Nonfiction Book Reviews

Well, as my readers probably remember (and for any first timers, check out my About Me page for more info) I’m going back to school next month to get my Associates in Library Science.  In the long run, this will allow me to advance to a higher-paying job at my local library, so I don’t stay a part-time circulation clerk indefinitely.  (As much as I love my current job, the lack of benefits and the low pay rate doesn’t exactly contribute to long-term wealth).

In the end, going back to school will be worth it.  In the meanwhile though, I’m going to have to cut back on my work schedule.  I can’t continue to work four jobs while going to school full-time.  I happen to like to my sleep a little too much for that.

I’ve debated my options for a while.  My problem is, I like my jobs - that’s why I have them!  I find personal fulfillment from every one of my jobs - I feel as if I am really contributing something to the world by doing them, in my own very small way of course.

My options when it came to my Nonfiction Lover blog were these:

1) Quit completely.  I absolutely do not want to do this, but unfortunately, it is an option.

2) Continue to post as often as I am now, but cut the quality of the posts in half; make the posts shorter and take less time to proofread.  This may be an option to someone else, but in my world, this won’t fly.  I’d rather not post at all than post something that has mistakes in it, and that isn’t actually contributing to the world in the some way.  A quick summary of a book is not why my readers read this blog, and it isn’t what I want to do.

3) Cut the rate of my postings back from almost every day to once or twice a week.  Although this means a lot less books reviewed, at least the quality of the posts being put up would stay the same.  Out of all my non-choices, this was the lesser of the evils, and in the end, was the option I chose.

So starting this week, I will be posting a heck of a lot less than I did before.  I am not quite sure what I’m going to do about Fun Fridays, other than change it to every other Friday or something along those lines.  The kids’ books were supposed to be a small part of this blog, not an every-other-posting on this blog, so I’m definitely going to have to change the frequency of those reviews.  I will continue them in some fashion or another, however - I like reading kids’ books, so I won’t get rid of them entirely.

I’m sad - this blog has been one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had.  I’m going to miss posting every day, and telling you guys about my great finds (and the horrid misses!)  But at least I’m not going to be forced to give it up altogether, which would break my heart.  I have never enjoyed blogging like I have on here (and I have done plenty of blogging in the past!)

Thanks for sticking with me so far, and I hope you continue to visit, even when my post count drops.  It’s been a lot of fun.

PS I do offer the option to receive an email every time I post a blog, so you don’t have to try to remember to stop by - you will be automatically told every time I post. If you’re interested, make sure to input your email address in the column on the left, and click Subscribe. I abhor spam, so you can be sure that your email address will never be bought or sold. Or if you’d rather, you can also sign up to receive my RSS feed.

China Ghosts: My Daughter’s Journey to America, My Passage to Fatherhood by Jeff Gammage was an excellent autobiography. I’ve read a string of less-than-stellar autobiographies lately (ie Hope’s Boy, Shattered Dreams, Enter the Past Tense) and I was ready for a great one. I found that in China Ghosts.

Jeff Gammage is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and I think that had a LOT to do with how much I enjoyed the book - a newspaper reporter has to learn early on to weave a deft and interesting tale without using too much over-the-top descriptions, and that writing experience shows in his writing of this book. I’m starting to realize that I can put up with almost anything but a poor writing style: Typos, missing information that I think is important, and even swearing doesn’t bother me like bad writing does. Luckily, China Ghosts is very well written.

He spares no quarter for himself; he talks about how he never had any desire to have children, because he was self-centered and if there was another person in the equation, then that would mean his family and wife would pay attention to someone else other than himself - the horrors! He didn’t want that, and thus, he would’ve been happy if he and his wife stayed childless. Or so he thought.

But his wife was born with a nurturing instinct, and she wanted children, so Jeff said yes to make his wife happy. They tried for several years to have children, but eventually it was declared that they were infertile. My heart broke for them at this point - that’s actually something that my husband and I are struggling with. We have been trying for 4 years to get pregnant, and thus far, nothing has happened. It’s a very tough row to hoe. (If that’s something you also struggle with, make sure to check out the Infertility blog here at Today - it’s a great blog for infertility information).

Anyway, back to Jeff Gammage: He and his wife finally decide to go the adoption route, and for reasons he explains in detail in the book, they decide to adopt from China. He jumps back and forth in time, keeping your interest high, wondering what will happen next. This is not just a book about adopting a toddler, but of becoming a father, an especially difficult task for him since he had no previous experience with children. His transformation is astounding, and you realize that a parent’s love is truly boundless. When they finally pick their new daughter up, he falls head over heels in love with her, which was so sweet to see. It was beautifully written and by the end, I too had fallen in love with his daughter. She’s a cute little girl, and I loved watching her “grow up” (the book ends when she’s 6 years old).

He spends time explaining the background on different cities in China, and since that wasn’t as interesting to me, I simply skimmed those parts. I think that could have easily been left out of the book, but it wasn’t a huge deal. Even with that in there, it was a quick read (I finished it one day - I had a hard time putting it down!) and I’m hoping to someday read a “sequel” by his two daughters (he eventually adopts a second daughter from China). That would just be so fun for me.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. And don’t forget - with the Chinese Olympics coming up quickly, it might be a good read for anyone interested in learning more about China. Oh, and if you’re thinking about adopting a girl from China, I would rate this book as an absolute must read - it had so much interesting and helpful information in there about the whole process. Two thumbs up!

Havs

KickAss in College: A Guerrilla Guide to College Success by Gunnar Fox is a laugh-out-loud guide to doing well in college.  I picked it up on a whim at the library because the name caught my eye - there aren’t many self-help books that have swear words in the title. I’m glad I did though - it was an absolutely fantastic book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  My only real quibble with it was (would you guess it!) there were quite a few swear words on it. I know, I know, crazy but true. I have a hard time recommending it wholeheartedly because of those swear words, but I also figure that anyone who picks up a book with “Ass” in the title probably knows what’s coming.

The tips in the book are fantastic - he’s direct, he’s easy to read, he’s realistic, and he’s fun.  I read the book through quickly the first time, and then decided to go back through a second time to take notes.  There was enough in there that I knew I wouldn’t remember everything by fall (when I start back to school myself), and I didn’t want to risk that.  If I had read this book before starting college as a freshman in 1999, I would have done so much better than I did. I highly recommend it to anyone who attending either college or high school, and wants to learn how to succeed in the classroom.  He doesn’t have a crazy system for studying where you have to highlight every sentence with a different color, or one of the other bizarre systems that are out there. His system does require you to work hard, yes, but at least you’ll do it knowing that you’re going to actually get the good grades in the end.

If you’re in the market for a great study guide, make sure to pick this one up!

4.75 out of 5 stars (marked down just slightly for the cuss word content).

Havs