Idol Dreams. vol. 1 by Arina Tanemura

Idol Dreams. vol. 1 by Arina Tanemura

Posted by Anonymous

Reviewed by: Becky Brendel

What I Read: Idol Dreams vol. 1 by Arina Tanemura

Find It @YCLD: Here!

What It's About: Office worker Chikage Deguchi is having an early midlife crisis. Her coworkers gossip about her behind her back and her high school reunion, at which she'd hoped to be reunited with her old crush, goes disastrously. She's about to give up on everything when she's offered a miracle drug that will return her to her 15-year-old self for a few hours at a time. Chikage begins trying to "do over" the last 15 years of her life, but ends up scouted by a talent agency. Now she's going to reinvent herself in many more ways than she'd originally planned.

What I Thought: Like Chikage, this manga has an identity crisis. It's clearly aimed at women around Chikage's age, who grew up on these wish-fulfillment stories ("girl gets a magic ___ that lets her become a singer/grow up temporarily/become a heroine" is a popular genre in Japan) and are now looking to put that magic back into their own lives. But it just can't quite agree on a tone. A magic drug that turns somebody younger is a cute, silly plot device that'd be right at home in one of those kids' comics - but feels out of place when the protagonist just debated committing suicide (which itself seemed rather abrupt). The whole first chapter of the manga feels rushed and disjointed as a result.

Once the first chapter has established the premise, though, the story finds its footing. It's still a very silly story and it still relies on familiar tropes for anyone who's read any one of these "magically transform and change one's life" series before, but Chikage becomes an appealing mixture of awkward and endearing and both of her apparent love interests, an old classmate and a fellow musician, are more likable than the domineering male leads of many girls' manga. Hibiki in particular (the 15-year-old superstar) stood out to me: instead of being a Jerk With A Heart of Gold, he's just a very talented young man who doesn't have the life experience yet to realize that things that come easily to him don't always go as well for others. This puts Chikage in a position to inspire and teach him because she's (secretly) older - maybe her life up to this point hasn't been such a supposed "waste", after all.

Not all plot points go down smoothly in this manga - I for one would be thrilled to never see a man attempt to kiss a sleeping woman again - but overall Idol Dreams volume 1 felt like discovering this genre for the first time. Feel-good, fluffy, and all-around fun for people who, like Chikage, want to rediscover their inner teen.

Readalikes: Absolute Boyfriend by Yu Watase for similar romantic triangle dymanics; Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura for another comedy set in the world of Japanese showbiz.

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The Last of the President's Men by Bob Woodward

The Last of the President's Men by Bob Woodward

Posted by Anonymous

Reviewed by: Jim Patrick

What I Read: The Last of the President's Men by Bob Woodward

Find It @YCLD: Here!

What It's About: The Last of the President’s Men by Bob Woodward is an odd, but fascinating, addition to the voluminous published works about the Watergate scandal that forced President Nixon from office in 1974.  The recent New York Times review describes the book as “slight but readable” and “decidedly slender.”  The book consists of 182 pages of text, followed by a 77-page Appendix of previously unreleased White House memos and correspondence.  The reason the book is appearing now, 40 years after Woodward and Bernstein’s influential All the President’s Men, is that in 2014 Alexander Butterfield decided to entrust Bob Woodward with a draft of an unpublished memoir and several boxes of notes and documents from his days as a Nixon administration presidential aide.

When questioned at a congressional hearing, Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of Nixon’s secret taping system.  This testimony was crucial in the unraveling of the Watergate cover-up, but until now Butterfield has not shared the inside details of his years serving as “Haldeman’s Haldeman” (i.e. as chief aide to Nixon’s top assistant).

What I Thought: This book is not the first title I would recommend to someone unfamiliar with Watergate.  Rather, it brings to life the tense moral dilemma faced by Alexander Butterfield when, questioned under oath, he felt compelled to disclose his knowledge of the White House tapes.  Woodward skillfully recreates the story (and impact) of Butterfield’s testimony.  He also conveys the conflicted mix of pride and melancholy that Butterfield still feels today with respect to his role in exposing the Watergate cover-up.  The personal cost to Butterfield is also chronicled, including an abrupt end to his acclaimed military career and widespread ostracism by former friends and colleagues. 

