2 Stars. I imagine that this book is a fantastic choice for a book club or assigned reading but I, as a solo reader, just found it confusing. The plot jumped around with little resolution, characters appeared and disappeared, and I couldn't find an entry point to understanding it. To be fair, it's written in an [...]
5 Stars. In my zeal to read a new book by Sarah Addison Allen, I found that I had inhaled this book in two sittings. Oops. No savoring the prose here. But a friend had sent me an ARC so I feel the need to write a more reasoned review and I wanted another chance to take my time with the book anyway. So I’ve read this twice within [...]
3.5 Stars. I don't read a lot of poetry and don't really feel that I have the tools to review it. All I can say is that I know what I like when I read it. I'm not someone who is going to devote a lot of time to dissecting a poem and wrenching every ounce of meaning from it. I had enough of that in school. I can't even remember [...]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share a school freebie this week. I thought about this topic for a few minutes. I've been out of school more years than I care to count. But learning never stops, does it? So I decided to share a list of ten books that continued my education after leaving school. I even divided them into subjects. Some books might not be obvious choices but they all work in my brain. Literature Persuasion by Jane Austen English On Writing by Stephen King Philosophy Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau Art Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland History Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen Social Studies Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams Geography North American Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the Continent by Matthew Bucklan & Victor Cizek Science A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson Biology Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales Technology True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News by Cindy L. Otis That's my list! Have you read any of these? Which books did/would you choose? Link up every Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl!
Welcome to my weekly update for August 28, 2022! Three weeks in a row with no real adventures to report. This must be some sort of record for me! My husband has had to work a lot of call shifts recently so that ties us down within 30 minutes of the hospital. We'll be out exploring again soon though! Posted: A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey, read by Frankie Corzo 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Ten Completed Series That I Wish Had More Books Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber by L. A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren 🌟🌟🌟 Read: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne, translated by Anthony Bonner 🌟🌟🌟 Currently Reading: Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen--You read that right. I finished reading this last week but I inhaled it. I'm re-reading it more slowly now so I can actually take notes for a review (I'm hoping to post about it this week since it's released on August 30). Case Histories (Jackson Brodie #1) by Kate Atkinson, read by Susan Jameson Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages by Guy Deutscher Up Next: I would like to read The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie for Banned Books Week (September 18-24) but it feels like I'm currently on the hold list at my libraries along with every other reader in the country. I'll probably check out The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas while I'm waiting. What did your week look like? Hosts: Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
3 Stars. I’m still so upset that the last book ended the way it did. I tried to put that behind me, as Jacky herself does, but I’m a world-class grudge-holder. I was mostly able to enjoy this book for itself but I’m still rating it 3 stars instead of the 4 I would probably have given it if that nonsense from book 11 hadn’t [...]
4 Stars. I don’t read a lot of contemporary young adult fiction because I don’t have a lot of patience for the drama. Lila starts off with plenty of drama. She came across to me as pretty self-absorbed. But she grows. She starts to see that yes, she’s had a spring of heartbreak by anyone’s standards. But it could be worse. She [...]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten "completed series that I wish had more books" this week. I am a terrible series finisher. I texted one of my friends that I had just finished the Tristan Strong trilogy this week and recommended that she read it. She replied, "If you actually finished a series it must be good though." Guilty as charged. So wishing that a series were actually longer is pretty rare for me. But we'll see what I find. I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris. I just saw that I never finished this series. That's so me! I didn't even know there was a third book. Still, it's such a cute fairy tale, I can only imagine that I'll want still more after I finally finish the trilogy. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood, read by Katherine Kellgren. Mostly I wish that Ms. Kellgren were still alive to narrate the last book of the series as it currently stands and then narrate future installments. She was my favorite narrator. The Melendy Family by Elizabeth Enright. This series reminds me of the innocence and timelessness of Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall but I feel those two series ended at a good place. I feel like the Melendys had more adventures to share. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I'll add a caveat that I would like another book in this series that mainly focuses on Howl and Sophie. There are two more books in the series but Howl and Sophie are…
Welcome to my weekly update for August 21, 2022! We had another quiet week here. My husband is on call again this weekend so we have to stay within 30 minutes of the hospital. But that gives us time to recover from all our activity this summer so that's fine by me! The organizers of the Cybils Awards are recruiting judges now through September 9! If you review books for kids anywhere on the internet (picture and board books all the way to young adult books and everything in between), you should consider applying. I was a round one panelist for the high school nonfiction category last year and thoroughly enjoyed it! I read books I would never had read on my own and learned so much, I feel that the pool of knowledge I bring to the table as a reader has grown tremendously. It's a lot of fun! I haven't decided if I'm going to apply this year simply because I have so many other projects I want to work on but I encourage anyone who's interested to go for it! Posted: The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan, read by Sneha Mathan: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Read: I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I may turn around and read this again as soon as I finish my current Kindle book. It was that good. If any of you are in the Asheville, NC area, Ms. Allen is launching this book in an event with Wiley Cash at UNC-Asheville on August 30. If flights weren't so expensive right now, I'd be tempted to go home for this signing.…
4 Stars. I slightly preferred the first book to this one, only because this one dwelled so much on politics. I’m not a strategist so reading the machinations of the Mughal court was a bit less interesting to me than the events of Mehrunnisa’s earlier life. I also have very little patience for characters who make repetitive mistakes in [...]