What Now? by Ann Patchett

I wanted to love What Now? by Ann Patchett. I wanted to be able to read it and exclaim over and over "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

But, I just couldn't.

Maybe it was because I'm much older than the average person in the audience when Patchett gave her commencement speech at Sarah Lawrence College, the speech upon which this book is based.

Like Patchett, I am a Sarah Lawrence Graduate, but she received her Bachelor's degree from the school while I earned an MFA in Writing. Patchett also had attended Sarah Lawrence straight out of high school as a young woman just beginning to find her way in the world. I went to Sarah Lawrence as a woman in her late 30s and as a single mother. Patchett's experiences were framed by the lens of living on campus in student housing. My son and I lived a little over a mile away in a regular apartment building.

While I greatly appreciated this little book and am glad I read it, I didn't connect with it as deeply as I had hoped. Perhaps if I was younger and had just finished a milestone and was looking forward to my next "What now?" moment, it would have had more meaning.

I did enjoy the no fuss, realistic, and practical advice given by Patchett in this piece, but what I enjoyed most was the story of how she found her way into the home of the school's then president, Alice Stone Ilchman. At a time when the young Patchett felt lonely and a bit lost, happenstance brought her to Ilchman's house without her even realizing who the house belonged to. That led to a number of circumstances later--after college--that allowed Patchett to eek out a living as she pondered her many moments of "What now?" before she began to have publishing success.

But, the other feature of What now? that I truly loved was the amazing images throughout. I would suggest picking up the book even if only for the pictures. If you allow yourself to really spend time looking at them, they can invite you into a contemplative state.

  

I recommend this book with 4 of 5 stars.

Pick up What Now? by Ann Patchett at your local library or from Amazon HERE.

Find my other non-fiction reviews HERE.

And, as a bonus, take a listen to writer Elizabeth Gilbert and Ann Patchett talking about the creative life:

The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT by Debbie Stier

Just a brief review today!

I LOVED The Perfect Score Project: Uncovering the Secrets of the SAT by Debbie Stier! My local library classified it as test prep material, but that's only part of what this book is about. It's actually much more of a memoir about parenting teens as a single mom and dealing with some of the struggles of trying to motivate and connect with a teenager.

The premise of the memoir is that Stier's son wasn't living up to his academic potential at school and Stier was looking for ways to motivate him to study for the SAT in an effort to improve his likelihood of college admissions.  As a parent, and a single mom, there were so many times when I laughed and cried as I read Stier's book. I could relate on so many levels!

Stier decided that a great way to motivate her son to study for the SAT and to help him score as highly as possible, SHE would take the SAT herself! Not just once, but every single time it would be offered over the course of the year. And, on top of this already ambitious goal, she decided to test out a different test prep method for each exam--7 exams in total.

At times, Stier is really onto exceptional methods, but other attempts are utter failures. Along the way, her relationship with both of her children (a daughter as well as her son) is tested, even to a degree that at one point her children move out and go to live with their father for a brief period of time.

Most of the challenges Stier experiences with her kids are typical of many parents, but through the lens of SAT prep, she gives the reader a unique point of view. The Perfect Score Project is part memoir, part parenting guide, and part study guide. I had a hard time putting it down, and I gleaned insights into my own relationship with my teenage son.

Even if you aren't interested in the parenting and single mom aspects of this memoir, I highly recommend it if you or your child needs to take a standardized test. While the methods Stier tries are specifically for the SAT, they can easily be applied to many other exams as well. I picked up several tips and ideas that I plan to apply to some tests and courses I have coming up.  

As an aside, did you even know adults could take the SAT??? I didn't! And, I'd been wondering about adults taking the SAT already--as a private tutor, I'm often asked to tutor the SAT, but it's been so long since I took it myself and the test has changed so much that I usually turn down such requests. Now I'm considering studying for the test just to see how well I can do--maybe I'll do well enough to feel confident tutoring it! Time will tell...

I highly recommend this one! FIVE stars!

Pick it up at your local library or buy it HERE.

Check out all of my memoir reviews HERE.

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard

I love books that involve a story AND a recipe! Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard is no exception.

I have long wanted to not only travel to Europe, but to live there. I have yet to do either, so for the moment I live vicariously through memoirs. Elizabeth Bard is an American writer who studied and worked in England and found herself traveling to Paris, France, eventually meeting her love, Gwendal.

Bard takes us through the tentative first date jitters to the moment she knew Gwendal was the one, through ups and downs in their relationship, navigating two cultures, and more. Through it all is a carefully woven gastronomic treat--multiple recipes from Bard's Jewish American family, as well as recipes from her now husband, and others from his French family.

Although I have yet to make any of recipes, I've copied out several to try--the challenge for me, however, will be making them dairy free to accommodate my severe dairy allergy.  As an aside, my dairy allergy is so severe that it's one of my biggest concerns when considering traveling or living abroad. How does one live in a place like Paris without eating dairy??? I suppose people do it--others with allergies, vegans, and so on, but it just seems like eating dairy free in Paris would be like missing a big part of the Paris experience, right?

Bard has a magical, ethereal manner when describing the markets of her Paris neighborhood and the food in the many cafes and restaurants she and Gwendal find themselves in. She also has a delicate, but honest touch when writing about the difficult aspects of immersing oneself in a new culture, despite how familiar it might be. As an American in Paris, there are just some things she misses such as the direct approach many Americans take in the face of problems or the "can do" attitude that we seem to have when faced with a challenge. She also does a good job of navigating the challenge of having one foot in each culture, but rarely both feet in one. 

While I haven't lived in another country, I have lived in five states within the USA, and at times I found myself nodding with understanding when Bard wasn't as happy or comfortable or confident as she thought she should be.

Overall, I loved this memoir, and the end is excellent--Bard comes out on the upside of life as an ex-pat and I highly recommend this memoir! What I really want is to go to Paris and spend a couple of days with Bard, shopping at the various markets and cooking and eating.

I hope you'll give it a read, and if you try any of the recipes, let me know which ones you loved the best! I can't wait to try the chocolate souffle--she makes it seems so easy!

FIVE stars!

Pick it up at your local library or find it on Amazon HERE. 

Check out my other memoir reviews HERE.