The Crafted Book

Making Money,  by Terry Pratchett Discworld Series, book 36 My rating: 7/10 Ever since Moist Von Lipwig fixed the Post Office, he's been bored, but is the job of fixing the derelict and mismanaged Royal Mint really what he wants? Plunged headfirst into the fortune and danger of the world of economics, he must keep the bank out of the wrong hands--or his own life will be on the line. First of all, I'm going to call the main character, Moist Von Lipwig, "John", because those words should never-- ever --be a name. With that out of the way, let's take this apart. The books about John are always fun, with excitement and mystery and races against all odds, and I loved the premise. I also loved the end, which has the perfect twist right before the last bit. If I were just judging by these things, this book was definitely a ten. Now, the name. Pratchett is normally very good with naming, keeping the names normal and the humour in its proper place- the writing!- bu...

Flash Fiction Forward,  by James Thomas and Robert Shapard My rating: 6/10 This collection of vivid, minimalistic stories tells many creative ideas and theories. From a date with a neanderthal to a phone scamming operation to a mesmerist, these flash fiction pieces will have you hooked. While it's true that flash fiction can sometimes be hard to engage with, and it's certainly not for everyone, I did enjoy this book. If you're not looking to read the whole book straight through, some of the best stories are Sashimi Cashmere, Traditional Indian Style Garage, Fruit Series, Travelling Alone, Quill, and Three Soldiers. My all time favorite from  Flash Fiction Forward  is a tie between The Orange and The Death of the Short Story. They were both very creative and well written, as well as poignant and balanced. However, not all the stories were as good as those ones, and I have to say that most of them seemed to end the same way: with depression about life, or death. ...

Becoming,  by Michelle Obama My rating: 10/10 Former First Lady Michelle Obama tells the story of her previously unknown personal life in stunning prose. Covering everything from childhood, law school, and romance to work-life balance, the campaign trail, and her children, she lays out her life, decisions, and identity with impressive clarity. This book had a lot of insight about Michelle Obama finding her identity- which includes her struggle with race and gender. She talked about bringing more racial diversity to the table where she worked, and about the push back she received for the color of her skin. Becoming also contained a lot of ideas that seem really important right now about gender equality- including her sharing her experience as First Lady, having to deal with sexism from all across the board. I enjoyed that she was able to bring these issues into the light and talk about how these factors influenced both her and other women in politics. One pleasant aspect ab...