After Annie

After Annie by Anna Quindlen, 285 pages

Annie wrote an excellent review of this book here, and I'm going to direct you to read that instead of writing my own review, as she says what I want to say better than I could phrase it. My only addition is that I listened to the audiobook (wonderfully read by Gilli Messer) while baking cookies, which is just about the only thing that kept me from bawling the whole time I read it. A lovely book, if not always the easiest to read.

Fun Home

 Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, 232 pages.

Alison Bechdel, originally most famous for the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For and what came to be known as the "Bechdel Test" (originally presented in that same comic strip), presents an extremely literary take on the memoir genre. This is especially impressive in comic form. This classic of the graphic novel genre is centered mostly on Bechdel's early life and her relationship with her father, who she only learned was a closeted gay man with his own troubled past shortly after her own coming out as a young adult (an event which tragically happened shortly before his death).

I've heard this book referenced many, many places and have meant to get around to reading it for years. I'm glad I finally did, because I do feel like it lives up to it's own reputation. I am often not the biggest enjoyer of the memoir genre, but Bechdel does an excellent job portraying not only very human and personal details, but also shaping them into a story that is so narratively neat it's hard to believe it is nonfiction. The comic is rich in detail and meticulously constructed, and I would definitely recommend it. 

At Last

At Last (Patrick Melrose bk. 5) by Edward St. Aubyn  272 pp.

The title for this last book in the series seems very apropos because I am happy to finish this series. That being said, I did enjoy this book much more than the other four. Once again, Patrick has lost a parent. His mother finally died after many years of illness. Most of the book centers around the funeral service and reception afterward. It seems wrong to say, but parts of it are hilarious. St. Aubyn gives us the internal thoughts of many of the attendees at the funeral as well as the conversations between various recurring characters. The snarkyness abounds. Patrick has come to terms with the loss of the house in France to the New Age "shaman" but may have found a way to keep the trust fund money out of the charlatan's hands. Patrick has also begun to temper his excesses and may finally become a reasonably functional adult. Even though I found the series less than satisfying, I am curious to see the Benedict Cumberbatch portrayal of Patrick Melrose.

Bad News

Bad News (the Patrick Melrose novels book two) by Edward St. Aubyn  256 pp.

One thing positive about this collection of novels is that they very quick to get through. In this one Patrick is in his early twenties. He has traveled to New York City to retrieve the ashes of his late father who everyone tells him was such a wonderful person. A majority of the book is Patrick's out of control drug use and/or his attempts to procure drugs and he takes an insane amount of drugs. The only redeeming quality of the story are his internal stream on consciousness monologues that are intriguing and sometimes humorous. While so far, I'm not fond of this series, I understand that they are the perfect vehicle for Benedict Cumberbatch's style of acting. So I soldier on to book three.

Warlight

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, 289 pages. Audio read by the author.

Set in post WWII England, this is Nathaniel's story. A semi-abandoned boy grows up to be a lonely man who is obsessed with finding out what his mother, and, to a lesser extent, his father were doing during the war that caused them to go. Nathaniel, nicknamed Stitch by his mother, and his sister, Rachel, or Wren, are left in the care of their parents' associate, Walter, a man they call the Moth.
After being left largely to their own devices for a year or so, Nathaniel tries to find out what had really happened to him, who the strange people around him were, and what his parents have been up to. A fascinating book, ably narrated by the author.

It's Okay To Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too): A Memoir

It's Okay To Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too): A Memoir by Nora McInerny Purmort, 274 pages.

Purmort, who has written for the Huffington Post, Elle.com, and Cosmopolitan.com, among others, tells a devastatingly sad story in a devastatingly funny way. She is hilarious in recounting her life, despite a miscarriage and the loss of both her father and her husband, all within a matter of weeks. She describes her relationship with Aaron, the man she married after he discovered that he had a brain tumor, in very loving terms. They shared an outlook on life that was a bit absurd and they did their best to enjoy the time that had together, all the while hoping that they would catch a few breaks and have a little bit more time. Especially after their son, Ralph, was born. Purmort is seemingly aware of every one of her own flaws, but she does her best to forgive herself for them and use those faults as grist for her humor mill. She takes a perverse pleasure in the skewering of  her problems; with alcohol, with her parents, with every relationship she had before her relationship with Aaron, and with every bit of her tall, self-conscious, gawky self.  This book is a sad sort of joy to read or to listen to. The audiobook is narrated by the author.