Guest Posts

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Dorothy is here tonight with her last set of reviews for the book categories.  Welcome Dorothy!  Sorry to see these end!

Before we get started, here’s a bonus song for today’s holiday.  We’ll classify this under humor.  h/t Geoduck

Memoir and Autobiography, History and Biography, Humor!

by Dorothy A. Winsor

This is the fifth and last post from my project to read and review a book from each category of Goodreads’ Best Book of the Year contest. The categories are Memoir and Autobiography, History and Biography, and Humor. I chose books from three interesting authors: Prince Harry, David Grann (who wrote Killers of the Flower Moon), and Henry “The Fonz” Winkler.

Memoir and Autobiography

I run into a lot of people who are writing memoirs. I can’t imagine doing it. Why would anyone want to read that level of detail about my life? But some people do draw that kind of interest, and one of them would be Prince Harry. So, from the semi-finalist list, I chose his memoir, Spare.

Spare was ghostwritten by J. R. Moehringer. His own memoir, The Tender Bar, won numerous awards and was made into a movie in 2022. He’s ghostwritten other memoirs including one for Andre Agassi. He also worked as a reporter and did work for which he won a Pulitzer. So, no surprise, the book is extremely well-written. (Note to self: If you are rich and want a ghost writer, hire the Pulitzer Prize winner.)

Prince Harry starts his story with his mother’s death. The themes that run through this book are there: the omnipresent paparazzi, the performance of royalty, the emotional isolation. I didn’t know that for years afterwards, Harry convinced himself Diana wasn’t dead, but rather had gone into hiding.

This is a tale of an abusive tabloid press by which Harry feels hounded, as his mother was. Among the events he mentions is Rupert Murdoch’s phone hacking scandal. My impression is that the UK papers are far worse at this than the US ones are, but I could be mistaken. He talks about what it’s like to have paparazzi watching his every move, and making up stories when they can’t find one that’s sufficiently interesting.

For him, this book is chance to tell his side of the story. Of course, we’re all biased when we tell our own stories, so I’m not sure I’d call this book the Truth with a capital T. But constant, not always truthful press coverage is a maddening aspect to his life, and I don’t blame him for his anger.

I was most interested in his account of his time in the army. He was deployed to Afghanistan twice, and not in comfy positions at a safe place. He seemed to do well in the army. One of the things he talks about late in the book is how unprepared he was for a life as a non-royal. He’d been infantilized by his sheltered life whether he wanted to be or not. His military service was the only place where he lived and worked at a normal life.

As I read, I found myself wondering if I should feel guilty for reading what is essentially royal gossip. Does that feed the appetite of the paparazzi? What is this interest we have in the lives of celebrities anyway? These are real people, not characters in a novel. Somehow the reality makes some people enjoy the story more. Celebrities seem to function as stories we make up for ourselves. I find it a little voyeuristic. And yet I chose the book.

History and Biography

Amazon.com: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder eBook : Grann, David: Kindle Store

In this category, I chose The Wager by David Grann. The Wager is not the story of a bet. It’s the name of a British Navy ship that sank off the coast of Patagonia in the mid-eighteenth century. The surviving crew lived as castaways for months. Starving and uncertain of their own survival, many descended into anarchy and violence. Eventually, two groups of them managed to return to England, where they told competing stories of life on the island. Had the captain been incompetent or had the crew committed mutiny?

Grann describes life on a naval ship in fascinating detail. The Wager’s mission was to sail around Cape Horn and hunt a Spanish galleon that was known to be carrying treasure. Grann describes the catastrophic voyage, during which they were beset by problems ranging from storms to scurvy. And by the way, I hadn’t realized what a terrible disease scurvy was.

Grann’s account is based on journals in which several of the crew members recorded day to day observations. Through those accounts we get to know half a dozen crew members well enough that they become like characters in a novel.

This is a well-written story of how thin the veneer of civilization can be.

Humor

Here, I chose Henry Winkler’s memoir, Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond.

Amazon.com: Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond: 9781250888150: Winkler, Henry: Books

This book was not what I expected from the “Humor” category. I thought it would be comedy. Instead, it’s the memoir of a guy who rose to fame early in a sitcom and then had to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. He occasionally writes a funny line, but the story isn’t particularly funny.

Working with a co-writer, James Kaplan, Winkler tells parallel stories. In his public life as The Fonz, he reached world-wide fame. But in his private life, he struggled with dyslexia so severe that he couldn’t read. In the era in which he grew up, that meant even his parents and teachers accused him of being lazy or stupid, a message he internalized.

Winkler includes entertaining details about his work on Happy Days, including the episode in which Fonzie literally jumped the shark and thus gave birth to a meme. But when the eleven seasons were done, he was left with the fear that success like that might never come again. So, we read about him trying to avoid typecasting, working small jobs, doing voice work, doing anything he can. Eventually, he finds therapy and the “Barry” series, both of which provide some healing.

Also, by the time one of his own children turned out to be dyslexic, the world had a label for what was happening. For Winkler, that was an enormous insight and relief. To his list of odd jobs, he added co-writing a series of children’s books (Hank Zipster) about a dyslexic boy, based on his own memories.

For me, some of the most interesting parts of the book are his comments on acting. He talks about having to find the character in himself and needing to trust his own instincts. I found that similar to how writing often feels to me.

The Project: A Wrap Up

I’m happy I did this project. I read some books I otherwise would never even have heard of, and I enjoyed most of them. I learned some things, such as what life was like on a sailing ship or how acting feels when it’s done right. And doing the project gave me a sense of accomplishment. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my reviews and also those by commenters. It’s always good when someone helps you find a good book.

