http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/159587 en-US Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:30:24 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 27380471 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:30:24 -0700
Having said all that, I do think the book is possibly still worth reading, as it does bring up some interesting perspectives. Just don't take it too seriously. ]]>
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/25/08
shelves:
review:
The Tipping Point masquerades as a scientific book, but it's anything but. At first glance, I found it interesting. The problem is that all the while, I had this sense that something was wrong. About halfway through the book, I figured out what it was: while Gladwell makes some interesting points, he doesn't back up what he says (or if he does, it's with flimsy evidence). It's no surprise that his background is in journalism and not science, as the book inspires that constant feeling that while arguments seem superficially sound, someone with more expertise could come in and topple the whole thing. It's sort of like how all science reporting in the popular media feels.

Having said all that, I do think the book is possibly still worth reading, as it does bring up some interesting perspectives. Just don't take it too seriously.
]]> 9787725 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:06:41 -0700 The Tipping Point, primarily because one of the key examples in the book is of a sandpile that is stable until one particular grain of sand causes an avalanche (although this book is more scientifically robust). It's a pretty interesting read, but at times I found it a bit challenging, even though Buchanan generally writes at a good level for popular science. I also did not find the book as interesting as I did one of his other books, Nexus.
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author: Mark Buchanan
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/15/08
shelves:
review:
This is an interesting exploration of the reasons that many types of catastrophes are genuinely unpredictable. The explanation has to do with chaos theory and more. It reminds me in some ways of The Tipping Point, primarily because one of the key examples in the book is of a sandpile that is stable until one particular grain of sand causes an avalanche (although this book is more scientifically robust). It's a pretty interesting read, but at times I found it a bit challenging, even though Buchanan generally writes at a good level for popular science. I also did not find the book as interesting as I did one of his other books, Nexus.

]]> 22851810 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:02:26 -0700
The first half or so of this book had this escalating creepiness, because Larson was giving us all this information about Holmes and hints about what he was doing, but not actually revealing a single murder. Eventually this tactic had to stop, and we started actually seeing what he was doing (which was still really creepy). Interlaced with Holmes' story is that of the fair, which is a story entirely about the men of the fair. (Well, actually there was one woman, as they thought it would be cute to get a woman architect to design the Women's Building. Some high society witch-with-a-B compromised the building by forcing the contractors to deviate from the original design, culminating in the architect having a nervous breakdown after she had fought this every way she could. So nice to see women supporting each other. :| But of course this is all an aside.) The fair almost didn't happen because there was so much bureaucracy and political crap going on. Once its design and construction was underway, we learn about the various architects involved. They were definitely a cast of characters. Eventually they managed to construct a small city, overcoming so many barriers. And the people did come to the fair. So it was a pretty interesting tale, really. ]]>
author: Erik Larson
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 07/10/08
shelves:
review:
I only read this book because it's the June pick for a book group I keep meaning to go to. The book tells two only peripherally-related stories: the creation of the landmark Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the doings of a serial killer operating in Chicago at the time. The murderer, H. H. Holmes, devised a clever way of luring his victims, young women: a hotel to house the mobile people passing through to see the world's fair.

The first half or so of this book had this escalating creepiness, because Larson was giving us all this information about Holmes and hints about what he was doing, but not actually revealing a single murder. Eventually this tactic had to stop, and we started actually seeing what he was doing (which was still really creepy). Interlaced with Holmes' story is that of the fair, which is a story entirely about the men of the fair. (Well, actually there was one woman, as they thought it would be cute to get a woman architect to design the Women's Building. Some high society witch-with-a-B compromised the building by forcing the contractors to deviate from the original design, culminating in the architect having a nervous breakdown after she had fought this every way she could. So nice to see women supporting each other. :| But of course this is all an aside.) The fair almost didn't happen because there was so much bureaucracy and political crap going on. Once its design and construction was underway, we learn about the various architects involved. They were definitely a cast of characters. Eventually they managed to construct a small city, overcoming so many barriers. And the people did come to the fair. So it was a pretty interesting tale, really.
]]> 22845203 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:02:38 -0700
So, what I didn't particularly like was that it seemed like Barber was exceptionally repetitive, especially in the first half. This is largely a result of the fact that this is written as an academic book. Because Barber needs to make sure that everyone knows that he did his research, he says the same thing different ways and then backs everything up with multiple points. Another thing that irritated me was that his writing style was sometimes less accessible than it could have been. This is also because of the academic nature of the book. This kind of writing bugs me because it's unnecessary--big words I don't know don't impress me that much. ]]>
author: Benjamin R. Barber
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.20
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/22/08
shelves:
review:
This was an interesting enough book, though I have a couple gripes about it. It's about the rampant consumerism that is present in the West, but especially the U.S. His key argument is that adult consumers are infantilized by the current economy, which primarily produces needs rather than goods. He also criticizes the economy for targeting children as consumers. Later in the book, he criticizes capitalism for developing the way it has developed, and provides several suggestions for fixing all of the problems caused by the current consumerism. Barber writes from an American perspective, but he discusses the global scene pretty well.

So, what I didn't particularly like was that it seemed like Barber was exceptionally repetitive, especially in the first half. This is largely a result of the fact that this is written as an academic book. Because Barber needs to make sure that everyone knows that he did his research, he says the same thing different ways and then backs everything up with multiple points. Another thing that irritated me was that his writing style was sometimes less accessible than it could have been. This is also because of the academic nature of the book. This kind of writing bugs me because it's unnecessary--big words I don't know don't impress me that much.
]]> 11420563 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:12:02 -0700
So why didn't I think it was great? It was just too predictable and there was too much deus ex machina action. They wouldn't really have been able to overcome most of the challenges they faced, if things had been more realistic (and I mean realistic according to the reality in the book). I also found the fact that she was a much younger girl than in the movie somehow a bit creepy. Still, I'm glad I read it, as it is considered a classic.

