This latest read surprised–for the better. I try to not judge a book by its cover, but let’s be honest, we all do it. When I saw that someone had written a biography of Charles and Emma Darwin, and one for young adults at that, I was skeptical. Partly because I wasn’t sure how you focus on the relationship between the man who changed science and his wife while keeping it palatable for young adults. But Deborah Heiligman did it in Charles and Emma: The […]
More Please
I love Parks and Recreation, and I think Leslie Knope is a heroine for the ages–fierce, funny, sweet, occasionally wrongheaded, but mostly blazing with the desire to make the world, or at least the small, quirky town of Pawnee, a fairer, healthier, and more beautiful and fun place. The woman behind Leslie’s defiant curls, bright eyes and mercurial expressions, Amy Poehler, is more flawed, more mixed-up–but, judging by Yes Please, also someone you’d want to go for a hike with, followed by dancing at the […]
Allie Brosh is the hero we need
A while back I was listening to this Marc Maron podcast in which he interviews our beloved Allie Brosh. First– we all know and love Allie, right? Oh my god you guys, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go to her webcomic/blog immediately, please! You won’t be sorry. She is hilarious and brilliant and illustrates stories from her life with a paintbrush program and it’s amazing. And the really special thing about her comics is that she can talk about serious topics– like self-esteem, introversion, […]
The Power of Unbroken
My book club is big into nonfiction. I’m not myself, but I *did* really like Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit. So I was definitely willing to give Unbroken a try. Hillenbrand is an excellent writer, and she really ups her game with this book. This is the true story of Louis Zamperini’s experience in World War II as a bomber, when his plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean. He and two other men survive at sea, where they endure panic, sickness, starvation, and attacks from all sorts […]
Memoir of the Warm Heart of Africa
This is the eighth of my 10 African books this year, and the first by a Malawian author–I couldn’t well leave Malawi off the list since moving here was what inspired me to read more African books in the first place! Samson Kambalu was born in in 1975 into a Christian family of eight, and spent most of his childhood moving among remote villages in Malawi. Kambalu tells his story in chronological anecdotes, mostly, including early memories of being plagued by parasites, poverty, malaria, jiggers and other hazards of a […]
Women are still treated terribly, but these women knew how to survive
First, I want to thank ElCicco for reviewing this book earlier in the CBR. Both my roommate and I read it and found it hard to believe that the women in The Scarlet Sisters are real, and so were their adventures. But that’s what makes a biography worth reading, right? So, who are these sisters and what did they do? They are Victoria Woodhull and Tennie Claflin. They were the first women to be stockbrokers on Wall Street. In 1871. Yes, you read that correctly. […]
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