Book 27 of 100 – “Orange is the New Black” by Piper Kerman

Piper Kerman, much like Piper Chapman in the very popular Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, was sentenced to 15 months in prison on a charge that was a decade old. There are a few similarities between the book and the series, but only a few. Kerman chose to write with honesty, then produce a TV show somewhat based upon the novel, but that included many of the things that she was afraid would happen but never did.

Do not shy away from the book just because you have binge watched each episode of all three seasons several times. You will not simply hear the same story over again. You will hear the story from a real angle. You will understand many of the issues with today’s prison system in America, and you will be able to better apply that to the social commentary made in the show. Read this book, then binge watch all three seasons a few more times. Why not? You deserve it. You read a book today.

Book 26 of 100 – “Letter to My Daughter” by Maya Angelou

I wish I didn’t need to read 74 more books so I could spend a few weeks combing through this book. I want to soak in every word and appreciate every bit of wisdom Maya Angelou felt necessary to impart upon me.

I wish Angelou would have kept writing this book forever. In the several short chapters I read, I got mini glimpses into Angelou’s life. As much as I loved this, I am still a bigger fan of her poetry than anything else she has written.

I chose to read “Letter to My Daughter” because in my opinion, if I can grow to have a life even a fraction as interesting and well fulfilled as Maya Angelou, then I will have lived my life well.

Everyone should read this piece. It may not take you long, you may notice some pointed opinions, but you will also notice a wise, well-lived life laid out on paper which you have no choice but to appreciate.

Book 25 of 100 – “Paddle your own Canoe” by Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman is a brilliant man and a wonderful actor. He is one of my favorite characters on Parks and Rec and I have always been impressed with how well he and Amy Pohler work together. Naturally, I expected this book to be flipping amazing.

It was good, but not as mind shattering as I expected.

Offerman gets somewhat repetitive in his musings, he seems full of himself, but he really makes an attempt to pull away from that. This book had a few funny moments, and a few moments that I knew where intended to be funny but threw way too for outside of the line.

I found myself wondering if Offerman is just really politically confused. I am not sure, but it feels like it at times in the book. I enjoy Nick Offerman as an actor and a wood worker, but not as much as a writer.

Book 24 of 100 – “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou

If you yet to experience any form of Maya Angelou, you are seriously missing out on one of the finer things in life. Maya Angelou is one of my greatest inspirations and her writing always seems to provide me with exactly what I need when I need it.

It was interesting to pick up a piece of her prose. I have always found myself fonder of her poetry than anything else, but I decided it might be fun to pick this up since it magically appeared in front of me at a local bookstore.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird sings” is an absolutely beautiful piece of work. The beginning is slow and sometimes strange, but by the end you will understand it all and want to soak in every work a million more times. Angelou writes about her childhood in her poetic manner, but also with the mind of a child. The perspective that she creates in the book rivals almost any other childhood memoir I have encountered. Pick up this book and everything else by Maya Angelou today. While you are at it, hop on over to YouTube, find a video in which she reads some of her poetry, close your eyes, listen carefully, and tell me you feel no changes deep in your thoughts as you consider her beauty, vulnerability, and magic.

Books 15-23 of 100 (Playing Catch Up)

I am ashamed to admit that I have fallen very behind on my blogs. Although I have gotten a lot of reading done, I have not blogged about you. You, dear readers, should be ashamed that I have neglected to tell you how I feel about my challenges. Please forgive me for that. In an effort to catch up without making each of you read a BUNCH of blogs in one day, because we both know you won’t, here is a quick list, with a few quick reviews of what I missed filling you in on.

Book 15 of 100 – “The Snake has all the Lines” by Jean Kerr
I wish I was as funny as Jean, but I’m glad I don’t have children nor do I have to figure out how to publish a 35 cent book in the 1950’s with a female’s name.

Book 16 of 100 – “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” by John C. Maxwell

Well, Mr. Maxwell sure does think a lot of himself.

Book 17 of 100 – “We Should All Be Feminists” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I will never figure out her name, but I will always admire all of her work. This short work was a work of art and I found myself fawning over ever sentence, taking notes, and having brilliant ideas. Everyone should read this.

Book 18 of 100 – “Dad is Fat” by Jim Gaffigan

Wow. I am never having children. Particularly if I live in New York. Maybe Jim is a good comedian because he is literally crazy?

Book 19 of 100 – “Matilda” by Ronald Dahl

I watched this movie a million times when I was a kid, but I never got around to reading the book. I’m still upset that my parents didn’t love me enough which made me funny, but they didn’t take it that one extra step so I could also have super powers. Ugh.

Book 20 of 100 – “A Question of Manhood” by Robin Reardon

This was a tough book to get through because it was so dense for a fiction work, but I am glad I did. This book will knock you off your feet, make you cry, piss you off, and make you over-think the world all at the same time.

Book 21 of 100 – “The Child Who” by Simon Lelic

This could have been better written, but it was very creepy nonetheless. I regretted finishing at night while camping. Can you guess? I did not sleep well. L

Book 22 of 100 – “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers

Much like John Maxwell, Eggers thinks a lot of himself, but he does it in a wonderful way. Good book, but a tough read.