P.S. Strangely, I don't think I've ever watched the movie. I think I've seen bits of it, but never in its entirety. Maybe I would have liked the book more if I liked the movie. ]]>
author: L. Frank Baum
name: Kelly
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1900
rating: 2
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/18/08
shelves:
review:
I know this is probably sacrilegious or something, but I was mostly just bored by this book. I know it's a kids book, but I guess I expected more. Everyone knows the basic story: Dorothy of Kansas gets swept away in a tornado, and ends up in some faraway land called Oz. She desperately wants to get back to Kansas and embarks on a quest to meet the most powerful wizard of the land, who people believe could help her get back. On the way she makes an odd combination of friends, each with some goofy trait or two (and their own greatest wish to ask Oz for). They make it through several dangerous adventures on the way to see Oz and after visiting with him. Everyone gets what they want eventually, except Dorothy, who gets sent to see Glinda the Good Witch. Finally she is told the secret to getting back, and all her friends get what they want, too.

So why didn't I think it was great? It was just too predictable and there was too much deus ex machina action. They wouldn't really have been able to overcome most of the challenges they faced, if things had been more realistic (and I mean realistic according to the reality in the book). I also found the fact that she was a much younger girl than in the movie somehow a bit creepy. Still, I'm glad I read it, as it is considered a classic.

P.S. Strangely, I don't think I've ever watched the movie. I think I've seen bits of it, but never in its entirety. Maybe I would have liked the book more if I liked the movie.
]]> 2536016 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:42:52 -0700 pishtaco (a white attacker who will steal all of their fat), obesity in the popular rap scene, straight porn with big women, gay porn with big men, and shrine to a "saintly" lady in Portugal who claims to have not eaten for the last 13 years of her life. There is an interesting article about how Swedish teenage girls talk about fat. Basically, they complain about their fat only if they aren't fat at all; to complain about it if you are actually overweight is a faux pa. Another article talks about the products Brazilian women use to avoid gaining weight, products that do things like alter your body chemistry so it doesn't absorb fat. Others deal with the fat-related side-effects of some HIV treatments, the importance of Spam and other fatty foods to native Hawaiian cuisine, and the goings-on of a women's fat activist group. One article looked at the way we use coffee drinks to treat or indulge ourselves occasionally or even daily. The author found that many people would request skim milk but then order whipped cream. I thought this was funny, especially because I generally request them to hold the whipped cream. I ought to be skinny, I'm so saintly.
]]>
author: Don Kulick
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/16/08
shelves:
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This is a collection of essays relating to fat, by anthropologists. Overall, I found the collection really interesting, but some were better than others. Generally these are musings on aspects of fat on humans, although there is one article that focuses on olive oil and another about lard as a delicacy in some parts of Italy. One of the more interesting articles is about a culture in Niger where women should be as fat as possible, rather than thin. Stretch marks and big buttocks are considered beautiful and young girls are force-fed to fatten them up as much as possible. There are articles about people in the Andes who fear the pishtaco (a white attacker who will steal all of their fat), obesity in the popular rap scene, straight porn with big women, gay porn with big men, and shrine to a "saintly" lady in Portugal who claims to have not eaten for the last 13 years of her life. There is an interesting article about how Swedish teenage girls talk about fat. Basically, they complain about their fat only if they aren't fat at all; to complain about it if you are actually overweight is a faux pa. Another article talks about the products Brazilian women use to avoid gaining weight, products that do things like alter your body chemistry so it doesn't absorb fat. Others deal with the fat-related side-effects of some HIV treatments, the importance of Spam and other fatty foods to native Hawaiian cuisine, and the goings-on of a women's fat activist group. One article looked at the way we use coffee drinks to treat or indulge ourselves occasionally or even daily. The author found that many people would request skim milk but then order whipped cream. I thought this was funny, especially because I generally request them to hold the whipped cream. I ought to be skinny, I'm so saintly.

]]> 8993819 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:02:01 -0700
As you might imagine, the story is kind of unusual for bringing all of these things together in a coherent way. The basic premise is that Alice Butler works for PopCo, an internationally successful toy company. She was brought into a long-term focus group that was supposed to come up with a Big Idea relating to a specific demographic that the company has trouble selling to. The group is staying at an isolated estate, cut off from the Internet and any other non-PopCo-related media. They go to all these seminars and mingle with each other and so on. While she's there, Alice is getting mysterious encoded messages from some unknown person. The book sleeve made it sound like this was a huge part of the story, but really it's not, at least until the end. A bigger part of the story is her relationship with the people at the estate and the tale of her childhood, right after her father abandoned her. The other constant theme is marketing, marketing, marketing.

One of the things that's interesting about the book is that before you read it, you are given the impression that PopCo is sinister or evil. But in reality it's not really different from any other company, as it's just a normal company with normal, aggressive marketing tactics. People sometimes forget that with capitalism, the number one goal is for the individual to make as much money as possible, without consideration for the safety/sanity of others. And companies are just collections of individuals. These ideas come out in the end of the book.

