What I've Heard- Spare by Prince Harry

Yes, I am a little late to the tea party, but I finally got around to listening to Spare by Prince Harry. Audiobook is my format of choice when it comes to memoirs, especially when they are read by the author. At fifteen hours and thirty-nine minutes, this was a lengthy one, but I really enjoyed it. It was very interesting to learn some of the behind-the-scenes protocols when it comes to the British Royal Family. The idea of needing to make an appointment with your own grandmother and then having that appointment subject to approval by anyone other than her was baffling. It was heartbreaking to learn about the lack of affection with which Harry was raised and hearing his description of the pursuit of the press was immensely frustrating to the point of my own muttering in public. I've mentioned before that I usually listen to audiobooks on my bike rides, so at least there was no one to witness my muttering, but still. 

In his own recollection, Harry takes responsibility for all his naughty behavior over the years. He admits when he was wrong and details his attempts to do better. He does not, however, let any of the false stories about him or his family stand. Encompassing his whole life, he shares his memories as best he can; while admitting there are things he can't recall due to the trauma of the situation. Seeing as this is his memoir, of course we are only hearing his side of the stories, but I found his version very compelling. I highly recommend adding this to your list of audiobooks. 

 

The In-Between by Hadley Vlahos

Hadley Vlahos is a nurse and a very popular TikToker, which is how I found her. A hospice nurse, she shares stories of what she's learned from her patients and demystifies the hospice process for her viewers. In The In-Between she writes about her experiences and the patients who have had the most impact on her.

We read about Sandra, the woman who lives in a gorgeous mansion who is dying of breast cancer, and of Albert, the man living in a tent under a bridge with kidney failure. We meet Reggie, a man with liver disease caused by a lifetime of alcohol abuse, and Elizabeth, a young yoga teacher with lung cancer despite never smoking a day in her life. There is a patient with dementia, one with skin cancer, one with heart disease, and two with brain cancer. We meet patients with lots of loving family to care for them and some with only one or none. Some of her patients are happy to receive her help and others don't see the point of her. Some she spends days or weeks caring for, and others only a few hours.

What does a "good death" look like to you? Hadley leads her readers to find those answers for themselves while giving some insight into the process of dying that some people may not have experienced. She's very young for a hospice nurse, a profession that typically attracts nurses looking for a change of pace after years in other nursing fields, but she falls in love with the connections she is able to make with her patients and the good she can do at one of the most important moments of their lives.

This book was very sad. And it was also sweet, and heartwarming, and comforting. Of course I cried. When don't I? But they were good tears. Hadley tells her stories in a very uplifting way that inspires hope. 

 

What I've Heard- Greenlights

Matthew McConaghey just has one of those voices. It's gravely, but not rough. It's low, but casual. It's just gorgeous and listening to his memoir Greenlights is a real treat. McConaghey shares stories about growing up in rural Texas, getting his first acting gig, traveling the world- often to unusual destinations-, living the Hollywood life, and meeting his wife and starting their family. It is filled with lessons learned the easy or hard way, but always with a sense of humor and a healthy dose of perspective.

I've read reviews calling this self-indulgent or vain, but it is a memoir. It is supposed to be about him. There were, admittedly, a few cringy moments, but show me someone whose life doesn't have those and I'll show you a fibber. He even includes the naked bongo story! The theme throughout the book is that if we work hard and do the right things, Green Lights will light our way.

I found this audio book engaging and very difficult to turn off at the end of a bike ride. It was inspirational and interesting. Add it to your next road trip playlist!

 

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is written by Late Night with Seth Meyers writer Amber Ruffin and her sister Lacey Lamar. Mostly written by Amber, she describes it this way:

My sister Lacey is a lightening rod for hilarious racist stories.

And also:

When you hear these stories and think, None of these stories are okay, you are right. And when you hear these stories and think, Dang, that's hilarious, you are right. They're both.

You may have seen Amber on the segment Jokes Seth Can't Tell which is flipping hysterical. Or perhaps you've seen her show on the Peacock app, The Amber Ruffin Show. If you haven't then you definitely should. She's really funny. And whether you have seen these or you haven't, I highly recommend pulling up several segments on YouTube and watching them just to get her voice in your head. Her sweet tone of voice and sarcastic delivery will absolutely make the reading experience better for you.

The stories Amber and Lacey tell are unbelievable, by which I mean they are horribly believable. Who are these people that would treat someone this way? What is wrong with some people? How do people who treat others this way sleep at night? I really would like to know. Anyone else telling these stories would be depressing, but somehow Amber makes it hilarious.

I highly recommend this book. I've even added it to my "Required Reading" list. I can't wait to listen to the audio version because it is going to be ah-mazing!

 

From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein

Beck Dorey-Stein is a former White House stenographer who tells all about her time working next to greatness in her memoir From the Corner of the Oval. Beck falls into this job after a temporary position at a school in Washington D.C. finishes. She is working several part time jobs when she comes across a Craigslist add for a stenographer. It isn't until she interviews for the job that she discovers it is working at the White House. From 2012 to 2017, she is part of the team that records every speech, every interview, and every press briefing that President Obama conducts. She travels with the White House staff all over the world for meetings with international leaders and to small towns in the United States for meetings with everyday Americans. She details what it is like to fly on Airforce One and travel in protected motorcades and stay in hotels guarded by Secret Service agents. She also shares a great deal about her personal life and how she spent those years meeting new friends and how the job affected her relationships.

