Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

10 hours, 19 minutes

Read by Emma Fielding

Published February 2015 by Penguin Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary: 

This is what was on bn.com: 

Set in 1960's London, Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingénue to television starlet amid a constellation of delightful characters. Insightful and humorous, Nick Hornby's latest does what he does best: endears us to a cast of characters who are funny if flawed, and forces us to examine ourselves in the process.

This is what was on Goodreads: 

Make them laugh, and they're yours forever . . . 

Barbara Parker is Miss Blackpool of 1964, but she doesn't want to be a beauty queen. She wants to make people laugh. So she leaves her hometown behind, takes herself to London, and overnight she becomes the lead in a new BBC comedy, Sophie Straw: charming, gorgeous, destined to win the nation's hearts.

My Thoughts: 

I've loved the movies that have been adapted from Hornby's novels but it's been tough to go back to the source material. So I decided to pick up one of Hornby's books that hasn't been made into a movie yet so I could read his work without comparing it to the movie. As it turns out, the book has been made into a movie, which will be released in Great Britain next month. Sometime after that, I suppose, I'll be watching it here, making the reverse comparison. 

Barbara longs to become the next Lucille Ball but when she lands an agent in London, he doesn't take her seriously. He's looking to make her a sexy girl on calendars and such and, when she pushes for acting jobs, he only sends her out to auditions that she's unlikely to land. So when she shows up to audition for a television show, neither he nor she is expecting much. With that thought in her head, Barbara (now Sophie) decides she's got nothing to lose and gives the writers her honest opinion of their pilot. 

They are charmed and, along with the producer, push to create the kind of show that will launch her career (and theirs, of course). She charms the nation and the show's a big hit. But, as shows that become mega hits do, there's only one direction to go from there. During that time, we become in involved in Sophie's life as well as the lives of writers (Tony and Bill), producer Dennis, and co-star Clive. Eventually, we jump forward twenty-five years, when all of those involved have died or died out, left only with the faint glow of that former glory.

I couldn't quite put my finger onto where this book fell short for me. One thing I did know right away was that the title is misleading, for several reasons. It implies, that this is a book about Sophie; but there are great swathes where Sophie entirely disappears. In fact, she may have the least interesting of all the lives we read about in the book. And then there's the question as to whether or not she's actually funny. Hornby tells us she is. But we never really see it. Much of what causes the writers and producer to want her for the part is her northern England way of speaking, her brutal honesty, her naïveté. But that doesn't make her funny and we never really get to see her be funny. 

In fact, there's not a whole lot of funny in the book. There are moments and Hornby certainly takes his satirical stab at the times. But it's not what the title of the book would suggest. Could a different title have made a difference in how I felt about this book? Yes, actually. And then Hornby would have had to cut back on all of the talk about how funny Sophie is and left the focus on the ensemble cast of characters and cut back on the often jarring cuts between focus on one character and then another. Of course, my opinion matters not a whit; I'm not a published author, whose books have been made into movies. My opinion is just that - my opinion as one reader. One who just wants you to know that Funny Girl isn't all that funny. Or entirely about a girl. 

Life: It Goes On - January 22

Happy Sunday from grey and foggy Omaha! So many grey days this month, making the long, long month of January even longer. It's been a weird week but at least it was capped off by a visit from Miss H, which is always good for my soul. We worked on going through all of the things she had stored upstairs at my house. Result: 2 big garbage bags of clothes, a dozen frames and prints, and a grocery bag of things to go to charity, plus a half a big garbage bag of actually garbage. You all know how happy that made me! Unfortunately, she had to get up super early and head south so we weren't able to get as much done as I was hoping to accomplish AND I've already had to have a nap this morning. 

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: Beartown. I'm wishing I had this in print. There are quite a lot of passages that would be highlighted if I owned a copy. I will say, this one took a turn that I did not see coming and it's making it a tough listen.

Watched: Guys, we finally started watching Wednesday! Knocked out an episode both nights this weekend with Miss H. Also, I finished the first season of Bridgerton. Knowing that Rege-Jean Page will not be in season 2, I was pretty sad to finish season 1. And unsure how I feel about starting season 2. 

Read: I'm making slow progress through Dinners with Ruth. Can't seem to make myself pick up a book this week. I need to get back to just putting books on my to-be-read list (instead of immediately requesting them from the library) so that I can pick them up to read when my mood is right for that book. 

Made: Goulash, chocolate chip cookies, a Thai chicken recipe that Miss H found. 

Enjoyed: Thirty-six or so hours with my girl. Well, most of that time. The Big Guy decided he needed to car shop for her while she was here and it put Miss H in a foul mood for a couple of hours (especially since it didn't even end up with her in a new vehicle!). I'm always happy to have her sorting through the stuff she left behind here so that I can free up some space but that time is also time we get a good chance to talk, laugh, tease each other, and to really talk. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Even though 40 Bags In 40 Days is still a month away, I'm on a roll with the decluttering and I'm going to keep working on that this week. I'm hoping to finish the guest rooms (slash storage rooms for the things my kids left behind). 