I do have two slightly negative things to say about the book. First, it was a really slow read for me. I can't say exactly why, but it took a long time for me to get into it, even though I found it interesting. And even then, my reading pace didn't really speed up like it normally does. I read that Thomas is part of a group of writers who intentionally write in a very simple, straightforward manner. Personally, I think a little embellishment doesn't do any harm and sometimes can really move things along. The other thing is that I do have to admit that the ending did disappoint me just a little. It was just a bit of a let-down, as it didn't stand up to the rest of the book somehow. I just expected something more impressive. But I still thought it was great, overall. So read it but be forewarned. ]]>
author: Scarlett Thomas
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/15/08
shelves:
review:
This was really an awesome and exciting book. I couldn't really name what kind of book this is, as it interweaves so many topics (and well) that it's unbelievable. Foundational themes include cryptanalysis and marketing, but the author also touches on several other interesting areas, including 17th-century pirates, artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, virtual worlds, gaming, mathematics in general, and British schoolgirl life in the 80s. I loved the nod that Bletchley Park got, as I worked on a project there during my time in England.

As you might imagine, the story is kind of unusual for bringing all of these things together in a coherent way. The basic premise is that Alice Butler works for PopCo, an internationally successful toy company. She was brought into a long-term focus group that was supposed to come up with a Big Idea relating to a specific demographic that the company has trouble selling to. The group is staying at an isolated estate, cut off from the Internet and any other non-PopCo-related media. They go to all these seminars and mingle with each other and so on. While she's there, Alice is getting mysterious encoded messages from some unknown person. The book sleeve made it sound like this was a huge part of the story, but really it's not, at least until the end. A bigger part of the story is her relationship with the people at the estate and the tale of her childhood, right after her father abandoned her. The other constant theme is marketing, marketing, marketing.

One of the things that's interesting about the book is that before you read it, you are given the impression that PopCo is sinister or evil. But in reality it's not really different from any other company, as it's just a normal company with normal, aggressive marketing tactics. People sometimes forget that with capitalism, the number one goal is for the individual to make as much money as possible, without consideration for the safety/sanity of others. And companies are just collections of individuals. These ideas come out in the end of the book.

I do have two slightly negative things to say about the book. First, it was a really slow read for me. I can't say exactly why, but it took a long time for me to get into it, even though I found it interesting. And even then, my reading pace didn't really speed up like it normally does. I read that Thomas is part of a group of writers who intentionally write in a very simple, straightforward manner. Personally, I think a little embellishment doesn't do any harm and sometimes can really move things along. The other thing is that I do have to admit that the ending did disappoint me just a little. It was just a bit of a let-down, as it didn't stand up to the rest of the book somehow. I just expected something more impressive. But I still thought it was great, overall. So read it but be forewarned.
]]> 24564613 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:47:53 -0700 Joann Sfar, primarily because of Vampire Loves, which he wrote and illustrated. Sardine was written by a frequent collaborator of his and illustrated by Sfar. It is the story of two kids, Sardine and Little Louie, and Sardine's space pirate uncle, Yellow Shoulder. They get involved in some crazy antics, indeed. I love the artwork in Sardine (lots of goofy space monsters) but was a little bored by the writing. To be fair, this is a book targeted at 4th to 8th graders--though I've read other kids books that entertained me more. I have not decided yet if I will read the follow-up Sardine books, but there's a chance I might get them just for the artwork.
]]>
author: Emmanuel Guibert
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/15/08
shelves:
review:
I am a big fan of Joann Sfar, primarily because of Vampire Loves, which he wrote and illustrated. Sardine was written by a frequent collaborator of his and illustrated by Sfar. It is the story of two kids, Sardine and Little Louie, and Sardine's space pirate uncle, Yellow Shoulder. They get involved in some crazy antics, indeed. I love the artwork in Sardine (lots of goofy space monsters) but was a little bored by the writing. To be fair, this is a book targeted at 4th to 8th graders--though I've read other kids books that entertained me more. I have not decided yet if I will read the follow-up Sardine books, but there's a chance I might get them just for the artwork.

]]> 22845284 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:11:35 -0700
But there were other things about it that made it worth reading, as it turns out. Who knew a town of 62 could completely reinvent the parade? The explanation of the importance of barbecue was also pretty good, particularly as BBQ is massively important out here in North Carolina. And I just think it's weird, having grown up with Texas BBQ. I couldn't believe that boat church--sermons held in the middle of a lake to swimsuit-clad church-goers in boats and on jet skis--was in Indiana, of all places. The book is obviously full of these crazy gems from small-town America. Overall, it was a pretty funny book--not hilarious, but funny.

Oh, and the two Oklahoma chapters were interesting/funny, though probably not as much as I'd hoped. I did enjoy the one North Carolina chapter, about the town of Wilson outlawing "ugly" porch furniture, like worn-out, upholstered couches.
]]>
author: Bill Geist
name: Kelly
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:
I picked this book up for precisely two reasons: 1. Chapter 10--Bombsville: McAlester, Oklahoma and 2. Chapter 28--The Napa Valley of Cow Chips: Beaver, Oklahoma.

But there were other things about it that made it worth reading, as it turns out. Who knew a town of 62 could completely reinvent the parade? The explanation of the importance of barbecue was also pretty good, particularly as BBQ is massively important out here in North Carolina. And I just think it's weird, having grown up with Texas BBQ. I couldn't believe that boat church--sermons held in the middle of a lake to swimsuit-clad church-goers in boats and on jet skis--was in Indiana, of all places. The book is obviously full of these crazy gems from small-town America. Overall, it was a pretty funny book--not hilarious, but funny.

Oh, and the two Oklahoma chapters were interesting/funny, though probably not as much as I'd hoped. I did enjoy the one North Carolina chapter, about the town of Wilson outlawing "ugly" porch furniture, like worn-out, upholstered couches.

