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What I'm Reading Now: Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love

  Animals are an important part of my life, and I've always had pets. The love affair started with a Himalayan Seal Point cat named Fluffy, and now as an adult, I have two cats and two dogs. Having the ability to fill my house with furry family members is one of the best parts of adulthood. In my spare time, I'm a volunteer event coordinator for Gateway Pet Guardians, a nonprofit that is, per their website, "a nonprofit St. Louis animal shelter bringing hope to stray pets in East St. Louis while educating the community in order to eliminate homelessness for stray dogs and cats." We started reading Larry Levin’s delightful dog tale Oogy as part of the group's book club. It was a great first pick, because the book shows exactly why groups like Gateway Pet Guardians are so important. They find homes for street dogs and transform lives, both human and furry.

The story will charm all dog lovers but will especially appeal people with controversial breeds or special needs pets. Police found Oogy as a 10-week-old puppy at a residence known for dog fighting. His original "owners" used him as a bait dog, and he sustained severe facial scars. Levin found the puppy at his vet’s office and promptly adopted him. Despite his injuries, Oogy proves to be a resilient force and changes the family dynamic.

Levin does a great job at describing Oogy's antics. I wanted to meet this dog and see his sparkling personality for myself. The resiliency of dogs rescued from terrible conditions never ceases to amaze me, and Oogy is no exception. Levin does not gloss over the difficulties of having such a special dog. Despite the vet office offering Oogy free care for life, he still has to go through several expensive surgeries. Due to Oogy's size, breed, and appearance, people go out of their way to avoid him and tend to pass judgment. This proves to be an isolating experience for Levin and his young sons. The misconceptions about Oogy might have been Levin's catalyst for writing the book, and it's nice to see dogs often discriminated against get their due.

As the owner of an American Staffordshire Terrier rescued off the street, I have a soft spot for pitbull-like dogs. I cried (and promptly hugged my pitbull) reading The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant, which covered the Michael Vick dogs. I am the intended audience for this market, and I adored this light and breezy read with a happy ending (no Marley and Me here!).

The book had several flaws. It read almost too quickly, and a big part of the story seemed to be missing. It only touched the surface of a much deeper familial story that Levin could have told. The parallels between Oogy and the author’s adopted sons was a good angle, but it needed more exploration. About half of the book describes Oogy's rescue and those early days of adjusting to life as family pet. It was an important part of the story, but only a small part of Oogy's life. As soon as I got into what I felt was the actual story, Levin gave a few anecdotes, the kids went off to college, and it was just him and Oogy. Much of the story felt left out.

At 200 pages this quick read is an uplifting tale of an injured dog left for dead and his transition to beloved family pet. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to understand why animal rescue work is vital to our society.

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August Book Club

Every month the STL Young Women Book Club meets to discuss a different book. This month, we read Margaret Atwood’s 1985 classic, The Handmaid’s Tale.

The meeting itself took place at The Libertine, located in downtown Clayton, MO, because what goes better which dystopian literature than farm-to-table cuisine?

I was excited to hear what the others thought about the book, because it’s one of my favorite books and one of the original dystopian novels before the genre was oversaturated. Something about surviving in a world gone mad intrigues me and brings me out of my everyday existence. It’s a lot easier to appreciate the banality of normal life when you don’t have to worry about fighting to death in an arena (Hunger Games) or being arrested for possessing literature (Fahrenheit 451). The genre is getting staler with each new dystopian novel, but Atwood’s classic can never be replaced.

A teacher once told me that Atwood took everything in her novel from history, and for me part of the puzzle of the book is to figure out her inspirations. I asked the group what they took from the novel. Due to its complexity, we had different interpretations of what the book really meant. We definitely saw aspects of slavery, Roman society, and even modern cultures that continue to oppress women. The cloaks the women like Offred are forced to wear remind me of the burqa. Atwood’s flashbacks show a modern society where patriarchy simmers under the surface, not too different from the world we live in. Atwood indicates that we only need some crazy turns of events, like a nuclear war and religious takeover of the government, and the comforts of our society can easily crack under pressure.

This book was a rare win for the group. Everyone agreed that, even though it started slowly, it was a riveting read that kept you flipping the page. Character development is always a strength in an Atwood novel, and this novel is no exception. Figuring out the motivations behind the characters was a big puzzle for all of us. Was the commander playing chess with Offred and giving her magazines because he enjoyed her company or for his own amusement? Was Nick the chauffeur friend or foe? What happened to Offred’s family? (This question killed me!) Atwood has a very clever way of ending the novel as well, not giving away the answers of what happened but providing bread crumbs that can lead you to your own conclusions. Although we would like to know what happened with Offred, and would really like a sequel, we were satisfied with the ending.

