Book Review: "Love, Literally" by J.T. Tierney

I read a lot of rom-coms and romances, and one of the things I like best about that genre is when there’s banter between the main characters. So when I heard about Love, Literally, about two people who connect over their shared love of wordplay, language, and literature, how could I resist?

It’s 2020, a few months into the COVID pandemic. Hallie has been laid off from her set design job, her boyfriend has disappeared, and her roommate has left town to care for a sick relative. Unable to make ends meet, her best friend Maria comes to her rescue, offering her the opportunity to move in with her and her husband.

Not long after, friends of Maria’s decide they’d like to escape to their second home, a mansion on Cape Cod, and they invite Maria and her husband, as well as Hallie. Also included is Quinn, a professor of literature whose own life has been chaotic as well.

It’s not long before Hallie and Quinn begin engaging in intellectual one-upmanship, stemming from their shared fondness for literature, language, musicals, and puns. Not just their minds are sparked, of course—their playful flirting soon gives way to stronger chemistry, both emotional and sexual.

Both Hallie and Quinn have had their share of turmoil, pain, and sadness. They want to see where this connection may lead, but they both have issues dealing with their feelings and hopes, not to mention their ability to express what they want from one another.

There’s much to enjoy about this story, but there is far too much drama and indecisiveness, which leads to lots of tears and handwringing. The author also threw in a bunch of other subplots and social issues that made brief ripples and then were forgotten. I wish the focus of the book had stayed on the romance.

Book Review: "Letters to a Young Writer: Some Practical and Philosophical Advice" by Colum McCann

I love following friends on Goodreads who have similar tastes in books to mine. It's always fascinating to see different people's perspectives on books you've read, to see if they love the same ones you do, and if they were as disappointed as the ones which let you down. The potential downside? When it seems as if EVERYONE has read a book that you hadn't even considered, or just haven't gotten to yet. You know what I mean...

It's not that I hadn't considered reading Colum McCann's Letters to a Young Writer: Some Practical and Philosophical Advice, it's just that there are always far too many books and far too little time, so I thought a foray into nonfiction might bog me down. And then the reviews started popping up—people were breathless with their praise, they were moved, some were even in tears! Well, hell, I couldn't let this one pass me by then.

The fact is, when I was in fifth grade I wrote my first novel. Since I was mostly influenced by my afterschool diet of soap operas and my prime-time consumption of television shows like The Love Boat and Fantasy Island (it was the 70s, after all), the book was a tad melodramatic. In fact, my very first reviewer, my aunt, said to me, "So, does anyone in this book do anything more than get married, have affairs, have babies, kill each other, and die?" Well, no. Needless to say, the novel died a quick death.

I have dreamed of being a writer for most of my life. I write quite a bit as part of my "real job," but not fiction (although the occasional marketing copy or memo to my Board of Directors might qualify). I've written a few short stories that I tried to get published, but I've never gotten that far. I know I have a story, or a novel, inside me, but I just can't seem to flesh out the ideas enough to get them on paper.

Needless to say, McCann's book didn't just speak to me, it sang. Filled both with new takes on advice I've heard before, and new perspectives I hadn't considered, Letters to a Young Writer both encouraged me and made me realize the things I've perhaps been doing wrong in my pursuit of the fiction deep within me.

"One day you might find yourself hating writing precisely because you want to make it so good. Yet this awful truth is just another form of joy. Get used to it. The sun also sets in order to rise."

Beyond the inspiration of this book, what I loved is that while McCann treated writing as a calling, something writers feel they must do, he recognizes it can't be the only thing. He talks about the need to escape the pressure of writing, the need to enjoy life outside (and the outside), and the importance and sheer beauty of reading, one of my most favorite activities in the world.

"You read to fire your heart aflame. You read to lop the top of your head off. You read because you're the bravest idiot around and you're willing to go on an adventure into the joy of confusion. You know when a book is working. Give it time. ... A good book will turn your world sideways."

I am energized by this book, with the desire to write, certainly, but also the desire to read more of McCann's work. The fact that he could dazzle me so with a book about writing, combined with how I felt about Thirteen Ways of Looking (see my original review), definitely convinces me to revisit the one novel of his I had trouble with, as well as his other books.

Do you need to be a writer, or want to write, in order to enjoy this book? It certainly helps, but the fact is, anyone with an appreciation of the craft of writing, or who simply marvels at the lyrical beauty of sentences will enjoy this. McCann is a writer at the top of his craft, sharing his craft with us as he tells us about his craft. It's a little meta, but it's a lot fantastic.

Book Review: "After the Parade" by Lori Ostlund

I recently devoured Lori Ostlund's short story collection, The Bigness of the World, which I absolutely loved. (See my original review.) I so fell in love with her writing and her storytelling ability that I very quickly jumped into reading her debut novel, After the Parade. While I don't think I loved this book as much as her stories, I continue to be dazzled by Ostlund's talent and her ability to provoke so many different emotions with her writing.

Aaron Englund has been with his older partner Walter for 20 years, since Walter rescued him from a lonely existence in his small town of Morton, Minnesota. But while the two shared a strong bond, Aaron felt that Walter always controlled him, and never let him forget that he saved him. So one day, Aaron leaves their home in New Mexico and heads to San Francisco, where he hopes to start a new life and continue his career as an ESL teacher.

