Jacob Two-Two is the youngest child in his family. He has two older brothers and two older sisters. He is two plus two plus two years old. Unlike his older siblings, there are many things that Jacob can not do, like ride a two wheel bike, run errands for his parents, or cross the street alone. Because he was the smallest and youngest in his large and boisterous family, Jacob developed the habit of saying everything two times, since no one ever listened the first […]
Being seen, being acknowledged: Worth its weight in gold.
Everybody’s experiences are different, right? Nobody had the same exact high school experience as anybody else; nobody’s Christmases, or prison terms, or piano recitals are exactly alike; And nobody’s experience of parenting is exactly 100% the same as any others. But the thing about writing is that it takes all the things that are unique and singular, and somehow makes them feel universal. There’s something about mothering, about parenting, something about loving a child so much to the exclusion of all else that, even though […]
Better than the first one; still not as good as Hitchhiker
This is not really a sequel, as it has nothing at all to do with the first Dirk Gently book. This is a totally new adventure: one that makes slightly more sense than the first one, but still isn’t as good as the Hitchhiker series. That seems unfair, though – what could possibly be as good as Hitchhiker? Kate is an American living in London who becomes embroiled with a large blond man who claims to be Thor. Why Thor takes a shine to her […]
This book had some great elements that just did not come together in any cohesive way
Rob Delaney is apparently the funniest man on Twitter. I am not on Twitter, but I recognized some of the tweets in this book, so he must be funny enough to register on my non-Twitter radar. He acts, some. He’s also a decent writer, with a very sad and painful history of alcoholism that has led him to some very bad decision-making. Unfortunately, he combines all these elements (humor, career, alcoholism, stupid stunts) into one short collection of stories, with no sense of direction or cohesion. “I […]
I’ve been looking forward to this one, and it did not disappoint
I remember seeing Anna Kendrick in the first Twilight movie, and loving her. She was such a fun, bright spot in a really terrible movie. Then I saw her in Up in the Air, and thought, this one will be a star. Since then, I mainly associate her with Pitch Perfect, and her amazing Twitter account. This book is basically an expanded version of her Twitter — awkward stories that will make you cringe and crack up. “I lost a Tony award to Broadway legend Audra McDonald when I was […]
Coyote, the trickster god, is not someone you want in your life
This was the perfect book to bring to the beach a couple weekends ago. I could read a chapter, yell at my kids, read another chapter, chat with my mom, pick it back up and never lose the plot. It was simple and fun. “Religion was supposed to be a matter of faith. Gods were not supposed to jump on your desk and snarl at you. They weren’t supposed to sit in your office smoking cigarettes. God’s didn’t do anything. They were supposed to ignore […]