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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

"Not That Kind of Girl" by Lena Dunham

When "Girls" first came out on HBO, I started watching it.  It was a good show, but wasn't one that I was super into.  I cancelled my HBO subscription between seasons of True Blood, so I missed many episodes of Girls.  Last summer I caught up on the first few seasons of Girls.  It's a good show, but still not enough to make me shell out the money for the HBO subscription.

When I saw that Lena Dunham had a new book coming out, Not That Kind of Girl, I was curious, but wasn't sure I was going to read it.  Then I kept seeing reviews popping up everywhere that said that this book was great.  So of course I had to pick it up.

It's actually a surprisingly good read! She has some funny stories and gets very descriptive in some parts, but you can see what she has truly learned from life and from these life situations.  It's a very good read and sometimes you think "where is she going with this chapter" and then she ties it up really well.  I would definitely recommend this book.


Overview from Barnes & Noble:
For readers of Nora Ephron, Tina Fey, and David Sedaris, this hilarious, poignant, and extremely frank collection of personal essays confirms Lena Dunham—the acclaimed creator, producer, and star of HBO’sGirls—as one of the brightest and most original writers working today.

“If I could take what I’ve learned and make one menial job easier for you, or prevent you from having the kind of sex where you feel you must keep your sneakers on in case you want to run away during the act, then every misstep of mine was worthwhile. I’m already predicting my future shame at thinking I had anything to offer you, but also my future glory in having stopped you from trying an expensive juice cleanse or thinking that it was your fault when the person you are dating suddenly backs away, intimidated by the clarity of your personal mission here on earth. No, I am not a sexpert, a psychologist, or a dietician. I am not a mother of three or the owner of a successful hosiery franchise. But I am a girl with a keen interest in having it all, and what follows are hopeful dispatches from the frontlines of that struggle.”

"The Silver Star" by Jeannette Walls

I love any book by Jeannette Walls.  Her books are always humorous and always have eccentric characters.  Of course I had to pick up The Silver Star when I saw it in Barnes & Noble.  It took me a little longer to read it than I would have liked due to being busy.  But it was a great book and I would definitely recommend any book of hers.  The characters are eccentric but you always root for them in their story.



Overview from Barnes & Noble's website:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls’ gripping new novel that "transports us with her powerful storytelling...She contemplates the extraordinary bravery needed to confront real-life demons in a world where the hardest thing to do may be to not run away" (O, The Oprah Magazine).
It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations.
An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, and the sisters start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Liz is whip-smart—an inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz in the car with Maddox.
Jeannette Walls has written a deeply moving novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love each other and the world, despite its flaws and injustices.