Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed, 311 pages
Another female author with a memoir-ish book about a journey they have embarked upon. Is is just me, or do all these women have the same whiny voice? Would I sound the same if I wrote one of these books? I hope not.
Cheryl loses her mom, gets divorced as a result of her own infidelity, and decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail for 3 months, totalling about 1100 miles. She's not really a hiker or a camper, so she mostly relies on the kind staff at REI to advise her on this trip. She meets all sorts of interesting people, encounters many rattlesnakes, a few bears, and even a pretty little red fox. She makes a lot of bad decisions.
I don't know how legit I can even consider her trip, since she mailed herself things at various stops along her route, such as money and food. I guess I'm okay with it since her trip WAS 3 months long and it would be hard to carry 3 months worth of food on your back (her backpack was ridiculous as it was).
Reading about the nature and wilderness she got to experience was the only really good part of this book. It did make me start thinking about a trip such as this myself. Well, actually nothing like this. But I do enjoy nature.
This blog is the home of the St. Louis Public Library team for the Missouri Book Challenge. The Missouri Book Challenge is a friendly competition between libraries around the state to see which library can read and blog about the most books each year. At the library level, the St. Louis Public Library book challenge blog is a monthly competition among SLPL staff members and branches. For the official Missouri Book Challenge description see: http://mobookchallenge.blogspot.com/p/about-challenge.h
Showing posts with label gratuitous whining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gratuitous whining. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Orange is the New Black
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman, 302 pages
I decided to read this book because I'd heard so many good things about the Netflix series. I assumed the book must be equally good, as it's what the series is based off of. I think I was wrong.
Piper Kerman is white. And blond. And well off. And has to serve a 15-month sentence for a drug-related crime she committed 10 years ago. And she really wants you to feel sorry for her.
While in prison, here are some of the things she must suffer through:
-getting to run on a track every day if she likes, as well as practicing yoga, forcing her to get in the best shape of her life
-learning basic electrician skills
-making friends of all races, ages and sizes, who all love her, because who doesn't love a blond white girl?
-having visitors every week, mail every day, limitless money to spend at the jail commissary
-a lovely job waiting for her when she finishes serving her time
I digress. At times I did feel bad for poor Piper and her predicament, and the jail stories were entertaining at least, but a lot of the time she just seemed whiny. I understand why Elizabeth Gilbert recommends this book.
I decided to read this book because I'd heard so many good things about the Netflix series. I assumed the book must be equally good, as it's what the series is based off of. I think I was wrong.
Piper Kerman is white. And blond. And well off. And has to serve a 15-month sentence for a drug-related crime she committed 10 years ago. And she really wants you to feel sorry for her.
While in prison, here are some of the things she must suffer through:
-getting to run on a track every day if she likes, as well as practicing yoga, forcing her to get in the best shape of her life
-learning basic electrician skills
-making friends of all races, ages and sizes, who all love her, because who doesn't love a blond white girl?
-having visitors every week, mail every day, limitless money to spend at the jail commissary
-a lovely job waiting for her when she finishes serving her time
I digress. At times I did feel bad for poor Piper and her predicament, and the jail stories were entertaining at least, but a lot of the time she just seemed whiny. I understand why Elizabeth Gilbert recommends this book.
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