Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson. Nonfiction.
Summary: Isaac Cline, who believed he knew all there was to know about weather, is one of many who witness the most deadly hurricane in our history in 1900 in Galveston, TX.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Comments: This was a really well-written book about something we know little about. Weather forecasting was in its infancy in 1900, and Cline and those he worked with believed with conviction that Galveston would be able to withstand any hurricane. The tragedy that followed (the deaths of 6,000 people and the destruction of the entire city) was not only unpredictable, but entirely unthinkable.
It's not an easy read, but not really a hard read either. You just have to be in the mood for something nonfiction. I enjoyed it very much.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
The Female Brain
The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine. Nonfiction
Summary: A neuropsychiatrist shares the years of research she has done on women's brains, and what exactly make us different from men.
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5
Comments: We are reading this for our book club this month, which is why I picked it up. I found it very interesting and I learned a lot about what we have long expected--that men and women think differently. Anything about the brain is going to be very scientific and include a lot of lingo that the common person isn't used to, but for the most part, I didn't feel that this was too far over my head. In other words, there was enough to keep my attention, even when I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about. The chapters about "the brain below the belt" and "the mommy brain" were especially interesting.
One thing that bothered me a little about this book was she seemed to condone, or at least explain away, bad behavior, especially in teenage girls. I had to remind myself that she is a scientist and explaining why women act the way they do was what she was trying to do. I did feel that she was excusing bad behavior in a way, though, and blaming a lot on the menstual cycle. Oh, and it's quite obvious that she isn't against women pleasuring themselves.
It's worth reading--it looks a lot longer than it is (really only about 160 pages of actual reading), and I think it probably will help me be more compassionate toward my daughters in the future. But I am still going to hold them to higher standards, knowing that we have been counseled to "put off the natural man" and not just use that as an excuse that "that's who I am."
Summary: A neuropsychiatrist shares the years of research she has done on women's brains, and what exactly make us different from men.
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5
Comments: We are reading this for our book club this month, which is why I picked it up. I found it very interesting and I learned a lot about what we have long expected--that men and women think differently. Anything about the brain is going to be very scientific and include a lot of lingo that the common person isn't used to, but for the most part, I didn't feel that this was too far over my head. In other words, there was enough to keep my attention, even when I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about. The chapters about "the brain below the belt" and "the mommy brain" were especially interesting.
One thing that bothered me a little about this book was she seemed to condone, or at least explain away, bad behavior, especially in teenage girls. I had to remind myself that she is a scientist and explaining why women act the way they do was what she was trying to do. I did feel that she was excusing bad behavior in a way, though, and blaming a lot on the menstual cycle. Oh, and it's quite obvious that she isn't against women pleasuring themselves.
It's worth reading--it looks a lot longer than it is (really only about 160 pages of actual reading), and I think it probably will help me be more compassionate toward my daughters in the future. But I am still going to hold them to higher standards, knowing that we have been counseled to "put off the natural man" and not just use that as an excuse that "that's who I am."
Monday, April 7, 2008
Girl's Guide
Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks
Summary: Told in memoir style, Girls Guide is the story of a woman's quest for love and how she, ultimately, finds it.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Comments: I had heard a lot about this bestseller and really expected to like it. It was just okay. I must not appreciate a "real love story," and felt no real satisfaction in her choice of men. And then there was the language thing again...I don't understand why authors feel they have to include so many f-bombs. Again, maybe I am not comfortable with the world as it really is (I'd prefer to believe it's the way I see it).
Summary: Told in memoir style, Girls Guide is the story of a woman's quest for love and how she, ultimately, finds it.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Comments: I had heard a lot about this bestseller and really expected to like it. It was just okay. I must not appreciate a "real love story," and felt no real satisfaction in her choice of men. And then there was the language thing again...I don't understand why authors feel they have to include so many f-bombs. Again, maybe I am not comfortable with the world as it really is (I'd prefer to believe it's the way I see it).
Monday, March 24, 2008
Kite Runner
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Summary: Amir, the son of a wealthy Afghan man, witnesses a horrendous act committed against his childhood friend and spends the next two decades trying to forget what he saw.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Comments: I had heard a lot about this book and wasn't sure I was going to be able to handle it. That is why I put off reading it for so long. But I am glad that I did. I am also glad I went into it knowing that some things would be hard for me to read. I think having that background made it easier to handle. While I liked the story and the message of this book a lot better than Splendid Suns, you don't get the same feel for the changes Afghanistan underwent as a country.
For this book alone, I thought that the message of forgiveness and redemption were so powerful that they overshadowed all the hate and brutality. This would be a great book club book (with the right book club), as there are so many things I would love to discuss about it. Just as long as you can stomach a little violence...
Summary: Amir, the son of a wealthy Afghan man, witnesses a horrendous act committed against his childhood friend and spends the next two decades trying to forget what he saw.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Comments: I had heard a lot about this book and wasn't sure I was going to be able to handle it. That is why I put off reading it for so long. But I am glad that I did. I am also glad I went into it knowing that some things would be hard for me to read. I think having that background made it easier to handle. While I liked the story and the message of this book a lot better than Splendid Suns, you don't get the same feel for the changes Afghanistan underwent as a country.
For this book alone, I thought that the message of forgiveness and redemption were so powerful that they overshadowed all the hate and brutality. This would be a great book club book (with the right book club), as there are so many things I would love to discuss about it. Just as long as you can stomach a little violence...
