January Wrap-Up

Books Read This Month

1. I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers by Tim Madigan
2. The Power by Naomi Alderman
3. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
4. Candlemaking for the First Time by Vanessa-Ann
5. Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman

Favorite Book This Month

I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers by Tim Madigan

I thought this was the book that the recent Mr. Rogers movie is based on. Although I was wrong, it is well worth reading. The friendship between Fred Rogers and Tim Madigan is an inspiration, and Madigan's rich and spiritually detailed account is satisfying to the soul. Madigan is clearly an introspective and thoughtful person who meshed well with Rogers. Rogers' character is every bit as wholesome as we might want, though he is also a real person who grieves the death of a friend, agonizes over the fate of the world, and needs to replay songs to get them just perfect. I'm especially impressed with how vulnerable Madigan is with Rogers and in this book. He asks his new older friend to say he is proud of him, something his own father had never done. And Rogers responded with the kindness you would expect, making IPOY (I'm Proud of You, abbreviated) the signoff for all their subsequent letters. I highly recommend this book. 

Thoughts on Other Books This Month

The Power was a read for book club, and although it's more of a concept than a novel, it definitely struck a chord. The book posits that young women suddenly develop the ability to create electrical charges of various strengths, a power which they can awaken in older women. The "power" changes the social dynamics of society superficially; women become more powerful than men, but perpetrate the same abuses women have experienced throughout our timeline. The message seems to be that power corrupts, which I don't entirely disagree with. I do disagree with the biological essentialism of the premise, which they do complicate a little by having some women with underdeveloped or nonworking skeins (the organ that produces the charge) and a very few men with skeins, but it's still far too simplistic and these aspects are marginal in the text. Instead, what was most interesting to me was how seeing the situation reversed, men being abused by women, demonstrated how starkly women have been and still are oppressed in our current society. I wish we could work together so no one would experience that kind of hegemony, which is why power is the enemy and not who has it. 

The Amber Spyglass was of course the end of my His Dark Materials trilogy reread. I cannot believe how well the series holds up. As an adult, I realize Pullman was already hinting at climate change (polar bears searching for a new home), among other things. The story has a sophisticated message about the value of experience and maturity over perceived innocence and purity; the enemies want to keep people childlike and dependent, while the "good side" wants to let people be free to make their own choices, which of course will not always turn out so well. I still struggle with the motivations of Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel, and especially why we're supposed to root for Asriel, who even though his actions may have positive results, still seems like an ambitious prick who wants to topple G-d for his own fun and only cares about his daughter when she is useful to him. Mrs. Coulter at least ultimately loves Lyra for herself...I think. I will definitely have to read it all again down the road and learn more.

Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman is a cookbook, but I read it straight through, because I roll like that. Roman is a millenial goddess and I can definitely see why. Her phrasing and style are so millenial zeitgeist-y. She frequently uses phrases like "the situation" or "this business" to describe food and continually insists there's "nothing fancy" about her style, even as she advocates for, say, Internet-bought harissa paste. Methinks she doth protest too much. Her style is also idiosyncratic to the max. I ended this book knowing that Roman loves anchovies and hates bell peppers, isn't a huge fan of rice and imagines making paella is cumbersome, but considers roast chicken and some lamb chops for the table de rigor, or rather, super caj. Highly recommend to millenial cooks into the latest fad, and I imagine that even if the language falls out of style, these recipes will be classics for years to come.