For the #WritersRead book club this month, we read in the theme ‘something in a genre you never read.’ As writers, it’s important we read outside our typical genres in order to develop a well rounded sense of writing and story. We looked for unique storytelling patterns and lessons that applied to across genres. Below you’ll find our full reviews from our picks this month. Join us later this week for book club on Twitter and Instagram!
Emily’s Review
Becoming, by Michelle Obama
I’m not a huge nonfiction reader, especially when it comes to biographies and autobiographies. I think subconsciously I expect these books to be dry, chronological accounts of people’s lives that have little bearing on mine. After reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming, however, I can tell you that is absolutely not true. This book was fascinating, engrossing and inspiring all at once. At its core, it’s the story of how Michelle Obama learned to accept herself, use her voice, and empower others to do the same.
In the first part, “Becoming Me” we follow Michelle through high school and college as she navigates the question of ‘Am I enough?’ by paddling furiously upstream to prove herself. In part two, “Becoming Us,” she takes us on the emotional rollercoaster of Barack’s many election campaigns. She paints, with honesty, how she harbored doubts, questioning ‘Are we enough?’.
What I found most powerful is how, without diminishing her own value, Michelle makes it clear that finding her voice and accepting her worth wouldn’t have been possible without support. Her parents and mentors pushed and valued her. Barack’s support was instrumental in allowing her to leave her legal job and pursue something she loved.
By the time she entered the White House, Michelle was firm in her own answer to ‘Am I enough?’ As First Lady, she built and invested in programs that helped people, especially teenagers and young girls, see their value as well.
Above all, this book shows us that finding our potential, as individuals and as a country, requires community—a story point if I ever saw one. And I think this, more than anything, is my #WritersRead takeaway. There are story points and lessons to be drawn from everything in our personal lives. I want to practice searching for the ones in mine.
Rachel’s Review
The Terror, by Dan Simmons
There’s nothing quite like the pervasive sense of dread that creeps over every page of The Terror. While not a horror genre connoisseur myself (hint: I picked horror for the “genre you never read” topic of #WritersRead), I wasn’t sure if The Terror was actually horror until the end. It wasn’t as “scary” as I expected it to be. There were certainly parts that were horrifying in nature, but overall it seemed more a thriller than horror. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed this book despite its length.
But even knowing that, what really drew me in from the beginning was the extremely detailed descriptions of the frozen, icy landscape where our doomed ships are stuck. Simmons uses such beautiful language to describe everything from the icebergs to serac forests to the construction of the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Even the descriptions of the monster hunting and attacking the men with downright chilling levels of gore or the gnarly and gut-wrenching descriptions of scurvy as it plagues the men are still so gripping that I just couldn’t put the book down. It is in the vivid descriptions that this story truly shines.
As we see the crew struggle against nature (both the ice and the monster) and lose time and time again, I immediately thought the point of this story was about the pride of man. By continually believing themselves to be greater than their environment, the men of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror seal their own fates on the ice and against the monster. One character puts it beautifully by saying “hubris would always be punished by the gods.”
But the true horror of this story comes when–after abandoning their frozen ships to make the 800 mile trek to the nearest supply outpost when it becomes clear the ice will not melt–the men begin to turn on one another. Even with the monster tracking them on the ice, it is the men who are the true terror as they turn to murder, treachery, and cannibalism. It was only then did I finally realize that the point of this story is that men are the greatest monsters of all.
Join #WritersRead!
This year we’re hosting a book club just for writers! Each month you pick a book within the month’s theme, then we’ll meet for #WritersRead book club chats on Twitter and Instagram to discuss what you read and learned. Didn’t join this month? Hop on board for next month! You’ll find the calendar of themes and details for how to join here!
Both Becoming and The Terror are on my TBR list! Thanks for the reviews. Here’s mine! https://kmkjensen.wordpress.com/2020/01/31/what-ive-been-reading-15/
Kelly! Thank you so much for sharing your review with us. I love your takeaway: “the author managed to build a speculative world that nestled so comfortably next to our own, that I had no trouble believing in it.” It seems like a really great book to study for anyone writing urban paranormal works!