I've been devouring books since I've returned from my six months of travel (see previous posts for details about that), and I wanted a way to keep track of everything I've read that's more informative than the note in my iPhone but less time-intensive than a New York Times profile. Introducing: Five-word book reviews. A headline summary of each work with a short description of what to expect. This month, I'm covering books I read from August-November of this year. Enjoy!
Holocaust Survivors Are Real People
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History - Art Spiegelman
Spiegelman illustrates his father's experiences in the Holocaust and how tragedies inform the day-to-day interactions they have while he's writing the story.
*Childhood Could Have Been Worse
The Glass Castle: A Memoir - Jeannette Walls
*My/Likely Your. A sometimes unbelievable memoir about Walls' unconventional childhood, growing up in poverty and unconditional love.
A Spanglish Nerd Hero's Journey
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Díaz
Nerd's hero's journey to find love made wonderfully complex by the cultural expectations he faces as a Dominican-American. P.S. Be prepared to Google if you don't speak Spanish and aren't into comic books.
What Iran Is Really Like
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - Marjane Satrapi
An eye-opening depiction of daily life in Iran, from the cost of war to the cost of the coolest cassette tapes.
Plant-Based Diet Cures Everything
How Not To Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease - Michael Greger, M.D.
Do you have a risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer or Alzheimer's in your family? Do you have digestion issues? Do you go to the doctor? If you answered yes to any of these, Dr. Gregor's slightly obsessive plant-based diet could save your life.
We Are All Illogical Hypocrites
Senselessness - Horacio Castallanos Moya
A writer working for the Catholic Church translates accounts of brutal massacres against indigenous people of Latin America. So many lovely words in the translation (and I have to assume the writing) of this book.
A Modern Definition Of Feminism
Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Includes gems like "If we don’t place the straitjacket of gender roles on young children we give them space to reach their full potential" and "Being a feminist is like being pregnant. You either are or you are not. You either believe in the full equality of women, or you do not."
How History Should Be Taught
Palestine by Joe Sacco
A refugee camp is more than just a phrase. Journalist Sacco illustrates chaotic Gaza and the West Bank in the early '90s and the people fighting over shared territory.
Self-Destructive Teen Grows Up
How I Made It to 18: A Mostly True Story - Tracy White
How depression, low self-esteem, body image issues, anxiety and more make adolescence really hard.
Read This Before Anything Else: Maus I
Maus I is a Pulitzer-prize winning story and considered the greatest graphic novel of all time for its account of one family's tragedy during the Holocaust. If you find history boring, this might convince you otherwise. The story is incredible, and it illustrates how trauma influences daily life and affects generations. It's a perspective shift that I think is applicable to other war survivors and veterans, too.
I'd also strongly encourage A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions for literally anyone who lives in modern-day America, Persepolis for anyone who knows nothing about the Middle East and loves great illustration, and How Not To Die for anyone with health issues.
Which book are you most likely to read based on its five-word review? How would you summarize one of the selections above in five words? Let me know in the comments below.