Literary Starbucks: Freshly-Brewed Bookish Humor, No-Whip, Half-Caf - Nora Anderson Katz, Wilson Isaac Josephson, Jill Madeline Poskanzer, Harry Bliss I have been a Starbucks-in-a-Barnes and Noble barista, and I remember the authors mural well. Huh, I don't know if they still use it. This book is a better tribute to both the coffee shops and to the authors than any I could imagine. The Tumblr was amusing, so I was predisposed to like this. But these clever people made it better: they gave it a story arc, and lots of interaction, and there are illustrations by Harry Bliss. It is still fundamentally a book of English major humor, but I've loved that sort of thing my whole life. This will go next to my copy of Texts From Jane Eyre, and I'll probably read it at least once every year from now on.Giveaway from GoodReads
Probably a great introduction, but not a good choice for anyone who already knows anything about virology, epidemiology, or infectious diseases.
Library copy
Library copy
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Shana Knizhnik, Irin Carmon No doubt there are people who will disagree with me on this, but I quite like the books I've seen that started as blogs or Tumblrs or similar. The editor has a fine opportunity to see what the audience is, and a good idea of what a finished product would contain. And all that I have read so far managed to take what was a good idea and make it richer, deeper, more fleshed out.
As, for example, here. Because Bader Ginsberg has been awesome all her life. It was fascinating to see the trajectory of her career, and the progression of legal challenges to laws restricting women's rights. This isn't a traditional biography, but it certainly manages to hit a lot of high spots. And it also gives a wonderful insight into the ACLU and the directed plan to increase civil rights. I'd never thought about it before, but now that I know I love the idea of a career based on observing and fighting injustice. She has style, she has flair (those marvelous collars), and she has a keen sense of justice. The Notorious RBG was an entertaining and uplifting book. Every expansion in human rights is treated as something the privileged class just decided one day that it had to go. History classes (back when I took them) rarely or never portrayed the hard work, the organization, the PR, the constant ongoing struggle to achieve what has been denied. So seeing that presented in a zippy way with fan art, that is just show more a fabulous hook. I hope every young woman reads this and considers what she wants to fight for, and how, as well as how to accessorize her judge's robes. (oh, yeah, it feels a little Legally Blonde in a good way)
Not only was there a clamor at the house to read this first, but there was widespread interest among the librarians and patrons who saw the book. I can't fault any thing that gets people thinking about how to make the world better.
Library copy
show less
As, for example, here. Because Bader Ginsberg has been awesome all her life. It was fascinating to see the trajectory of her career, and the progression of legal challenges to laws restricting women's rights. This isn't a traditional biography, but it certainly manages to hit a lot of high spots. And it also gives a wonderful insight into the ACLU and the directed plan to increase civil rights. I'd never thought about it before, but now that I know I love the idea of a career based on observing and fighting injustice. She has style, she has flair (those marvelous collars), and she has a keen sense of justice. The Notorious RBG was an entertaining and uplifting book. Every expansion in human rights is treated as something the privileged class just decided one day that it had to go. History classes (back when I took them) rarely or never portrayed the hard work, the organization, the PR, the constant ongoing struggle to achieve what has been denied. So seeing that presented in a zippy way with fan art, that is just show more a fabulous hook. I hope every young woman reads this and considers what she wants to fight for, and how, as well as how to accessorize her judge's robes. (oh, yeah, it feels a little Legally Blonde in a good way)
Not only was there a clamor at the house to read this first, but there was widespread interest among the librarians and patrons who saw the book. I can't fault any thing that gets people thinking about how to make the world better.
Library copy
show less
1989
1993
Weird and wonderful. One of three novels that convinced me not to pursue an MFA. I couldn't be that funny, or strange, or creative, although I did dress like Lenore for a while, well, sometimes.
2016
It's never the same book twice. The book I read as a recent college grad, who was wondering about pursuing an MFA, is not the same book I read as a newlywed, is not the same book I read this weekend, having recently toured Mt. Holyoke with my eldest daughter. Almost thirty years after it was published, I find a number of the jokes so tired, so juvenile, so tiring. But I'm even more struck by the staggering difference it represented from everything else being published in the twentieth century. No minimalist, New Yorker, slice of life with insight. Oh, no, this is Dickensian, Victorian in its detail, Gothic in its backstory (there's a nanny, there's a mother cruelly kept from her children). Although set in the near future from its publication (mostly in late summer, early fall of 1990) it does strongly evoke the 80s, more than the other hot young authors of that day managed to do, and I'm not just talking about the cover. The ending hasn't aged well at all. But still, when I picked it up I didn't remember anything except the black Converse sneakers, and by the end I was as enchanted as I had ever been before.
