This is the first of Raina’s BSC graphic novel adaptations that I’ve seen in their full technicolor glory. I’m so in love with it, not that I didn’t enjoy the black and white illustrations in the versions I read of the first two graphic novels in the series.
Raina has once again captured the original story so well. Her illustrations are always amazing, with giggle-worthy exaggerated expressions.
I have so many favourites in this graphic novel, but check out Kristy’s face when she realises she’s broken one of her own BSC rules! Priceless!
The differences in the story, which were all only minor, that stood out to me as I was reading were:
Book: Mary Anne’s mother’s name is not mentioned. Graphic novel: Mary Anne’s mother’s name is Alma. I don’t remember ever knowing this before.
Book: Mary Anne wishes Humpty Dumpty and two Alice in Wonderland pictures weren’t on her bedroom wall. Graphic novel: Mary Anne wishes Humpty Dumpty and Mother Goose pictures weren’t on her bedroom wall.
Book: When Mary Anne looks around the cafeteria the day after the BSC’s fight, the fourth chair at her usual table has been removed. Graphic novel: When Mary Anne looks around the cafeteria the day after the BSC’s fight, the fourth chair at her usual table has Kristy’s backpack and hoodie on it.
Book: Dawn temporarily has the family’s VCR in her room. Her mother taped The Parent Trap. Graphic novel: Dawn temporarily has the family’s DVD player in her room. Her mother bought The Parent Trap.
Book: Mary Anne babysits for Jenny Prezzioso both times. Graphic novel: Stacey babysits for Jenny Prezzioso the first time.
Book: Mary Anne gives her note to Mimi to pass along to Claudia later in the story. Graphic novel: Mary Anne gives Claudia her note at the end of the first BSC meeting after the fight.
Book: We attend the first Prezzioso job with Mary Anne but we don’t read about it in the BSC notebook. Graphic novel: Stacey writes up the first Prezzioso job in the BSC notebook. We also attend the job with her.
Book: Claudia blasts music on her tape deck when it’s Mary Anne’s turn to answer the BSC calls. Graphic novel: Claudia blasts music on her CD player when it’s Mary Anne’s turn to answer the BSC calls.
Book: When Mary Anne and Kristy babysit together, the eight Pike kids put on two plays. Graphic novel: When Mary Anne and Kristy babysit together, Mary Anne only reads to the younger Pike kids upstairs before bedtime. There are no plays.
Book: The second time the BSC babysit for Jenny, she’s wearing a pale blue dress with a white collar and cuffs, and white tights, shoes and hair ribbon. Graphic novel: The second time the BSC babysit for Jenny, she’s wearing a white dress, a short sleeve black cardigan, white socks, black and white shoes and a red hair ribbon.
Book: Mary Anne has Blueberries For Sal, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and Caps For Sale in her Kid-Kit. Graphic novel: Mary Anne has Princess Gwynn and Hats for Bats in her Kid-Kit.
Book: Mr Prezzioso gives Mary Anne and Dawn $10 each after they take care of Jenny when she’s sick. Graphic novel: Mr Prezzioso gives Mary Anne and Dawn $50 each after they take care of Jenny when she’s sick.
Book: Mary Anne doesn’t visit her mother’s grave. Graphic novel: Mary Anne visits her mother’s grave after her fight with Dawn. I thought this was a really good addition, especially given how lonely and upset Mary Anne is at this point in the story.
Book: At Jamie (Hi-hi!) Newton’s birthday party, Kristy is the one that suggests the kids sit around the couch and gloats when Mrs Newton agrees with her. Graphic novel: At Jamie (Hi-hi!) Newton’s birthday party, we don’t see which babysitter suggests the kids sit around the couch but Claudia is the one who gloats, so I guess it was her.
Book: At the end, Dawn says, “To me!” I prefer this version; it made me smile when I read it. Graphic novel: At the end, Dawn says, “To us!!”
Random thoughts:
Mary Anne’s room is just as pink as I imagined it would be. Humpty Dumpty is even on the wall.
Mary Anne’s dad is kinda cute, in a dad way, of course. When I’ve I imagined him previously, he’s been exclusively dour until the very end of the story and sort of bland looking.
Mimi looks more adorable that I’d even hoped. I love Mimi! I know she’s not a BSC member but I’d love to read her memoirs.
Also, Claudia’s response to the “my Mary Anne” incident is brilliant!
I love that we get to see Mary Anne give her father the scarf she’s been working on with Mimi’s help for a couple of books. That was my favourite illustration.
About the cover: Love it! Love the colours. Love the expressions. My only nitpicks are that Mary Anne’s skirt is clearly above her knees and I’m certain that her dad, Richie, would never have allowed Mary Anne to leave the house looking like that. Why, that would almost be as scandalous as giving her permission to wear pants to school! Also, is it just me or at a quick glance, does it look as though Claudia doesn’t have pupils, giving her a bit of a zombie vibe?
