Bossypants by Tina Fey

Okay, I know what you are thinking, “Finally, a book I actually want to read,” or you may be thinking, “I hate that little Sarah Palin Biznatch impersonator. Why the heck would Brooke ever want to read a book about her?” I’m kind of hoping you are thinking the first one. I actually love Tina Fey. I decided on my run this morning that she was my hero, right after my mom and dad, some political figures I won’t name (this is a book blog, not a political commentary on why or why corporate companies should never lame file any of their real estate taxes with money raised from shareholders’ pockets: side note, I totally made that up). Anyway, Tina Fey is probably in my top ten when it comes to my heroes. I wish I had as much wit and humor in my pinky finger as Ms. Fey has in her whole body. Okay, wait I totally got that wrong. See what I mean.

She gives some really great advice. Let me give you a little excerpt for your own reading pleasure, “Perhaps you are a parent and you bought this book to learn how to raise an achievement-oriented, drug free, adult virgin. You’ll find that too. The essential ingredients, I can tell you up front, are a strong father figure, bad skin, and child-sized colonial-lady outfit.” Yes, I did go out and buy colonial-sized lady outfits for both of my daughters that will fit them exactly when they turn 13.

Bossypants has something that I have always wanted in a book: cleverness, fun, and stories about buying that white denim suit you have always wanted for your senior awards night. I love that Tina Fey can make fun of herself for being a rather unfortunate looking (to use the words of Kelly Oliva) child and teenager. The book is also peppered with hilarious pictures of her upbringing. My favorite one happens to be on page 108. We all have this same picture hidden somewhere in a drawer at home. I know that now you probably want to go and find it or at least ask your mother to dig it out for you. I found mine, and I might even put it up here.

She talks about the extremely awesome parts of being a celebrity, like going to photo shoots where she is put in a sample size dress with her underwear hanging out of the back, and she talks about being a woman in a man’s world (I inserted a cliché her because I felt like it).

I think what I liked most of all about her book was her voice. It seemed very real, and by real I mean that I felt like I could really hear Tina Fey standing in my living room telling me about taping 30 Rock with Oprah, while playing Sarah Palin on SNL, while planning her daughter’s Peter Pan birthday party. However, it wasn’t all laughs. She wrote this hysterical chapter called, “The Mother’s Prayer for Its Daughter.” I was laughing really quietly throughout the whole thing, because for one it was really funny and two because Emma was sleeping on me and I didn’t want to wake her up. Then I got to the very end of it and just started bawling. It was something about how when her daughter gets older and has a baby and it was really touching and funny and I’m blaming Emma, that damn five month old that I have fallen head over heels for, for making me cry. You know what those annoying little loveable babies do, they make you cry at movies like Knocked Up and The Hangover (because the stripper’s baby was so darn cute, and they fell in love with him, but then had to give him back). And so Bossypants not only made me laugh quietly while my baby slept on me, but also made me cry. Note: if it doesn’t make you cry, remember I am blaming Emma.

I borrowed this book from the library, but now I think I’m going to have to save my nickels and dimes and go buy this book. I’m pretty sure I might not be able to live without it.

Some thoughts on To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I was thinking about To Kill a Mockingbird last night. I was driving home right after the storm hit and I had the kids with me in the car. Emma was sleeping in her carseat, and Ava was so tired she might as well have been sleeping. I didn't have the radio on, there were very few cars on the road, and it was so quiet, a kind of quiet than I haven’t experienced in a very long time, still and comforting. I don't know if I was feeling nostalgic or comforted, but for some reason my thoughts drifted to Harper Lee's only novel. I was thinking about the characters, mainly Atticus, and how, even though I've read the book probably a hundred times, I always want Atticus to end up with Mrs. Maudie in the end. I'm not only one that wants this either. Many class discussions have ended or began or lasted an entire period on the discussion of why Mrs. Maudie and Atticus should get together. I was wondering why we want them, so badly, to end up together, because To Kill a Mockingbird really isn't a love story. I mean, it's a love story of sorts: Atticus loves his children, his children love Dill, but it isn't a romance novel. And yet, they are so perfect for each other that anyone who reads the book realizes this, but Harper Lee never lets on that Atticus and Mrs. Maudie know this.
I also started thinking about the end of the book. Right after Boo rescues the children and Scout walks Boo home, there is this perfect part where Scout finally stands in Boo Radley's shoes as she looks out onto the neighborhood and sees it as Boo must see it every day. I don't think anyone has ever or will ever write a more perfect scene in history. She looks out onto the neighborhood and details all that has happened in the book, and every time I have to hold back tears. Like I said above, I literally have read the book a hundred times, probably more than that, and every time it happens. I get to that part where Scout says Boo's children needed him, and I want to just start sobbing. Then she goes home and Atticus (who is probably the best father in all of literature) tucks her in and reads her a story and the book ends with Atticus saying, "Most people are Scout, when you finally see them," and again I feel those tears creeping in the corners of eyes.
Some of my students get angry and they want to know more about the characters. They want to know about Scout and Jem and Dill, the want to know if Mrs. Maudie and Atticus ever get together, but not me. I honestly think it is the best ending to a novel that I have ever read. It’s just that I know everyone will be fine, and even though Harper Lee doesn’t say, “and they all lived happily ever after,” I just know they will.

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Given to me by Kelly (a surprise in my mailbox at work)... I'm a huge fan of the Shopaholic franchise, and at some point I have to start reading books off of my Freshman level English list, but I just wanted one more "fun" book.
I feel somewhat akin with Becky Bloomwood. I too shop like a holic, but instead of buying a 1500 dollar pair of shoes, I'm buying a 20 dollar dress at Target (in fact I think that most of us can admit that we can't get out of Target without spending a minimum of 100 dollars). Well, I've seen Becky fall in love, get married, find a long lost sister, and have a baby. Becky Bloomwood's little girl is now a toddler. I have two girls, so I can relate. She also buys her daughter pretty much anything she wants, so again I can kind of relate. However, the storyline mainly revolves around a party she is planning for her husband, and of course it is getting completely out of control. She wants to hire fire-eaters, jugglers, and anything else that will make it the most spectacular party of the century. This is where our connections kind of end. I do "love me some good parties," but at some point in your life you have to start being fiscally responsible. Yes, yes, I do know that this is fiction, and fiction does need some drama. However, fiction needs drama we can relate to on some level, and I found this over-the-top story a little hard to relate to.
This book was also pretty long, 418 pages long, and sometimes when I'm reading long books all I can think of is, "Seriously, do you not know how busy I am!" Between Ava begging to watch Toy Story "one more time," and Emma pooping all over herself, I find that the longer the book, the harder it is to read. This was one of those books. I would skip ahead to find out a part of the plot and then, when I had time, double back.
So, would I recommend this book to others? Yes, if you want something to read that is pretty easy and enjoyable, and Becky is humorous most of the time. However, I think I might be done with the Shopaholic series. But I still love Sophie Kinsella, and her quirky, entertaining characters never fail to please.