Wallace is at his best, I tell other people, in his essays, which I think will remain interesting far longer than his fiction. But anyone who's enjoyed his novels show more must also still mourn his loss. My condolences, late but sincere, to his loved ones.
Personal copy show less
1993
Weird and wonderful. One of three novels that convinced me not to pursue an MFA. I couldn't be that funny, or strange, or creative, although I did dress like Lenore for a while, well, sometimes.
2016
It's never the same book twice. The book I read as a recent college grad, who was wondering about pursuing an MFA, is not the same book I read as a newlywed, is not the same book I read this weekend, having recently toured Mt. Holyoke with my eldest daughter. Almost thirty years after it was published, I find a number of the jokes so tired, so juvenile, so tiring. But I'm even more struck by the staggering difference it represented from everything else being published in the twentieth century. No minimalist, New Yorker, slice of life with insight. Oh, no, this is Dickensian, Victorian in its detail, Gothic in its backstory (there's a nanny, there's a mother cruelly kept from her children). Although set in the near future from its publication (mostly in late summer, early fall of 1990) it does strongly evoke the 80s, more than the other hot young authors of that day managed to do, and I'm not just talking about the cover. The ending hasn't aged well at all. But still, when I picked it up I didn't remember anything except the black Converse sneakers, and by the end I was as enchanted as I had ever been before.
Wallace is at his best, I tell other people, in his essays, which I think will remain interesting far longer than his fiction. But anyone who's enjoyed his novels show more must also still mourn his loss. My condolences, late but sincere, to his loved ones.
Personal copy show less
It's flocked!
I've never had a book with flocking on the cover before. I love it. I hope on the next edition they extend the flocking to the cheeks, because I have never stopped enjoying Pat the Bunny.
This was a gift from my beloved husband who is, after twenty-three years of marriage, finally comfortable giving me books. (His secret is cartoons and comics, which I rarely buy for myself but always love and re-read.) Right now, he tells me, most of his favorite web comics are created by women. He only recently started sharing Sarah's Scribbles with me, but I am so there.
Natasha and I sat side-by-side at the kitchen table, reading together. Apparently I read more slowly than she...nope, I'm sure it's just that I take longer to look at the pictures. We laughed at all the same things. Pretty much all of it feels like it could be about me, except the stuff that is obviously about a younger woman in Brooklyn. But all the introversion, and bed, and books, and critters? Yeah.
Totally loved it, not least because it's a shared amusement. Can't wait to read more.
Personal Flocked! Copy
I've never had a book with flocking on the cover before. I love it. I hope on the next edition they extend the flocking to the cheeks, because I have never stopped enjoying Pat the Bunny.
This was a gift from my beloved husband who is, after twenty-three years of marriage, finally comfortable giving me books. (His secret is cartoons and comics, which I rarely buy for myself but always love and re-read.) Right now, he tells me, most of his favorite web comics are created by women. He only recently started sharing Sarah's Scribbles with me, but I am so there.
Natasha and I sat side-by-side at the kitchen table, reading together. Apparently I read more slowly than she...nope, I'm sure it's just that I take longer to look at the pictures. We laughed at all the same things. Pretty much all of it feels like it could be about me, except the stuff that is obviously about a younger woman in Brooklyn. But all the introversion, and bed, and books, and critters? Yeah.
Totally loved it, not least because it's a shared amusement. Can't wait to read more.
Personal Flocked! Copy
contains "Spinsters' Rest" by Clemence Dane, which I now feel compelled to read
Everfair - Nisi Shawl It's an alternate history in which a genocide doesn't happen.
It's about a utopian society that isn't so cleverly set up as to avoid all problems, but in which people work to find different, practical, solutions.
It's steampunk that feels utterly plausible.
It's a book that acknowledges the tremendous breadth and depth of people and cultures throughout Africa, although it focuses on one nation.
It is a marvelous accomplishment in every sense of the word, and I'm sure it's going to be one of my top reads for the year, and probably every other reader's list, because it is a book that makes you go "ohhh" and "ahhh", that constantly delights and surprises, even though it is addressing many of the darkest aspects of colonialism.
