Bossypants by Tina Fey

Fey has written a hilarious autobiography that begins with her as a child of five being slashed across the face by someone leaving a scar. She refuses to talk about the actual incident but spends time talking about the kind of people who ask about it and how she wants to have nothing to do with them.  She also talks about how she received lots of attention from family and friends over the incident for a long period of time and how it made her feel special and confident in her talents.

 She writes of working at Second City and Improv Company in Chicago. She began working on the touring group Blue Company, or BlueCo.  They were supposed to travel to various parts of the Midwest and Texas and perform the "best of" sketches in church basements and community centers. She was paid seventy-five dollars per show and a twenty-five dollar per diem.  They would ride in a van and sometimes travel from Kansas to Texas then back to Kansas over a matter of two days just to get paid.  Soon, though, Amy Poehler sick of the blond-girl roles wanted to rewrite her material and soon the others were rewriting the whole show.  By the time the ten-day tour was over the original show was completely rewritten.  They would get in trouble for this and be punished for it by being assigned the worst gigs ever, like the after prom spots or the corporate gigs where they are about to be told about the reduction in their health care, college shows where the audience was very drunk, or charity buyouts where the audience was very sober.  She would get promoted to the main company when Amy Poehler left for New York because Second City at that time was rather sexist and believed in having only two women and four men in a company.

In 1997 she interviewed with Lorne Michaels at Saturday Night Live for a position in the writer's room that was hoping to diversify.  She includes some things she learned from Michaels such as "The show doesn't go on because it's ready; it goes on because it's 11:30". This means that you have to learn to let go of what you have written and hope for the best.  "When hiring, mix Harvard Nerds with Chicago Improvisors and stir...Harvard Is Classical Military Theory, Improv Is Vietnam".  "Don't hire anyone you wouldn't want to run into the hallway at three in the morning." "Never tell a person he's crazy." This is important because you can get good work out of these odd people.  Find a way to deal with them.

When SNL needed a new Weekend Update anchor after she had been working there for about three years she was encouraged to audition.  Michaels gave it to her in part because he knew he could count on her to write good copy on time.  Later after she left the show she would return to do the Sarah Palin impressions. But the idea was not hers. The public was clamoring that she looked just like Palin and was wondering when she was going to lampoon Palin I guess not realizing that she no longer worked there.  She didn't feel comfortable doing it at first and was ready to turn it down if Michaels ever got around to asking her.  It took a while for him to decided to ask her. But when he did, she said yes especially when she saw the script that Seth Myers had written for her and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton.  Trouble came when the real Sarah Palin wanted to come on the show but they were able to handle that without allowing her getting booed or seeming to endorse her in any way.

This book also details her getting 30 Rock off the ground and some memorable moments with the show.  It doesn't get too much into her personal life but it does have a chapter on her honeymoon with her husband Jeff on a cruise ship to Bermuda and the slight disaster they had with that.  She also writes about going on the annual family Christmas trip to Pennsylvania to visit the in-laws over the years.  This is a smart, funny, and well-written book by a woman I expected no less from.  It was everything I expected and more.  I really recommend this book.

Quotes

I have a suspicion—and hear me out, ‘cause this is a rough one—I have a suspicion that the definition of “crazy” in show business is a woman who keeps talking even after no one wants to fuck her anymore.

-Tina Fey (Bossypants p 271)

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Bossypants-Tina-Fey-ebook/dp/B0047Y0FGY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1523881886&sr=1-1&keywords=bossypants+tina+fey&dpID=51fF6xG3QxL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


   

Saga Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Artist), Fonografiks (Lettering and Design), and Eric Stephenson (Coordinator)

Previously, Alana, a person from Landfall, and Marko, a person from the moon Wreath, whose worlds have been fighting for as long as anyone can remember, travel through the Rocketship Forest with their newborn, Hazel. There they meet a specter named Izabel who agrees to be the child's babysitter and to help them find the rocketship tree hidden in the forest.  They are being chased by a Freelancer, The Stalk, who is killed. But there are others who seek them to kill them and take Hazel including Freelancer The Will and Prince IV.  They find the tree rocketship and blast off into space heading toward the author of their favorite book.

Alana and Marko make a stop at his parent's house and they aren't too happy to see Alana.  His mother banishes Izabel, which pisses off Alana and Marko, so Marko and his mother head out to wherever it is she got sent to to rescue her.  Alana and Marko's father get to know each other and she finds out that he does not have long to live but does not want anyone else to know.

