At this point, I’ve read most of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, and I’ve always enjoyed reading them. So when I saw that his new one: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013), I got on the wait list–almost–immediately. Gladwell has a style of looking at and analyzing the world around him in a unique way, and then distilling that information for his readers. I still like his explanation of why most of Canada’s best hockey players were born in December. Unfortunately, […]
Snobbery and Materialism: The Kardashians but with more money
Rachel and Nick are professors in New York City who have been dating for about two years. When Nick invites Rachel to spend the summer with him in Singapore, she’s excited to meet Nick’s family and learn more about where he grew up. What she doesn’t know is that Nick is from one of the richest, most powerful Asian families in the world. In the materialistic world of “crazy rich Asians,” Nick is one of the most sought after bachelors and his every move is […]
Unexpectedly delightful
Like many of the books I read these days, I first heard of I Capture the Castle (1948) by Dodie Smith from a Cannonball Review (maybe Malin’s?). And I’m so glad I read it. It reminded me of a book with a big chunk of Anne of Green Gables mixed with a little Pride and Prejudice. It’s amazing that this book has just been sitting around, available, for over sixty years, and I had no idea. It’s similar to how I felt when I first […]
When neighbors stop being polite…
“In the old days, if a builder had a problem, that problem would end up in pieces in the wet concrete: it became part of the building it had tried to obstruct. A bit of calcium was good for the foundations. But those days were gone: the lawless days of the 1980s and ’90s.” (321) The White Tiger was one of my favorite books of the year when I read it back in 2008. For that reason, I knew I would have to eventually get […]
Sally, I loved you ’til the end, but I still like you
On my second try reading Walden by Thoreau, I made it about a 1/4 of the way before giving up and desperately perusing my Kindle for anything else to read. That’s when I started reading The Adventures of Sally (1921) by P.G. Wodehouse. The Adventures of Sally was a book I’d picked up shortly after buying my Kindle, when I discovered the large number of free classics available on Amazon. I’d never heard of P.G. Wodehouse before but he had positive reviews and it’s hard […]
A May December Romance That Doesn’t Make Me Gag
My plan was to start 2014 off with a nice, important classic: namely, Walden by Thoreau. But then, What I Did for a Duke (2011) by Julie Anne Long became available at my library. Probably no one will be surprised when they hear that I am finished with What I Did for a Duke and only about ten percent done with Walden. Anyway, I’m very pleased to say that Mrs. Julien and I now have one romance novel that we both really like! I keep […]