It's a book that reminded me of how new and appealing are the many voices in scifi these days, and actually makes me feel optimistic about humanity.
Sweet, fancy Moses, it's just a great, sweeping Victorian "ills of society" novel, such as those of Charles Dickens, but with a light touch. It's just perfect.
Now goo, read it right away, unless you're devoting October to horror, in which case, okay, but then you have to start it on November first.
ARC provided by publisher via GoodReads
It's about a utopian society that isn't so cleverly set up as to avoid all problems, but in which people work to find different, practical, solutions.
It's steampunk that feels utterly plausible.
It's a book that acknowledges the tremendous breadth and depth of people and cultures throughout Africa, although it focuses on one nation.
It is a marvelous accomplishment in every sense of the word, and I'm sure it's going to be one of my top reads for the year, and probably every other reader's list, because it is a book that makes you go "ohhh" and "ahhh", that constantly delights and surprises, even though it is addressing many of the darkest aspects of colonialism.
It's a book that reminded me of how new and appealing are the many voices in scifi these days, and actually makes me feel optimistic about humanity.
Sweet, fancy Moses, it's just a great, sweeping Victorian "ills of society" novel, such as those of Charles Dickens, but with a light touch. It's just perfect.
Now goo, read it right away, unless you're devoting October to horror, in which case, okay, but then you have to start it on November first.
ARC provided by publisher via GoodReads
Mirka is something else. She's the Orthodox Jewish equivalent of Tiffany Aching and if the running of all universes was handed over to girls of their ilk, then things would run smoothly, logically, and with plenty of action.
Library copy
Library copy
The Doctors Are In: The Essential and Unofficial Guide to Doctor Who's Greatest Time Lord by Graeme Burk
The Doctors Are In: The Essential and Unofficial Guide to Doctor Who's Greatest Time Lord - Graeme Burk, Robert Smith? Well, I learned something important: I'm not that much of a fan. The book is quite good at giving one an overview of the various Doctors over the years, and pointing out the episodes in which that character was best exemplified, and I couldn't recommend it too highly for anyone who does want to go back and catch key historical episodes. Turns out that is just a level of detail I don't require. It is always a pleasure to see people geeking out on a subject they are passionately interested in, and these chaps are passionate.
Library copy
Library copy
No doubt there are people who will disagree with me on this, but I quite like the books I've seen that started as blogs or Tumblrs or similar. The editor has a fine opportunity to see what the audience is, and a good idea of what a finished product would contain. And all that I have read so far managed to take what was a good idea and make it richer, deeper, more fleshed out.
As, for example, here. Because Bader Ginsberg has been awesome all her life. It was fascinating to see the trajectory of her career, and the progression of legal challenges to laws restricting women's rights. This isn't a traditional biography, but it certainly manages to hit a lot of high spots. And it also gives a wonderful insight into the ACLU and the directed plan to increase civil rights. I'd never thought about it before, but now that I know I love the idea of a career based on observing and fighting injustice. She has style, she has flair (those marvelous collars), and she has a keen sense of justice. The Notorious RBG was an entertaining and uplifting book. Every expansion in human rights is treated as something the privileged class just decided one day that it had to go. History classes (back when I took them) rarely or never portrayed the hard work, the organization, the PR, the constant ongoing struggle to achieve what has been denied. So seeing that presented in a zippy way with fan art, that is just a fabulous hook. I hope every young woman reads this and considers what she wants to show more fight for, and how, as well as how to accessorize her judge's robes. (oh, yeah, it feels a little Legally Blonde in a good way)
Not only was there a clamor at the house to read this first, but there was widespread interest among the librarians and patrons who saw the book. I can't fault any thing that gets people thinking about how to make the world better.
