Saturday, November 10, 2012

Spring/Summer Book Review

I have not been doing a great job with my blog lately. Sorry. In an effort to reinvigorate my writing efforts, I've been going through old drafts that I never published. Here's a book review list that I found from earlier this year:

***1/2 Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson - Classic BranSan fantasy, so delightfully different but always with a hint of the divine.

***** No Great Mischief by Alistair Macleod - I've said it before and I'll say it again, if I ever get a tattoo it will be of a quote from this man.  I want his words to be with me, a part of me, always.  I loved this book so much that I went straight to the library and checked out a 'How to Learn Gaelic' program. I also now visit this site frequently.



**1/2 The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss - Meh. The first one was way better, it's slowly becoming much more of a "boy" story with pages dedicated to the physics of things as well as teenage romance. Blech.

****1/2 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - I'd been hearing about this book for years, read the first chapter excerpt at least three times, and finally broke down and read it.  I loved it. It made me want to pay more attention to honor and duty and love. I recommended it to Alison's book group, they all came away depressed from reading it. To each his own I guess.

***1/2 The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson  - This is a short, painfully sweet read about a man who learns he has only months to live.  Ever since he was a boy, he has been obsessed with alphabet lists and traveling.  So him and his wife set out to visit a city beginning with each letter of the alphabet before he dies.  I told my friend Rachel about this book and this is the conversation that followed:
R: "Sounds like you two would be friends."
Me: "Why? Because he's so adventurous?"
R: "No, you know, because of all your weird goals."

**** The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling - Like everything this woman does, I loved it. The tales were as enchanting as any fairytale I grew up with.

**** 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life Lessons from Teaching by Phillip Done - Hilarious. Pretty sure everyone, teacher or not, would love this book.

****1/2 Zeitoon by Dave Eggers - I can't say enough good about this book. I've never read a book that has made me want to work so much harder at life. It makes me want to throw a broken bike on my back and run to work just so I won't be late. That might not make sense but it will after you read it. Read it. Now.



*** At Home with Flowers by Jane Packer - I want to put flowers everywhere.

*** Down to the Wire by Robert Shoop - A history of every Triple Crown winner. It's a book written in a style that makes you feel like you're listening to an announcer at the races. Kind of jumpy and quick. But I liked it.

*** The Best American Sports Writing edited by Jane Leavy - Fascinating tales of prodigy surfers,  NFL video games, and free divers who dive deep without oxygen tanks. Loved it.

**** Don't Throw It, Grow It! by Deborah Peterson and Millicent Selsam - Pretty sure I saved every avocado pit this summer in the hopes of planting them and never did. A girl can still dream, right?

** Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis - I was actually surprised by how little joy this book brought me. I was expecting a beautiful recounting of Mr. Lewis' changing faith but instead it was almost an entire book composed of his rational reactions to books on his life's reading list.  I exaggerate, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't understand half the things he wrote because I had never read the books to which he was consistently referring.

**** Persuasion by Jane Austen - Whenever I read an Austen novel I am always surprised by how emotional I become over basically nothing. I mean, nothing ever happens in any of her books and yet it becomes physically painful to put them down while reading - I just have to find out what happens or my heart will burst...over nothing really.