Unfortunately, Dorey-Stein isn't particularly likeable. In fact, there were several times she was downright unlikeable. It is obvious she tries, but like the one-dimensional female character in a 2-star YA novel, she fails. She describes herself as unsophisticated out of place in a way that sounds like whining like insincere insecurity. Granted, some of the staff sound pretty awful with one even criticizing her orange blazer: "Bright colors are for senior staffers." It makes me wonder, do they also say "On Wednesdays we wear pink."? Even still, rather than coming off as an underdog, she just sounds pathetic.

Dorey-Stein also recounts how this time is filled with her participation in a despicable affair. For part of it she has a boyfriend, but for all of it the man in question has a girlfriend or is engaged. It is annoying to read about how flat-out stupid she is with this guy, a senior staffer. I know we all do dumb things when we are in love, but nothing about this guy is redeeming or romantic, no matter how hard she tries to write it that way. He constantly leaves her miserable and she just keeps going back for more. It made me want to scream at her "Get. It. Together, girl!" Through it all she is surrounded but so many inspiring people; smart, strong women and men who are busy making a difference and all she can see is a pathetic high school romance with a jerk who is probably a sociopath. That is pretty hard to like.

She bemoans her lot in life after one particularly rough night of overdrinking and fighting with this man and finds herself envying my friends with their full nights of sleep, their unfractured hearts, their focus on what actually matters. Then grow up, figure it out, and be better! On numerous occasions she describes how one drink after work leads to several more which always lead to more bad decisions. It is embarrassing. She tells these stories like she thinks she is Carrie from  Sex in the City, but she really isn't. And she really shouldn't.

An aspiring writer during this time, she shares her writing with several people who all tell her how great a writer she is, but of course she doesn't believe it- no matter how many times over and over  she reports people telling her she's great. It almost sounds like a humblebrag the way she goes on and on about it. A couple of different times she mentions that people ask her when she's going to quit her job and be a writer. She even quotes one friend calling it a "shit job" and suggesting she quit and start writing. First of all, it sounds like a pretty amazing job to me. I'm sure every day isn't a day at Disneyland, but traveling the world? Interacting on a regular basis with President Obama? Meeting inspiring people at every turn? That sounds like a dream job.  And secondly, why does she have to quit to be a writer? There are plenty of writers with day jobs and it sounds like she has plenty of downtime to devote to her writing, if only she could stop going out to bars late into the night, getting wasted like a college sophomore every time she has a free moment, and squandering her time and energy on a useless man who doesn't even care about her.

In the end, this book was a self-indulgent exercise in sensationalism with the sole purpose of becoming a published author. We want to learn about life working in the White House, not about her ridiculous social life. The content of her occupation is fascinating, but Beck? Not so much.

*This Advanced Reader Copy was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for and honest review.*

What I've Heard- Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Well! After that last audiobook, I really needed something funny that would lighten the mood a little. Or a lot. 

Jenny Lawson was the obvious and perfect choice. Let's Pretend This Never Happened is one of those books that I always recommend to people and for a darn good reason- it. is. hilarious!

I wax rhapsodic plenty in my print review (see the link above) so I won't go on and on about it again here, but I do want to say how wonderfully Jenny reads this book. Is there anything better than a memoir read by the author? Except that Jenny doesn't just read this book. She sings it, she laughs along with you, she adds so much more value than even the print book can provide.

I love Jenny Lawson. I wish we were best friends. Read or listen to this now. You don't even know how much you need this in your life. So, so much.

What I've Heard- Becoming by Michelle Obama

I was very excited to finally get to listen to Becoming by Michelle Obama! It. Was. FANTASTIC!

I have long admired the former First Lady, but I didn't know much at all about her childhood or the family that raised her. Michelle is proud of her Southside of Chicago upbringing and the steady and loving family who surrounded and encouraged her. The reader is allowed to follow her on her journey from small public school within walking distance of her home to a magnet school three hours away by city bus to Princeton and on to Harvard Law School. We then watch as she strives to make partner at a law firm in Chicago where she meets a plucky young intern named Barack.

SPOILER ALERT: they get married and have two daughters.

Michelle then lets us peek inside her struggles to balance her own career ambitions with those of her husband and with raising her family. I enjoyed learning about all the behind the scenes work involved in being married to a candidate for Senate and then President. Life in the White House is also fascinating to read about as it focuses on her initiatives and goals as well as raising her girls in such a bright spotlight.

I don't usually listen to books I haven't read, but autobiographies read by the author are almost always a win-win. Of course, the only problem with audiobooks is that it is much harder to highlight and mark and draw hearts around all the wonderful quotes, but hearing Michelle's story in her own voice made it worth it. If you are fan of the Obamas you are going to love this book. If you aren't or if you are undecided, I urge you to give this book a try anyway. Politics is a very small part of her story and the rest is, I believe, pretty universal. I have great respect for Michelle- her integrity, her intelligence, her determination, and her optimism make her an excellent role model for girls and women of all ages.