Library copy show less
As, for example, here. Because Bader Ginsberg has been awesome all her life. It was fascinating to see the trajectory of her career, and the progression of legal challenges to laws restricting women's rights. This isn't a traditional biography, but it certainly manages to hit a lot of high spots. And it also gives a wonderful insight into the ACLU and the directed plan to increase civil rights. I'd never thought about it before, but now that I know I love the idea of a career based on observing and fighting injustice. She has style, she has flair (those marvelous collars), and she has a keen sense of justice. The Notorious RBG was an entertaining and uplifting book. Every expansion in human rights is treated as something the privileged class just decided one day that it had to go. History classes (back when I took them) rarely or never portrayed the hard work, the organization, the PR, the constant ongoing struggle to achieve what has been denied. So seeing that presented in a zippy way with fan art, that is just a fabulous hook. I hope every young woman reads this and considers what she wants to show more fight for, and how, as well as how to accessorize her judge's robes. (oh, yeah, it feels a little Legally Blonde in a good way)
Not only was there a clamor at the house to read this first, but there was widespread interest among the librarians and patrons who saw the book. I can't fault any thing that gets people thinking about how to make the world better.
Library copy show less
I loved The Curious Incident, so when I see his name on a cover I pick it up. The first story is about an actual pier, covered in people, crashing into the sea. The dispassionate voice of the narrator was very effective in pointing out how unreal a horrible accident like this must feel to those involved. It was beautifully conceived and poignant as hell. But right now I don't feel like poignancy. I feel like screwballs comedies with crimes. Perhaps some other time.
Library copy
Library copy
Just didn't click with me.
Library copy
Library copy
Lovely book. Great photographs of good dogs leading good lives. Some of these stories are heartbreaking, although there is always a happy ending. There's good, practical advice about pet adoption in general, and about dog rescue in particular. Let me put my opinions out here, so that my next point has context: I am totally opposed to the breeding and selling of pets. For both dogs and cats the breed standards have become unhealthy and unwise, and until Southern states are as invested in spaying and neutering strays as Northern states, there will continue to be more adoptable animals than will ever find homes. So I have nothing but respect for people who devote their time and talents to finding good homes for pets.
But. This book reveals an aspect of good-doing that has gone hopelessly awry. There are many examples here of pets who are happy and loved, but who cannot be kept by their people for numerous financial reasons: loss of income, loss of housing, and the high cost of needed healthcare for aging critters. Loving people are forced to surrender loved pets most often because they can't get money to keep them. And repeatedly in this book there are stories of rescue groups who raise money to pay for dental work or maintenance medicines or surgeries for surrendered animals. The funders, the fundraisers, the foster homes for ill pets, and the medical providers who give their time and expertise to treat pets as cheaply as possible, all these people are dedicated and generous show more and have nothing but good intentions. So why aren't the money and effort and support going to people before they are forced to surrender their pets? It's true for children, and elderly folks, as well as pets: if direct financial assistance was offered during the crisis not only would more families remain intact, but everyone would be happier and healthier. Medical crises shouldn't bankrupt and break up animal families any more than they should bankrupt and break up human families. If we offer the right help at the right time, maybe they won't have to.
Library copy show less
But. This book reveals an aspect of good-doing that has gone hopelessly awry. There are many examples here of pets who are happy and loved, but who cannot be kept by their people for numerous financial reasons: loss of income, loss of housing, and the high cost of needed healthcare for aging critters. Loving people are forced to surrender loved pets most often because they can't get money to keep them. And repeatedly in this book there are stories of rescue groups who raise money to pay for dental work or maintenance medicines or surgeries for surrendered animals. The funders, the fundraisers, the foster homes for ill pets, and the medical providers who give their time and expertise to treat pets as cheaply as possible, all these people are dedicated and generous show more and have nothing but good intentions. So why aren't the money and effort and support going to people before they are forced to surrender their pets? It's true for children, and elderly folks, as well as pets: if direct financial assistance was offered during the crisis not only would more families remain intact, but everyone would be happier and healthier. Medical crises shouldn't bankrupt and break up animal families any more than they should bankrupt and break up human families. If we offer the right help at the right time, maybe they won't have to.
Library copy show less
I admire the hell out of Hillary Rodham (Clinton), but this was the most tactfully dull autobiography I ever attempted. It's not so much that I was looking for anything bizarre: she's on the Wonk end of the political spectrum, which gets shit done, but tends to avoid amazing soundbites. What I miss is her sense of humor. Her first job our of school was working to impeach Nixon. Let's revel in that irony.
[If you find a copy nearby, do check out the photographs. There's a really funny one of her on the back of an elephant, where the driver looks freakishly tiny.]