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
When The Baby-sitters Club gets into a huge fight, Mary Anne is left to her own devices. She has to eat by herself in the school cafeteria, figure out how to make new friends and deal with her overprotective father. But the worst happens when she finds herself in a babysitting emergency and can’t turn to her friends for help. Will Mary Anne solve her problems and save The Baby-sitters Club from falling apart?
Only three books after Kristy had her great idea, it’s time for The BSC and the Great Dummy Spit, A.K.A., Welcome to the Party, Dawn! Kristy, Claudia, Stacey and Mary Anne have a doozy of a fight during a BSC meeting after Kristy breaks one of the most important BSC rules: When you answer a call for a babysitting job you must offer the job to everyone else, not simply take it yourself. Or else!
Having just reread the first three books, I found it quite interesting that it’s Kristy accidentally breaking this rule that’s the precursor for all of the drama that follows. Claudia and Stacey have both been guilty of exactly the same infraction (Mary Anne wouldn’t dare break a rule at this point so we won’t point any fingers at her). The other BSC members have been various shades of peeved because of these BSC blunders but nothing like the argument that follows Kristy’s mistake.
But, hey, let’s look at the bright side. At least we now know what the BSC really think of each other:
Kristy is the “biggest, bossiest know-it-all in the world”
Claudia is a “stuck-up job-hog”
Stacey is a “conceited snob”
Mary Anne is a shy little baby.
Actually, given the amount of conflict in this book, it surprises adult me that this was the book that sucked me in. Sure, it was the first one I read so it’s always going to hold a special place in my heart, but I’m the type of person who avoids conflict as much as possible. On the surface it doesn’t seem like the type of book kid me would have loved but I know I did. I’ve read it so many times!
I think what sealed the deal for me was Mary Anne herself. I saw shy, sensitive me in her and the fact that she stood up to people in this book, despite this, made her kind of heroic in my eyes. She had the courage that I wanted and the backbone I hoped was growing in me. And we both love The Parent Trap (the original Hayley Mills version), except I can’t remember now if I fell in love with it before I met Mary Anne or because of her.
Besides all of the time we spend watching our favourite babysitters pretty much hating each others’ guts, we are also introduced to our California girl. Mary Anne meets Dawn on her second day at Stoneybrook Middle School. The start of their friendship is somewhat dodgy, though, with Mary Anne lying to her off the bat.
While the four current BSC members are shooting daggers across the cafeteria at each other with every glance, Mary Anne (in her infinite wisdom) decides that rather than telling Dawn the truth about their bust up, she’ll say her friends are absent from school that day. And the day after. And the day after …
In this book it’s alleged that we babysit for David Michael Thomas, Karen and Andrew Brewer, Jamie (Hi-hi!) and Lucy Newton, Charlotte Johansenn, Nina and Eleanor Marshall, all eight Pike kids at once (😱) and a new girl, Jenny Prezzioso. However, we don’t get to attend most of these jobs with the girls because apparently they’re all too mad to even talk about them.
So, the random bits and pieces that stood out to me during this reread:
Mary Anne is in battle mode for much of the book, also engaging in some traditionally un-Mary Anne-like behaviour with Dawn and her super strict father. This is the man whose rules include not allowing his twelve year old daughter to wear pants to school because, um, reasons?
Kristy misses a BSC meeting. Did you ever think you’d live to see the day?
Dawn has a VCR at her house, which was a pretty big deal in the 80’s. For those of you who are too young to know what a VCR is, they’re how we watched movies at home in the olden days, before DVD’s, Blu-rays or streaming were invented. If you rented a movie, you absolutely had to rewind the video cassette before returning it to the video store, lest you incur the wrath of the teenager working there.
My Mimi commits a cardinal sin: she calls Mary Anne “my Mary Anne”. Claudia is decidedly unimpressed.
NO FAIR. So there.
Tales from Stoneybrook Central Time: Lucy Newton, who was born during book #3, isn’t two months old yet but at least it proves that Stoneybrook Central Time isn’t slowing down a great deal yet. I wonder how many years these girls remain roughly the same age for.
Further proof that time is in fact still moving forward: The BSC members are invited to Jamie (Hi-hi!) Newton’s fourth birthday party.
Movie in a book: Mary Anne and Dawn watch The Parent Trap. Come to think of it, Mary Anne and Dawn pull a bit of a Parent Trap move on their parents.
Books in a book:
Mary Anne reads A Wrinkle in Time.
Vanessa Pike reads The Phantom Tollbooth.
The younger Pike kids put on a Peter Rabbit play.
Nicky and Vanessa Pike are reading Pippi Longstocking.
Mary Anne has Blueberries For Sal, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and Caps For Sale in her Kid-Kit.
About the cover: Jenny’s hair ribbons are supposed to be white, not blue. She is also supposed to be asleep when Mary Anne takes her temperature. Close enough, though. I love the original covers!