What I've Heard- Educated by Tara Westover

Educated by Tara Westover has been on my to-read list for a very, very long time. I first heard about this book while listening to NPR. When I tried to borrow it from the library, it became obvious that lots and lots of other people had also heard about it and so I would have to wait a really long time to borrow the book from the library. As a second option, I put my name on the list for the audio version. It also had a long wait list, but it actually arrived pretty quickly. I proceeded to copy the CD onto my player and returned it to the library. Then something very strange happened- the book didn't make any sense. It jumped around, it cut out and eventually it just ended. Upon further research, I discovered that the audio didn't download completely and in fact I was listening to a random puzzle of a story. Irritated to have to wait even longer (longer than this story if you can believe that!) I put myself back on the list. Finally it arrived and I was ready to listen.

I cannot emphasize enough how worth the wait this was!

Tara Westover grew up on the side of a mountain peak in rural Idaho, the youngest in a large family and raised by a parents who didn't believe in the public education system. Or doctors. Or handwashing. Tara spent her days working in the family's scrap yard and helping her mother in the kitchen. She was taught to read and basic math, but beyond that there was no need for education; the public schools were just places of government indoctrination. They spent their time preparing for the End of Days, certain they would be the only survivors. At age seventeen, Tara yearned for more knowledge and a way out of the home where she was terrorized by an older brother. Never having been in an actual classroom, Tara began by studying for the ACT on her own. On her second attempt she earned a score high enough to secure a scholarship to BYU. After receiving her Bachelor's degree, she went on to earn a Master's and Doctorate from Cambridge and a fellowship from Harvard.

That alone is beyond impressive and inspirational, but it gets even more remarkable when we read about how trying her childhood and early young adult years were made by her family. Westover is clear that not all of her early life was bad and that she loves her family very much, but that there were obstacles she had to overcome. When talking about her father, Westover often uses these phrases:

He began a lecture...
He talked all the way home...
He yelled and screamed the entire car ride...

Westover's father ruled his family with an iron fist. There was only his way of seeing the world.

My father had taught me that there are not two reasonable opinions to be had on any subject.
There is truth and there are lies.

She also has a very abusive older brother and a mother who consistently looks the other way. It is a hard life and made harder by the people who are supposed to take care of her. One brother does offer her a way out:

"There is a whole world out there and it will look a lot different once Dad is no longer whispering his view of it into your ear."

This brother, Tyler, helps her find all the information she needs to save herself. This book is a memoir, but it reads like some of the most thrilling fiction I've read. Chapter after chapter I found myself on the edge of my seat; it is exciting, sad, and at the same time, inspirational. I hope you won't have to wait as long as I did to read or listen to this book, but if you do, know that it is worth the wait!

Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence

I have mentioned many, many times how much I love my local library. That fondness has increased after reading The Library Book and my most recent read, Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence. I stumbled across this book on a display in my library for Love of Reading Month. It was small, epistolic, and looked like a quick fun read.

Written by a librarian and life-long book lover, Spence shares with us letters she has written to books she has loved and some she hasn't loved, all drawn from the various shelves that have filled her life. These books range from the titular Fahrenheit 451 (a book I can't believe I've never read) to To Kill a Mockingbird (a book Spence can't believe she's never read). It ranges from books she has loved- The Goldfinch which she has recommended to so many people it's falling apart- to books she has really, really hated- Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian which made her say "erotica" to an old lady. And she talks about books that have changed over the years as her perspective and life stages have changed- The Time Traveler's Wife.

This book was just as expected: quick and fun and a walk down memory lane of books I've read and a list of additions to my Goodreads Want to Read list. I love books and I love book lovers (I'm looking at you, SmartGirl!) and so it's no surprise that I enjoyed this book. In the introduction, Spence describes her affection for the literary this way:

Reading has shaped me, guided me, reflected me, and helped me understand and connect with, and this is not hyperbole, HUMANITY.

This was the written form of exactly the way I find myself walking through bookstores: gently caressing and murmuring to all those I've loved, glaring at the ones that betrayed or irritated me, but mostly wishing I could find the time to read them all.

What I've Heard- Born a Crime

Born a Crime is the autobiography of Trevor Noah and tells all about his growing up in Apartheid South Africa. His father is white, his mother is black, and neither can openly claim him. He couldn't be seen in public at all with his father and he recalls his mother dropping his hand on the street one day, pretending he belonged to someone else. And yet he grew up feeling loved.

The stories Noah tells will make you catch your breath and also laugh out loud. The relationships between Noah and his mother and with his grandmother are touching and heartwarming. I listened to the audio version and, being read by Noah himself, it was wonderful. I cannot recommend enough that you read this book. Or listen to it. Or both. Trevor Noah's humor and perspective of what many people would view as an extremely difficult upbringing could teach us all a lesson about how to face the world and how to make it better.