Book Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – 3 of 5 stars

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

wind

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book while sitting on my couch, stuffing my face with Starburst jelly beans (side note; best candy ever). Needless to say, I don’t have any freaking clue what Kamkwamba’s life was like growing up. Or now, for that matter. I have no real concept of how hard farming in Malawi is. I don’t know how hot the sun gets or what it’s like to not have light after dark. I don’t know what it means to be hungry even for a day – much less an entire country being hungry in a famine. I don’t know what it feels like to have no money for school, to teach myself science, or to build something great.

What I’m trying say is, Kamkwamba and I don’t have a lot in common. I therefore feel like a D for not rating his book 5 stars. Oh well, it is what it is.

I certainly am glad I read it. There were many parts I won’t forget – particularly how he describe the famine in his country. It was incredible and he did such a great job at pointing out the parts of being hungry that became normal life. It made even a well-fed lady like myself feel cold all over. But that all fell away to the great joy I felt when he spoke about his first TED conference. Kamkwamba’s memoir does a great job at highlighting the highs and lows of his life.

Still, I don’t think this book is for everyone. If you like memoirs, you’ll enjoy it. If you’re not a huge memoir fan, you might want to pass. I found the beginning cumbersome with the stories of his family and the belief in magic in Malawi. I also found many of his descriptions of his learning and actual building of the windmill to be too detailed (probably because I didn’t understand it). I think they were valuable parts to write about and helped to round out the story, but it didn’t make for action-packed reading.

Regardless of the number of stars, I finished this book feeling inspired. I feel humbled and encouraged by the fact that there are people out there doing great things. Even though I know I will never achieve that kind of greatness myself, I hope I help a little just by hearing his story.

Categories: Travel, Weekly Review | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Handmaid’s Tale – 5 of 5

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

handmaid

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Confession: I have a total lady crush on Margaret Atwood. I’m not ashamed.

Even though I wasn’t in love with Oryx and Crake I still think Atwood is a genius. While I still love The Blind Assassin the most of all the Atwood I have read, my 2014 re-read of this book has rekindled my lady-love.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The plot is incredibly gripping – instead of revealing it in chronological order, the reader is slowly taken through the mind of a Handmaid. Atwood gives such a perfect balance of the character’s remembrance and current activities. The truth is told to us is plausible pieces – the memories of Offred rise to the surface naturally.

My absolute favorite part of the book is when we get to the “how it happened” moment. The day that the funds were frozen, that the jobs were lost. Reading that caused a chill to run through me. It’s so simple and horrifyingly possible… it made me want to keep a stash of cash in the house just in case.

The plot line was fantastic and the writing in of itself was amazing. She personified characters who we never met and managed to integrate the boredom of the Handmaid (the words, the details, the line of thought) into a meaningful and forward moving story.

I found it intriguing and well done. Exceptional read. My re-read popped it to a 5.

(P.S. – on my first read through, I totally didn’t even know there was an epilogue. Mind. Blown. Also, I kind of liked it better without the epilogue… but I’m always one for ambiguity.)

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Book Review: The Lost Girls – 3 of 5 stars

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World. by Jennifer Bagget

lost

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There a lot about this book that I love – there is so much to be jealous of. These girls found the time and dedication to travel for an entire year. It’s something I would love to do and it’s also something I know I will never do. It’s just not my life. So living vicariously was exactly why I picked up the book. These girls traveled to places I have never been and say such amazing things. I really loved reading about it.

Still, I just can’t rave about the book. There’s nothing wrong with it, per se, it’s just a little bland. Vanilla. I can tell these girls are used to a very journalistic writing. Their prose all sounds exactly the same and, with names like Jennifer, Holly, and Amanda, I found it impossible to keep them straight. I was constantly mixing up who was who. I feel like the book would have really benefited if they could have figure out a way to develop different writing styles. Some visual aides could have really helped – you know they took a million pictures. I would have loved to have seen the beat-up van, Esther, the yoga retreat, etc.

Despite the adventures and nice mixture of this-is-what-I-saw and this-is-what-I-felt, it took me a really long time to get through this book. This is something I should be devoured. Besides the lack of voice, I’m not sure what was missing – other people maybe? One of my favorite memoirs is Somebody’s Heart Is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa because of the author’s incredible ability to observe others and bring them into the story. This memoir is firmly on these three girls and, despite being a young white woman traveler myself, I just couldn’t quite get invested.