]]> 23945533 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:31:56 -0700 Iain Banks. But his last few books have been somewhat disappointing to me, and this one is no exception. And I have to ask, WHAT is Banks' obsession with incest all about? Argh. Anyway, this book is about Alban, a man who's been a renegade from his rich business family for a few years. But now there is an important family gathering, and they want Alban to play a role. At first he resists, but ultimately yields, leading us to find out more about the family and the business. And of course his sex life. The big issue coloring the whole book is his pending meeting with his cousin, who he had a thing with when he was young and for whom he still carries a flame. I guess I was a little put off by that part of it, making me appreciate the book less than I might have otherwise. But mostly I just didn't care about Alban, and certainly not much about the finances of some rich family. I guessed I was just a little bored. The book obviously had some redeeming value, as I finished it, but I can't really name them.
]]>
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 04/08
date added: 06/07/08
shelves:
review:
I consider myself a big fan of Iain Banks. But his last few books have been somewhat disappointing to me, and this one is no exception. And I have to ask, WHAT is Banks' obsession with incest all about? Argh. Anyway, this book is about Alban, a man who's been a renegade from his rich business family for a few years. But now there is an important family gathering, and they want Alban to play a role. At first he resists, but ultimately yields, leading us to find out more about the family and the business. And of course his sex life. The big issue coloring the whole book is his pending meeting with his cousin, who he had a thing with when he was young and for whom he still carries a flame. I guess I was a little put off by that part of it, making me appreciate the book less than I might have otherwise. But mostly I just didn't care about Alban, and certainly not much about the finances of some rich family. I guessed I was just a little bored. The book obviously had some redeeming value, as I finished it, but I can't really name them.

]]> 7977954 Fri, 23 May 2008 21:24:25 -0700
author: Martin Millar
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 05/23/08
shelves:
review:
I really wanted to like this book. Scottish faeries fluttering about New York City? Sounds pretty cool. But it just didn't work for me at all. I think the book would be funny to many people, but the humor just came off all wrong to me. It seemed largely forced, pretentious and basically not funny. So for the first time in a long time, I gave up trying to read a book, less than halfway through. Usually I tough it out and finish, but not this time.
]]> 7653803 Fri, 23 May 2008 21:17:09 -0700
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Kelly
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/23/08
shelves:
review:
I stubbornly resisted reading this book for some time, because everyone else was reading it. But it turns out that I really liked it--it's easily my favorite recently read book. I probably don't need to go into detail, as everyone knows about the story. It's set mostly in Afghanistan and gives a personal view of the violence and upheaval that people there have been living with over the decades. With that as a backdrop, we also get a story of delayed atonement for childhood misdeeds. I really don't have much more to say. Basically, if you've been considering reading it, stop thinking about it and do it.
]]> 22791158 Thu, 22 May 2008 20:48:30 -0700 Briar Rose is not a fantasy tale, although it uses the tale of Sleeping Beauty to tell another sad story of the Holocaust. The basic storyline is that a young woman's grandmother dies and leaves a box of mementos that eludes immediate interpretation. This sends the girl on a quest to find the meaning, and she learns a variety of surprising and amazing things about her grandmother. She finds out that she survived the Holocaust in a remarkable way, and journeys to the site of a former concentration camp, meeting with great hatred and denial from the locals. This all culminates in the girl and her family developing a much greater appreciation for the grandmother. Overall, I thought the book was pretty good. It was a bit simplistic, but then it is listed as a teen book, after all. The main issue I had was that the characters were a little predictable and flat.
]]>
author: Jane Yolen
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 05/22/08
shelves:
review:
Briar Rose is not a fantasy tale, although it uses the tale of Sleeping Beauty to tell another sad story of the Holocaust. The basic storyline is that a young woman's grandmother dies and leaves a box of mementos that eludes immediate interpretation. This sends the girl on a quest to find the meaning, and she learns a variety of surprising and amazing things about her grandmother. She finds out that she survived the Holocaust in a remarkable way, and journeys to the site of a former concentration camp, meeting with great hatred and denial from the locals. This all culminates in the girl and her family developing a much greater appreciation for the grandmother. Overall, I thought the book was pretty good. It was a bit simplistic, but then it is listed as a teen book, after all. The main issue I had was that the characters were a little predictable and flat.

