“Here is how I have felt, as me: as a relatively young person who is perceived as white, who is naturally sociable, who is intelligent and well-spoken, who was taught well and as a result loves learning things, who is able to lift objects up to fifty pounds repeatedly. And many times, with all that going for me, I still saw no hope. I cannot begin to imagine how much harder it is for someone who faces more discrimination than I have or grew up […]
The badinage makes it worth your while
All it took was Cannonballer Beth Ellen to say “fun banter” and I was typing in A Week to be Wicked (2012) by Tessa Dare into my library’s catalog search. This is my first Tessa Dare novel, and even though it’s not quite up there with my favorites, it was fun and enjoyable. I’m planning on reading at least one more book in the series, maybe even more. A Week to be Wicked is actually the second book of what I think is a four-book […]
The Whole Story Behind “Into the Wild”
For whatever reason, I have been incredibly moved and impressed by everything regarding the story of the life of Chris McCandless. It started with Into The Wild (1997) by Jon Krakauer. I am a huge fan of Krakauer and how he digs so far into the details to get a fair and honest picture of his subject without losing the emotional empathy that makes us connect in the first place. I will read anything by him. When I heard they were making a movie, I […]
Amy Poehler is my hero
“The only way we will survive is by being kind. The only way we can get by in this world is through the help we receive from others. No one can do it alone, no matter how great the machines are.” (329) There was never any doubt that I would read Yes Please (2014) by Amy Poehler; the only question was how long I’d have to wait for it to become available at the library. I’ve always enjoyed Poehler. I like her jokes, and I […]
A great book about people struggling through a recent war
“Only one entry supplied an adequate definition, and she circled it with red ink, and referred to it nightly. Life: a constellation of vital phenomena–organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.” (184) A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (2014) by Anthony Marra follows a number of characters living in a small, mountain village of Chechnya from 1994 through 2004. The story jumps around between characters and time, sometimes even up to the 1940’s to show an older character’s earlier life. Although it’s not difficult to follow, the […]
My only foray into science-fiction this year
Please find my last review of the year here.
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