Cringe

I came across Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas edited by Sarah Brown while browsing through the library catalog the other day. This is a companion book to the Cringe live performances. You know, people getting on stage to read embarrassing bits from their teenage diaries.

It's the same idea as Mortified... I really couldn't tell you what makes each project unique. But I recently saw a snippet of a Mortified performance on This American Life (tv version), and hope to go to a live show soon... so I was kinda excited for Cringe.

I was maybe too excited... at a few points I found myself struggling to read the handwriting of middle schoolers (too much like my day job) and skimming over the entries. That being said... it is funny. You will definitely cringe.

Like this little bit of a love poem written to impress a girl:
"I wish I could be your maxi-pad / Behind which you hide your prize." WTF?

or the love letter addressed to: "The face that launched my bicycle many times."

and the treasured bits taken from a series of entries over the course of a summer:

"June 28th 1991. This morning I met the other CITs. One of them is named Laura. She has some Jewish last name I can't remember. Also, I think she's got double C cups. They're huge.

July 23rd 1991 ... I didn't really sleep much which is good because otherwise I might have had a wet dream and that would be really embarrassing to clean out of a sleeping bag."

Recommendation: Much less painful than actually reading through your own teenage diary but find it at your local library, not the bookstore.

Numbers Challenge Wrap-Up

Wow. I need to do a better job of keeping track of my books and challenges. Especially of reviewing books right after I read them... and not say... 3 months later. Or so.

For example, I finished the Numbers Challenge quite awhile ago and really that calls for some sort of announcement or celebration, right? My first completed challenge!

My Selection:
1. Six of One by Rita Mae Brown (review here)
2. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (review here)
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (review here)
4. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (review here)
5. One Hundred Years of Solitute by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (review here)

Favorite: Probably Slaughterhouse-Five. I don't know why it took me so long to read it.

Least Favorite: The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I knew it was a bad idea, but sometimes peer pressure gets to the best of us.

Thanks to Callista for hosting a great challenge!

Six of One

Six of One by Rita Mae Brown was actually the first book I read for the Numbers Challenge... way back in January. I've been putting off reviewing it for months... and months. No real reason. Since the details are no longer fresh in my mind, I'll share the bits I liked the most and therefore remember.

1. The novel includes the stories of several generations of women. It bounces back and forth between 1980 and the memories of Louise and Julia, two women who grew up in the early 1900s.

2. The novels portrays sexuality as fluid and natural during a time when it was not considered so. I like thinking about this little pocket of people in the south who are so caring and accepting of women's sexuality and homosexuality, when the same could not be said of the country at large.

Recommendation: It took a few chapters to draw me in but overall was an enjoyable read.