Book 23 of 100 – “Sula” by Toni Morrison

Always Toni Morrison, every time. I don’t even need to review this book because you should just be reading everything she writes anyways.

I still have a lot of catching up to do in order to reach my goal. Stay tuned dear readers or reader, rather (hi mom!), because I will continue to catch up.

Book 14 of 100 – “Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass”

I read this book mostly out of necessity. I took a history class this semester and our final paper required that we read it and write about it. It was not a very difficult read, being a small, thin book that is what I expected. However, it was very interesting.

In this autobiography, we learn about the events that shaped Douglass into the great man that he eventually became. If you are a history buff, this is a definite must-read. I got a very interesting look at what life was like as a young slave at the brink of the war. Douglass went on to do some very wonderful things and helped shape our country as free for all.

Book 13 of 100 – “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (supposedly) by Nicholas D. Satan and Prof. Marcus J. Weeks

Let me start off by letting you know that this book is completely satirical and is a wonderful play against the popular Dale Carnegie book. The subheading is “666 Ways to Guarantee Success in the Workplace.” The physical aspect of the book is actually quite cool and secretly appealing in a its-possible-I-might-be-demonic sort of way. The hard covered book is black with ominous red lettering, red satanic stars, and an awesome elastic diary strap. The inside pages appear to be slightly burned and there are many sections that indicate blood was spilled in the writing of this book.

I found “How to Win Friends and Influence People” on sale at a local bookstore and purchased it, along with a book about homosexuality, much to the horror of, what I can assume, was a 60 year old, very Christian, cashier.

This book was funny, it played off of the seven deadly sins (but combined two of them so there were only six), and it talked about the merits of each. For example, if you are greedy, you get to have a lot of money. How awesome right? It even mockingly referenced people who practiced the standards of the book, but who were actually just big criminals.

As interesting as this book was, I also found it slightly annoying. It was somewhat repetitive and way too over the top. I understand their reasoning in doing this, the best way to avoid law suits is to make it very clear that you are joking, but I find that I prefer humor that you have to work for at least a bit. I did get a really cool “Satan-Corp” Diploma of completion out of it, something I will always cherish and probably never actually display in any form of office space. For now, I would like people to assume I am still a good person.

Book 12 of 100 – “The Year of Living Biblically” by AJ Jacobs

In this novel, AJ Jacobs takes on the ridiculous task of following every single rule that is outlined in the bible as closely as possible, then he documents his journey. I read this very interesting book at the request of a wonderful friend and I found it to be a great suggestion.

AJ Jacobs did not make his job easy. He chose to spend eight months following the Old Testament to a key and later spend four months following the New Testament from the bible. As much as I enjoyed this book and the humorous comments that Jacobs made, I found it somewhat difficult to read. There are times that he makes long, drawn out references that don’t completely make sense. He can get lost in how he feels about what he is doing or adversely lost in the micro challenges that he faces.

AJ Jacobs in his extreme detail told a story of something I know I will never be able to do. This was a fun book, but be careful not to read it with a fine-tooth comb or a critics tongue. Enjoy this book for the book and the challenge that Jacobs takes on.

Book 11 of 100 “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrick Engles

How about this for a diverse read? I recently spent a weekend in Tucson. Since my friends and I don’t play by traditional vacation rules, we decided to try out something new and visit an LGBTQA all inclusive coffee house and book shop. Let me tell you, this little place was the most adorable coffee shop I have ever been to. On top of it, they managed to make a perfect caramel macchiato with almond milk. While we were visiting, they happened to be having a Marxist study. SUPER COOL! Although we didn’t participate on the study, we did have some interesting conversations about Mr. Karl Marx. So, I decided I would look into some of his work and get some more diversity in my studies. This book did not turn me into a communist, but it was interesting. Marx and Engles throw some really interesting theories out there. Some of their thoughts about how capitalism would turn out are pretty interesting and fun to play around with. I encourage those who are going to read this to do so with an academic, not political, mindset. Do not attempt to challenge all of the perspectives that they display, simply study them. You might learn something, I did.

Book 10 of 100 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Just like a previous post of mine that you can find here about Titus Andronicus, I read this play for my Shakespeare class. However, I have already read this before. In fact, I performed this play in High School. I played the very interested character of Helena, and had a great time with it. Because the two characters of Helena and Hermia are supposed to have a very pronounced height difference, they cast me (5’6” at the time) as Helena and a small friend of mine (5’1” at the time) as Hermia. However, they did the casting for the fall play at the beginning of the summer and when we got back to school in the fall, Hermia had grown a few inches after a wonderful summer growth spurt. So to help create the physical height difference that was now not quite as pronounced, I had to wear a pair of very tall heels. Unfortunately, heels and paper mache hills don’t always go so well together. Long story short, I fell a lot and lost all of the trust I had for chicken wire, glue, and strips of paper.

As much as this play hurt me, I still love it. There are so many ways to approach this play. You can enjoy it for its comedic surface, its political statements, its large amount of imagination, or even its semi-feminist character. It is a fun one to read and play around with. I would highly suggest this play to anyone who wants to dabble in some of good ‘ol Shakesy’s work and have a good time doing it.