Review: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was fantastic! This is one of the most fantastic books I’ve ever read. I think Trevor Noah is hilarious. His brand of comedy is funny to me, and I wish I had been able to get a hold of the audio version of this because the delivery of his one liners in this are so funny and perfectly placed. I can only imagine how funny it is to hear him narrate the story of his life. He covers some very heavy issues, but he diffuses each situation with comedy so you can pause, catch your breath, and move on. This was a hard read, but it is also important.  He has some great insights to race and how children see the world.  If only some of those things were actually true the world might be a better place.

This is one of those books, where you think “hey that guy is on TV, he has it all”, and then you read about the hardships and terrors he’s faced in his life. Trevor Noah did not have it all, in fact he had very little, and it’s a testament to his survival skills that he made it through his childhood in South Africa during apartheid. You read about some of the things he and this mother survived and it is amazing they both lived through it all. His very birth was a crime and the deck was stacked against him and his family for much of his life. Reading this was hard, but he laces his life story with his brand of comedy such that he takes something awful and he puts a joke in lighten tough situations. I got quite the education on the settling of South Africa, apartheid, and how gender and race are seen in another country.

This is a story about a defiant little boy who tested his mother’s patience as often as possible, a mother who loved him and did her best, a country that had very interesting laws about people of color, and survival. I highly recommend this book.


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Review: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is by far the most charming and wonderful book I think I've ever listened to. I love The Princess Bride, and as Elwes mentions in this Tale I've watched it since the 80's when it came out, shared it with my kids, and it is as good now as it was then.  My husband calls me Buttercup, hence the name of the blog, and it comes from this movie as we've watched more times than I can count.  It is one of our favorites to watch together, that and Monty Python and The Quest for the Holy Grail.  We often talk to each other in quotes from those 2 movies, and I think Cary Elwes would approve.

It was wonderful to hear all of the cast's input on how fun and wonderful an experience it was to make one of my favorite movies. It was also interesting to hear about all of the people that were considered for the various roles, and how it just wouldn't have been the same had anything been different than what the film is today.  Can you imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger as Fezzik?  Wallace Shawn is and will always be Vizzini, no one else could have played that part.  I loved hearing about how Cary and Mandy trained for the sword fight and I was stunned to hear that the cast did almost all of their own stunts.  In today's age with CGI graphics and pretty much everything being possible, The Princess Bride was pretty fantastic considering what they had to work with at the time.  I love watching older movies when things were simpler and while they may look a little funny to today's youth, they feel more real to me.

At times it felt like a love letter from the cast to Andre the Giant. He is one of my favorite characters in film, and it is so heartwarming to hear that he was as gentle a giant in his real life as he was in the film. His life was not without hardships, but he seemed to always keep his spirits up and make everyone around him smile. The world needs more kind souls like Andre in it.

I loved all of the behind the scenes insights and stories that Elwes told. I was stunned to hear that the movie didn't do well after its release knowing how much of a classic it is. I'm happy that the classic blunder make in marketing the movie in the theaters was made up for by the VHS market and now DVDs and streaming media and the movie can be shared for years to come.

If you are a fan of the movie I highly recommend the audiobook. You will just miss some of the charm from the cast actually giving their insight and the tone of their delivery that you will miss from the written word, though I understand there are photos in the book that you miss out on in the audio version. This is a beautiful nod to a wonderful story, and I'm so glad to have experienced it.  I've never read William Goldman's book version of The Princess Bride, Inconceivable, I know!  I think I might after listening to Cary Elwes sing its praises.  I also plan on watching The Princess Bride as soon as possible.

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Review: Will Love For Crumbs by Jonna Ivin

Will Love For Crumbs by Jonna Ivin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked this up a few years ago when it was free on Kindle. The synopsis sounded interesting, and it had a ton of good reviews. I never got around too it, and I probably wouldn't have were it not for the reading challenge I'm working my way through. The prompt was to read a book about a difficult topic, so I thought this would be a perfect fit. This is a tale about emotional abuse, a traumatic childhood, dysfunctional relationships, addiction, her strange relationship with God, and poor decision making.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was a memoir, but it read like a fictional story. Many of the situations are very dramatic, and I just can't relate to drama like that. To quote a like in the book "No one's life is that dramatic" kept popping up in the back of my mind as I read the story Jonna painted as she tells the story of her life. Jonna says this to a group of Red Cross volunteers she is working with in reference to Chris, after hearing about his crazy yet very sad life. Chris and Jonna end up having a whirlwind relationship, and eventually end up together. Jonna learns that Chris is not who he says he is and he's been lying to her about everything. She stays with him because he makes her feel taken care of, which makes you want to shake her and yell at her because she is too old to be this immature and irresponsible. Her sister actually does this at one point and she still doesn't do anything. Many of Jonna's mistakes and poor decisions stem from growing up with an alcoholic mother and no father in the picture. She just wants some one to love her and take care of her like her parents never did. Chris enters her life like a freight train, large and in charge, and gives her the sense of stability and care she was always missing. Yet after she learns of his betrayals and bad behaviors, it takes her a long time to leave even thought she writes about doing it for several chapters. Its like she was addicted to him and his lies. I just can't relate to not learning from my mistakes and being in a position like this. I give Ivin credit for writing her story, it takes guts to put your story out there for people to read and criticize. I don't want to criticize her life and her choices,, but I do have thoughts on the actual technical writing which I think is a valid critique.  I wish she had a support system to tell her to get her act together and help her. I hope that she's gotten that since writing this.

I didn't care for the writing style at all. This was written in a disjointed chronology, which I really don't care for in general, but as the author is telling her life story it jumped around and she never closed the story. It just abruptly ends, leaving so many pieces of her life unexplained. Like whatever happened to Adam, he was in her life then he wasn't. What happened with Greg? A memoir usually closes with what the author learned as their life went on or where they ended up in the present. This just ends and you are left almost with a cliffhanger. There are alot of holes that left me scratching my head. As many other reviewers mentioned, this book could have used a good edit. There were so many mistakes, it was sometimes hard to read.