Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Delightful! My mother recommended this to me, and it’s just as fun and pretty as she said. I recommend it for children of any age. 😉
Tag Archives: books
The Man Who Couldn’t Eat by Jon Reiner
The Man Who Couldn’t Eat by Jon Reiner
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Ugh. The amount of self-pity Jon Reiner displays throughout this book made it nigh unreadable. When I entered the giveaway for The Man Who Couldn’t Eat, it was based on descriptions of the book as unique, compelling, and a very real depiction of what it is like to have Crohn’s disease, from the point of view of someone with a special relationship with food. Instead, I received a book which seems to have been written from the point of view of a man who feels he is unique in having what is actually a sadly common disease. There are references to how hard it is for others to cope with his illness, but they seem to still be in light of how it makes him feel. Overall, this is not a book about a disease, this is a book about a man wallowing in self-pity.
Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy of this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads giveaway program.
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkhaban by JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is more of the same delightful fun with which J.K. Rowling filled the first two books of the series, but with a darker bent and twice the pages. In it we again see Harry, Ron, and Hermione embarking on a new school year. The have yet another new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher. They learn why having Hagrid as a Care of Magical Creatures teacher is not an entirely good idea. Malfoy continues being a jerk. The main difference is the combined subtlety and darkness of the villains. The danger felt more real and the suspense was artfully built. I’m looking forward to the next one!
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Recommended as “steamalicious.” A very accurate description. Surprisingly fun.
Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex by Judith Levine
We live in a society where fear and ideology are the basis for many of the decisions made regarding children and sexuality, from the ever present panic about sexual abuse to the prevalence of abstinence only education despite the predominance of evidence that it does not work. This is underlying message Judith Levine describes in Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, a thought-provoking and intense work chronicling how we got to the place we are today and how these attitudes are dangerous and can damage our children. She discusses how both left-wing feminism and right-wing religious ideology created this environment and have helped it flourish. Thoroughly researched with extensive documentation, this is a work well worth reading attentively and carefully. Continue reading
Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex by Judith Levine
Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex by Judith Levine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
We live in a society where fear and ideology are the basis for many of the decisions made regarding children and sexuality, from the ever present panic about sexual abuse to the prevalence of abstinence only education despite the predominance of evidence that it does not work. This is underlying message Judith Levine describes in Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, a thought-provoking and intense work chronicling how we got to the place we are today and how these attitudes are dangerous and can damage our children. She discusses how both left-wing feminism and right-wing religious ideology created this environment and have helped it flourish. Thoroughly researched with extensive documentation, this is a work well worth reading attentively and carefully.
You can read a more comprehensive review on my blog.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After enjoying Oryx and Crake so much, I had high expectations of The Handmaid’s Tale. They were largely fulfilled. Margaret Atwood weaves a horrifying image of a society in which religious fundamentalism and fear of Caucasian infertility are taken to their furthest extremities. The rights of women are a particular area of focus. While reading this book, I began to think about the similarities between it and The Children of Men. Both deal with the concept of infertility and a totalitarian, terrorizing state. Additionally, both are written by women and were released within a small time span. Based on this, I am planning to write a piece comparing and contrasting the two books. Obviously, this is truly a thought-provoking work.
Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu does bone-chilling creepiness exceedingly well. This book made the hairs on my neck stand up at least twice; not the easiest thing to accomplish with fiction. The story contains several villains, with varying degrees of overt nastiness and subtlety. That being said, I found myself repeatedly grinding my teeth at or wanting to shake the heroine into using her brain at least once in a while. Admittedly, I am relatively unversed in the gothic horror sub-genre having only previously read the Bronte sisters, but I do not recall their heroines being quite so limp and hysterical. This definitely hurt my enjoyment of an otherwise excellent book. Uncle Silas is yet another book that makes me wish I had the option to give 3.5 stars. As it is, being unable to accurately give it 4, I have to downgrade it to 5.
The Sins of Lady Dacey by Marion Chesney
The Sins of Lady Dacey by Marion Chesney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to say, this is a higher rating than I typically give Marion Chesney‘s romances, for all I greatly enjoy them, but this one managed to have a slight bit more depth than the others. Not in a “meaningful” way, but it a way that rounded out the story nicely. We see a very innocent, but willfil young Recency miss encounter a peer of dubious background in an unorthodox manner. They initially dislike each other. Confusion and hijinks ensue before the end up happily married and in bed. Exactly the sort of somewhat silly, fun read I needed after finishing Gravity’s Rainbow.
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon is, without doubt, the most dense and one of the most challenging works of fiction I have ever read. It lives up to its reputation of being a madcap, sprawling yet tightly packed, post-modern epic. It also lives up to its reputation of being difficult. Despite my original skepticism and the sheer pretentiousness of the book, I was pleasantly surprised by the degree to which I enjoyed it. Below is a comprehensive description of my thoughts and feelings on the book, as well as my views on what it is. Continue reading