I’ve talked about my youngest brother before. He is the type who would leave really horrible books hidden in your bookshelf. He is also the type to unload his old books on you. He is ALSO the type who is studying environmental law in law school. I generally have a queue of books that I am scheduled to read, but my little brother is a perpetual queue skipper. He came over with a book he’d read for one of his classes and wanted someone to discuss it with. As he knows I will read almost anything, I was an obvious choice. Read More »
I Read a Lot of Books
I read a lot of books. Sometimes I review them.
The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith
This book was… just disappointing in many ways. It was worse than meh, but not quite the most horrible thing I’ve ever read. Ringing endorsement, I know. Read More »
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
I am surprised that I’d never heard of this book before I read it. It won some awards and sold well, but the first time I saw it was when my little brother dropped of a bin full of books he’d purchased for me at one of those bookstores going out of business sales. Read More »
Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus by Carolina Maria de Jesus
I was reluctant to read this book because I was worried at the emotions it might bring out. I lived in Brazil for a year and a half, and spent a fair amount of time visiting favelas and speaking to the poor and weary who were unfortunate enough to call those wretched places home. Read More »
A Hero For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
I almost feel like I should have re-read The Search for WondLa before reading this sequel as it takes up the action where the other book left off. Read More »
You Were Always Mom’s Favorite! Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives by Deborah Tannen
I wanted to read this book from the moment I read a review on NPR.com. I don’t have sisters, but I have always been fascinated with the dynamic. Having come from a home with three brothers and moving into an all girls apartment in college, I could tell you stories of culture shock! Read More »
V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
Another Kinsey Millhone mystery and the series is winding down. It seems that Grafton has decided to stick with telling the narrative from various points of view. I enjoy this, as sometime Kinsey is a bit too cute a narrator for my taste. Read More »
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
In this installment in the Alphabet Series, Kinsey Millhone gets roped into investigating a possible body dump that happened twenty years ago. Michael Sutton shows up at Kinsey’s office and begs her to investigate a cold case kidnapping/murder. He claims that he has had triggered memories and Kinsey believes him until she realizes Michael Sutton is a highly impressionable young man who once accused his father of sexual abuse, then recanted, but not before destroying his entire family. So Sutton isn’t the most reliable source. Read More »
Heroes on Horseback: A Life and Times of the Last Gaucho Caudillos by John Charles Chasteen
This is another gift from my younger brother, and I suspect it was a remnant from his university days. The name Chasteen looked familiar, and sure enough, I have Born in Blood and Fire and Problems in Modern Latin American History from my university days. I double majored in Political Science and Latin American Studies, so lets just say Chasteen and I crossed paths quite a bit in the form of required reading. Read More »
Wish You Happy Forever: What China’s Orphans Taught Me About Moving Mountains by Jenny Bowen, founder of Half the Sky Foundation
I really shouldn’t read books like this when I am pregnant. Sure, orphans get to me any time, but when I am pregnant I have no control over the tears. Whenever I find anything particularly sad, or touching, my eyes turn into sprinklers. This book was both touching, and sad, in spades. Read More »
The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson
This book came highly recommended, by someone whose opinion I trust. That in and of itself can be dangerous. It is hard to read a book that has been talked up so much because I want something amazing. Well, The Butterfly Mosque wasn’t amazing, but it was certainly good. Read More »
A Body to Die For by Kate White
Apparently this is the second book in a series, but it came to me free so I dove right in. I guess I have been spoiled by great mystery writers (Tana French, Alan Bradley) or really fun mystery writers (Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich), because White’s effort fell flat. Read More »
Yes Sister, No Sister: My Life as a Trainee Nurse in 1950s Yorkshire by Jennifer Craig
The title of this book pretty much sums up what is about. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had not read the Call the Midwife Trilogy beforehand. This memoir seems to have a lot less heart than the Midwife books, though I did learn more about the mechanics of training to be a nurse. Read More »
The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith
This is the sixth installment in Smith’s 44 Scotland Street Series. I recommend reading these books as a series, and not as stand alone novels. I enjoyed this book immensely and particularly enjoyed Smith’s note to the reader at the beginning of the book. He speaks about the title, The Importance of Being Seven. Bertie, one of our main characters is almost seven. Smith tries to capture that feeling of wanting something very much (to be seven, in Bertie’s case) and not quite being there. Read More »
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith
I have taken a significant amount of time off of the the 44 Scotland Street Series, not because I don’t love them, but because they are that particular brand of warm comfort that one remembers when one needs a nice little read that leave the reader feeling uplifted. If you are unfamiliar with the series, please ignore this review straight away and start at the beginning. You will thank me. Read More »
Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
This is the second book in the Stephanie Plum series. One has to kind of feel for Stephanie as a heroine because she tries to be tough, but she just isn’t tough enough. Read More »
The Men Who United the States: America’s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics, and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible by Simon Winchester
I wanted to like this book. I did. I’ve been a fan of Winchester and simply LOVED The Professor and the Madman. Unfortunately, The Men Who United the States suffered from a classic mistake made in nonfiction: the author was too close to the subject. Read More »
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood
It is no secret that I have been a fan of this series of books. Sadly, this is the fourth book meaning there are only two more to go. When I think about where these books could be taking me, I get excited, and that is exactly what books should do.
Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth
Farewell to the East End is the last book that Worth wrote concerning her time in London’s East End working as a midwife in the 1950s, but interestingly not the last book she wrote about nursing. I am planning to read those as well. Once again Worth splits up parts of the narrative telling stories about her fellow midwives, Trixie, Cynthia, and Chummy. Read More »
Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth
This book is the second book of the Midwife Series Trilogy on which the BBC drama Call the Midwife is based. Whew, that was a mouthful. Suffice it to say that this book is every bit as sad as the title suggests, in the very best possible way. Read More »
Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s by Jennifer Worth
Once upon a time I stumbled upon the BBC series Call the Midwife on Netflix. I generally enjoy what the BBC has to offer and I devoured this entire series in a matter of a few weeks. I cried every single episode. Perhaps I should preface all the crying with the fact that I am pregnant, and tend to be easily touched into tears when I am pregnant. Read More »
A Mormon Mother: An Autobiography by Annie Clark Tanner by Annie Clark Tanner
My little brother got me this book for Christmas. I suspect that it was heavily discounted from the $1.50 price tag that graced its cover. Though I love free books, AND love my little brother for providing so many, it is often hit and miss with his gifts. It was with trepidation that I started this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. Read More »
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. These books are charming. I am really looking forward to reading them to my kids in a few years. One thing I enjoy about these books is that there is an underlying mystery that prevails through each book and the reader gets little bits and pieces each time. The reader gets just enough information to start making speculations that are either confirmed or debunked in subsequent books. Read More »
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World’s Great Drinks by Amy Stewart
Disclaimer: I do not drink. So why read a book about drinks? I must say, I have a fascination with the science behind the making of alcohol. I visited a Whisky distillery in Scotland and a Pisco distillery in Chile, so I am a bit of an enthusiast. Read More »
The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
It has been a while since I read something so awful that I debated whether I should finish it or not. Congrats Night Listener, I finished you, but don’t feel better for it. Read More »
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
Poor Chechnya. Some countries seem to just have it bad and Chechnya is one of those. I will not delve into political theory or strategy but for those unacquainted with Chechnya’s tragic history, suffice it to say that it is a country surrounded by larger countries with dangerous ambitions, and the Chechen people have paid a hefty price. Read More »
11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944 by Stanley Weintraub
I know I promised a break on non fiction WWII books, but this has been on the shelf since I married my husband (it came with him) and it was Christmastime so I thought, why not? Mistake. Read More »
I Will Lead You Along: The Life of Henry B. Eyring by Robert I. Eaton and Henry J. Eyring
I always hesitate when I review religious books about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). It is difficult for me to separate my own religious beliefs and examine a text as a purely impartial reader. For example, as a member of the LDS church I read church texts and the scriptural cannon (Old Testament, New Testament King James’ Version, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) weekly, but I never review them as I consider them sacred. Read More »
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and The History of the World by Sam Kean
This is the second of Kean’s scientific narratives that I have read, and the first that he had published. Though I liked it less than The Violinists Thumb, it was still interesting and informative. Read More »
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
The third installment in The Mysterious Benedict Society is every bit as fun, action-packed, and refreshing as the previous books in the series. I feel like I gush when I write about these books, but they are genuinely wonderful. Stewart’s style is both light and captivating. I find myself cheering audibly for our heroes and cringing whenever the villains get a leg up. I assure you, it is quite amusing to watch. Read More »