How To Be a Woman

Title: How To Be a Woman
Author: Caitlin Moran
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: Parts of this book were moving, while other chapters were so funny I nearly collapsed laughing, but the whole thing was thought-provoking and definitely worth a read.

The most important thing to know about this book is that it probably won’t be what you expect. I was surprised by things including: Caitlin Moran’s frank discussions of all aspects of being a woman; how she defined feminism; and how completely and totally hilarious some of this book was. All of her philosophical musings on feminism and being a woman are tied together very nicely by stories she shares of her life. These are both the funniest bits and the thing that imposes chronological order on what would otherwise be a series of distinct essays. For a good idea of the topics and the tone of the book, I’d recommend the goodreads summary.

Strides: Thoughts on Running

Title: Strides: Running Through History with an Unlikely Athelete
Author: Benjamin Cheever
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Fun Fact: There is a marathon through the Médoc region of France where wine is served at the water stops.
Review Summary: A little choppy and light on the history, but still a fun read with both moving and humorous stories about running.

The subtitle of this book is a little misleading. There are some stories about running throughout history, but they’re almost all purely anecdotal. There are a few citations at the back, but they’re fairly sparse, and much of the history is actually myth. I would describe it more as a musing on running, comprising many humorous and touching anecdotes about the author’s experience with the sport. This includes everything from doing a 10-K in Baghdad to participating in the wine-drinking marathon mentioned above.

Bookends About Searching For Happiness

Title: Eat, Pray, Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: A humorous and relatable story with such great characters it’s hard to believe they weren’t invented just for this book.

What do you do if you have everything you “should” want and are still unhappy? In Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert shares her story of leaving it all – a promising career, a comfortable home, and even her marriage – to travel the world in search of happiness. Like Cecilia Ahearn, I expected Elizabeth Gilbert to be too “girly” or emotional of an author for me and was pleasantly surprised. Of course, the book includes many emotional topics, such as the author’s agonizing divorce proceedings, but she describes everything in a relatable, humorous way. She comes across as very down-to-earth and comfortable laughing at herself and never became too angsty.