Meanwhile, The Will has been trying to buy the freedom of a sex slave child at a whorehouse he went to because he just couldn't leave her there.  Gwendolyn, Marko's ex-fiance and the Wreath representative who have hired the Freelancers, shows up to find out what his deal is.  She fixes the problem and they blast off in search of Marko and Alana.  The Will is a great character with his cat that can tell if you lie.  You can't help but root for him while hoping that he changes his mind about killing Alana and Marko.  Marko's father is another great character. He's a good man who creates magic on a sewing machine and cares deeply for his granddaughter.  You also get to see the progression of Alana and Marko's relationship through flashbacks from the beginning which is interesting and sweet. This book is a worthy sequel to the first comic.  It ends on a cliffhanger so I am eager to get my hands on the next book to see what awaits this bizarre group of people. 

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Saga-Vol-2-Brian-Vaughan-ebook/dp/B015XE1CV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524226687&sr=8-1&keywords=saga+vol+2

Doctor Strange Vol 5: Secret Empire by Dennis Hopeless (Writer), John Barber (Writer), Niko Henrichon (Artist/Colorist), Kevin Nowlan (Past Sequence Art), Scott Hanna (Past Sequence Art), Dexter Vines (Past Sequence Art), Mark Morales (Past Sequence Art), Terry Pallor (Past Sequence Art), Dan Brown (Past Sequence Art), Juan Frigeri (Presence Sequence Art), Java Tartaglia (Present Sequence Art), and VC's Cory Petit (Letterer)

A cosmic cube transformed Steve Rogers, once known as Captain America before Falcon took over the role into a Hydra sleeper agent and now after months of scheming and manipulation, the country is now under Hydra's control. Doctor Strange and some of Earth's street-level heroes are trapped inside the Darkforce bubble that envelops New York City.  Mordo has taken over the Sanctum Sanctorum.

When Daredevil who is with Jess (Spiderwoman), and Ben Ulrich decides to see what's up with the Sanctorum he gets caught in a prison ball.  Doctor Strange is working to get rid of a large bit of unpleasantness when he runs into the two of them and they mess up his spell.  They get caught up by the creature and then rescued by Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin. 

Kingpin promises a lead on magical artifacts from an old witch.  The problem is that all the artifacts in her vault are dark magic and carry a cost.  For example, the Carnyx War Horn can create monsoons that will wash away the enemy but be prepared to have ulcers and brain tumors.  Or the Necklace of Bodil where you can summon a ghost army of unkillable bears but you will have to spend one night a month as a werebear.  Jess is willing to do the Werebear, but her skepticism makes her a poor candidate.  The artifact wouldn't work on her.  Ulrich's pure soul would be ravaged by these dark pieces and Fisk's dark soul would be made even darker.  

But they don't have much of a choice. Mordor is attacking New York and Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Cloak is having a hard time fighting him off. They need help.  And Doctor Strange has a plan. Hopeless and Barber take this series into a new territory from what was before.  Numbers 21-24 link up with what is going on in the Marvel Universe storyline, but Number 25 is a book on its own and very fascinating to read.  Overall this is a fabulous read and well worth the wait.  I can't wait to see what they have in store next for Doctor Strange and company. 

Link to Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Strange-Vol-Secret-Empire-ebook/dp/B077ZH8CRT/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1523631649&sr=1-1&keywords=doctor+strange+vol.+5&dpID=61ymm%252B7PuRL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Raspberry Danish Murder by Joanne Fluke

It has been two weeks now since Ross disappeared on Hannah after their wedding.  Only her family and close friends know that truth. Everyone else has been told that he is off on assignment for K-COW television station.  Mike is discreetly hunting down leads to try to find out what happened to him.  Then one night Michelle gets a video call from Ross's assistant PK where he sounds drugged and he's driving Ross's car. He mumbles about feeling sick from eating candies and swerves off the side of the road.

There was no hope of saving PK. The candies were filled with a drug that stopped his heart. The only problem is that the candies were found at Ross's desk. So were the candies meant for Ross or PK?  If they were meant for Ross is that why he left to avoid being killed or putting them in danger?  Hannah can't investigate Ross's possible murder because no one will be honest with her so she sends her sister Andrea to ask around while she and her sister Michelle ask around about PK.

It turns out that PK had an enemy at work, Scott who resented that PK took the promotion he thought he should have gotten and then took over Ross's big office when Ross left causing envy.  And no one seemed to know much about PK's fiancee, Pinkie including her real name or her last name.  Just that they went to high school together and began dating there and from the local auto mechanic that PK bought her a Jeep that he had specially painted pink for her as an engagement gift.  Where is Pinkie?