]]> 22789697 Thu, 22 May 2008 20:28:46 -0700
author: William Goldman
name: Kelly
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1973
rating: 4
read at: 04/08
date added: 05/22/08
shelves:
review:
So, I did not read this or even intentionally watch the movie when I was young, unlike a lot of people. In other words, I'm no Princess Bride groupie. So I approached this book without favoritism. And... I did like it, but there were some things about it that annoyed me. It was quite funny, and was of course a decent fantasy tale, with lots of action and intrigue. But you just can't get away from the fact that Buttercup is stereotypically useless female whose two purposes are to be desirable and to be shuffled around between men. And that is just irritating, and a bit boring. Plus I think I'm a bit too cynical to buy into the whole true love thing. But it's still worth reading, I guess.
]]> 5089191 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:39:09 -0700
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Kelly
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 08/07
date added: 04/15/08
shelves:
review:
This is a nice collection of short stories mostly about Indians in India or the UK or US. They are not upbeat stories, and for this reason I quite enjoyed reading them. They don't focus on terrible tragedies, but there is a healthy dose of the depressing mundane throughout, so the stories are like real life. Sad things sometimes happen to decent people. The final story did end on a more positive note, but it felt reasonable and deserved.
]]> 17550107 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:50:13 -0700
author: Amulya Malladi
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/17/08
shelves:
review:
The Sound of Language is a nice book. I didn't find it remarkable, but it did a good job of illustrating a few things that native English speakers generally don't really know about and I found that enjoyable. The book is about an Afghan refugee living in Denmark. She has to deal with all the requirements placed upon her--primarily, to learn Danish in school and work in an apprenticeship that should help her master Danish. She struggles with the language initially, but improves rapidly after embarking on a very unusual apprenticeship: working for a Danish bee-keeper. Over time, she and the widower she is working with establish a relationship of sorts, which causes the family she is staying with to question her safety, although they had concerns from the beginning. Soon, an offer of marriage comes along and forces her to consider her options and obligations: as an Afghan woman, she should accept it, but as a woman living in Denmark, she should maintain her freedom. It's an interesting inner turmoil to watch, and paints a realistic and understandable picture of what it is like to be a Muslim woman from a conservative society. Yet another thing that happens is a hate-based attack on the main character that brings up issues that were brewing throughout the book. Many of the bee-keeper's neighbors and family are very anti-immigrant, and believe she was just trying to exploit him or Denmark in some way. Her family and friends all believe it's wrong for her to be working with a lone man, revealing their great distrust for Danes in general. In the end there is a much happier ending than I expected, but it actually works. We get to see how the gap between immigrants (or minorities or whoever) can be bridged when we look at each other as people first.
]]> 17564682 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:42:27 -0700 ]]>
author: Amy Tan
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 02/08
date added: 03/11/08
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed this book, though not as much as I'd hoped to. It's an unusual ghost story, and I guess I'm just not a huge fan of ghost stories. Although I found the story and the characters interesting, I just never could really get into the book. But one of the best parts of the book is the relationship between the two "sisters" Olivia (the younger) and Kwan (much older but completely foreign). It plays out in interesting ways. So I can say I'm glad I read it, but don't really know who I would recommend it to, since I don't have a good sense for who would really enjoy it.

]]> 16243468 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:56:23 -0700 The Girl with a Pearl Earring, and it didn't disappoint. The story is that of a family of country folk (from Dorsetshire, specifically) who move to London to get away from the scene of the tragic early death of one of the sons, in 1792. The father, Thomas, was a chairmaker and had received an off-the-cuff offer from a circus owner (Astley) to come to London and work for him. Thomas took him literally and the family packed up all their possessions and rode into town. Fortunately for them, Astley was as good as his word, even if he didn't remember giving it. He set the family up in a house and they began carrying on as before, the men making chairs and the women making buttons. Eventually Thomas ends up working for Astley, as you would expect. This precipitates an event involving Jem's sister that will cause great distress.

Throughout all this, the son, Jem, has befriended a local streetwise girl, Maggie, who's under virtually no supervision, so she sort of rules her world in a way not many kids can. Jem, on the other hand, is a fairly docile, rule-following type who enthusiastically helps his father in his chairmaking. Despite the differences, the two quickly become friends. Their friendship drives the rest of the story.

An important background figure who occasionally makes it to the foreground is William Blake, which I think adds a nice touch to the book's historical cogency. The other background character that becomes important at the end of the book is the French Revolution.

All in all, a nice historical novel rich in detail, and a cute little story of young love to go along with it.]]>
author: Tracy Chevalier
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.16
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/11/08
shelves:
review:
This was a nice book. I picked it up because I had enjoyed The Girl with a Pearl Earring, and it didn't disappoint. The story is that of a family of country folk (from Dorsetshire, specifically) who move to London to get away from the scene of the tragic early death of one of the sons, in 1792. The father, Thomas, was a chairmaker and had received an off-the-cuff offer from a circus owner (Astley) to come to London and work for him. Thomas took him literally and the family packed up all their possessions and rode into town. Fortunately for them, Astley was as good as his word, even if he didn't remember giving it. He set the family up in a house and they began carrying on as before, the men making chairs and the women making buttons. Eventually Thomas ends up working for Astley, as you would expect. This precipitates an event involving Jem's sister that will cause great distress.

Throughout all this, the son, Jem, has befriended a local streetwise girl, Maggie, who's under virtually no supervision, so she sort of rules her world in a way not many kids can. Jem, on the other hand, is a fairly docile, rule-following type who enthusiastically helps his father in his chairmaking. Despite the differences, the two quickly become friends. Their friendship drives the rest of the story.

An important background figure who occasionally makes it to the foreground is William Blake, which I think adds a nice touch to the book's historical cogency. The other background character that becomes important at the end of the book is the French Revolution.

All in all, a nice historical novel rich in detail, and a cute little story of young love to go along with it.
]]> 16243549 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:59:14 -0800
]]>
author: Lisa McKay
name: Kelly
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 01/08
date added: 02/24/08
shelves:
review:
When you go to the library, you risk unwittingly picking up a Christian novel, I recently discovered. Had I read all the little critic bites I would have seen it referred to as "one of Christian fiction's best novels of the year", but I never read those things because they're just well-picked propaganda. But anyway, it turns out that this book was pretty good. The Christian element was really subdued, not preachy or judgmental at all, and in fact my opinion is that it doesn't really even need the label. Much of the religious stuff could just as easily be replaced by philosophical musings. Sure, the main characters are all on a Christian mission, but it is an adventurous one halfway around the world, in Indonesia, and they're older teenagers. Once there, much more important than their individual faith is the label "Christian", which endangers them when violence flares up between native Muslims and Christians. So, overall, a pretty good story with some nice current world events context. The ending surprised me a bit, too, which I always appreciate.


