Book Reviews: 'A Lotus Grows in the Mud' by Goldie Hawn and 'Bossypants' by Tina Fey

1. A Lotus Grows in the Mud, by Goldie Hawn:

I really enjoyed reading this. It's from 2005, but I only discovered that Goldie Hawn wrote a memoir a few weeks ago and I decided I was going to read it (whenever I go through iffy periods with anxiety I look to memoirs because I find it's like someone telling you a series of stories, which I find helpfully distracting). At first I was worried it was going to be one of those overdone celebrity memoirs with unnecessary extravagant writing because Hawn sought the help of a journalist when writing A Lotus Grows in the Mud, who is the co-author of the book, but it felt like most of the writing was genuinely and authentically Goldie Hawn. She tells all different kinds of stories from all the different times in her career, from landing Private Benjamin to getting lost on a road trip to Las Vegas in the mid 60s with only her dog until a solider on leave helped her and she never saw him again. Hawn also brings up how, in the 70s, some called her a star who gave liberated women a bad name, because she was blonde and bubbly and, of course, got typecast as such. She sets the record straight and says even if all she ever wanted to be was a wife and mother growing up, all she ever wanted was to be happy, regardless of what became of her life, and I really enjoy that message. I was also worried that A Lotus Grows in the Mud was going to become repetitive as, at 446 pages, it's quite a bit longer than the typical celebrity memoir, but I was also proven wrong there because pretty much all 446 pages are necessary and enjoyable. She also interlaces her chapters with these cute little musings of stories or other writings she calls "Postcards", which was refreshing. I actually didn't know all that much about Goldie Hawn before picking up this book but it's inspired me to check out a few of her classic movies from the 70s and 80s. If you like Goldie Hawn, or are just looking for a book of stories to get you through a rough couple of days like me, I recommend. 5/5 stars.

2. Bossypants, by Tina Fey:
I'm really mad at myself for waiting 6 YEARS to check out Tina Fey's memoir, especially since I've known about Bossypants since it came out in 2011. This was really fun to read! I liked the early chapters about her childhood and teenage years the best. I kind of found the last 150 pages to be a little less engaging than the first 100 pages, most probably because it was more about the politics surrounding the behind the scenes goings-on at Saturday Night Live (where Fey was a writer for several years) followed by some stuff about 30 Rock, her NBC sitcom which I haven't watched in its entirety and of whom I am not a huge fan, so me not finding the last half as engaging as the first was probably a case of "it's me not you." In any event, it was a good celebrity memoir read to conclude my end-of-the-summer memoir kick! If you're like me and still haven't checked out Bossypants even though it's been out since 2011, I'd say to give it a shot. Tina Fey is hilarious, there's never been any doubt about that. 4/5 stars.

Book Review: 'Freedom: My Book of Firsts' by Jaycee Dugard

I will never cease to be fascinated by Jaycee Dugard and will be in a forever state of awe at what she went through and how she managed to come out somewhat clean on the other side.

For those who are unfamiliar with her, she is one of the most famous kidnap survivors. In June 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped from a school bus stop within sight of her home in South Lake Tahoe, California. She was taken by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, a registered sex offender and his wife, and was held captive in their backyard for more than 18 years, during which she bore two children with the man. In 2009, Dugard and her daughters were miraculously recovered after nearly two decades of captivity in a madman's backyard. She told her disturbing-yet-necessary story in her first memoir, A Stolen Life, in 2011. Freedom: My Book of Firsts, published in 2016, is her account of "what happened next": who Jaycee Lee Dugard is today after everything she went through.

I've always been fascinated with kidnapping stories. I can't really explain it. They've really drawn my attention, ever since I was a kid. I used to watch Without a Trace reruns religiously, and I was really bothered by a missing child's case one summer when I was young. It was a girl my age, and she was from a few cities away from me. Her picture was everywhere, and the story was spread all over our area. No reliable leads were ever found, but every year on the anniversary of her disappearance, there was something about her on our local newscast. In December 2015, I heard word that they found her remains deep in a forest, and they had been there so long that very little forensic evidence could be taken from them. It was a very surreal experience, even though I didn't know the girl or didn't live near her. She was my age and, being fascinated and often disturbed by missing children's cases, I never forgot about her.

When Jaycee Dugard was found in 2009 and parts of her story hit the media, I didn't really know how to react. It was so unbelievable to me that a little girl kidnapped in 1991 would have been kept all that time, given birth to two children fathered by her captor, and found alive all that time later. I remember she was very avoidant of the media at the time, and rightfully so, so it was a few more years until I really became invested in her; when A Stolen Life came out in 2011 and she gave her first television interview to Diane Sawyer for 20/20 on ABC. She recounted everything she went through, painful as it was, and how she was learning to pick up the pieces after coming out (somewhat) clean on the other side. Admittedly, I've only read A Stolen Life in parts. I've read the beginning, I've read the end and I've read the parts in the middle, but it was just too disturbing for me to read in one sitting. Not to say that she shouldn't have told her story because it was disturbing (the girl was held captive in a backyard for 18 years by a pedophile; of course it's gonna be disturbing), but what she went through, without exaggerating, kept me up at night. I remember reading parts of it while on vacation in Cape Cod one summer and not being able to fall asleep one night, because her words of she went through wouldn't leave my mind.