"Perhaps that was the nature of love: either a person was not in it enough toc are, or was in it too deeply to make anything but mistakes."

Settling into a small garage apartment in San Francisco, Aaron begins to realize that a new life isn't all it's cracked up to be. While he enjoys helping his students maneuver their way through the idiosyncrasies of the English language, he spends most of his time alone, knowing he did the right thing in his relationship with Walter yet still missing him, and feeling ever more alone and isolated, but scared and unwilling to try and make new friends.

Through flashbacks we get a better understanding of what has shaped Aaron into the man he has become. His angry, abusive father was killed in a freak accident when he was five, and his mother vacillated between smothering and distant. He never felt he was the same as his fellow classmates, and he often was the object of ridicule and/or bullying. Throughout his childhood and young adulthood he encountered a number of people whose differences were either physical and emotional, yet he felt at home with them. And then, while he was in high school, his mother left home in the middle of the night with the town's priest, and she never connected with Aaron again.

After the Parade is a moving story about feeling isolated, feeling different, and how our relationships and personalities are shaped by the things that occur in our lives. I felt for Aaron so much as I learned more about him, his likes and dislikes, and his inability to feel comfortable letting his guard down. But at times the emotional distance at which his mother kept Aaron, and Aaron keeps the world, translated into an emotional distance for me as well, so at times I was frustrated by Aaron's inability to act, to say what was on his mind, to do something that might bring a change in his life, although I understood why.

This is a story that unfolds slowly (very slowly at times), and while the flashbacks are tremendously valuable for insight into his character, I would have enjoyed spending more time with Aaron in adulthood than in childhood. But while this isn't a book I necessarily enjoyed, it was a book that moved me, and Ostlund's talent is on full display here. It's definitely a book that has me thinking.

Movie Review: "Still Alice"

Julianne Moore, meet Oscar. Oscar, meet Julianne Moore. You've flirted with each other a few times before, but I believe you're going to become very close friends in about a month or so...

Alice Howland (Moore) is a brilliant linguistics professor. She's one of the leading researchers in the field, having written the definitive textbook used in university classes, and is sought after for presentations. She's always been driven to have it all, and have it all she does—a successful marriage with John (Alec Baldwin), a scientist; three grown children (Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish, and Kristen Stewart); and a fulfilling career.

Suddenly she starts noticing strange things are occurring—she forgets familiar words during a presentation, she gets easily distracted and forgets what she is doing, and one day during a run she becomes completely confused about where she is. She fears a brain tumor or other disease, but she is not expecting the ultimate diagnosis, early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice's decline is rapid, and she worries about being a burden on her family and having no quality of life once the disease takes its full toll on her mind.

Still Alice follows Alice and her family through the deterioration of her condition. Tension between her two daughters comes to light, as her more driven daughter (Bosworth) can't understand why the flightier, aspiring actress daughter (Stewart) won't abandon her dreams of a life in Los Angeles and come home to help care for their mother. Alice wants her husband to take a sabbatical while she's still able to enjoy it, but he's not willing to let his own scientific career languish. And for Alice, having to cede control of her life and her mind is one of the worst things she ever thought she'd have to deal with.

Moore is absolutely fantastic in this movie. She's courageous, vulnerable, stubborn, angry, and determined to do things her own way for as long as she can. While this is an emotional movie, Moore never goes for the histrionic way out—her performance is so layered, so human. One scene in which she prepares a speech to deliver to the Alzheimer's Association is particularly poignant—she wants to give a scientific-focused speech to prove her mind still works, although her daughter thinks her speech should be more personal. I challenge you to watch her speech and not at least tear up.

My only regret about this movie is I didn't feel that the majority of Moore's co-stars performed to her level. While Stewart has a few moments where she doesn't seem like the petulant, totally-over-it-all character she often portrays, I thought Baldwin and Bosworth were particularly flat. (I think it was a combination of their performances and their odious characters.) But this is Moore's movie, and she isn't brought down in the least by those around her.

If you've ever experienced a loved one forgetting who you are, or watching a person you care about struggle to remember something, anything, this movie will touch you, and may even be difficult to watch. But the truth is, it never gets as hard to watch and deal with as I feared it would. (I will admit that the novel it's based on, by Lisa Genova, wrecked me even more when I read it about five or so years ago.)

Bring your tissues, and prepare to be dazzled and moved by Moore's performance and Alice's story. If there's any justice, next month Moore will finally win the Oscar that has eluded her so far in her career.

The true downward dog...

Yoga can be kind of complicated for those unfamiliar with the different positions. But this Italian man found the perfect companion for some yoga poses—his chihuahua. I have no idea what the guy is saying, but does it matter?

Hey! I am your father...

For the Schoolhouse Rock fans, and the fans of Star Wars (and those of us who love both), here's a terrific mash-up of the classic "Interjections" (which mean excitement, or emotion...) and the classic trilogy.

Enjoy...and may the laughs be with you! (Sorry, that was a little Mel Brooks-ian...)