The book includes several revealing anecdotes about Nixon’s obsessions and neuroses.  For example, Nixon was angered by the number of White House offices displaying photographs of John F. Kennedy.  The book includes memos detailing the planned “sanitization” of these photos.  Similar memos are included about the invitation lists for presidential dinners and church services.  Butterfield’s impressions of Nixon are of a brilliant statesman who was personally isolated and consumed by his hatred of his perceived enemies.  These impressions are not unique to Butterfield, but, as told by a member of Nixon’s inner circle, they are especially powerful, poignant, and credible.

Readalikes: The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate’s Deep Throat by Bob Woodard; The Nixon Defense by John Dean

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Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Posted by Anonymous

Reviewed by: Sherri Levek

 What I Read: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Find It @YCLD: Here!

What It's About: Broken Monsters is a crime/fantasy/suspense novel set in Detroit, Michigan. A gruesome killing is discovered and Detroit Police Detective Gabrielle Versado is given the lead on the case, while trying to maintain a relationship with her teenage daughter, Layla, who is keeping her own secrets.  Writer Jonno has recently arrived in Detroit from New York City in the hopes of discovering a story amidst the ruin and decay of the once vibrant city.  Homeless ex-convict T.K. only wants to help his friends and forget his troubled past.  Broken Monsters is the story of what happens when this diverse group of characters are forced to confront their worst fears.

 What I Thought: Lauren Beukes’ Broken Monsters is both character and plot driven.  I became increasingly pulled into the story, which is many-layered and suspenseful.  The characters are diverse - gritty, professional, artsy, naive, compassionate, and arrogant - a combination that reflects the city of Detroit’s struggle to survive.  Beukes is critical of our current obsession with social media, which is given a large role in her novel and while at times this becomes a bit preachy, it doesn’t ruin the story.  Overall, I found this to be an edge-of-your-seat read that I found trouble putting down.

 Readalikes: The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, Niceville by Carsten Stroud, and The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue

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The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher

The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher

Posted by Anonymous

Reviewed by: Andrew Zollman

What I Read: The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) by Jim Butcher

Find It @YCLD: Here!  

What It's About: Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Loyal to the people of Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the coming war with Spire Aurora. He has accomplished this by disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines and attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.

 The Cinder Spires have stood for thousands of years, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. They protect and shelter humanity from the harsh outside world where the light and very space you move can make a person mad, and the surface of the earth is all but inhospitable to normal life forms. There are many spires surrounding the earth, each with a different civilization and aristocratic house to govern within their halls. They have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.

As Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. There is another enemy lurking in the shadows pulling the strings. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death is sure to follow in its wake…

What I Thought: I have rarely been able to get through a steampunk-type novel without a strong reason to enjoy the story. With all of the descriptions necessary to explain how inventions work and how things run it can get confusing. Jim Butcher’s The Aeronaut’s Windlass exceeded my expectations in this regard. He did a wonderful job of integrating both the characters and the technology into the story without making the reader feel overwhelmed. The tone had a sort of matter-of-fact quality to the writing.

As you know from reading my other reviews, I enjoy strong or well-written characters in the stories I read. They can be broken. They can be romantic. As long as they show a well-rounded personality and traits you would find in the real-world that’s what I am looking for in a character. Jim delivered that for me. My favorite characters were Bridget and Rowl, and you will see why when reading it yourself.

Like Jim Butcher’s other books, he writes in an in-your-face manner when describing conflict and dangerous situations. Follow along and enjoy the ride. Remember, this is the first book in the series, he will expand on the culture, characters and scope of the world as it progresses. The first book is but a glimpse of conflict between only two spires and the people who fight for them.

Readalikes: Agatha H. and the airship city by Phil Foglio

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The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Posted by Anonymous

Reviewed by: José Beltrán

What I Read: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

Find It @YCLD: Here!

What It's About: The science of advertising is about how corporations want to create a habit in us to buy their products by creating cravings in us. The routine becomes a habit. Habits are the brain’s way to save effort. The automatic three step process of cue-routine-reward loop becomes automatic i.e. a habit. The habit becomes automatic. However, “habits can be ignored, changed, or replaced as needed.” “Habits never really disappear, because they are encoded into the brain. Unfortunately, the brain does not distinguish between a bad habit and a good habit. Habits are a way to protect the brain from being overwhelmed by details. The Golden Rule of habit change. Use the same cues, and get the same reward, but shift the routine, and one habit replaces another. We must first identify the cues and rewards. “The brain can be reprogrammed, just be deliberate about it.” We must have the belief that change is possible. That belief is easier within a support group. 