Next BSC read: Our newest member, Dawn, makes her mark. I loved Dawn’s new-old home when I was growing up. I hope it’s as creepy and quirky as I remember.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Mary Anne has never been a leader of the Baby-sitters Club. She’s left that up to Kristy … or Claudia … or Stacey. But now there’s a big fight among the four friends, and Mary Anne doesn’t have them to depend on anymore.
It’s bad enough when she’s left alone at the lunch table at school. But when she has to babysit a sick child without any help from her friends, Mary Anne knows it’s time to take charge.
The Baby-sitters Club is going to fall apart unless somebody does something – fast. Maybe it’s time for Mary Anne to step in and save the day!
Raina did such a fantastic job translating the third BSC book into a graphic novel. But was there ever any doubt? I’d be on board if she made the entire series into graphic novels.
Given that I’ve read both the book and graphic novel today and because the graphic novel remains so true to the source material, there’s not a lot I can say that I didn’t already say in my review of the book.
Instead I’ll mention some of the changes I noticed between the two. I loved that all of the changes were minor, so the story you’ve known for over three decades is the story you’ll find here.
Book: Everyone goes home to get their own box before returning to Claudia’s house to decorate the Kid-Kits. Graphic Novel: Claudia gets empty boxes for everyone from her basement.
Book: Kristy is usually sprawled out on Claudia’s floor during meetings. This changes for the emergency meeting, when she’s all official with her clipboard, visor and pencil over her ear. Graphic Novel: Kristy begins the story sitting in a chair during BSC meetings. She does hang out on Claudia’s bed later in the story.
Book: Stacey gets her money out before deciding not to buy anything at the candy store. Graphic Novel: Stacey doesn’t get her money out at all. She simply thinks about it and tells Charlotte she shouldn’t have any sweets.
Book: The babysitters put on a record for Jamie’s Big Brother Party. Graphic Novel: The babysitters put on a CD for Jamie’s Big Brother Party.
The Baby-sitters Agency set up a recruitment table inside the school. The babysitters head to the school bathroom to strategise. Book: The babysitters talk in the bathroom, then decide to hold a meeting at Kristy’s house after school. Graphic Novel: The entire conversation takes place in the school bathroom.
Book: Stacey and Dr Johansenn have their talk about the new doctor Stacey’s parents want to take her to in the den. Graphic Novel: Stacey and Dr Johansenn have their talk about the new doctor Stacey’s parents want to take her to in the kitchen.
Book: Pete asks Stacey to the Snowflake Dance when they’re in the cafeteria. Graphic Novel: Pete asks Stacey to the Snowflake Dance when they’re in the hallway in front of the lockers..
Book: Mary Anne answers the phone call from Mr Kelly and then hands the phone to Kristy once she finds out why he’s calling. Graphic Novel: Kristy answers the call.
Book: Stacey babysits for Jamie (Hi-hi!) Newton and he tells her about his other babysitters. Graphic Novel: Mary Anne babysits for Jamie (Hi-hi!) Newton and he tells her about his other babysitters.
Book: Stacey talks to Dr Johansenn a second time in the Johansenn’s home. Graphic Novel: Stacey talks to Dr Johansenn a second time while Dr Johansenn is driving her home.
Book: The babysitters discuss their concerns about Jamie with their parents before talking to Mrs Newton. Graphic Novel: The babysitters wait out in the snow until Cathy has left and then go talk to Mrs Newton.
The babysitters quiz members of The Baby-sitters Agency about the kids they babysit. Book: They ask what Charlotte’s favourite TV show is. Graphic Novel: They ask what Charlotte’s favourite game is.
Book: When Stacey and her parents arrive at Laine’s family’s apartment, Laine is in her bedroom. Graphic Novel: When Stacey and her parents arrive at Laine’s family’s apartment, Laine is in the same room as her parents.
Book: The popcorn and diet soda Stacey buys at the movies costs $1.75. Graphic Novel: The popcorn and diet soda Stacey buys at the movies costs $9.25.
Book: Makeovers Inc. sounds as though it’s going to be a moneymaker. Graphic Novel: Makeovers Inc. sounds as though it’s going to be a flop.
The illustrations are the usual Raina awesomeness, with characters whose expressions tell the story just as well as the words. One of my favourite scenes was when Kristy calls The Baby-sitters Agency to find out how they operate and says she has a date with Winston Churchill.
I really enjoyed the flashback scenes in the graphic novel that give you an idea of what Stacey’s life in New York was like. The text that’s added to those panels felt like it belonged in the story. I loved Stacey and Laine’s ideas for the apartment they planned to get together when they were in the fifth grade.
I read the black and white version of this graphic novel. Sorry about the dodgy photos I took of it. To give you an idea of what the colour version looks like, here are the first three pages:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Poor Stacey. She just moved to a new town, is still coming to terms with her diabetes, and is facing baby-sitting problems left and right. Fortunately, Stacey has three new friends – Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne. Together they’re the BSC, and they will deal with whatever’s thrown their way … even if it’s a rival baby-sitting club!