As much as I enjoy reading in general, this business of presidential candidates putting out books doesn't impress me much. Some of them are well written, but the only candidate's books I've ever really enjoyed were those of Al Franken, and he was definitely a writer first. By way of contrast, check out [b:Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg|25422234|Notorious RBG The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg|Irin Carmon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1429924065s/25422234.jpg|44611586]The Notorious RBG. Now there's a book that evokes personality and determination and so forth. Two stories about lawyers who focused their professional lives on achieving legal equality and improved conditions for women, children, and men. Only one of those books sets the reader into full-on fandom.
Library copy
[If you find a copy nearby, do check out the photographs. There's a really funny one of her on the back of an elephant, where the driver looks freakishly tiny.]
As much as I enjoy reading in general, this business of presidential candidates putting out books doesn't impress me much. Some of them are well written, but the only candidate's books I've ever really enjoyed were those of Al Franken, and he was definitely a writer first. By way of contrast, check out [b:Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg|25422234|Notorious RBG The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg|Irin Carmon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1429924065s/25422234.jpg|44611586]The Notorious RBG. Now there's a book that evokes personality and determination and so forth. Two stories about lawyers who focused their professional lives on achieving legal equality and improved conditions for women, children, and men. Only one of those books sets the reader into full-on fandom.
Library copy
[I've gotten behind in my reviews, and I was having a hard time convincing myself to write the next one in order, so screw that, I just moved on to the one I wanted to write about at the moment, and I may or may not ever succeed at filling in the gaps. But because I'm so behind, and taking a leave from work, I'm going to try to get all caught up, which means I may well be clogging up your feed for which I am sorry.]
This is exactly the sort of book I want to read by any sort of famous person. Many a biography/memoir by many an admired person has lead to disappointment, betrayal, and heartbreak. I had to quit reading Elvis Costello's book not because it jumped around, nor because it had too much about playing and recording music, nor even because I had to look him up on Wiki to get the basics facts of his life in my mind. No, what I couldn't bear was learning that he has a scene in mind, or a mood, and he comes up with a line or two, and then he hangs on to those lines until he finds an appropriate place to use them. It's all very good for Oscar Wilde to write and rewrite his best quips, they are jokes, they don't have to have continuity. But song lyrics? I loved Costello's lyrics, although I have always found it hard to remember more than two lines together. Now I know why. Sigh. I still love Costello, but I knew that I really didn't want to read any more of his book, because I could only bear so much of that sort of revelation.
No, what I want from a famous person's book show more is a series of amusing or fascinating anecdotes, demonstrating both the delights and the peculiar pains of their work. Really, I want to sit in my living room, just me, and Graham Norton, and John Cleese, and I want this very amusing man to be lead into telling me all his most amusing stories. And I want to see pictures of his cats.
This particular book ends quite early in Cleese's life, before Monty Python, although he does explain how that comes to be. This is school, mostly, and how he came to be studying law, and what it was like for him to be a teacher at the school he had attended only a few years earlier. That sort of thing. How supportive his father always was, how odd and difficult his mother could be. Really, about as much as I want to know about a stranger: what he cares about, what gives him joy, what he likes to do with his friends, some of what he's learned over the years about writing comedy. Lemurs. You know, casual small talk sort of stuff. With the occasional aside acknowledging some of the widespread prejudices of the times, and how much better life is for at least some people now because we've stopped that.
I've got two more reviews in this vein to come: Gloria Steinem and Illeana Douglas. I'll tell you now, so you can skip the reviews and go straight to the books. They're both exactly this kind of thing: amusing and interesting tales of people doing what they enjoy. Best enjoyed with cocktails and cigarettes, even if one neither drinks nor smokes, it's just the right mood.
Library copy show less
This is exactly the sort of book I want to read by any sort of famous person. Many a biography/memoir by many an admired person has lead to disappointment, betrayal, and heartbreak. I had to quit reading Elvis Costello's book not because it jumped around, nor because it had too much about playing and recording music, nor even because I had to look him up on Wiki to get the basics facts of his life in my mind. No, what I couldn't bear was learning that he has a scene in mind, or a mood, and he comes up with a line or two, and then he hangs on to those lines until he finds an appropriate place to use them. It's all very good for Oscar Wilde to write and rewrite his best quips, they are jokes, they don't have to have continuity. But song lyrics? I loved Costello's lyrics, although I have always found it hard to remember more than two lines together. Now I know why. Sigh. I still love Costello, but I knew that I really didn't want to read any more of his book, because I could only bear so much of that sort of revelation.