Still, it’s certainly not bad, and it’s a great thing to read if you’re itching for a trip of your own but can’t get away. There are nice tid-bits along the way, too, that give some good perspective.

“After all my searching for something to believe in, what if taking the journey itself were the highest act of faith? Traveling anywhere that was foreign inevitably meant I’d have to rely on the kindness of strangers. To venture out in the world, I had to have faith in the goodness of people – and to be open to the lessons that every new person might bring.

Amen, Holly. Or was that Amanda who wrote that? Jennifer?

Oh, who cares. Amen, sister.

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Time to Roam! This gal is going to Nicaragua!

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

Oh man – it feels so GOOD to say that.  When I don’t have a trip on my schedule I get all antsy.  Now I’m just nervous/excited.  Years ago I put “do a volunteer travel program” on my bucket list and now I’m going to check it off.  I’ve signed up to travel for Habitat for Humanity and help do a build for about 10 days in, of all places, Nicaragua.

nicaragua_beach-7822

This is why I love doing this kind of stuff.  When I did classes in Spain last year, I found myself in Salamanca, a little town I probably never would have visited, but that’s where the classes were, so I went.  It was incredible and now it’s one of my favorite cities. Now I’m going on a new adventure. I would never have thought to go to Nicaragua.  Latin America, while interesting, hasn’t been on my radar when it comes to “where should I go next”?  Now it is, and I can’t wait to discover it.

Of course, the main reason people don’t travel often is because of the (lack of) dolla dolla bills.  This, then, is my nudge, nudge, wink, wink to ask you to think about donating to my trip.  The cost for my 10 day stint, sans airfare, is just under $2000.  This covers the transportation to the build site, funded by Habitat, my lodging while there, all building materials, paying the construction manager (a local Nicaraguan), food, and then additional funds to make sure this, and other Habitat builds, can keep on going.  Obviously, I believe in the cause and it would be wonderful if you could donate just for that.

However, I’m going to give you a bit more incentive.  In an effort to sweeten the pot, I’m putting in my own milestones. If you donate, you get more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.  I offer the following prizes:

DONATE and you will receive:

$15 – A picture of your name written in the sand (we’re building on the beach) with a thank you – likely a thumbs up with be included.

$30 – Your name written in the sand and a handwritten Nicaraguan postcard.

$50 – Your name written in the sand or a handwritten Nicaraguan postcard (you pick!) and a Nicaraguan souvenir (no idea what, yet, but I’ll find something cute!).

$100+ – A video of me dancing and singing obnoxiously to any song you’d like. This will likely be done on the beach but, as I’m going to need the assistance from people I have yet to meet, I’m not going to promise a location just yet. If I get a lot of these I may limit the length of the song since this will be highly embarrassing.  You’re welcome.  You can also get the name in the sand, postcard, and souvenir too 🙂

I know!  WHO can resist?!  Did I mention that your donation is tax-deductible?  BECAUSE IT IS.  So much good!

Link link link – tell your friends!

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Book Review: Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing by Steven Luna – 5 of 5

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

Songs from the Phenomenal Nothing by Steven Luna

phenomenal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I sat down to read a chapter or two, just for a bit, and now I’m done. Devoured. That’s what happened with this book. Five, five, five stars.

This one had me from the get-go. Within about thirty seconds of reading you know Tyler Mills. He’s a teenage kid pissed off about something and is blaming it on his Dad for being a different person than him. At first you want to say “boo-hoo, kid” and kick off, but in the next thirty seconds you realize his Mom, his true connection, his source of inspiration, is dead. And then you feel bad about judging him for being all emo – and then you’re hooked.

