Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: Last Week's Hits and Misses

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone. My wish is for all of you to have the best year ever.

Despite working full-time between Christmas and New Year's, I managed to read two short books, make progress on a third and listen to a fourth.

For many years now, we've hosted a New Year's Eve party for just a few friends. I make a fancy dinner and then we all retire to living room to watch a movie, eat dessert and snacks, and wait for the ball to drop in Times Square. Some years the last person leaves at four in the morning, and other years we're alone by one. Either way, we're always happy to have friends to our house.

I'll try to pop in to visit your blogs in between cooking and setting the table and all the other little things we need to attend to today. Tomorrow is one of my favorite days: I put away the Christmas things, hang the new calendars, and get ready for a new year and a fresh start.

Here's what I read last week.

Book Love by Debbie Tung (Andrews McMeel, January 1, 2019): Put this book on your reading list and add it to your gift list for every book lover you know. This gem of a book is a series of black-and-white comics: some are one panel, some are several, and all will touch the core of the book nerd in you. Tung hits all the familiar bookish problems: staying up too late reading, packing books for trips, the impossibility of passing a bookstore without going in and buying something, the pain of transitioning to digital formats, and the book hangover. I know I'll return to this collection again and again -- Tung has so brilliantly captured the life of a reader. Don't miss this! (review copy provided by the publisher)

Parkland Speaks edited by Sarah Lerner (Crown Books YR; January 22, 2019): The subtitle of this moving collection of essays, poems, quick thoughts, photos, and art will tell you what this book is about: "Survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas Share Their Stories." On February 14 of last year, the teenagers of MSD high school were thinking about valentines and dates, getting to sports practice, hanging with friends, and all the other everyday things. When shots were fired, leaving 17 dead, the lives of the surviving teachers, students, and families were forever changed. You could read this collection in a single day, but the stories and memories and tributes are so moving, it would be hard to absorb all that emotion in one sitting. The feelings and voices of these teens are raw, heartbreaking, and elegant. The firsthand accounts of fear and confusion and the resulting sadness, guilt, and anger will stick with you. I hope the words of these teens encourage us all to work harder make our schools safe. (review copy provided by the publisher)

China to Me by Emily Hahn, read by Nancy Wu (Blackstone Audio; 22 hr, 1 min; November 2018): I'm not at all sure what I think of this autobiography of Hahn's unconventional life in China in the years before the war and after the Japanese invasion (1935-1943). She lived in Shanghai and Hong Kong, among other places, and traveled in many social circles. Her detailed account of China at that time is very much from the perspective of a Westerner and very much a response to the times and to war. The book was originally published in 1944, after Hahn was able to return to the United States with her infant daughter. It's sometimes extremely difficult to listen to the language and the prejudicial statements; I had to keep reminding myself of the time period and that Hahn's life was truly in danger at the hands of the Japanese. She was often fearless, a true feminist, and ahead of her time in many ways. She met some of the most important people in China at the time (including Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek), and worked as a journalist, writer, and teacher. Her story is fascinating, though hard to stomach from today's sensibilities. Narrator Nancy Wu is one of the best for Chinese accents and pidgin English, and she projects Hahn's emotions well. (audiobook provided for a freelance assignment)