It’s also interesting to look at the book through the lens of when it was published: during the Cold War and after the feminist movement. The effects of nuclear war play a big role in the society and are a driving force of the novel. As the New York Times 1986 review points out, there are parallels between the Wall in the novel, where the executed are displayed, and the Berlin Wall. Atwood also pokes fun at not only the Culture Wars of the 1980s, with the Moral Majority, but also the feminism movement of the 1970s. There is a very prominent pornographic magazine burning that the author takes part in with her mother. This could easily be compared to the book burnings in 1984. Atwood displays the shades of gray in every movement and shows the disabling effect of a society that swings too far one way or the other. A balance is needed for a stable society.

While she has not followed up with The Handmaid’s Tale yet (boo!), Atwood also wrote another dystopian novel Oryx and Crake (and 2 sequels). They aren’t the same book by any means, but they are still intriguing dystopian novels that will make you happy to live now. As for the state of the dystopian genre, I really enjoyed this interview with Lois Lowry about the genre she pioneered.

Next month we’ll read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

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Pregnancy Books to Skip

Last week I listed my favorite pregnancy and early parenthood books. However, this is an oversaturated market and not every book will worthy of that precious prebaby time. Here are the books that I would recommend skipping.

On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo: This book worked for a friend, so I checked it out. As a person who likes to stick to a schedule, the idea of keeping a baby on a schedule appealed to me. However, I found a lot of controversy surrounding the book. That it was written by someone with no medical background and has been linked to failure to thrive was enough to make me reconsider its advice. Certain aspects of the advice in this book might work, but common sense should prevail when applying the techniques from this book. I should note that when my baby finally came around, it was such a chaotic time that the schedule would have gone right out of the window.

The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine: I liked the wedding book in this series, and this book had the same light tone. However, the content was all fluff and it provided very little actual insight into pregnancy and birth. In a few cases, the advice was just bad. Telling your readers that exercising might lead to miscarriages is just wrong and misguided. Exercising is very helpful when done right. I really enjoyed prenatal yoga.

What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff: I will confess that I did not read this book. So why am I putting this on the list? My doctor told me to skip it. Her rationale was that it does tell you everything to expect, but knowing everything that could go wrong can also cause unnecessary worry. She gave me this book as an alternative, which was a great resource that provided what I needed to know from a medical standpoint and what to look out for without being alarmist.

Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven by Rory Freedman: Who doesn’t want to be a sexy momma? I picked this book up because I thought it would give me some nutritional insight on what to eat and provide a light read. Don’t fall for it! The cover makes it look light and fun, but it’s more drill sergeant than friendly girlfriend. Apparently eating meat or dairy will set me up for a lifetime of guilt whenever my son has some health issue, and I’m responsible for slowly killing him or something. We are already guilt-ridden enough when we do anything while pregnant or as a mother. Do yourself a favor and avoid compounding that guilt by reading this book. If you’re a vegan, you might like this book (although you probably won’t learn anything new). If you’re just a vegetarian, flexitarian (like me!), or meat lover, you’ll resent the tone.

Prenatal nursing textbooks: I work with nursing texts every day and didn’t have a choice, but just don’t look. They can and will show you everything that can go wrong (with color pictures). You do not want to see this during such a happy time!

And finally…

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin: True story, we read this for my book club while I was pregnant. I never feared that my husband worshiped Satan and I was giving birth to a demon child, but I still would probably just say to avoid it. Some of the 1960s pregnancy advice in the book is really wonky too. Oh and the fact that she eats RAW MEAT!

What pregnancy books do you wish you’d never picked up?

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Longform Journalism: Is It the Future?

As a student I read the newspaper daily from front to back. Although we had the Internet when I was in school and I did get breaking news from sites like CNN, I still loved to flip through the newspaper and read about the local issues. My favorite articles were always the investigative pieces. Although my days of ink-stained fingers are long gone and my local paper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is a shell of its former self, there is hope in the new media landscape. Not only are websites providing high-quality  journalism articles, but the web has provided a platform for archival investigative pieces to find new readers. Good reporting is so vital to our democracy and I’m glad to see that there are sites that are still working to bring issues to light.

