Non-Fiction Compendium

Ahoy, peeps!  Happy beginning of summer!  Happy feast of St. Norbert!  We just got back from a trip to Wisconsin, where we experienced record heat, a terrifying trip to the ER, and the reunion of many a friend!  Life has been absolutely chaotic of late, so my typical format is going to go out the window.

I've really been on a non-fiction kick lately.  I have no idea why.  It all started with this movie:

I thought the movie was relatively acceptable.  It stuck to (pretty much) the facts, wove in some drama, and wasn't too harsh with the whole "white shame" agenda.  When I saw a copy of the book at Goodwill for .50, I thought, "What the hell?  The movie was ok, I'm interested in more of the backstory."

Unfortunately, the book was absolutely nothing like the movie.  While Shetterley has an amazing story to tell, her writing style is tedious, non-linear, confusing, and reads like stereo instructions.  Half of the people she writes about share the same given name, so when she crosses the streams of each person's story, the entire thing becomes a jumbled mess.  There are certain interest points in the book, but they do not make up for the rest of the book's BORING tone.  I think that engineers and anyone who is REALLY interested in the space program would enjoy this book immensely.  I, however, am not one of those people.

Next, I blame this movie.

This one, I think, I found at the library book sale.  I'm pretty much a WWII fanatic when it comes to any type of movie, and once I saw that the Coen brothers wrote it, I snatched it up.  So glad I did.  What an amazing, and compelling story.  It was a great find.  

And the book is so much better.  I'm actually glad that the movie found me first, because I'm pretty sure I would have been disappointed with the movie had I encountered the book first.  Hildebrand does a top notch job.  She is an excellent storyteller.  Also, it absolutely astounds me how much I learned about the Greatest Generation and what our troops went through back then.  I have much more respect for anyone who has served in the armed forces, that's for sure.

I am baffled.  Absolutely BAFFLED that all the evil of WWII focuses on Hitler and the Nazis when the Japanese were just as bad, if not WORSE.  I used to be on the fence/against the bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki because of all of the innocent lives that were lost.  After reading this book and learning more about the ethos of the Japanese, their ideals of honor back then, how they even treated their own people, and what they did/planned to do with anyone they captured, a sudden wash of relief spread over me.  

But, Jen, that's racist!  That's wrong!  Think of all the babies!  Don't even start.  Read this book, think about your baby, your friend, your parent, and think of what they could have went through if we didn't do something to stop the Japanese.  It's absolutely horrifying.  

Anyways, this book was an absolute breath of fresh air after Hidden Figures.  I actually found it online and started reading it before I found a copy at the library.  I loved it so much that I bought it for my brother in law who just left for boot camp with the Marines. 

The last one, I'm dreading.  I'm about 3/4 way through, and I really don't want to finish it.  In fact, it's due today.  This one I blame on my childhood feels.

When I think of Laura Ingalls Wilder, it draws up fond memories of my childhood: the cozy feels of me and my mom taking a trip to Pepin, the first family vacation that I remember in the Ozarks, a crackling fire, good food, and a snug little house.  And that's the way I want it.  When I re-read the Little House books, I get all of that.  When I read Caroline, I got that.

Not so with this work, dear reader.  Not so.  Prairie Fires pretty much does one thing: incinerates your childhood feels to oblivion.  

The good:  Fraser sticks to facts (?).

The bad:  The facts can be really disappointing.  We are given a more accurate depiction of Wilder, her family, and her life, but they really do not coincide with the autobiographical characters in her books.  

The ugly: Fraser has a bias and an agenda, and you can tell.  She also writes conjecturally about several things, which really pisses me off.  She is ponderous about the motivations of her subjects, and, at certain points, even speaks for them. 

I don't hate this book, but I do consider it a waste of my time.  I've lost all interest in it, and it certainly doesn't live up to the hype it's given.  I'll say no more.  

Welp, that's about it for now regarding book reviews.  In other news, I've been absolutely SLAYING it over at my Etsy shop.  I have a ton of new chaplets to check out, and I'm currently working on making matching sets!  Go take a look, see!

Expect posts during the summer to be pretty sparse.  Life is crazy and we're doing the best we can.  We're heading back up to Wisconsin in 3 weeks for a wedding, an ordination, Catholicfest, and a paint-the-saint peg-doll swap!  Woot!