Thinking About: Every Sunday we turn on the tv and watch CBS Sunday Morning and then several cooking shows. And every Sunday I think I need to start cooking more. But it's hard to cook for only two people, as so many of you know. So I'm thinking that it may be time to host a party and try out some new recipes. 

Feeling: I know I just had quite a few days off of work over the holidays but those days were busy with holiday kinds of things. I'm feeling like I need a few days off of work to just putter and do the things around here that will help me feel relaxed. 

Looking forward to: Next weekend is BG's birthday so we'll celebrate that. 

Question of the week: Football's about over and I'm going to have three evenings a week of television time freed up. What shows would you recommend we start watching?

Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan

Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan

240 Pages

Published February 2014 by Random House Publishing Group

Publisher's Summary:

When Kelly Corrigan was in high school, her mother neatly summarized the family dynamic as “Your father’s the glitter but I’m the glue.” This meant nothing to Kelly, who left childhood sure that her mom—with her inviolable commandments and proud stoicism—would be nothing more than background chatter for the rest of Kelly’s life, which she was carefully orienting toward adventure. After college, armed with a backpack, her personal mission statement, and a wad of traveler’s checks, she took off for Australia to see things and do things and Become Interesting.

But it didn’t turn out the way she pictured it. In a matter of months, her savings shot, she had a choice: get a job or go home. That’s how Kelly met John Tanner, a newly widowed father of two looking for a live-in nanny. They chatted for an hour, discussed timing and pay, and a week later, Kelly moved in. And there, in that house in a suburb north of Sydney, 10,000 miles from the house where she was raised, her mother’s voice was suddenly everywhere, nudging and advising, cautioning and directing, escorting her through a terrain as foreign as any she had ever trekked. Every day she spent with the Tanner kids was a day spent reconsidering her relationship with her mother, turning it over in her hands like a shell, straining to hear whatever messages might be trapped in its spiral.

This is a book about the difference between travel and life experience, stepping out and stepping up, fathers and mothers. But mostly it’s about who you admire and why, and how that changes over time.

My Thoughts: 

Glitter and Glue kicked off The Omaha Bookworms 2023 reading, for two reasons. First, it fit our theme of You Learn Something New Every Month. Secondly, it's a book that's been on my Nook for several years and this gave me a push to read something I already owned. I assumed it would be a book that would give us plenty to talk about. I hadn't anticipated how much everyone would enjoy it, including me. Here's why: 

• Corrigan blends her life in the U.S., her time nannying in Australia and Willa Cather's My Antonia! to explore her relationship with her mother. I really enjoyed how she was able to blend the three together to form a cohesive memoir. Plus, I always give high marks when someone works in a book by a Nebraska author. 
• The title comes from something Corrigan's mother told Corrigan: "Your father's the glitter but I'm the glue." Which really got me thinking (and then asking my book club) which of my parents was which and who played which role in my marriage. 
• I became so emotionally attached to the people in this book, both the Tanners and the Corrigans; Corrigan did such a marvelous job of making me feel what the families felt. 
• So many passages that I've highlighted, that really spoke to me and to which I could relate. Some I'll share here. Some I'll save and do a Book Gems post one day. 

"The living mother-daughter relationship, you learn over and over again, is a constant choice between adaptation and acceptance." 

"...a good mother is required to somehow absorb all this ugliness and find a way to fall back in love with her child the next day."  

I so often said, particularly of my challenging bookends, that it was a good thing that they fell asleep at night. It allowed me to recharge and to go in and watch them sleep, so peaceful and sweet.  

"I crack open my book, thinking about my mother and the many moments of my childhood when she tucked herself away somewhere, enjoying what she called a party for one." 

It made me think of the times when I felt I had lost control of myself and gave myself a time out in my room. I should have been more like Corrigan's mother and done that a little more often; it's essential for a mother to take some time to care for herself. 

• This passage made me think of the times that my book club has spoken to authors and, when asked a question about their books, had them admit that they hadn't thought of the book in that way but agreed with the idea. 

"I remember a lecture from one of my lit classes about a theory called "Reader Response," which basically says: More often than not, it's the readers - not the writers - who determine what a book means. The idea is that readers don't come blank to books. Consciously and not, we bring all the biases that come with our nationality, gender, race, class, age. Then you layer onto that the status of our health, employment, relationships, not to mention our particular relationship to each book - who gave it to us, where we read it, what books we've already read."