Here are my favorite finds:

Long Reads features many of these great articles. Right now I'm reading Angels & Demons by Thomas French. Originally published in 1997, it is true crime at its finest. Be prepared to read this in several sittings. 

Propublica has a nonprofit model and features investigative pieces about current issues. Some of the best articles have been about unpaid internships, worker safety, and dubious charities. It is the best place to get in-depth reporting on important national and global topics. Right now they are providing great coverage of the Ferguson shooting, which hits close to home.

Esquire also has some great long reads. I especially enjoyed the one on 9/11.

Stuff You Should Know has a great podcast about different and often random topics. They also have a blog where they feature their favorite long reads of the week. I have found some great reading material from the site.

The best way I stay organized when it comes to reading material is through the app Pocket. It lets me save the article and read it later on whatever device I have available, whether it's my computer, phone, or iPad. My biggest vice is saving too much and not having enough time to read it all. My husband makes fun of me because I'm a Pocket Superuser!

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Book of the Month: Slimed by Mathew Klickstein

I've run a monthly book club since 2011 (we just celebrated our 3 year anniversary in May!), and we read one book a month and meet to discuss it. This month's book was SLIMED!: An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age. Most of us were in that target age range who grew up on the Nickelodeon shows of the early 90s, so we were very excited to read this book and hear some behind the scenes details.

However, the response to the book was surprisingly negative, primarily because the book is full of details but provides very little context. There are a lot of interviews, but most of them are with crew members and you have to flip to the appendix of the book to figure out what shows they were on. This led to a fragmented and irritating reading experience. None of us finished the book and some didn't even start. It's too bad, as with the right format, this could have been a great book.

We still used it as an excuse to gather at my house and watch all of the old Nick shows that were recently added on Amazon Prime. The definite hit was Are You Afraid of the Dark?, which is still spooky fun. The general consensus was: skip the book and rewatch the shows and revel in your childhood and the hilarious early 90s fashions and technology.

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Approachable Classics: Where to Start

Reading the “Classics” can seem intimidating. They were written long ago and force-fed to us in school. However, you shouldn't be intimidated by them! I admit that some classics are boring to me as well (that list is soon to come!) However, some classics earned their status by being great books that generations of readers love to read over and over again.

10. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. You might have read this in school. I know I did! I also didn’t get much out of it as a freshman in high school. I much preferred watching Ethan Hawk chase after Gwyneth Paltrow in the modern adaptation that came out around the same time. However, this is usually the book teachers choose for a reason: it is Dickens’ most approachable novel for a modern audience. It’s not too long, has an interesting plot and characters, and will keep the interest of readers in a way many Victorian-era novels won’t. Even if you read this in school, I would recommend trying it again as an adult. You might appreciate it more!

9. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. This is the trashy novel of its day (1900): a story of pious Carrie’s fall from grace in the big industrial city (Chicago). Modern readers won’t have any issues keeping up with the language. It’s not the flowery prose we might associate with classics and is written in very direct realistic style. This book was censored and controversial. Make sure you get the original version, not the censored one.

8. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. A novella about a guy that wakes up as a bug? What’s not to love? Plus you’ll get all of those Kafka references!

7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. A Victorian ghost story? Sign me up. This book is the most engaging Bronte novel and definitely a must-read. There haven't been a lot of great adaptations of this book, so those who just watch the movies will be missing out.

6. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Written in the 1930s and taking place in the 1920s, this is one  of the most modern of the books on the list. A modern adaptation of Jane Eyre that's easy to read and engaging definitely makes this book a must for any reader.

5. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This novel was scandalous when it was first published in the Victorian era and was censored. It's a short, readable novel, which should appeal to busy readers.

4. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Another scandalous Victorian novel (noticing a theme?) that was censored. Tess is a simple "pure" girl who is corrupted by a wealthy landowner, becomes pregnant in an is-it-rape? scene, the baby dies, and then she's abandoned by her husband after she tells him about her earlier experiences. It's a modern realism novel that has a lot of symbolism and beautiful writing but still is engaging. Once you finish it, watch the several excellent adaptations.

3. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Where else can you find a character named Major Major Major?

2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This is my favorite classic. A coming of age story of a girl growing up in Brooklyn (where else?) at the turn of the last century. It's partially biographical and a book that I have read over and over. The language of the book is very easy to follow and the characters engaging. It's a great peak into a very specific time and place, pre-WWI Williamsburg, Brookyn, before the hipsters moved in.