When Dugard announced she was publishing a new book called Freedom, needless to say I was interested. As much as I was in awe of her story and her strength as a result, I was even more interested in how she learned to cope back in the real world after spending more time in captivity than she ever did with her own family. Better yet, she did a second interview with Diane Sawyer to promote the new book, exactly five years after her first interview. Again I was enthralled and had goosebumps from this woman's undying perseverance and faith in the human condition to survive impossible situations and still find the positive light in it all. When Freedom: My Book of Firsts popped up at my library, I knew I had to check it out. A lot of critics and reviewers rated it poorly because of her amateurish and often juvenile writing style (it's clear she was given more creative freedom with this memoir compared to A Stolen Life), but I actually liked her writing style; it wasn't perfect (not everyone can spit out a memoir and have it be amazingly written, you know) but it felt like I was getting to know the real her and for 250 pages I got to spend time with her and learn about her life in freedom and how she learned to laugh and find that positive light, even when it seemed impossible. I was glad I finally chose to check out Freedom and if you've ever heard anything about Jaycee Dugard, or you read her first book and are apprehensive about this one, I recommend checking it out. Her strength and ability to learn to let go is an inspiration, and I hope that she might publish a third book in the future. 4/5 stars.

Book Review: 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' by Jenny Han

Synopsis of this book from Goodreads:
What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once? 

Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

So I thought I would separate what I liked and what I didn't like about this book just for fun because what is life without fun?

Things I liked:
1) I liked how aesthetically pleasing this book is. I love how Lara Jean likes scrapbooking by keeping little things (I do the same) and going to the diner for grilled cheese and always sitting at the same table and having cute little rituals for that specific restaurant. I liked how she was sensitive and a total introvert; a lot of people said that she acts like a total child when she's sixteen and I didn't find that at all. You're allowed to keep some of your childhood rituals as coping mechanisms as you grow up you know, assholes.

2) I liked how close the Song sisters are. They're super cute and they all look out for each other, but I sensed a total impending rift between Lara Jean and Margot and I really hope they address the elephants in their room in the other two books of the series; more specifically, the obvious foreshadowing of Lara Jean saying they were never looking for a replacement mother, yet that's all Margot ever does for Lara Jean and Kitty. Family drama and I'm here for it.

3) I liked the history between Josh and Lara Jean. I liked how close they are as neighbors and friends and that there's a bit of uncleared smoke between them. It was interesting. This was also left unresolved so I'm looking forward to more in the sequel(s).

4) I love how snarky yet cute Kitty is. She's a quirky little sister character and is well written.

5) I LOVE CHRIS! She's such a sassy supporting sidekick who doesn't take shit from everyone. I love her friendship with Lara Jean.

6) To All the Boys I've Loved Before is very well written, so I must commend Jenny Han for that. She's a great writer, and that made reading this all the more enjoyable.

Things I didn't like:
1) I didn't really get why the girls' father was so absent. I get that he works in a hospital and has three girls all by himself so he obviously needs Margot and Lara Jean to help out a little more than other families, but both of them (especially Margot) go above and beyond when it comes to helping out and their dad just seemed so oblivious and absent from everything... I thought it was kind of strange.

2) I thought the character of Genevieve was super underdeveloped. For someone who Peter supposedly has a lot of romantic history with, and for someone who both Peter and Lara Jean spend a lot of time discussing, I really didn't feel like I knew the character all that well. She was weakly written. I often forgot that Genevieve and Chris were cousins who disliked each other too. That whole part could have been better.

3) I thought there was a bit too much teen melodrama at times. I get this is a YA novel which is written for teens and I'm not a teen anymore so I'm relating less and less to some of these books I read (which MAKES ME SAD), but Lara Jean, Josh, Margot, and Peter were all super melodramatic at times and I wanted to tell them to chill out. It's not the end of the world (this isn't so much a complaint as more just something I'm starting to notice as I continue to read YA into my twenties... I'm old now and see what adults meant all those years, *sigh*).

4) Peter seemed to be an asshole most of the time yet this all seemed to be rectified by him being cute around Lara Jean and Kitty? Okay. Seems fake but okay.

5) I was honestly expecting more from the love letter angle. I found we got minimal information about the other boys Lara Jean wrote letters to. I was expecting it to all be laid out at the beginning of the story and we'd know and understand each situation, but no such luck. I found the idea of one's secret love letters not actually written for the other person's eyes being sent out was a really original premise, but it seemed to be merely a vehicle for a teen drama storyline. A lot of missed potential in this area, if you ask me.

I wasn't originally planning on reading the other two books in this trilogy after I finished To All the Boys I've Loved Before, but like I said, this one was very aesthetically pleasing and I'm kind of hooked into what happens in the story and the characters so looks like I'm gonna HAVE to read the other ones now. If you hear a faint thump in the distance, that's just me being trampled to death by my TBR pile. 4/5 stars.