Tag: book review

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Book Snap #63

Title: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Author: Yuval Noah Harari

Date Read: September 7, 2019

One and a half snaps!

I’ll admit, this one took me two tries. The first time I gave up much too easily. I picked it up again with the intention of finishing, and I am glad I did.

Harari gives a whirlwind tour of how we have ended up as the singular species to survive over the last 100,000 years. That’s a lot of ground to cover! Stay with him, he is a reliable and skillful story teller. And our story is fascinating.

Throughout this examination of our battles for dominance and how we moved from foraging clans to defining ourselves as citizens of cities and kingdoms, Harari also questions how it is that we came to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism. And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?

“How can we distinguish what is biologically determined from what people merely try to justify through biological myths? A good rule of thumb is ‘Biology enables, Culture forbids.’ Biology is willing to tolerate a very wide spectrum of possibilities. It’s culture that obliges people to realize some possibilities while forbidding others. Biology enables women to have children – some cultures oblige women to realize this possibility. Biology enables men to enjoy sex with one another – some cultures forbid them to realize this possibility. Culture tends to argue that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behaviour, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist.” 

Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens

It will challenge your thinking about what you know about Sapiens and give you much to ponder. A worthwhile read.

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Book Snap #62

Title: The Field Guide to the North American Teenager

Author: Ben Philippe

Date Read: August 19, 2019

Two snaps!

Norris Caplan is the son of Haitian parents, living in Montreal and loving Canadian things like hockey, specifically the Montreal Canadiens. But now his parents are moving– his dad to Vancouver with his new wife and baby; and he, with his mother, for her new job in Austin, Texas.

Norris feels extremely out of place as a black French Canadian in the heartland of football and high school tropes straight from a teen movie. Spending most of his lunch hours alone, he walks the campus cataloguing the people he observes: jocks, cheerleaders, loners, and even his dream girl. He figures his notebook will be plenty of company until he can finally return to Canada where he belongs. Much to his surprise he actually makes friends, good ones. And he realizes he may have been rash and unfair in the judgements he scrawled in his notebook.

But what happens when someone else sees his notebook?

This book is witty, honest and fun to read. Phillipe’s use of the field guide format is a unique way to open his chapters, I got a kick out of it– I bet you will too!

Here are the openers to the first few chapters:

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Book Snap #61

Title: Girl Made of Stars

Author: Ashley Herring Blake

Date Read: August 12, 2019

Two snaps!

Another win in the YA category!

We all play roles in our lives, and Mara plays many: she is a twin; a daughter; a girlfriend; a friend; a student; and an activist. Although all of these roles have independent names, her loyalties and decisions are blurred as these roles intersect and find themselves at terrible odds.

Mara and her fraternal twin, Owen, are close. Very close. They share stories of the stars from their rooftop together. But when her brother is accused of raping her friend Hannah, it tilts her whole world on an unsteady axis. As she navigates her way through her family loyalty it forces her to deal with the trauma of her own past.

“This. This is why I never said anything. Because no one ever believes the girl.”

(Ashley Herring Blake, Girl Made of Stars)

Herring Blake explores, with compassion, the complicated lives of teens– especially young female teens, as they navigate high school friendships, relationships (LGBTQ), misogyny, and the misuse of power. Mara is a fully developed character with whom we can see ourselves and for whom our heart aches as she tries to makes sense of how to just be with others as each of her roles morph.

One of my favourite passages is where Mara wonders at the types of things that could be inscribed as an epitaph to her as she tries to sort out who she is, and who she wants to be.

Mara McHale, Some type of girl

Maybe I’m the type of girl who likes short skirts.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who likes boys and girls and those who sometimes feel like both and neither.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who slaps a boy in the face when he does something shitty.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who hides and cries in her bed alone, remembering the terrifying day that took away all her control and trust.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who’s tired of hiding and crying alone.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who realizes she’s not alone.

Maybe I’m the type of girl whose favorite person in the world did something unforgivable.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who finally accepts it.

Maybe I’m nota stupid girl.

Maybe I’m just a girl, plain and simple and real.

(Herrington Blake, p.264-5)

We are all, all types of girls. Highly recommended reading! You will love the Girl Made of Stars.

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Book Snap #60

Title: The Winemaker’s Wife

Author: Kristin Harmel

Date Read: August 5, 2019

One and a half snaps

This was a lovely surprise, a gift from my dad. I’ll savour a glass of bubbly in a whole new way now!

This unique historical fiction tells the true story of the secrets held in the caves of the Champagne region in France. The winemakers of this region endured immense hardship both to keep the grapes and barrels producing some of the world’s finest champagne while also sending messages to the Allies, protecting Jewish refugees, and storing and supplying guns and munitions to the renegades who worked against the Nazis in World War Two.

This multi-layered story skips back and forth between World War Two and present day to unravel the story of Edith Thiery, and her granddaughter, Olivia. Secrets abound and reveal a beautiful story of trying to do what is right in the face of everything being wrong.

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Book Snap #59

Title: Dear Evan Hansen

Author: Val Emmich with Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

Date Read: August 2, 2019

Two Snaps!!

I inhaled this one!!! It is a sensational YA novel adapted from the Broadway smash-hit. Beware: after reading you’ll want to book a trip to see it on the stage as well!

Evan’s chronic social anxiety leads his therapist to give him a unique homework assignment: write a daily uplifting letter to himself, promising that today’s going to be a great day.

Evan is lonely, he doesn’t fit in, and he begrudgingly completes his letters without much belief that they will ever really help him to cope with life in high school. When his letter falls into the wrong hands, Evan becomes embroiled in a lie that takes on a life of its own. For the first time in his life he is no longer invisible– he is a viral social media sensation and his life at school is remarkably changed as well. But it’s all a lie. And one lie leads to another.

Dear Evan Hansen explores life and how we choose to live it. Do choose to read this book– you will love Evan Hansen!