Welcome to the book that made me think being diagnosed with diabetes was one of the scariest things that could happen to me as a kid. It’s talked about as if it’s a shameful secret for both Stacey and her parents, giving yourself insulin injections is labelled “gross” and there are multiple references to how Stacey could die if she doesn’t manage her diabetes. No wonder I was scared.
We’ve already read Kristy and Claudia’s first BSC books. Now it’s Stacey’s turn. Stacey was the babysitter who made me want to be sophisticated long before I’d wrapped my head around what sophistication meant. She was also the one who added an extended visit to Central Park and clothes shopping in New York to my bucket list before I knew what one was.
In the beginning of book #3 we learn it’s been two months since Kristy had her great idea. I guess Stoneybrook Central Time must slow down rapidly after this book if the babysitters stay roughly the same age during the next 128 regular series books and all of the Super Specials, Mysteries, Super Mysteries, Friends Forever and Portrait Collection. Wow, that’s a lot of books to have to spend being frozen in time at the most awkward age ever.
In what is the BSC’s biggest existential crisis since Mary Anne almost had to leave the club because of the Phantom Caller in book #2, they have to deal with copycats. Their rivals are The Baby-sitters Agency (because apparently no one in Stoneybrook can think of an original or catchy name). The BSA have older babysitters who are allowed to babysit later than the BSC club members can. They don’t advertise business hours so it’s okay to call them during the hours of the week when it’s not Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 5:30pm to 6pm. They even have balloons!
Okay, maybe that last one could have a downside.
“I hereby change this meeting of the Baby-sitters Club to an emergency meeting,” she announced.
Sidebar: Why is the first ‘s’ in sitters always capitalised on the BSC logo but never in the book’s text?
Pretty soon after we all decide, “We’re doomed”, it’s time to get into the trash talk.
“They have smart mouths, they sass the teachers, they hate school, they hang around at the mall. You know, that kind of kid.”
Oh, dear, my Claudia. Pull up a chair and let me explain to you how trash talk is actually supposed to go.
It’s even possible the BSA might have spies listening in on the BSC’s conversations. Not that we’re getting dramatic about this or anything.
Besides the expected two emergency meetings, there’s also a special planning session. There’s even a triple-emergency club meeting; this is when you know things are super duper serious. What’s the bet Kristy grew up to become one of those annoying people who loves team meetings and is solely responsible for them dragging on long after they’re supposed to end …
But it’s not all bad news. It’s the Crisis of the Competing Clubs that leads Kristy to come up with her Kid-Kit idea, after all.
We babysit for Charlotte Johansenn, who’s having trouble at school but at least she has the honour of being the first kid to explore a Kid-Kit. We also find Jamie (Hi-hi!) Newton in our kitchen after school because his mother is in hospital giving birth to his brand new baby sister, Lucy. Aww! The girls also book a job babysitting for Nina and Eleanor Marshall but didn’t think to invite me along.
I never really thought about how wealthy Stacey’s family must have been before now. Her bedroom in their New York apartment overlooked Central Park, their apartment building had its own doorman and she attended a private school. That all sounds pretty fancy to me.
I’d completely forgotten that Mary Anne wears reading glasses.
I realised that Kristy’s mother works in Stamford. I had always read that as Stanford. Huh.
We’ve heard of the eight Pike kids already but this is the first time we meet Mallory, future BSC Junior Officer. Sort of. She’s in the room but doesn’t get a speaking role.
Stacey and Charlotte visit Polly’s Fine Candy so prepare to hear all about the chocolate and other sugar filled delicacies. It felt really mean of Stacey to pull out money in front of Charlotte, who’s practically drooling at this point, only to change her mind and tell poor Charlotte she can’t have anything. Charlotte is a lot more forgiving than I would have been. I bet Claudia would have bought one of everything for her. This scene reminded me that it was Stacey gazing longingly at the white chocolate that prompted me to ask my parents to buy me some.
Word of the book: traitor. Various people are called traitors at least three times.
This book’s school dance: Snowflake Dance.
It’s almost time for Mary Anne to save the day! Yay! The book that initiated me into the BSC!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
The truth about Stacey is that she has diabetes. Nobody knows … except her friends in the Baby-sitters Club.
But even they don’t know the real truth about Stacey. Stacey’s problem is her parents. They won’t admit she has the disease, and they drag her to practically every doctor in America!
Seeing so many doctors made Stacey lose one friend, and she won’t let it happen again. Especially now – when the Baby-sitters Club needs her more than ever.
Claudia, I blame you for my obsession with getting a phone in my bedroom as a kid, along with my own private phone number. You’re also responsible for me making sure there’s always some junk food hidden in my bedroom, in case of emergency.
Claudia’s fashion choices also started my love of all things quirky, something that’s followed me into my adult life. I still buy weird and wonderful earrings because of Claudia, coming up with combinations that make other people look at me like I’m weird but not always wonderful. My current favourite pairing is a shark in one ear and a human skeleton in the other (the shark won).