Meanwhile, on the Ross front, Hannah finds out that he has deposited sixty thousand dollars into her personal banking account and left three accounts that were in his name to be signed over to her totaling four hundred thousand dollars. On top of that, there are another one hundred thousand dollars in cash in a safety deposit box along with a storage site key.  Why would Ross feel the need to hide the money? Is it from a bank robbery or is it counterfeit? Mike will search for these answers as Hannah grapples with trying to come to terms with whether or not she really knew the man she married.

On a side note, Moishe the cat isn't leaping into Hannah's arms anymore when she opens the front door and he sleeps all the time now. Is he just getting old or is something else afoot?  Recipes included in this book are Irish Potato cookies, Upside Down Pear Coffee Cake, Almond Custer Pie with Raspberry Glaze, Orange Marmalade Filled Oatmeal Muffins, and Chocolate Caramel Bar Cookies.  It's hard to keep a series fresh after so many books and this makes the twenty-fourth book in the series.  But Fluke still manages to pull off twists you don't always see coming.  By the end of this book, you will learn the fate of Ross.  If you read this series, you won't be disappointed. You'll be wondering how soon can the next one come out.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Danish-Murder-Swensen-Mystery-ebook/dp/B071SK3STR/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523449436&sr=8-1&keywords=raspberry+danish+murder+by+joanne+fluke

 

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman has collected a series of stories culled from reliable sources and put them together in this remarkable book.  You will read about Odin, the all father, the mighty Thor his son, and Odin's blood brother the tricky Loki.  The first story is of the creation of the worlds and the gods and the others who populate the lands.  There is also a story on how Odin became so wise and how he lost his eye.

In one tale, Sif, Thor's wife, wakes up with her golden hair gone from her head.  Thor knows Loki is behind it and the gods demand that he do something about it. So Loki goes to the dwarves to have them create a special cap of skin with hair attached that will meld with the wearer.  But Loki being Loki he decides to cause trouble and tells the sons of Ivaldi that Brokk and Eitri have said that they are the best craftsmen and that the Ivaldi has challenged them to do better than them in a contest making gifts for the gods.

The Ivaldi take up the challenge, but Brokk and Eitri suspect that Loki is up to something and make a wager with him that if they win the challenge they can have his head.  He agrees and then proceeds to try to sabotage their greatest gift as they are making it in the forge by taking the form of a fly and biting them. For a long time it doesn't work, but at the very end, he gets Brokk to stop doing what he was doing for a second and that caused the gift to not come out as perfect as they intended.

When they face the gods the Ivaldi give Odin a spear that will always find its mark, they give Thor the hair for Sif, and they give Frey a piece of cloth that unfolds into a giant ship.  Brokk gives Odin an arm ring that will multiply, Frey a huge boar with bristles of gold to pull his chariot, and for Thor a hammer. The only problem with the hammer is that the handle is short due to Loki's interference and can only be held one-handed.  The gods agreed that Brokk and Eitri gave the best gift and so Loki had to give his head, but Loki being Loki he found a way out of it by saying that they couldn't cut into his neck. So they placed a leather strap across his mouth and sewed it shut which caused Loki no end of grief.

In another story, Thor woke up one morning to find that someone had stolen his hammer, Mjollnir.  Thor sent Loki out to find who had stolen it and Loki discovered that Thrym, lord of the ogres, has stolen it and won't give it back until he gets Freya's hand in marriage.  Heimdall, the watchman of the gods, has an idea, though he doesn't think Thor will like it much. Thor should dress up as Freya and Loki go as her maiden and infiltrate the ogre stronghold that way and wait until the hammer is given over to make his move. When that happens, Thor takes out all of the ogres.

There are so many good stories in this book. There's one that tells of Loki's three children from a frost giant that are named Fenrir, the wolf, Jormungundr, who became the Midgard serpent, and Hel, who became the ruler of the dead who died unworthy deaths.  Odin placed them where he wanted them to be such as the underworld or Midgard to get rid of them because he feared them, but during Ragnarok, they still come back to haunt him.  Ragnarok is the end of everything and a new beginning and is also a story in this book.  This is a fabulous and fascinating book that delves into these ancient stories and really brings them to life. Gaiman, a master storyteller, really shines here.  I highly recommend reading this book.   