]]> 16243199 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 09:44:23 -0800
The problem I had with the book was that it was just so slow. It was depressing but that was okay--after all, the main character is in a horrible situation and doesn't have any real chance for positivity. But there was just no action through most of the book, and even when she did finally DO something about her situation, it was presented in a way the felt a bit like a let-down.]]>
author: A. Manette Ansay
name: Kelly
average rating: 2.79
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 02/08
date added: 02/24/08
shelves:
review:
I wasn't as impressed with this book as some people (and Oprah) were. I did think it was a good illustration of a variety of things: Catholic family life in the 60s, the improving but still bad position women were in in the 60s, and some truly nasty (and absolutely believable) in-laws. The main character is a woman whose family (husband and two kids) has moved in with her husband's parents because he has just lost his job. The in-laws are horrible to her and mean to the kids. Her husband is a bit of a waster, seemingly unmotivated. She is the one who gets a job first, as a school-teacher, but earns no respect from her in-laws for doing so.

The problem I had with the book was that it was just so slow. It was depressing but that was okay--after all, the main character is in a horrible situation and doesn't have any real chance for positivity. But there was just no action through most of the book, and even when she did finally DO something about her situation, it was presented in a way the felt a bit like a let-down.
]]> 11419640 Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:58:37 -0800
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven is just like you would expect from Flagg's previous work. There is a cast of several characters that we've met before, in Elmwood Springs, Missouri. One of the most positive people alive is a woman (Elner) in her 90s, and a critical moment in the book is when she falls off a ladder after being stung by several wasps. This leads to her apparent death and we see the town mobilizing into action, calling each other, going over to Elner's to clean up, baking sympathy dishes for the surviving family... Meanwhile, Elner's having a fascinating journey in heaven, and conversing with the two gods up there. But eventually the journey ends and she returns to her body back on earth, to the shock of several people. Life goes on and many of the main characters experience some small successes. Then Elner actually does die, and life still goes on. It's made very clear just how many people's lives Elner has touched, and this is actually inspirational, even to me. Overall, an enjoyable feel-good story.]]>
author: Fannie Flagg
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 01/08
date added: 01/05/08
shelves:
review:
People are probably surprised when they find out I'm a fan of Fannie Flagg. This came about as a result of Fried Green Tomates (the movie), which led to me reading the book and then some of her other stuff. She paints such a realistic picture of characters living in small-town America in the recent past. She does whitewashe a little and leave some of the ugly parts out (like the commonality of domestic violence), but her characters are so complete and amazingly dynamic (you know Flagg knows each of them so well that she doesn't even have to think what they would in a particular situation--she already knows). And the deadpan humor doesn't hurt.

Can't Wait to Get to Heaven is just like you would expect from Flagg's previous work. There is a cast of several characters that we've met before, in Elmwood Springs, Missouri. One of the most positive people alive is a woman (Elner) in her 90s, and a critical moment in the book is when she falls off a ladder after being stung by several wasps. This leads to her apparent death and we see the town mobilizing into action, calling each other, going over to Elner's to clean up, baking sympathy dishes for the surviving family... Meanwhile, Elner's having a fascinating journey in heaven, and conversing with the two gods up there. But eventually the journey ends and she returns to her body back on earth, to the shock of several people. Life goes on and many of the main characters experience some small successes. Then Elner actually does die, and life still goes on. It's made very clear just how many people's lives Elner has touched, and this is actually inspirational, even to me. Overall, an enjoyable feel-good story.
]]> 11756562 Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:54:20 -0800
author: Fannie Flagg
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 01/05/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 11417938 Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:52:20 -0800
Just as the main character, Kate, arrives into town in rural Vermont, a young teenage girl is murdered. The murder is quickly tied to one that occurred 30 years previously, that of Del "The Potato Girl". The characters aren't really trying to help solve the case, but aspects related to it keep popping up. So they get drawn in, and then it appears the Del's ghost has become an actual character in the book. Eventually they figure out who did it, and when they find out a little girl is missing (all those in the know knew her murder was pending), they go and found the bad guy and Kate shoots him and saves the girl.

Since I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, they have to be better than average to impress me. (My problem is that if I figure out who did the crime, I think the writer made it to easy and obvious, and if I don't figure out who it is, I feel stupid and think the writer did not give sufficient hints.) This one started out better than average, for about the first half of the book. But then some weird stuff started happening and it deteriorated. One of the problems is that the men in the book are very unrealistically portrayed. The say and do the most absurd things. And then the main character herself became less convincing (and sympathetic) in the second half of the book. Really, I guess I didn't much like the main character. I didn't feel sorry for her for her pitiful love life, for instance.

All that aside, if you're looking for light reading and like mysteries that are not fully genre standard, you'd probably enjoy this book. It flits back and forth between 2002 and 1971 in a way that I enjoyed, and it's a quick read--only 250 pages.]]>
author: Jennifer McMahon
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 12/07
date added: 01/01/08
shelves:
review:
I thought this was an okay book. It's basically a murder mystery, with a touch of mainstream mixed in.

Just as the main character, Kate, arrives into town in rural Vermont, a young teenage girl is murdered. The murder is quickly tied to one that occurred 30 years previously, that of Del "The Potato Girl". The characters aren't really trying to help solve the case, but aspects related to it keep popping up. So they get drawn in, and then it appears the Del's ghost has become an actual character in the book. Eventually they figure out who did it, and when they find out a little girl is missing (all those in the know knew her murder was pending), they go and found the bad guy and Kate shoots him and saves the girl.