This is the first BSC mystery and, given Claudia’s love of all things Nancy Drew, it’s only fitting that she’s the one to tell it. A jewel thief, known as the Phantom Caller, has been getting closer and closer to Stoneybrook. This book seems so tame as an adult but I remember it scared me as a kid.
It’s time for some emergency BSC meetings. Our favourite babysitters, who are always prepared, come up with codes to use if they find themselves at a babysitting job when the house is being robbed. Now, if only they can remember what words they’re supposed to say.
“Have you found my b- I mean, did you see my – Have you found my … my …”
In between all of the phone calls where the caller doesn’t speak (what is it with creepy phone calls and babysitters?), we’re also watching boys make food sculptures from their cafeteria food and preparing for the first school dance of the year, the Halloween Hop. Claudia is pining over Trevor Sandbourne, resident poet and cute shy guy, but is sitting back hoping and waiting because a girl can’t possibly ask a boy to a dance. The world as we know it would end!
We also tag along for babysitting jobs with Jamie (Hi-hi!) Newton (along with his cousins Rob, Brenda and Rosie Feldman), Nina and Eleanor Marshall, Karen and Andrew Brewer, Charlotte Johanssen, David Michael Thomas, and Claire and Margo Pike (although we only hear that this job has been scheduled; we don’t actually get to hang out with the Pike girls).
Watson has bought Karen a book called The Witch Next Door. This kid does not need this sort of encouragement. She already believes Morbidda Destiny Mrs Porter next door is a witch. In this book the curse Karen is obsessed with is the multiplication of her freckles.
Kristy reminds up she’s a professional babysitter:
“One false move and I’ll punch your lights out.”
Mary Anne sets prowler traps, Home Alone style. She also reads The Secret Garden. BSC books informed a lot of my own choices growing up. I read The Secret Garden for the first time because Mary Anne did and it ended up becoming one of my favourite books.
Stacey uses a TV remote control when she’s babysitting Charlotte. When this book was published, remote controls were a revolutionary idea for me. If we wanted to change the channel we had to get up off the lounge, walk across the room and turn the dial on the TV. I’d also never heard of cable TV before I read this book. Then, when Stacey turned on Channel 47, my mind was blown. We had 5 TV stations in Australia at the time.
Claudia has an actual conversation with Janine, who doesn’t annoy me anymore. She also spends time with her grandmother, Mimi, one of my favourite fictional characters of all time. I adored Mimi. Even now, she melts my heart every time she says, “my Claudia” and her wisdom stands the test of time.
“You know, my Claudia, that in order for things to change, you must change them. You will grow to be an old woman like me, if you wait for others to change things that do not please you.”
My biggest revelation, rereading this book after so many years, was discovering that “no problem” was considered slang in 1986. Go figure!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey try to be prepared for anything when they babysit. So when they hear about the Phantom Caller, a jewel thief who’s been breaking into nearby homes, they come up with a plan to keep their kids safe.
But when Claudia and the other girls start receiving creepy phone calls while they’re out on jobs, they start to get really spooked. Will the mystery caller scare off the BSC?
If you celebrate Christmas, I hope it was as good as it could be, despite whatever COVID restrictions you’re currently living with. If you don’t celebrate it, happy final weekend of 2020. Christmas with my family is always pretty subdued but this year it was even more low key.
I carried a double dose of cervical headache and occipital neuralgia with me from Christmas Eve, so spent much of the day laying very still in a quiet room. Someone wished me a restful Christmas when I spoke to them on Christmas Eve so I’m holding them partially responsible. 😜
I did manage a very short walk on the beach with my mother late in the afternoon, followed by a Macca’s chocolate sundae (because chocolate makes everything better), so it ended much better than it started.
I almost didn’t get to do a book haul post this week because there was no hauling. Santa didn’t bring me any books, although I did manage to find one on sale late last night. So, it’s slim book acquisition pickings this week.
We had a great light show here last night. A storm came through around dinner time but the lightning lingered in the distance for hours. I was up watching it at 3am and it was gorgeous. The clouds that preceded the storm were amazing!
Song of the Week: For some reason I haven’t been able to get MILCK’s Quiet out of my head all week.
Word of the Week: boondoggle. “An unnecessary, wasteful, or fraudulent project.” (from lexico.com)
BookishHighlightof the Week: A Promised Land, a read outside of my comfort zone.
The latest novel in the bestselling World’s Scariest Places series takes you to the historic Hotel Chelsea in New York City. Many people consider it a cauldron of creativity due to the numerous writers, musicians, artists, and actors who have called it home over the years. But it is perhaps best known for being one of the most haunted places in in the country …
When a magazine reporter is tasked with writing a story about the Hotel Chelsea’s never-ending renovations, he befriends some of the hotel’s eccentric characters. As the days go by, and he experiences increasingly abnormal events in his life, he begins to wonder if there’s more to the Hotel Chelsea, and its residents, than meets the eye.