What is it about Tyler that worked so well? It’s hard to pin-point. Maybe because he acted like a total teenager but his mind recognized how stupid he was being. Maybe because he was obviously smart and wanted to make good decisions but his fear and sadness was getting the best of him. If that isn’t a good representation of the young adult mind, I don’t know what is. The story was predictable but it moved quickly. The further it gets, in fact, the more cliché, but that didn’t detract at all. I loved it. I loved how I knew what was going to happen, I loved that Tyler did what I ultimately wanted him to do, and I love how it ended. Maybe I like clichés. I’m a firm believer that there are really only so many plotlines in the world, but there are never two personalities that are the same. It’s up to the writer to see an old situation from new eyes, and Luna nails it.

Love Perks of Being a Wallflower?  Love angst? Love teenagers figuring out their shizz? How about if you just love good books? I don’t really care what you love – you’ll love this one.

This book was provided to me as part of the Author Alliance.

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Ashley’s Top 5 Favorite Travel Memoirs (So Far)

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

Work has been SO busy lately. Whenever that happens I just want to get away and enjoy something new and wonderful.  Unfortunately, what with buying a house and all, money is a little tight so gallivanting off to a foreign country just isn’t in the cards.  At least not without some serious deal hunting.

Instead, I’ve decided to live vicariously and seek out a memoir or two.  For those of you who might be in the same boat at me, let me draw you attention to my five all-time favorite travel memoirs (so far).  In case you’re wondering, Eat, Pray, Love is not on the list.

1) In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams by Tahir Shah

inarabiannights

If you’ve read a few other posts of my blog, you’ll probably have already heard me gush about Tahir Shah and Arabian Nights. I can’t help it, this man just speaks to me.  Shah is such an incredible writer and when you add that in with his reflection on his move to Morocco… well, it’s magic to me.  This book might not quite fit the category of “travel memoir” like some of the others, but the core is the same.  It’s a book about discovering a new land – and therefore discovering yourself.  Everybody and their brother needs to read this book (IMHO)!

2) Wall to Wall: From Beijing to Berlin by Rail by Mary Morris

  walltowall

For me this book is the definition of the perfect woman travel memoir. This book was phenomenal – not only is Mary Morris probably the most self-honest person on the planet (I don’t think I could write my actions with truth like she, does even if I wanted to) but she’s a fantastic writer. Her personal struggles combined with the fascinating travel events make this a truly enthralling read. It’s set in such a dramatic time in history – Morris was in China, Russia, and Germany in 1986. Seeing some of those historic events happening through her eyes is unbelievably interesting. Great read!

3) Somebody’s Heart is Burning: A Woman Wanderer In Africa by Tanya Shaffer

HeartBurning

Shaffer’s memoir seemed very familiar. Woman travel memoirs tend to have a similar theme – the driving force in these stories is often a man back home. Why does she travel – is it because she’s running away or does she just love and enjoy what she’s doing? It’s hard, of course, to know. Part of a person, as a traveler, loves it. But the other part is exhausted. When you’re away from the place you grew up, even if you’ve been there for quite some time, you never can quite let down all of your guard.

There are two things very unique and refreshing about this book – the pictures and people. Shaffer had snapshots scattered throughout and it was fascinating for me to go back and forth between her descriptions and compare them to the face in the photograph. And she described people a lot. In fact, every chapter was focused on someone else – someone she met along the journey. She didn’t so much analyze them as she did talk about her experience with them and by the end of the chapter you realized how Shaffer felt changed by them. It was a very refreshing way to read a memoir.

4) Incognito Street: How Travel Made Me a Writer by Barbara Sjoholm

Incognito

You can probably tell from the title that I’m a bit biased by the plot of this story.  It’s about travel, and writing, and it’s set in Spain.  Clearly, I’m going to love this.  Sjoholm doesn’t disappoint.  She does a great job about remembering herself in this time the way she took chances, the people she met.  She really learned who she was in the process of this journey and it wasn’t until later when she was reflecting and writing this story that she was able to understand the way her life was affected by this trip. It’s such a beautiful thing to be let in on – and my main reason why memoirs are some of my favorite reads.

5) Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan

littleprinces

Like Arabian Nights, this book has more to it than just the travel bit. but it still will pull at your travel bone if you take it in.  Grennan did what I would love to do – do something crazy because you feel like it’s the right thing to do and let it change your life. He has had such an incredible journey and has been able to take his travel to a new height.  His book highlights that journey in of himself but he doesn’t forget to talk about the travel and country and people he met either.  Did I mention, to, that this book is funny?  Not something I expected from something about orphaned children!  I read his via audio book and Grennan narrates it himself – so good!