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Norse-Mythology-Neil-Gaiman-ebook/dp/B01HQA6EOC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523276897&sr=8-1&keywords=norse+mythology+neil+gaiman

Motor Crush Vol 1 by Brenden Fletcher (Creator), Cameron Stewart (Creator), Babs Tarr (Creator), Heather Danforth (Color and Production Assistant), and Aditya Bidikar (Letterer)

Set in the city of Nova Honda, this comic tells the tale of Domino Swift a motorcycle racer whose adoptive father owns a repair shop and helps her out with her racing.  She is an up and comer in a sport that is dominated by Decimus Wexler.  At night she goes on illegal street races for crush, which is this pink liquid stuff that you put inside your motorcycle to make it run faster and is highly illegal, but everyone uses.  She never loses.

At this particular race, the man who works for her dad is there and is killed for trying to steal the crush prize.  When she gets home she finds that he stole her stash of crush as well. She is desperate to get it back and does something stupid to do so and loses her bike.  She ends up going to her old mechanic who wants nothing to do with her, Lola. Lola has problems of her own as she owes money to the producers who run things.  Lola does have a bike for Dom to ride though, and it's perfect.

Now Dom is being followed by a stranger who knows more about her than she knows about herself, like why she has to use her inhalers and what is in those inhalers, because she was in an accident and needed her inhaler and all she had was the  crush and she used it and it worked, which would have killed any normal person.  Soon Dom is doing something unthinkable to get them all out of trouble.  This is a fast-paced book that keeps you on the edge of your seat asking plenty of questions that you don't get all of the answers to.  I love the color of warm pink that permeates this comic, which is the color of the crush that seems to drive everything in the story.  This is a fabulous start to a new series and I can't wait to read the next book.

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Motor-Crush-Vol-Brenden-Fletcher-ebook/dp/B06X9SZ545/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523017984&sr=8-1&keywords=motor+crush

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

In the remote Chinese village called Spring Well Village, an Akha family goes about farming tea. The book is centered on Li-yan who is referred to as Girl by her family. She is smart and her teacher Teacher Zhang asks that she be allowed to continue her education to what we would refer to as middle school in America at the age of twelve.  She will continue to farm tea and learn to be a midwife from her A-ma or mother who is known throughout the region for her talents.

She falls in love with San-pa but both of their parents are against the marriage because of the animal each was born under and because of the trouble the two got into as children over a stolen pancake and cause the children to go out of balance with the world meaning that they will need to go through a cleansing ritual.  San-pa promises to go to Thailand to earn money enough to marry her and she will take the test to go to university.  But things change when Mr. Huang arrives from Hong Kong looking to make Pu'er tea. He is interested in the tea from Third Brother's tea trees that no one has been harvesting from to sell because they were seen as inferior. He also wants wild tea and some special tea trees that he has heard about.  Li-yan and her A-ma know he means her tea trees that are thousands of years old.  No man is allowed on the land and will die if they do go on it. The place is considered cursed and the tea is considered worthless.  Li-yan makes two tea cakes from the tea trees from her grove and sells them to him hoping to have the money for her and San-pa.

Li-yan finds out that she is pregnant which wouldn't be a problem if San-pa were here and could marry her, but he isn't.  If she is discovered to be pregnant with a child she would be banished from the village forever.  Her A-ma and her hide the pregnancy and when she goes into labor they go to the grove to have the baby. Even though her A-ma isn't supposed to deliver her daughter's baby because it could cause the death of the men in the family she breaks Akha Law.  But instead of killing the child like they are supposed to Li-yan walks into the big town and leaves the baby girl outside of the orphanage with a tea cake from her grove strapped to her, once more breaking Akha Law.

When San-pa comes back to ask for her hand they get married and head to the orphanage to collect their daughter but she has already been adopted by an American couple.  They leave and go to Thailand.  Things don't work out the way she wants them to, but she can't go back to her village so she goes to trade school and gets a job in the city and learns the ways of Pu'er tea.

Her daughter, Haley, grows up wandering about her and what the tea cake means.  Her life isn't easy being a child from two worlds and being pushed hard to do so much and succeed.  She spends her life searching for the mother who gave her away while Li-yan continues to search for the daughter she lost.  This is an amazing book about the strength of women and never giving up.  The characters will surprise you as you fall in love with them or want to kill them, as the case may be.  I was born in the Southern United States so the only tea that has ever interested me has been sweet iced tea, but this book has gotten me interested in Pu'er tea and exploring it.  I highly recommend reading this tremendous book.     

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Tea-Girl-Hummingbird-Lane-Novel-ebook/dp/B01HMXRVL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522850206&sr=8-1&keywords=the+tea+girl+of+hummingbird+lane