Since I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, they have to be better than average to impress me. (My problem is that if I figure out who did the crime, I think the writer made it to easy and obvious, and if I don't figure out who it is, I feel stupid and think the writer did not give sufficient hints.) This one started out better than average, for about the first half of the book. But then some weird stuff started happening and it deteriorated. One of the problems is that the men in the book are very unrealistically portrayed. The say and do the most absurd things. And then the main character herself became less convincing (and sympathetic) in the second half of the book. Really, I guess I didn't much like the main character. I didn't feel sorry for her for her pitiful love life, for instance.

All that aside, if you're looking for light reading and like mysteries that are not fully genre standard, you'd probably enjoy this book. It flits back and forth between 2002 and 1971 in a way that I enjoyed, and it's a quick read--only 250 pages.
]]> 11417727 Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:50:52 -0800
The book is a dual portrait of a young couple in LA in the early 1980s, where Josie is the narrator and Michael has just committed suicide. Josie tells her story while she reminisces about him. Of course she struggles with his death and tries to understand it and who he really was. Although she never really admits it, it turns out that he wasn't as nice to her as she had thought he was. For one, he didn't work but didn't mind her working 3 jobs. He didn't mind being cut off by his rich mother and refused to take money from his father, too. He basically was a young, idealistic bohemian and was using Josie as a prop in his life play.

I didn't think Josie was a particularly fascinating character. She wasn't bad, but a lot of people will find her hard to take: she cusses a lot, drives around drunk, talks about sex all the time, and does a variety of illicit drugs. And I wasn't entirely convinced by the relationship that develops between her and Michael's mother (though it certainly starts off interesting).

There were several things about the book that I really liked. One is the exploration of the concept of perfection. Josie eventually understands that Michael killed himself because he couldn't meet his ideal of an artist. He had very high standards, since he was raised in high society and exposed to the most refined culture, and he just couldn't attain that level of achievement and he knew it. He was a very good artist, but not good enough to rank among the best. And who wants to be second-rate? Not Michael. Of course, the portrait of Michael is also a pretty good study of depression, as was the portrayal of Josie's perspective on it--she knew he was having problems, but had no idea how to help him. ]]>
author: Janet Fitch
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 12/07
date added: 01/01/08
shelves:
review:
I was nervous reading Paint it Black because I didn't want to be let down, as Fitch's previous novel, White Oleander, remains one of my favorite books. Although I don't think Paint it Black is as good as White Oleander, I definitely wasn't let down.

The book is a dual portrait of a young couple in LA in the early 1980s, where Josie is the narrator and Michael has just committed suicide. Josie tells her story while she reminisces about him. Of course she struggles with his death and tries to understand it and who he really was. Although she never really admits it, it turns out that he wasn't as nice to her as she had thought he was. For one, he didn't work but didn't mind her working 3 jobs. He didn't mind being cut off by his rich mother and refused to take money from his father, too. He basically was a young, idealistic bohemian and was using Josie as a prop in his life play.

I didn't think Josie was a particularly fascinating character. She wasn't bad, but a lot of people will find her hard to take: she cusses a lot, drives around drunk, talks about sex all the time, and does a variety of illicit drugs. And I wasn't entirely convinced by the relationship that develops between her and Michael's mother (though it certainly starts off interesting).

There were several things about the book that I really liked. One is the exploration of the concept of perfection. Josie eventually understands that Michael killed himself because he couldn't meet his ideal of an artist. He had very high standards, since he was raised in high society and exposed to the most refined culture, and he just couldn't attain that level of achievement and he knew it. He was a very good artist, but not good enough to rank among the best. And who wants to be second-rate? Not Michael. Of course, the portrait of Michael is also a pretty good study of depression, as was the portrayal of Josie's perspective on it--she knew he was having problems, but had no idea how to help him.
]]> 8993825 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:40:46 -0800
author: Barbara Goldsmith
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 11/07
date added: 11/30/07
shelves:
review:
This was a pretty good book. It intentionally steps away from the myth of Marie Curie, and grounds the book in what really mattered to her: science. Curie lived and breathed physics, as the most important thing in her adult life. The book does address other aspects, like family, the good and bad of love, her breakdown, her WWI activities, and Nobel prize politics (shameful, really). But tying everything together is the continued stream of science. And of course it does delve into her feelings about the plight of women in science and her efforts to overcome that to achieve genderless education. I often find biographies a bit boring, but this one kept me interested. It's a good story. If you're the least bit curious about "Madame" Curie, go check it out.
]]> 7653795 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:35:23 -0800
One of the things I really liked about the story that's a little odd is that I felt it resonates quite a bit with modern project management issues. Initial estimates on the size of the project, including both the literal size of the published work (number of books), the amount of time required to accomplish it, and the number of people needed to carry it out were woefully low. The project grew and grew and grew, taking about 70 years in total. This is so like project estimation (especially in software projects) nowadays, and this amused me. But it also reminded me that estimation in an unknown domain is actually really hard. One more project-related point of interest is that the OED creation was basically a big open-source project, just like a lot of current software like Linux and so on. There were some core employees working in Oxford, but the bulk of the work was done by volunteer contributors who were distributed all over the UK and the US. This is just cool. It did lead to some kind of funny problems: Murray had to deal with some confused contributors, who didn't grasp the magnitude of the work they were to be doing and would send frustrating letters, for instance.

