Starling and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

It's been a bit of a crap week. Luckily for you readers (all two of you (hi Mom!)), I'm saving all of my whining for my roommates and family.

But sometimes, you know, whining isn't enough. I need to just wallow in it for a while; give myself permission to take extra naps and eat lots of baked goods and be mopey for a while. Wear my sweatpants and pull out all of my comfort movies and books.

You know where this is going, don't you?

Maybe I should have prefaced this blog by saying how much I love making lists of things.

Starling's List of Good Books for Bad Days

1. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.
You think your day is bad? At least you didn't have to go to the dentist and find out you have a cavity. And I bet your big brother didn't push you in a mud puddle and call you a crybaby.
This is only one of several books about Alex; most of them manage to be poignant and humorous, in a way that only Viorst can do it. Hell, it's the basic human condition she's writing about, just in small words.

(I admit that I'm partial because I kind of look like Alex as well:


That was totally me at work today.)

2.) Cotton by Christopher Wilson. Lee Cotton is a black boy born with white skin in 1950's Mississippi. This manages to be only the beginning of his identity issues. He undergoes several transformative experiences, both in the spiritual sense and actual physical sense, throughout the course of the book.
Wilson ties his wandering narrative and large doses of magical realism together with gorgeous, meandering prose, and manages to impart a fair bit of worldly wisdom regarding identity and the strange turns of fate. I read this book whenever I feel like a societal outcast (an embarrassingly frequent occasion).

3. A Poem Traveled Down My Arm by Alice Walker. With most of the poems no longer than a few lines, and most of the lines no longer than a word or two, this book is startlingly articulate and evocative. The simplicity of it allows the words and images to get past whatever barriers I've erected. Every time I read it, I'm struck by something new. This time around:

Lack of
balance
staggers
us.

To fall
is
easy.

Even so,
falling
will not
help.

Wise words, and a welcome reality check at a private pity party.

4. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. The plot is simple: There is a city. The city is threatened by a villain. The heroine must obtain a weapon in order to defeat the villain.
But this is China Mieville, arguably one of the best writers in the urban fantasy genre. The city is UnLondon, a shadowself of the city built from trash heaps and oddbits, that manages to retain all attitude of its counterpart. Don't let the simple premise fool you. Un Lun Dun is brilliant.
How do I love this book? Let me count the ways.
Puns. London slang. Steampunk. Zombies. Word play. Sarcastic heroine who has a milk carton as a pet. Unexpected plot twists. Evil giraffes.

Did I mention Mieville also illustrates it? This book is just fun. Great for days when you want to escape from the world. Or any other time, really.

5. Stuff On My Cat and More Stuff On My Cat, photos compiled Mario Garza. Because it doesn't really get much sillier than pictures of cats with stuff on them, at least until a book of cat macros gets made. (You know it's inevitable, right?) Luckily, there's also a website, for those crap days when you're far from home.

Here's hoping you'll be better prepared against your next Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad day.