No, what I want from a famous person's book show more is a series of amusing or fascinating anecdotes, demonstrating both the delights and the peculiar pains of their work. Really, I want to sit in my living room, just me, and Graham Norton, and John Cleese, and I want this very amusing man to be lead into telling me all his most amusing stories. And I want to see pictures of his cats.
This particular book ends quite early in Cleese's life, before Monty Python, although he does explain how that comes to be. This is school, mostly, and how he came to be studying law, and what it was like for him to be a teacher at the school he had attended only a few years earlier. That sort of thing. How supportive his father always was, how odd and difficult his mother could be. Really, about as much as I want to know about a stranger: what he cares about, what gives him joy, what he likes to do with his friends, some of what he's learned over the years about writing comedy. Lemurs. You know, casual small talk sort of stuff. With the occasional aside acknowledging some of the widespread prejudices of the times, and how much better life is for at least some people now because we've stopped that.
I've got two more reviews in this vein to come: Gloria Steinem and Illeana Douglas. I'll tell you now, so you can skip the reviews and go straight to the books. They're both exactly this kind of thing: amusing and interesting tales of people doing what they enjoy. Best enjoyed with cocktails and cigarettes, even if one neither drinks nor smokes, it's just the right mood.
Library copy show less
It isn't possible that I should walk by a picture book about pandas, penguins, or cats without giving it a close look. This one includes a lemur, which is pure bonus points. I don't care much for picture books that have a MORAL, but this doesn't read like that at all. Fun art, cute doughnuts, and a snippy panda. It's good.
library copy
library copy
I'm not at all sure I actually finished this, so, back into the queue.
I love that dog. That is a good dog. Mary Sullivan really gets at the essence of dog/child relationships. Don't miss Ball by the same author.
Library copy
Library copy
My brother owned a copy of This is London as a child (perhaps he still does). Along with his copy of Anatole, these were highly coveted objects. In the London book there is a picture of a man, in a park, up a tree, and he's sawing off a tree branch: the one that he's sitting on!
How quaint that seems now. I'd love to have all the original books, or reprints of same, in theory. I'm worried that the judicious choice of snippets for this book might have some possible basis in the idea of excising images or text that would be broadly offensive now. There is an emphasis here on Anglophone interests, and nothing, I think, on the native people of any location. Really, it can't deserve the word "world" without anything from Africa, Asia, or South America, just to name a few glaring omissions.
Anyway, I loved it. The art is so sixties, and so cool, even now it remains distinctive and attractive. It may be a safe nostalgia, but it was good.
Library copy
How quaint that seems now. I'd love to have all the original books, or reprints of same, in theory. I'm worried that the judicious choice of snippets for this book might have some possible basis in the idea of excising images or text that would be broadly offensive now. There is an emphasis here on Anglophone interests, and nothing, I think, on the native people of any location. Really, it can't deserve the word "world" without anything from Africa, Asia, or South America, just to name a few glaring omissions.
Anyway, I loved it. The art is so sixties, and so cool, even now it remains distinctive and attractive. It may be a safe nostalgia, but it was good.
Library copy
Walters consistently creeps me out. In a good way. Like DeNiro in a 70s Scorsese film. Months, years after finishing one of her stories, the title alone will make you feel that you must go and wash your hands right now.
This book deals with modern international slavery. That's all you need to know. Psychological horror at its finest.
Library copy
This book deals with modern international slavery. That's all you need to know. Psychological horror at its finest.
Library copy
There are many witch stories out there, but many of them, I'm sorry to say, do not have happy endings. This is a book with a happy ending, suitable for fans of Charmed and Bewitched. This is also a book I gave myself for my birthday; I've decided to only buy books that make me feel good and/or laugh in delight.
These women can construct a romcom to make anyone proud.
personal copy
These women can construct a romcom to make anyone proud.
personal copy
This is a book about Rhetoric, which gets such short shrift these days that I don't have a shelf for it. It was an assigned text for Veronica, and I see something catching lying around, I have to snake it from other family members, otherwise they wouldn't know where to look for it. If you're unfamiliar with rhetoric, this makes a fabulous introduction, and if you already know about it, you'll enjoy how everything is tied to modern media. The graphic novel format makes it feel lighter than it would otherwise, a delightful way to slip in education. Gladstone knows whereof she writes: she's been covering media for NPR for quite a few years. Excellent.