This almost certainly accounts for much of the reason some people love a book while others hate it, why I know that sometimes I have read a book at the wrong time in my life, why I'm able to recommend a book to someone knowing they will enjoy it, even if I wasn't wow'd by it. This one I'm going to recommend to you not just because it's a book I think you might like (because all six of you reading this have your own backgrounds you're bringing to the book), but because it's a book that most women, especially mothers, will be able to relate to and take something from. 

Life: It Goes On - January 15

Happy Sunday! Finally the sun is shining AND it's going to be warm (at least by Nebraska in January standards). Time to throw the doors and windows open for a bit and get some fresh air in this place! 

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: I finished by first book of 2023, Nick Hornby's Funny Girl. Then I've got Beartown back so I'll finish that. 

Watched: The Big Guy was out a couple of nights this week and I had the tv to myself. What to watch, what to watch? Apparently it was finally my time to jump on the Bridgerton bandwagon. Yes, yes...the bandwagon is long gone and no one is talking about the series any more but that's the way I roll. I've watched five episodes but I'm not sure I'll continue beyond season one. Let's be honest, I'm really only watching to see Rege-Jean Page and I'm told he's gone in season two, so...

Read: I'm bouncing between my book club book for January, Kelly Corrigan's Glitter and Glue, and Isaac Fitzgerald's Dirtbag, Massachusetts. However, I did just get notice that my copy of Nina Totenberg's Dinners With Ruth is due back at that library in a couple of days so I'll be setting aside Dirtbag, Massachusetts until after I read that. 

Made: Chicken and orzo soup and homemade mac and cheese. I know I made more this week but I can't for the life of me remember what. I am back to cooking at least!

Enjoyed: A quiet week with plenty of time to get things done around here, including some organizing/purging. All of which is so good for my mood.

No before pic but it 
had three layers of
paint and you could 
barely read "Matches"

This Week I’m:  

Planning: On getting more organizing and purging done, finishing up my first project of the year (and then figuring out where I'm putting it because, heaven forbid I figured that out before I took the time to work on the piece!), and considering my next project. 

Thinking About: Politics. The thing that will definitely kill the buzz I get from throwing things out! 

Feeling: Relaxed. Which is perfect for a Sunday. 

Looking forward to: A friend's birthday party this afternoon and then dinner with friends. 

Question of the week: I have been friends with the couple we are having dinner with since 1979 (BG since 1974). Do you still see friends that you have known since middle school or college? 

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais

The One-Hundred Foot Journey by Richard Morris

272 pages

Published August 2011 by Scribner

Publisher's Summary: 

Born above his grandfather’s modest restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan Haji first experienced life through intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry, trips to the local markets, and gourmet outings with his mother. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India, they console themselves by eating their way around the world, eventually settling in Lumière, a small village in the French Alps. 

The boisterous Haji family takes Lumière by storm. They open an inexpensive Indian restaurant opposite an esteemed French relais—that of the famous chef Madame Mallory—and infuse the sleepy town with the spices of India, transforming the lives of its eccentric villagers and infuriating their celebrated neighbor. Only after Madame Mallory wages culinary war with the immigrant family, does she finally agree to mentor young Hassan, leading him to Paris, the launch of his own restaurant, and a slew of new adventures. 

The Hundred-Foot Journey is about how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can represent the gulf between different cultures and desires. A testament to the inevitability of destiny, this is a fable for the ages—charming, endearing, and compulsively readable.

My Thoughts: 

Whoops! I was going through some book club stuff when I realized that I'd never recorded nor reviewed this book in 2022. For 2022, my theme was a book somehow related to something to do with each month. Food for November, right? Having seen the movie adaptation of this book, I thought this would make a good choice. And it did; people seemed to enjoy it. More than I did, to be honest. Probably because I'd seen the movie first and was expecting something like that in the book.

In the book, though, the protaganist of the book is not Hassan. Oh, sure, he's the guy the plot circles around. But food...the smell, the taste, the process...is the protagonist of this book. It entirely drives everything that happens here from the Haji family restaurant's humble beginning as a tiffin delivery service to Hassan's world-class restaurant in Paris. As the book progresses, food and the restaurant industry begins to take center stage, leaving the Haji family behind and Lumiere far behind. Sure, those people come up again in the book, but this is a book about how Hassan learns to trust his judgement when it comes to food and launches his career into a whole new stratosphere that is the meat of the second half of this book. 

Certainly in the movie food played a big role, but the relationships played a central role as well and Hassan's ambition was tempered by his realization of the importance of family, relationships, and his roots. I liked that. 

Still, just two months after reading this book, I read this week about the closing of what has been described as the world's best restaurant because of the changing ways of the world. It was exactly as described in this book that was written more than a decade ago. Which just goes to show you that, even in a book you don't love, there is always something to take away from the book...a little gem of writing, a memorable character, or something new to learn. And that's always a good thing in a book.