I kept asked myself while I was reading whether I was enjoying this book or not and I still don’t have a clear answer. It’s an easy book to summarise: a 36 year old woman is looking for a new job, having experienced burnout in her previous one. Each of the book’s five parts describe one of the jobs she tries out in her quest to find a job that’s not really a job.
I wanted a job that was practically without substance, a job that sat on the borderline between being a job and not.
With a blurb that promised humour and made comparisons between this book and Convenience Store Woman, I had my hopes up. The funny bits, if they were there, must have gone straight over my head; no giggles, chuckles, or guffaws accompanied my reading.
I absolutely loved Convenience Store Woman and I can see why you might mention the two books in the same breath. Sort of. Both women are 36 and the focus of both stories is on their jobs but, while I loved the Smile Mart’s Keiko, I never really got a sense of this book’s cushy job seeker’s personality.
Whoever you were, there was a chance that you would end up wanting to run away from a job you had once believed in, that you would stray from the path you were on.
One of the parts seemed to be heading into magical realism territory but the others didn’t so I wasn’t quite sure whether I was seeing something in that part that wasn’t really there. This was a quick read for me but ultimately I don’t think it’s going to be a memorable one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Convenience Store Woman meets My Year of Rest and Relaxation in this strange, compelling, darkly funny tale of one woman’s search for meaning in the modern workplace.
A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: it is close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing – and ideally, very little thinking.
She is sent to a nondescript office building where she is tasked with watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods. But observing someone for hours on end can be so inconvenient and tiresome. How will she stay awake? When can she take delivery of her favourite brand of tea? And, perhaps more importantly – how did she find herself in this situation in the first place?
As she moves from job to job, writing bus adverts for shops that mysteriously disappear, and composing advice for rice cracker wrappers that generate thousands of devoted followers, it becomes increasingly apparent that she’s not searching for the easiest job at all, but something altogether more meaningful …
“Politics doesn’t have to be what people think it is. It can be something more.”
Long before I wanted Jacinda Ardern to be my prime minister, I wanted Barack Obama to be my president. Other than a few standout moments, like Julia Gillard’s efforts in establishing the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and our current prime minister’s poorly timed vacation while much of the country was burning in 2019, I couldn’t tell you a great deal about politics in Australia.
Billy Connolly taught me everything I knew about politics as a kid, with ‘The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever becoming one’ and ‘Don’t vote, it just encourages them’ recited on a regular basis in my home when I was growing up.
In A Promised Land, Obama mentions something known as the “What’s the point of voting if nothing ever changes?” syndrome, which pretty much sums up my political worldview as an adult.
[I’d be hard pressed to tell you anything that impacts me personally that’s a priority for politicians in Australia. My single attempt at getting my local member of parliament to mobilise any of their resources to help members of their constituent and the rest of the state in positions similar to mine (those who were being screwed over by changes to the Worker’s Compensation system, which had already resulted in several deaths by suicide by the time I met with them) resulted in an incredulous, ‘What do you want me to do about it?!’ and towards the end of the meeting, a more pointed, ‘You’re f*cked’ (actually, they said that twice during the meeting), before the obligatory, ‘Vote for my party in the next election if you want to see changes’. So, yeah. Politics and I aren’t exactly friends.]
To say that this book is outside of my comfort zone is an understatement. I never thought I’d voluntarily read anything classified as a political memoir. But it’s Obama and I was interested in what he had to say, even if I had to sift through politics that I previously haven’t either cared about or understood to hear it.
This, I was coming to realize, was the nature of the presidency: Sometimes your most important work involved the stuff nobody noticed.
I was surprised by how much I loved this book. I learned so much about the ins and outs of political decisions and the fact that I found the details interesting says a lot about the quality of the writing. But the human stories were what really sucked me in.
This is a book where a football is not a football, where Dr. No scrutinises all things ethical to avoid scandal (“If it sounds fun, you can’t go.”) and the president is the one who brings out the cake for people’s birthdays. Also, and I may be the only one who thinks this is kinda cool, although I’d hate it if anyone was paying that much attention to me, “Renegade to Secondary Hold” was Secret Service code for Obama going to the bathroom.
Make no mistake: this is a heavy book, providing in depth details of decisions relating to the financial crisis, war, healthcare, foreign policy, immigration, human rights and a whole bunch of other unfolding crises that wind up on a president’s to do list.
No one had nuclear war or terrorism on their minds. No one except me. Scanning people in the pews – friends, family members, colleagues, some of whom caught my eye and smiled or waved with excitement – I realized this was now part of my job: maintaining an outward sense of normalcy, upholding for everyone the fiction that we live in a safe and orderly world, even as I stared down the dark hole of chance and prepared as best I could for the possibility that at any given moment on any given day chaos might break through.
