Review: Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl – Carrie Brownstein

I must say that I had no idea who Carrie Brownstein was, nor had I heard of Sleater-Kinney, when Emma Watson suggested Hunger Makes me a Modern Girl for her Good Reads book club: Our Shared Shelf. I hadn’t actually joined the club, I just saw Watson share something about the book and in my blind loyalty I added it to my TBR. And I’m so glad that I did.

Friends of mine will know I have a pretty odd, dated and specific music taste, and typically Sleater-Kinney does not tick any of my boxes. Reading Hunger was a weird experience though, as I read about the songs and the musicians before I heard what any of it sounded like. As Brownstein mentions different songs, albums, tours and concerts throughout the book I would search them on YouTube to hear and see them for the first time.

This meant that music I would normally have had nothing to do with was telling a story about ‘characters’ I had already become invested in. It was a reading experience like nothing I’ve had before. My appreciation for autobiographies grows and grows and after Brownstein’s I’m thinking I’ll add a few musicians as well as actors to my TBR.

P. S. It’s a testament to Brownstein’s convincing and heartfelt writing that she managed to make me feel sad about a cat… that’s no mean feat.

4/5