Book Review: The Peanuts Papers, edited by Andrew Blauner

The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the Gang, and the Meaning of Life
edited by Andrew Blauner (741.59 Pea)

If you love “Peanuts”, Charles Schulz’s life’s work about a boy, his dog, and their world of little folks with grown-up sensibilities, you may like this collection of essays by other cartoonists, artists, and esteemed authors such as Umberto Eco and Ann Patchett – 33 in fact. What is clear is that the influence of these fictional characters made of few lines and copious observations on life is far-reaching and, in many cases, of lasting comfort and inspiration. From analyses of Lucy’s Psychiatric Booth to reverence for the economuy with which Schulz could convey complex emotions, to a declaration that Peanuts was as culturally significant in its way as the Beatles were in theirs. If you love Peanuts, you will want to take a look at this. And even if you don’t love Peanuts, it may get you to appreciate what it meant and still means to millions of other people.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition, by Lee Mendelson, Snoopy’s Guide to the Writing Life, by Charles M. Schulz, The Gospel According to Peanuts.]

[publisher’s official The Peanuts Papers web page ] | [ Andrew Blauner biography on the Blauner Books site ]

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Review: Gmorning, Gnight! by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Gmorning, Gnight: Little Pep talks for You and Me
by Lin-Manuel Miranda [811 Mir] 

I’m a huge fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda! I’ve loved his music for the Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights, and am impressed enough by his creativity and general positivity, that I follow him on Twitter, where he regularly contributes short (under 240 characters) poetic “inspirational” tidbits at the start and end of most days of the week.

This book is a compilation of some of the most memorable of his inspirational Tweets — it is classified in the poetry section here at the libraries, but could just as easily be placed in the Self-Help Psychology section as well.

Miranda is a master with words, both in the classic sense of writing structure, but also in the category of applying a modern, hip-hop sensibility to how to say things. His Tweets are no exception — they range from very traditional poetic statements to highly experimental wordplay. Often, the two tweets from the start and end of the same day are mere variations on each other, or are at least thematically linked.

Taken individually, Miranda’s inspirational statements are just the kind of uplifting “you can do it” encouragements a lot of people might need on any given day. And I did (and do) enjoy them in that context. Reading an entire book of such missives, however, was a bit much for me, and they all started to sound alike. This collection would probably be better enjoyed if the reading of it could be spread out over time — put it on a shelf and pull it down to read a few affirmations at a time.

So…in the end, I’m only giving the book a “6” rating, but if you enjoy Miranda’s style, I encourage you to subscribe to his Twitter feed.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten: The Tweets of Steve Martin, by Steve Martin.]

[ publisher’s official Gmorning Gnight page ] | [ official Lin-Manuel Miranda web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed

Brave Enough
by Cheryl Strayed [808.882 Str] 

Strayed’s autobiographical book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail was one of my top five favorite reads the year it came out (2012). In Brave Enough, Strayed has some introductory remarks about how she’s collected inspirational quotes from other people’s writings over the years, and how important some of those have because to her — helping her to get past rough patches in her life. For this collection, she has pulled quotes and passages from her own past writings, after friends, colleagues and readers told her that she and her writings were inspirational to them.

The quotes/passages she shares in this small collection range from one-sentence pithy statements, to multi-paragraph explorations of various concepts. Strayed’s writings can be, shall we say, rather salty….so if you’ve got issues with moderately doses of what most people would consider profanity, this collection probably isn’t for you. But if you don’t mind four-letter-words scattered liberally through her self-quotes, Strayed has a lot of very thoughtful things to say. By the time I was done reading this, I had copied several of her statements out that had an impact on me, including “To love and be loved. That is the meaning of life.”, “Put yourself in the way of beauty”, “Trust your gut. Forgive yourself. Be grafteful”, and “Don’t own other people’s crap!”.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Strayed’s other books, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail, and Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Dear Sugar.]

[ official Brave Enough page on the official Cheryl Strayed web site ]

Read Tracy T.’s reviews of Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild, from May 2016
Read Scott C.’s review of the movie adaptation of Wild starring Reese Witherspoon, from June 2016

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Star Stuff by Stephanie Roth Sisson

Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos
by Stephanie Roth Sisson [j Biography Sagan]

This picture book is an absolutely charming biography of astronomer Carl Sagan, the man who brought the original Cosmos science mini-series to television back in 1980. Told in simple phrases and illustrations that are both simplistic and yet hauntingly accurate representations of the young Sagan, this book perfectly captures what it must have been like for an inquisitive dreamer like Sagan to be inspired by the study of the unknown. Sagan did so much to popularize the studies in various fields of science for two generations of young people -- it's marvelous to see his own journey of study and exploration captured in this unique and engaging youth biography. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and more of his reviews ]

[ official Stephanie Roth Sisson web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Steal Like an Artist

Steal Like an Artist
by Austin Kleon [153.35 Kle]

Great quick read, with some good motivating ideas on various forms of art, writing, and other creative expression. -- recommended by Jeremiah J. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[Also available in downloadable E-book format.]

[ official Austin Kleon web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.