Have you ever wanted to write a memoir? Do you follow royal gossip? (Where is Kate Middleton anyway?) We had a recent thread in which people recommended books, but go ahead and do it again if you’re so moved.

Thanks for hosting me, DAW.

Medium Cool – Memoir and Autobiography, History and Biography, Humor!Post + Comments (72)

Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered.  We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Dorothy is here tonight with a set of reviews for another 3 book categories.  Welcome Dorothy!

Romance, Romantasy & Fantasy

by Dorothy A. Winsor

As jackals may recall, I set out to read a book from each of the 15 categories Goodreads uses in its Best Book of the Year contest. This post covers categories four (Romance), five (Romantasy), and six (Fantasy). Wait! Don’t run away. See what you think of the books I read and maybe give us the lowdown on your own reading.

Romance: Love, Theoretically

Love, Theoretically – Kindle edition by Hazelwood, Ali. Contemporary Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

First, my Romance confession: Even though Romance is the best seller of any category of fiction, I don’t usually read it. But on principle, I don’t diss romance novels. I believe it’s as hard to write a good romance novel as it is to write a good book in any other genre. I think the disrespect commonly shown for romance is a sign of disrespect for its largely female readers. Actually, I’d say the same thing about disrespect for the YA category, especially since women writers dominate YA. I recently saw a discussion on Reddit that implied YA was great until it got girl cooties.

In this category, I chose Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood. Elsie, the central character, is an adjunct professor of physics at U Mass and other Boston universities. Let me just explain that adjuncts are hired year to year in non-tenure-track positions. The pay is so bad that, like Elsie, they teach at multiple places at the same time. Elsie supplements her income by working as a girlfriend-for-hire.

But as the book opens, things are looking up for Elsie because she’s one of two finalists interviewing for a tenure-track job at MIT. Elsie’s job hunt is complicated by the presence of an existing faculty member with whom she has history.

My major reservation was with the male lead. In my opinion, Jack is a cliche. He’s desirable at first sight but slightly mysterious. To quote the book: He has “a dash of bad boy…a hint of mystery…a dollop of smoothness.” And in the next paragraph, he’s “distant. Uninterested. Effortlessly confident. Charismatic in an intriguingly opaque, inaccessible way.”

Additionally, the tension in this story dropped way off for me in its last third. By that point, the plot problems raised at the book’s start are all resolved, and we’re left with Elsie’s internal issues and the romance. Sadly, the man is the one who guides Elsie to self-knowledge, a move I thought undercut her and her growing strength.

Romantasy: Fourth Wing

Amazon.com: Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) eBook : Yarros, Rebecca: Kindle Store

Romantasy is a combination of Romance and Fantasy. The category is new this year because so many submissions combined these two genres that they’d have crowded everything else out.

Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros, is the story of characters training in a fantasy battle school that, among other things, requires them to bond with a dragon. The central character is Violet, whose brittle bones were supposed to send her to train as a scribe rather than as a combatant. But plans have gone awry.

I was engaged enough in this book that I picked it up whenever I had a free moment. I wanted to find out what happened. So that’s a good sign about the plotting. I’m also a sucker for found family stories and that comes into play here, as the cadets at the battle academy form friendships and struggle through trials together. There are some action scenes, including a long battle scene at the climax, and a couple of hot sex scenes. So, if those are your jam, they’re here.

I was, however, skeptical about the world building, and remained so throughout. I was never sure exactly why they were at war or even who they were at war with. There’s an acceptance not only of death but of murder not just of external enemies, but also of their classmates. Generally, societies don’t act that way. They might murder groups they see as “Other,” but not their own kind, at least not routinely as something they see as good. Also, people witness death over and over, and seem to suffer no trauma.

Fantasy: Tress of the Emerald Sea

Amazon.com: Tress of the Emerald Sea: A Cosmere Novel (Secret Projects Book 1) eBook : Sanderson, Brandon, Lyon, Howard: Kindle Store

In this category, I chose to read Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. Tress lives on an island in a sea of dangerous spores. She’s a window-washer by trade and has never imagined leaving home. Then the man she loves is taken captive, and Tress sets out to rescue him. The plot is full of twists that require Tress to grow and change. It’s not particularly tense, and I could put it down when I had to. But I always picked it up again because Tress’s company is enjoyable.

Sanderson calls the book a “grown-up fairy tale,” and it does have that tone. In some ways, the narrative voice reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s stories. Here’s an example of the description of a character: “Imagine him as the answer to the question: ‘What if that gunk from your shower drain were to come to life?’” I only gradually realized that the narrator is a character in the story. Unraveling his identity eventually becomes part of the plot.

The book is often humorous, but it treats serious, heart-felt matter. One of my favorite parts is when a tertiary character is killed, and the narrator stops to tell us more about this character, turning him into a person, rather than an anonymous red shirt.

Sanderson says the idea for this story came from watching “The Princess Bride.” His wife noted that Buttercup scarcely appeared. She wondered how the story would change in the princess was the one to set off to rescue the person she loved. Sanderson originally published this book on his Kickstarter as part of a project of his own called “Secret Project.” For a long time, Sanderson and his wife were the only readers. I like secret projects. In writing, I think they’re particularly useful because they provide a place the writer can play without worrying how anyone else will judge them.

How about you? Are there genres you don’t read? Do these books sound appealing? What have you read recently that you want sound off about, no matter the category? Have you ever had a secret project?

Medium Cool – Medium Cool – Dorothy A. Winsor: Romance, Romantasy, FantasyPost + Comments (119)