So, what’s next?

The best part about travel is that there’s always more to see – and the great thing about memoirs is that there’s always another one to read.  I’ve narrowed down my choices to these three – any suggestions to which one I (hopefully) enjoy first?

Don lost NoHurry

Categories: Lists, Pick Ups, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood – 3 of 5

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

oryx

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let me first preface this review with this: it took me forever to read this book. It was really no fault of the book itself. Somehow this became my bed stand book that I only picked up in the few minutes that the hubster and I were getting ready for bed. Because of this, I don’t think it’s fair for me to say the book was “slow” or “uninteresting” or even “confusing” because any book that you only read 4 or 5 pages at a time with isn’t going to have time to catch your interest.

That being said, the first adjectives that come to mind when I think about this book is slow, uninteresting, and confusing. Maybe I’m just not fair.

But I love Atwood. She wow’d me with The Handmaid’s Tale but I truly fell in love with The Blind Assassin. The woman is a genius and even with my sludge-y read, by the end of this book I felt awed. She’s got this post-apocalyptic thing down. What starts off as something bizarre and strange pulls together into something that makes sense (in a horrifying, I wish-I-didn’t-understand-as-well-as-I-did kind of way). Still, even with that, the wrap-up of the book just wasn’t what I wanted to would find. I always do my best to keep out spoilers, so let’s just say I had hoped to get more from the characters we were promised we would meet. I wanted some good interaction but it wasn’t there.

I also have a huge qualm with trilogies that are trilogies just to be trilogies. I feel like the three books should stand alone. When you get the end you’ll realize that this doesn’t stand alone in the least. It could be the most heart-stopping cliff-hanger ending ever. Yes, even more than the season finale of season 4 of The X-Files.

So, at this point, I can’t say if it’s a pick-up or a put-down. I think the rest of the trilogy will tell. In truth, if this were by a different author I wouldn’t even go on, but I trust Atwood and I’m willing to make my way to the The Year of the Flood to see what happens.

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Book Review: Bridget Jones – Mad About the Boy – 3.5 of 5

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Ashley Lauren

Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

bridget

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I heard there would be a third Bridget Jones book, all I could think was – amazgog.

I didn’t know a single thing about this nook prior to picking it up – I just jumped right in. I’m glad I went in blind because I’m not sure if I would have picked it up on the premise alone. Fifty-one year old Bridget Jones, widow, mother of two, dating a 30 year old? That sounds like all of these Hollywood movies coming out nowadays with the aging actors whose entire movie is about aging – booooring.

The thing is that 51 year old Bridget doesn’t sound like a 50 year old (nor, apparently, look like a 50 year old). She’s definitely the old Bridget with her ridiculous quirky attitude – she’s hysterically scatterbrained and makes any woman who reads Bridget’s diary feel better about herself. (Except for maybe my own mother, 99% of women are more put together than Jonesey here.)

There are some really wonderful things about this book. Her kids are freaking adorable and her mourning is intermittent (after all, it’s 4 or 5 years later) but still there and realistically touching. I loved her Twitter experience – Bridget Jones style of writing is practically made for Twitter. It made for a lot of giggles. And the part at the birthday party where she throws the dog in the pool – I might have piddled a little I was giggling so hard.

Overall, though, as much as I enjoyed the reading process I couldn’t quite get this book to 4 stars. There’s just too much about this book that felt a bit off.

1) I felt the ending was far too obvious and then came too quickly – we as readers didn’t get to fall in love with the right man.

2) Bridget’s weight issue was resolved so miraculously and then never gained back – the woman ate entire bags of shredded cheese every day and more or less kept her weight down? Whhaaaa?

3) No Darcy. It’s just not Bridget Jones without him.

4) HOW did she get so many damn Twitter followers?! (Okay, maybe that last bit is my own personal issue.)

There’s more but it’s a bit spoilery. Still, none of it makes the book unreadable. It’s a quick read overall and it’s still cute Bridget Jones. One and 2 might be better than 3, but it’s well worth the read.

Categories: Pick Ups, Weekly Review | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

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