Thunderstruck
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. Nonfiction
Summary: The true story of Marconi, inventor of the wireless telegraph, and a murderer by the name of Crippen, and the way their lives intersect in 1910.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Comments: Jeff and I listened to this book on cd on our drive to NC. It was very entertaining, and told like a story instead of boring facts. Larson also wrote Devil in the White City, which I loved, and this book didn't disappoint. I'm sure anyone who was alive in 1910 would've heard the story of the manhunt for the doctor, although it was all new to us. It deals with a murder, and while there are some things that made us both say, "sick," it wasn't any worse than an episode of Forensic Files. I would recommend it, and if you haven't read Devil in the White City, I would definitely recommend that one.
Summary: The true story of Marconi, inventor of the wireless telegraph, and a murderer by the name of Crippen, and the way their lives intersect in 1910.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Comments: Jeff and I listened to this book on cd on our drive to NC. It was very entertaining, and told like a story instead of boring facts. Larson also wrote Devil in the White City, which I loved, and this book didn't disappoint. I'm sure anyone who was alive in 1910 would've heard the story of the manhunt for the doctor, although it was all new to us. It deals with a murder, and while there are some things that made us both say, "sick," it wasn't any worse than an episode of Forensic Files. I would recommend it, and if you haven't read Devil in the White City, I would definitely recommend that one.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Love Stargirl
Love Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Juvenile fiction, sequel to Stargirl.
Summary: Stargirl, a sixteen-year old girl who named herself, begins a new life in Pennsylvania, changing the lives of everyone she comes in contact with, just as she did in Arizona.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Comments: I love Stargirl. The first book is one of my favorite juvenile books of all time. She is such a unique character, quirky yet supremely caring. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her, but embraces what makes her different. Unlike the first book, when she tries to change who she is to please someone else, in the sequel she is true to her individuality, and enhances the lives of people young and old. I loved this book, not quite as much as the first, but nearly as much so. The book is in journal form, a letter to the boy she left behind in Arizona. It took me a little while to get into the different method of storytelling, but I found myself feeling empty when it was over. If you liked Stargirl, you'll like this sequel. And if you haven't read either, but love a good juvenile book, DEFINITELY check it out!
Summary: Stargirl, a sixteen-year old girl who named herself, begins a new life in Pennsylvania, changing the lives of everyone she comes in contact with, just as she did in Arizona.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Comments: I love Stargirl. The first book is one of my favorite juvenile books of all time. She is such a unique character, quirky yet supremely caring. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her, but embraces what makes her different. Unlike the first book, when she tries to change who she is to please someone else, in the sequel she is true to her individuality, and enhances the lives of people young and old. I loved this book, not quite as much as the first, but nearly as much so. The book is in journal form, a letter to the boy she left behind in Arizona. It took me a little while to get into the different method of storytelling, but I found myself feeling empty when it was over. If you liked Stargirl, you'll like this sequel. And if you haven't read either, but love a good juvenile book, DEFINITELY check it out!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
My Sister's Keeper
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Summary: Thirteen year-old Anna, who has spent her entire life donating parts of her body to her older sister who has leukemia, files a law suit against her parents asking for medical emancipation when her sister needs a kidney transplant.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Comments: I really wanted to like this book, as there was so much to like. The story moves extremely quickly, as you are immediately drawn in. You discover early on that Kate Fitzgerald was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at two years old and that Anna was "genetically engineered" to be able to donate to her sister. She is the perfect match to donate plateletes, bone marrow, and eventally, a kidney. In fact, that was the reason she was brought into the world. She was never asked for her consent, but it was assumed by her parents (her mother in particular), that she would be willing to do whatever it took to keep her older sister alive.
There are so many topics for discussion; controversy over Anna's existence to begin with, moral and ethical responsibility to our children, playing favorites with one and how it affects the others... It would make a great book club book EXCEPT for one thing: the language is really terrible and unnecessary (isn't it always the case with language?). If somehow the offensive language could be removed, I would give it a 4, because it was very thought-provoking, tearing at your heart without being depressing. I can't really recommend it, but it any of you have read it (or aren't bothered by 15+ F-bombs), I would love to hear what you have to say, especially about the ending.
Summary: Thirteen year-old Anna, who has spent her entire life donating parts of her body to her older sister who has leukemia, files a law suit against her parents asking for medical emancipation when her sister needs a kidney transplant.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Comments: I really wanted to like this book, as there was so much to like. The story moves extremely quickly, as you are immediately drawn in. You discover early on that Kate Fitzgerald was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at two years old and that Anna was "genetically engineered" to be able to donate to her sister. She is the perfect match to donate plateletes, bone marrow, and eventally, a kidney. In fact, that was the reason she was brought into the world. She was never asked for her consent, but it was assumed by her parents (her mother in particular), that she would be willing to do whatever it took to keep her older sister alive.
There are so many topics for discussion; controversy over Anna's existence to begin with, moral and ethical responsibility to our children, playing favorites with one and how it affects the others... It would make a great book club book EXCEPT for one thing: the language is really terrible and unnecessary (isn't it always the case with language?). If somehow the offensive language could be removed, I would give it a 4, because it was very thought-provoking, tearing at your heart without being depressing. I can't really recommend it, but it any of you have read it (or aren't bothered by 15+ F-bombs), I would love to hear what you have to say, especially about the ending.
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