First of all, a confession. I was, like, one of a teeny handful of girls my age who didn’t care for horses. Everyone was all about Black Beauty and the Black Stallion, and tons of other horseback-riding paperbacks, and I was all, “Eh. I’ll take dolphins” (Misty of Chincoteague was not half bad, but I liked the story, not the horses). Ergo, I thought Black Beauty was a horribly depressing book, and no amount of horse porn could redeem that book for me. I realize […]
Sherman Alexie is one of my favorites.
*Disclaimer: this book was read via audiobook.* Sherman Alexie’s writing never ceases to astonish me. He is brutally honest while also being personal, funny, and witty at once. I appreciate the stories he tells, and the way he tells them keeps me interested and engaged. I saw the audiobook at my library and what got me to check it out was his narration of the book–well worth it. War Dances is a collection of short stories and poetry, like much of his other work. One […]
A South Pole Memoir with a side of Passivity
My book club chose this book for our next month’s reading selection. I’m not a big fan of biography or nonfiction by people who’ve just emerged from an adventure–I feel that they don’t spend enough time introspecting on what’s happened (though the events themselves may be fresher in memory). After reading this book, I remember why I don’t like this genre. First, I need to separate this review into two parts: content and style. Let’s talk content first. Dr. Jerri Nielson, an ER doctor, has […]
Who knew that Pam and Dwight were secretly warlords?
*Disclaimer: this post refers to the audiobook.* I never really got into audiobooks (unless they were the Harry Potter books read by Jim Dale), but my sister recommended B.J. Novak’s One More Thing specifically for the audiobook. I gave it a try, and it’s been a delight. I’ll be separating this review into the content and then the medium of audiobook, because there are separate things to say about each of them. First, the stories themselves: it’s a mixed bag of genuinely interesting, too-clever, and […]
Love is madness. And a joy.
About two weeks ago, The Chancellor and I went book hunting at a thrift store–those and used book stores can be the *best* place to find great or out-of-print books for very teacher-friendly prices. While The Chancellor snapped up a bunch of the Redwall series, I found two books in Madeleine L’Engle’s series that take place after the Time quartet (or quintet, if you count An Acceptable Time, which the publishers of the books I own clearly do). That sent me on a Wikipedia hunt to […]
Is this secretly a parable about student loans?
Back in the late 2000s, vampires were all.the.rage. I’m glad that tide has turned, even if The Hunger Games has spawned a lot of dystopic fiction that depresses you and makes you feel that the earth’s doom is imminent. I’ve read Divergent, hated Insurgent, and never finished Allegiant. So I am curious to see how Joelle Charbonneau’s trilogy will stack up overall. As a first book in a trilogy, The Testing is fairly engaging. Cia Vale has graduated from her formal high school education in […]
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