Copy borrowed from high school text collection
Copy borrowed from high school text collection
I've written before about how much I love this series of mythology biographies. They are so good that you should read them all right now if you haven't already, and also, buy copies for all the kids you know, who will also love them. If you don't know any kids, make sure the local library has them.
One of the great things about them is that in the extensive back matter O'Connor explains his choices and decisions as to which stories to include and how. Great stuff.
Library copy
One of the great things about them is that in the extensive back matter O'Connor explains his choices and decisions as to which stories to include and how. Great stuff.
Library copy
What do women want?
Good dogs. God-like powers is nice. Attractive new love interests is also nice. But good dogs and good friends are the really important stuff.
Another in a slew of super fun books. Also shared with the daughter.
Library copy.
Good dogs. God-like powers is nice. Attractive new love interests is also nice. But good dogs and good friends are the really important stuff.
Another in a slew of super fun books. Also shared with the daughter.
Library copy.
Wordless books are hard. Way hard. I'm not sure how much an actual child would like it, but time- traveling into a Shakespearean performance and having an adventure running around Elizabethan London with a bear delights me.
Library copy
Library copy
Is there anything more passé than a steamy novel after sixty years? We read Valley of the Dolls and Flowers in the Attic back in the day, and it's really almost impossible to recall them without groaning a little. Or blushing. Or rolling your eyes. Possibly all of the above *and* a disclaimer about untutored youth. Peyton Place predates me, but it made enough of a ripple in the culture to get me to go back and give it a look. Just as I am someday going to do with Forever Amber. I thought it was okay, but no big deal. Then one day, I'm walking by the new books and I see this fabulously saucy cover (seriously, academic presses are not known for their fabulous covers), and I take a look, and by the time I've finished checking out the book jacket I am checking the book out of the library.
This is a social history of a publishing phenomenon about which I previously knew nothing. And it is riveting. How the publisher got it, how Metalious wrote it, the true murder story that forms the plot, excerpts from the author's fan mail, and a bit about her life after she found fame and fortune. It is an amazing story, both entertaining and insightful. I feel like Cameron has explained a time and a culture in a way I've never understood before, and I am grateful for her tutelage (hers must be the most popular classes on campus).
Great book, great cover, weird time in American history. I wish all academic writing were this fun to read.
Library copy
This is a social history of a publishing phenomenon about which I previously knew nothing. And it is riveting. How the publisher got it, how Metalious wrote it, the true murder story that forms the plot, excerpts from the author's fan mail, and a bit about her life after she found fame and fortune. It is an amazing story, both entertaining and insightful. I feel like Cameron has explained a time and a culture in a way I've never understood before, and I am grateful for her tutelage (hers must be the most popular classes on campus).
Great book, great cover, weird time in American history. I wish all academic writing were this fun to read.
Library copy
I don't feel bad about my neck. I might someday be a woman in turtlenecks and scarves, but I kind of doubt it. I've never been divorced, let alone remarried, never lived in New York, I hate cooking, and am fairly indifferent about what I eat. So, pretty much nothing in common with Nora Ephron. She was funny and encouraging and not only will she me missed by her family and loved ones, she will also be missed by untold numbers of fans of her sundry work.
Library copy
Library copy
"Poetry...takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity." In that sense, this is poetry. Mitchell recounts the adventure of youth: leaving home in England to travel to South America to teach English in a boarding school, and spend his time off exploring on a motorcycle. He meets a penguin. He develops a close and strong friendship with a penguin that is enchanting. There are magical moments, and a section that made me weep copious tears. I love interspecies friendships, and this is a great one.
Library copy I picked up just because it had a penguin on the cover.
Library copy I picked up just because it had a penguin on the cover.
It's not the future dystopia of The Hunger Games, but it's not far off. Henry VIII requires an heir, and he must be rid of Ann Boleyn, and this is where it all starts going horribly wrong. Because the reader already knows how the story turns out there is a constant and oppressive suspense as one reads over all the details, and the details are rich. It doesn't feel like an historical novel, it feels like history, with all the bits thrown in that make it fun: the clothes, the plotting, the king losing touch with reality.
Maybe, because it's such a grim story, it shouldn't be so much fun to read. But it is.
Library copy
Maybe, because it's such a grim story, it shouldn't be so much fun to read. But it is.
Library copy