Money, a Memoir: Women, Emotions, and Cash by Liz Perle

There was so much I liked about this book. This one popped up unexpectedly on my amazon recommendations just about the same time that I was realizing I have a lot of issues around money, and I couldn't wait to read it. There are three levels on which the author tackles her subject throughout the book. In descending order or effectiveness, they are facts & figures, personal stories, and sociobiological theorizing. The facts & figures were sprinkled throughout the book, but each one shed a little more light on the economic realities of women. Each one gave me a bit more context for my own anxieties, and for my growing sense that it was important to address my money issues sooner rather than later. For example: the single biggest predictor that a woman will end up in financial collapse is the birth of a child. More than half of all retired women live in poverty. More than 58% of female baby boomers have saved less than $10k in a pension or 401(k). 50% of women will be widowed by age 60. The average female born between 1946 and 1964 will likely be in the workforce until she is 74 years old due to inadequate financial savings and pension coverage, and will not have the resourcess to maintain the same standard of living she had prior to age 65. And so on. This is important stuff. The second level on which she writes is about her own personal history, and the histories of women all over the United States that she interviewed for the book. It was during these passages that I most often felt I was on the verge of something profound, if only I would stop reading and examine my own experiences on the topic at hand. I never did - issues, remember? - but know that I probably would have gotten a lot out of it. Self-examination is hard. As it stands, I feel like there is something dark and scary there, but can't put my finger on what it is. The final level on which the author tries to build her arguments is sociobiological, and on this front she really misses the mark. This is where she most often shows her age (mid-50s). Whenever she went off on a "men and women are different, isn't that wild?" tangent, she attributed this fact to biology and genetics without really discussing socialization. This was really off-putting. Perhaps because of the variety of experiences illustrated in the personal histories, or perhaps because of the non-traditional gender roles in my relationship, I wanted to throw the book across the room every time she got off on a "women create / men destroy" or "men hunt / women gather" tangent. Thankfully, these were given the smallest amount of attention, and the strength of everything else still leaves me feeling good about the book on balance.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

I'd been slightly drawn to this book every time I saw it on the store shelves in the past couple of years, but it was the strong recommendation of a colleague that finally made me pick it up. I'm so glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this unique book. The distinguishing characteristic of autism as 100% self-focus was brilliantly brought to life here. I know it's terribly naive of me, but I feel like I came to understand autism in a way for the first time. Or at least, I hadn't realized I didn't understand it until now. I really loved the narrator, and the glimpses he gave us into the inner lives of those around him, despite not understanding it himself. The author manages to evoke the right emotions, even while the narrator remains aloof. There's no heartwarming adorableness of the special-needs kid, nor does the novel ever descend into movie-of-the-week sentimentality. It feels honest and true every moment. This is a great achievement in storytelling, and one of my favorite reads in a while. I look forward to the author's next book.

A Ticket to the Boneyard by Lawrence Block

As much as I like Matthew Scudder, it's time to take a break from him for a while. The books are starting to grey out. Each one is just like the last, which in turn was just like the one before. Personally, I find the fictional trope of a criminal obsessed with the cop/witness who put him behind bars to be tiresome in the extreme. Even moreso when the criminal is a flawed genius with seemingly supernatural stalking / breaking in / pain-inflicting skills, plus extra badness-points for situations when the cops are no help. The whole premise is just so tired. I like Elaine, and I didn't like seeing her reduced to woman-in-jeopardy.