There were several other small things that were cool. I enjoyed the basic history of dictionaries in English (reminding us that some languages, like Czech, don't actually have single-language dictionaries)--this came partially out of the colonial idea that English was a pure and natural candidate to be the world's language. I also enjoyed Winchester's description of Minor's time in the Civil War, as he does a pretty good job of evoking the right feel in relatively small space. Finally, there are words and full definitions peppered throughout, and of course these were enjoyable.]]>
author: Simon Winchester
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 10/07
date added: 11/04/07
shelves:
review:
I absolutely loved this book. The fundamental story was really interesting and consistently kept me excited about reading the next page. It is basically about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and specifically two of the key players in that venture: James Murray (the Scottish editor working in England) and W. C. Minor (the American contributor living in an English insane asylum). It doesn't pretend to tell the full story of the OED, but it does give a really good feel for what the project was really like. Not easy. There were several things that made the story so engaging.

One of the things I really liked about the story that's a little odd is that I felt it resonates quite a bit with modern project management issues. Initial estimates on the size of the project, including both the literal size of the published work (number of books), the amount of time required to accomplish it, and the number of people needed to carry it out were woefully low. The project grew and grew and grew, taking about 70 years in total. This is so like project estimation (especially in software projects) nowadays, and this amused me. But it also reminded me that estimation in an unknown domain is actually really hard. One more project-related point of interest is that the OED creation was basically a big open-source project, just like a lot of current software like Linux and so on. There were some core employees working in Oxford, but the bulk of the work was done by volunteer contributors who were distributed all over the UK and the US. This is just cool. It did lead to some kind of funny problems: Murray had to deal with some confused contributors, who didn't grasp the magnitude of the work they were to be doing and would send frustrating letters, for instance.

There were several other small things that were cool. I enjoyed the basic history of dictionaries in English (reminding us that some languages, like Czech, don't actually have single-language dictionaries)--this came partially out of the colonial idea that English was a pure and natural candidate to be the world's language. I also enjoyed Winchester's description of Minor's time in the Civil War, as he does a pretty good job of evoking the right feel in relatively small space. Finally, there are words and full definitions peppered throughout, and of course these were enjoyable.
]]> 7382774 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:08:38 -0700
The secondary thesis of the book is that the work Snow and Whitehead did laid the groundwork for revolutionary change, enabling relatively safe urban living. So the author goes on to discuss modern urban centers, giving many interesting facts that I had not know, such that 90% of women in urban centers receive prenatal care compared to about 67% for those in rural areas, life expectancy is higher in cities, absolute poverty rates are lower, energy use is much more efficient, and so on. We are pretty well equipped to handle disease nowadays, but we wouldn't be able to handle a nuclear bomb. Johnson muses on these two ideas, so you end the book feeling both positive and negative, since we can expect to be able to prevent major outbreaks of contagious diseases, but we can't do much against a dirty bomb. ]]>
author: Steven Johnson
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:
An interesting read on a grim topic I can appreciate, given my recent state of mind. The majority of the book deals with the 1855 cholera outbreak in London and the two people--John Snow the physician and Henry Whitehead the reverend--who helped tell the tale of the outbreak's origins, and ultimately gave the information that taught the city how to prevent future outbreaks. It was a tough battle fighting the miasmists (the most popular theory for disease spread held that it was the bad air quality (the miasma) that made people sick).

The secondary thesis of the book is that the work Snow and Whitehead did laid the groundwork for revolutionary change, enabling relatively safe urban living. So the author goes on to discuss modern urban centers, giving many interesting facts that I had not know, such that 90% of women in urban centers receive prenatal care compared to about 67% for those in rural areas, life expectancy is higher in cities, absolute poverty rates are lower, energy use is much more efficient, and so on. We are pretty well equipped to handle disease nowadays, but we wouldn't be able to handle a nuclear bomb. Johnson muses on these two ideas, so you end the book feeling both positive and negative, since we can expect to be able to prevent major outbreaks of contagious diseases, but we can't do much against a dirty bomb.
]]> 6777261 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:16:43 -0700
author: Janna Levin
name: Kelly
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 09/07
date added: 10/01/07
shelves:
review:
I definitely found the idea of this book very interesting and appealing: a fictionalized tale of the lives of Kurt Godel and Alan Turing. However, I found the actual book less impressive. The majority of the book was based on known truth, but in the name of character development, Levin gave us insight into the characters minds--and this was clearly fiction. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, but I tend to not trust it because it feels like nonfiction and so I don't know when I'm learning something that's not true. Also, the style of the book seemed to waver between nonfiction and fiction, which I found a little annoying because I couldn't stick with one reading style. I did appreciate that at the end of the book, Levin went over the parts that were based on nonfiction and those that were invented. Overall, this was an interesting book, but I am not really sure what to consider it: a nonfiction book made more interesting (but some of it was purely made up) or a standard work of historical fiction (it seemed "truthier" than that). This just bothers me, maybe more than it should. If you're interested in troubled genius-types, particularly those with tragic ends, it's worth reading, as long as you are careful about what facts you take away from it.
]]> 6786051 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:03:50 -0700
author: Alison Bechdel
name: Kelly
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 08/07
date added: 10/01/07
shelves:
review:
This was a pretty interesting memoir-style graphic novel, which is a type of graphic novel I tend to enjoy. There are three main themes throughout the book: the accidental death/possible suicide of Bechdel's father when she was first in college, her father's sexuality, and her own sexuality. She did not know it until later, but her father had several relationships with teenage boys while married to her mother, and she found a lot of significance in this and how knowing it changed the meaning of many of her experiences growing up. The book includes both her tale of coming out as a lesbian and an analysis of all the latent things that were there through her life announcing that. Throughout the book, the importance of reading in both her her father's lives, and in their relationship, is clear. She interprets a variety of things through certain landmark books, aligning her father especially with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Big readers will appreciate this, although I must admit I sometimes find this kind of thing a bit superficial.
]]> 6909486 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:14:32 -0700