential and inspiring her life was. She didn't go out there intending to change the world or to blaze a trail, but just in the very things, she was interested and capable of doing she did.
Anyone who's interested in reading about strong, capable women who make life easier for other women should take an interest in Ginsburg's story. This telling is very personable and applies the activities of her life to the things she was able to accomplish.
I also have a book written by Ginsburg on my shelf waiting for me to read it, but I wanted to read someone else's perspective of her life before reading her own. I feel that she will not be as proud of her accomplishments as someone else will be.
#77-2020
Becoming by Michelle Obama