1. Anything by Jane Austen but specifically Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen gets the reputation for being chick lit, although this is actually a fairly recent development. Back in her day, it was enjoyed by male and female readers, and those who take the time to read her work will see why. Her work has been romanticized in film, and nowhere is this more obvious than in Sense and Sensibility. The films are good, but definitely read the books first. They have much more substance and will appeal to audiences of both gender.

What are your favorite classics?

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Recommended Readings: Baby Book Edition

My son just turned 1 last month, and the memories of the baby preparation are still all too fresh! As most soon-to-be or new moms do, I read a lot of books. Probably too many! I also tended to focus more on the labor/birth itself rather than living with a newborn. I quickly learned from this mistake when I went through the labor and realized I didn't know what to do next! No book can ever truly prepare you for life with a baby, but some books are more helpful than others.

I have combed through my list of books and here are what I recommend:

Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp: Of course I have to recommend this book. It's required reading for any new parent. Most hospitals offer a class as well, which we didn't take. The techniques definitely helped us in those early weeks, particularly swaddling. However, I think every baby is different, so what works for one baby might not work for another. You are desperate for any trick in the book, so it's great to have this on hand to refer to. They don't always work, but eventually you'll find some foolproof method. For us, it was the swing and the swaddle.

Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman: My husband and I both listened to the CD and loved it. We agreed it was the best baby book. It offers a lot of French parenting tips, which I found very helpful. The takeaway of the book is to listen to the baby's rhythm and just follow it. I found this tip to be the most helpful of all!

Bebe Day by Day by Pamela Druckerman: This is the Cliff Notes version of Bringing Up Bebe. I recommend having it on hand for easy reference. There are a lot of useful tricks in there that worked for us.

Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon: OK, I listened to this on CD while I was pregnant and it was fascinating. Solomon focuses on families who have a child with some sort of unique trait, such as autism, transgenderism, deafness, dwarfism. It's a great book about the challenges that those families face and the broader issues affecting the wider communities, and it's definitely a great read about learning to accept your child for who he or she is. However, you might also find yourself worried about the child that's growing inside of you. I personally thought it was an important read and felt that it helped ready myself for my child. That said, I would wait until after your 20 week ultrasound.

Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby's First Year: This is a very helpful reference. I really relied on it in the first few months. It was good to read about what to expect at every stage and was a constant companion for several months. Eventually once I gained confidence as a parent, I found myself looking at it less because I didn't need to anymore.

And last, have lots of fun reads! Don't focus too much on absorbing baby books. You'll figure things out as you go along. When your baby is finally down for a nap, you'll want to read something fun and light! It might take you a while to finish, but it will be a fun escape when you get the chance to read. I read Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld, which I would HIGHLY recommend for someone on maternity leave. Not only is the storyline great (two identical twins with psychic abilities and one thinks a major earthquake is about to hit), but main character also has 6-month-old and so I found her very relating to her a lot and made the leave feel less isolating. In those early weeks, being alone is a rare luxury and reading this book was an ideal way to spend it.

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Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

Reader Submission by John Molina.

Follow @DanWilbur for dumber things.

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What I'm Reading Now

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I usually avoid the books that have been overhyped. To this day, I have yet to get past the first chapter of any Harry Potter book. I was attracted to this book due to the fact that I like dystopian novels. I have since changed my tune since it seems that every YA book out now is dystopian and it’s becoming old, but I started the Divergent series and I’m going to finish it! It’s taken me 3 months to get through all three books, but I’m finally towards the end of Allegiant and can confidently give the series 3 stars. It’s a weaker Hunger Games and definitely no Margaret Atwood dystopian novel, but it’s a quick read and has an intriguing premise. Would I recommend reading it? Eh. Maybe if you’re in the mood for a light read.

A quick refresher if you've been out of the loop: Tris lives in a future Chicago that is run by 4 factions: Abnegation (selfless), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), Dauntless (fearless), and Erudite (studious). Tris was born an Abnegation but chooses to become a Dauntless at the choosing ceremony on her 16th birthday. She trains as a Dauntless, finds a hot guy, and then fights the powers that be. It's fast paced and easy to follow. Some parts read quicker than others, and some sections were downright riveting, particularly once they leave the confines of Chicago. There is a plot twist towards the end of the last book that might alienate readers, but it's otherwise a solid YA read. However, you could probably watch the movie that was released earlier this year and be ok.