What I Thought: This book provides ample examples of habit-forming from real life: Alcoholics Anonymous; drug addicts; champion swimmer Michael Phelps; Paul O’Neil on creating a culture in Alcoa by finding the grit to remake workplaces through an emphasis on safety; dieting by simply keeping a food journal. Willpower (self-discipline, self-regulator skills) is the single most import keystone habit. I do not watch TV football. The author enthralled me with his exciting play by play of Major League football teams under coach Dungy. Wow! It kept me on the edge of the seat.

Our basal ganglia control our habits. What bad habit do you want to lose: overeating, gambling, debt, sex, drugs, hoarding, self-mutilation, smoking video game addictions, emotional dependency… Why is AA so successful? Because it attacks not the symptoms but the root of the problem, the habits that surround the vice. Is it a habit or is it an addiction? There’s nothing we can’t do if you get the habits right “like opening and closing a door, driving, or even eating." Without habits, we would be hindered in communicating, because we could not understand body language. Unthinkingly we would go through life as human robots. “However as useful as habits are a blessing they can also be a curse.” Unlike an automaton, we can make the decision and effort to change our automatic behavior as needed to reprogram ourselves. Habits create unconscious neurological cravings. Cravings, unfulfilled desires makes us angry, unhappy, mopey, frustrated, depressed, disappointed, but they do keep us motivated. What will an alcohol or cigarette addict not do for his addiction? A habit cannot simply disappear: it must be replaced!

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The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

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Reviewed by: Jim Patrick

What I Read: The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Find It @YCLD: Here!

What It's About: The book’s lengthy subtitle indicates the wide scope of historian Doris Kerns Goodwin’s latest publication.  She gives detailed biographical sketches of not only Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, but also of their parents, wives and children.  As in her other bestselling books, she fills her account with fascinating stories of the domestic lives of the Tafts and Roosevelts, including courtships, friendships and fall-outs, and parental sorrows and joys.  The wives, Nellie Taft and Edith Roosevelt, are both featured prominently in this book.  For example, Nellie Taft is shown to be much more ambitious and “political” than her husband William who always wanted to remain a judge.  Edith Roosevelt faced many challenges, such as marrying a widower with a young child, and being the wife of such an impetuous risk-taker as Theodore Roosevelt.  William and Theodore were the best of friends and close political partners until Roosevelt became disillusioned with Taft’s presidency.  The emergence of this painful rift is recounted in riveting detail by Kearns Goodwin.

The book’s subtitle also signals another major topic of The Bully Pulpit—the work of groundbreaking journalists of the Progressive Era, such as Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and others who wrote for McClure’s magazine.  Kearns Goodwin clearly admires these journalists and their crusading spirit.  She illustrates how Roosevelt and the journalists had a generally positive and mutually beneficial relationship, while Taft was leery of the press and disliked having to cultivate relationships with reporters.

What I Thought: Loyal readers of Doris Kearns Goodwin know that her books arrive slowly but are always worth the wait.  Whether writing about Roosevelts, Kennedys, Lincolns, or any other historical subject, Kearns Goodwin always tells wonderful stories with her history, and she has a knack of making historical names come alive as real characters on her pages.  That’s why she is not only an excellent historian, but a popular one, as well.  At 750-plus pages, The Bully Pulpit is not a fast read, and its ambitious scope might be intimidating to those who haven’t read previous books by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  However, the various strands of this real-life epic are woven together by the author with her usual grace and skill, making for another enjoyable classic in the field of popular history.

Readalikes: The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Geoffrey C. Ward; Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris; Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

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Mess by Barry Yourgrau

Mess by Barry Yourgrau

Posted by Anonymous

Reviewed by: Laurie Boone

What I Read: Mess: One Man's Struggle to Clean Up His House and His Act by Barry Yourgrau

Find It @YCLD: Here!

What It's About: The author writes a memoir about hoarding and clutter from his own perspective as both a hoarder and investigative reporter. He interviews psychologists, hoarders, and even spends time with a decluttering service and in anti-hoarding group therapy. His longtime girlfriend gives him an ultimatum: clean up his mess and his life or jeopardize their relationship.

What I Thought: For those who find the problem of hoarding a fascinating topic and for those who could use some incentive to clean up their cluttered lives, this book delivers. Barry Yourgrau is an endearing, clever, well-traveled and well-read hoarder who is in denial about his issues. He is never pathetic and I was rooting for him throughout. It is a funny and inspiring read.

Readalikes: Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Gail Steketee

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