I found myself getting bogged down in the details of the financial crisis and for a few days I’d catch myself daydreaming about some of the books I could be reading instead. Everything after that, though, I couldn’t get enough of. Having read little else for almost two weeks, part of me feels like I’ve always been reading this book and another part of me is sad that it wasn’t even longer.
This is also literally a very heavy book and an awkward one to hold; I lay in bed the first night, when I hadn’t even finished the first hundred pages, trying to figure out why my hands hurt so much. It turns out that simply holding onto this book is its own workout.
Handy hint: If you rest the book on your body as you’re reading and use your hands to gently balance it so it doesn’t fall on your face and crush you, your hands will thank you for it.
The pages are also crammed with words so it felt like I was reading a lot more than 700 pages. I was curious to find out just how many words fit on an average full page of text. Because I’m me, I finally decided to count the words on one page – 430. I don’t know what a normal page count is but that sounded like a lot to me.
There’s a lot of serious in this book but that’s not to say there aren’t some smiles and misty eye moments along the way. I chuckled when the secure mobile communications system broke down at the wrong moment, necessitating a very important and very serious phone call being made instead on “a device that had probably also been used to order pizza.”
I lost count of the times I could have easily wandered into ugly cry territory: the outcome of the DREAM Act, when Obama visited soldiers as they recovered from injuries sustained serving their country, personal family moments.
The fuss of being president, the pomp, the press, the physical constraints – all that I could have done without. The actual work, though?
The work, I loved. Even when it didn’t love me back.
There are probably over 700 reasons why I should never be president of anything, let alone the U.S. Here are my current top 5:
The meetings. No one should have to attend so many meetings. I dreaded having to attend one team meeting each month at my last job. A coworker, who shared my disdain for meetings, and I frequently got in trouble for pulling faces at each other when everyone else had their serious faces on.
Filibuster. Just reading that word makes me want to spit the dummy. That the opposition think it’s a great idea to do whatever they can to prevent the other side from winning anything, because it might make them look like they’re competent, rather than prioritising what’s best for the people they claim to be serving? That makes my blood boil.
“The Death, Destruction, and Horrible Things Book”, A.K.A., the “President’s Daily Brief”. If I had to read about all of the possible ways the world might implode/explode every morning over breakfast, I’d not only forego the most important meal of the day, it’s highly likely I wouldn’t remain functional for very long.
I wouldn’t be diplomatic enough. If another world leader was doing something stupid I would be calling them on it, probably in public, and would more than likely wind up causing more problems than I was attempting to solve.
My priorities wouldn’t be overly presidential. My first order of business would be to get whoever had access to them to bring me the unredacted files relating to all things Area 51 and anything else Mulder might have a passing interest in. That’s what I’d be reading over breakfast.
I realized that for all the power inherent in the seat I now occupied, there would always be a chasm between what I knew should be done to achieve a better world and what in a day, week, or year I found myself actually able to accomplish.
When I was only about 200 pages in, I mentioned to someone that this book was really giving me a feel for the type of person Obama is. They asked me what type of person that is. My answer was something like, ‘He’s got values and acts in a way that is in accordance with them. He’s intelligent and likes to have a laugh. He’s a loyal and trustworthy friend and he absolutely adores his family. He’s the kind of person you’d want to know and someone I could see me being friends with.’
500 pages later and I can say with confidence that I still feel that way. My only cause for concern? The man doesn’t like sweets. That’s not something I usually look for in a friend but I suppose no one’s perfect. More sweets for me, I guess.
I’m wondering how it will be possible to fit everything else in only one more book as this one leaves readers in May 2011, but I’m really looking forward to reading the second volume. It turns out reading outside of your comfort zone can be a really good thing.
Whatever you do won’t be enough, I heard their voices say.
Try anyway.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making – from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency – a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.
Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorises Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.
A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective – the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organiser tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change”, and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.
This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.
It probably looks like I’ve barely opened a book this week, having only finished a picture book and gift book. I’ve been slowly working my way through Barack Obama’s A Promised Land and it’s a serious commitment. Between the 700+ pages and the detailed descriptions of all things political, it’s taking me a very long time to get through it. Hopefully I’ll have it finished by Christmas, all going well.
I finally managed to see Vienna Teng perform in concert this week. It was my second online concert and it was magic! I thought I’d never have the opportunity to see her play live and although I missed the atmosphere of sitting in a room with hundreds of other fans, it was so much better than I’d dared to hope it would be.
I’ve been to some concerts where it’s obvious how much finessing has been done to a singer’s voice to make it sound like it does on their CD. This wasn’t the case with Vienna: the stunning voice you hear on the CD is just as beautiful in concert.
I may be the only person in the world that does this but when I’m really looking forward to a concert a really weird thing happens. I think it’s the music touching me in a similar way watching the ocean or seeing a baby animal for the first time does, but while I feel the emotion of all of them, music alone makes me cry.
I’m barely even aware I’m doing it because it’s not an ugly, sobbing cry; it’s more a growing awareness that I have tears streaming down my face. While I’m usually all cried out by the end of the third song in most concerts, I cried for the entire first half of this one, as well as the final three or four songs. Pretty much whenever she played a song that I desperately wanted to see her play live. Yes, I’m a weirdo. I admit it.
I may have been somewhat dehydrated by the end but I had the most marvellous time. While there’s no way all of my favourite Vienna songs could have made it into the lineup (there are simply too many), almost every song she played was one of my favourites.
Meredith Peruzzi, the ASL interpreter you can see in the bottom right corner of my screenshots, did a brilliant job. She also seemed to be having a great time, looking like she was grooving along to the music.
The standout for me was Vienna’s new song. I’ve been hankering for some new Vienna music for years and it was incredible. I can’t do it justice by trying to explain it but I’ll give it a go anyway: she sang a song in two parts then layered the two into a single song. So it was like hearing three versions of the same song and the two parts being sung at once (technology helped here) shouldn’t have worked but it did. I really hope that when her next CD is released it includes all three versions of this song. It’s called We’ve Got You.
Vienna also did a cover of MILCK’s Somebody’s Beloved, which was one of the many songs I cried through.
Song of the Week: Level Up by Vienna Teng. I’d been listening to this song a lot in the week before the concert.
Inspired by a terrifying true story from the author’s hometown, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota community where nothing is as quiet – or as safe – as it seems.
Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980’s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.
All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale.
One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed – violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumours. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.
An evil force pulses deep within Malpas Abbey, overflowing with maniacal glee …
Overlooking a dark hill, the gloomy Malpas Abbey has been avoided by locals for centuries. Its infamous history is marred with blood and terror. Only the foolish would dare enter such a place, where devilish hauntings have left a string of dead bodies in its wake.
Just as the building is about to be permanently closed, things take an unexpected turn. An American television crew shows up, hoping to investigate the source of the structure’s paranormal activity. Led by producer Matt McKay and paranormal expert Ted Gould, the hapless bunch enter the confines of the hellish residence only to discover that they are in way over their heads.
As the group tries to make sense of the strange occurrences, they soon realise that the cellar might be the key to unlocking the mystery. Inside lies a stone altar that emanates with the evil strength of the Devil himself, feeding upon the crew members’ worst nightmares.
With the ominous cloud hanging over them, they realise that there’s much more at stake than a disruption in filming. The only hope for survival rests on Ted, Matt and his crew’s ability to find their way out of the darkness, before the house devours them, capturing all the gory details on camera …
NetGalley
A speedy squirrel and a sleepy sloth try to get the job done in this funny, heartwarming tale of two lovable, but unlikely, friends.
Though Sloth and Squirrel are good friends, they have different ways of doing things – and different speeds of doing them. So, when Squirrel gets them jobs as pickle packers to earn money for a new bike, things don’t go according to plan. It seems that the contrasting skill sets of a fast-as-lightening squirrel and a slow-as-molasses sloth can make for a mess of an outcome, and before long, the friends are shown the pickle factory’s door, along with the 677 1/2 jars of pickles they packed incorrectly! Now the pair are bicycle-less, with only pickles to show for themselves. Or so they think – until the resourceful pair come up with an ingenious plan!
This delightful story from Cathy Ballou Mealey is a celebration of friendships of all kinds and a testament to ingenuity and hard work. Packed with funny details that aren’t in the text, Kelly Collier’s engaging illustrations are full of personality and silly, emotionally expressive humour. Together they create a hilarious picture book that’s perfect for a fun and lively read-aloud. At the same time, the positive themes in the book highlight a growth mindset and character education lessons on teamwork, perseverance and initiative.
It’s a well established fact that I’m an introvert. Besides my lived experience, I have also found multiple books that could have been written about me.
I found myself on almost every page of Debbie Tung’s Quiet Girl in a Noisy World. If my introversion was ever in doubt (it wasn’t), the perfect score I achieved on Jenn Granneman’s signs I might be an introvert in her book, The Secret Lives of Introverts, was a big ‘I told you so’ to any naysayers out there.
If you’re a kindred introvert, you’ll probably get some validation and a reminder that you’re fine just the way you are from this book. If you’ve already read books that talk about introversion on any detail, it’s unlikely you’ll find any new information in this book.
This gift book has cute illustrations. However, I found the colours jarring. I read this book on an iPad; maybe the colours would look better on a different screen. It’s also possible, because I’m mindful that I read an advanced copy, the colour scheme could change prior to publication.
Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
A Turtle’s Guide to Introversion is a delightful illustrated gift book that celebrates the wonderful qualities of introverts through the everyday adventures of a turtle.
Being an introvert comes with numerous advantages and the occasional woe, and no animal knows that better than the humble turtle hiding in its shell. This book celebrates introverts and their many wonderful, often-underrated qualities.
Perfect for introverts and extroverts who are secretly introverts. And for those who likes turtles.
Schizanthus Nerd 