http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/211364 en-US Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:12:27 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 28277622 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:12:27 -0700
I interviewed Niloufar Talebi, on The Moe Green Poetry Hour:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/o...

and on my show, Translated By:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/o...

Please check out her work! :-) If you do google searches for "Niloufar Talebi," you can also find short films based on several of the poems in this volume.


]]>
author: Niloufar Talebi
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/19/08
shelves:
review:
What Niloufar Talebi has done in this collection is remarkable. She edited and translated this volume of Iranian poets living outside of Iran to create a beautiful collection, fully accessible to the English-only speaker.

I interviewed Niloufar Talebi, on The Moe Green Poetry Hour:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/o...

and on my show, Translated By:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/o...

Please check out her work! :-) If you do google searches for "Niloufar Talebi," you can also find short films based on several of the poems in this volume.



]]> 29687006 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:34:20 -0700
author: Michelle Sewell
name: Shaindel
average rating: 0.00
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 08/09/08
shelves: anthologies-i-m-in
review:
This anthology is about the joys and difficulties of girlhood. It includes my short story, "What To Expect When You're Introspecting," a poem by Sarah Layden, and work by many, many other fine writers. (It's just that I know Sarah--at least online--so those are the contributors sticking in my head this early in the morning. Please check it out...definitely a must for women interested in gender studies/women's studies.
]]> 29100259 Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:07:39 -0700
In case you're wondering, I'm still obsessed with horses; I just don't have the time or money.]]>
author: Marguerite Henry
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 08/02/08
shelves:
review:
I was obsessed with horses when I was younger and read EVERYTHING by Marguerite Henry. This one is true--and heartbreaking.

In case you're wondering, I'm still obsessed with horses; I just don't have the time or money.
]]> 29100111 Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:05:52 -0700
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 08/02/08
shelves:
review:
I need to go back and read all of these short stories; I only read a few of them in graduate school, but what a lot of people don't realize is that Hardy was a master of the gothic, too. Definitely read "Barbara of the House of Grebe" and "The Withered Arm." Chilling tales! I love-love teaching "The Withered Arm" to college freshman!
]]> 27798236 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:03:42 -0700 ]]>
author: Sabrina Orah Mark
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 01/05
date added: 07/20/08
shelves:
review:
An excellent prose poetry collection. Will write more when I look at it again; it's been a few years.

]]> 26257766 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:10:42 -0700
One thing that I have noticed is that various women identify with different characters of hers VERY strongly. I have friends who want to be Rhoda Manning. I love the Nora Jane stories because I wish I were Nora Jane. I think this is because we become so attached to the recurring characters that they become like old friends. You can read a story in which Rhoda Manning is a little girl ("The Tree Fort" or "The Time Capsule") and then one in which she is in her fifties ("Mexico"), and it really feels like you've known the character her entire life.

I like this entire collection, but because I wish I were Nora Jane, my favorite moment has to be when Nora Jane goes into labor and tells the babies, "I'm your mother...Don't hurt me. I wouldn't hurt you." There's just something really sweet and sincere about her panic, her pleading...

]]>
author: Ellen Gilchrist
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/09/08
shelves:
review:
I just love how simply Ellen Gilchrist can tell a story. She has that simplicity that Hemingway has, which is really deceptive. You can be reading her work and think, "This is fourth grade reading level," but somehow, there is *so much* going on emotionally and in the subtext.

One thing that I have noticed is that various women identify with different characters of hers VERY strongly. I have friends who want to be Rhoda Manning. I love the Nora Jane stories because I wish I were Nora Jane. I think this is because we become so attached to the recurring characters that they become like old friends. You can read a story in which Rhoda Manning is a little girl ("The Tree Fort" or "The Time Capsule") and then one in which she is in her fifties ("Mexico"), and it really feels like you've known the character her entire life.

I like this entire collection, but because I wish I were Nora Jane, my favorite moment has to be when Nora Jane goes into labor and tells the babies, "I'm your mother...Don't hurt me. I wouldn't hurt you." There's just something really sweet and sincere about her panic, her pleading...


]]> 16205302 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:52:55 -0700
http://www.contrarymagazine.co...
]]>
author: Donald Ray Pollock
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 07/09/08
shelves:
review:
Here's my review at Contrary magazine:

http://www.contrarymagazine.co...

]]> 26259535 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:21:33 -0700
author: Tess Gallagher
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 26259533 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:21:31 -0700
author: Tess Gallagher
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 26259271 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:21:07 -0700
Carver is a master of the line break that same way that Bukowski was. Sometimes, the words may seem mundane, but it's the line breaks that can break your heart every time. I'm in love with the poem "Luck"--in LOVE with it. A lot of times I'll read it to beginning poetry students as an example of how poetry is writing what we really want to say, not what we think we ought to say. YAY hard-hitting, gut-wrenching honesty.

There's also a long-ish poem in here about Carver drinking with Bukowski that is *beautiful*.]]>
author: Raymond Carver
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
I don't remember if I've made it all the way through this poetry collection or not; I'm better at remembering individual volumes rather than collected works.

Carver is a master of the line break that same way that Bukowski was. Sometimes, the words may seem mundane, but it's the line breaks that can break your heart every time. I'm in love with the poem "Luck"--in LOVE with it. A lot of times I'll read it to beginning poetry students as an example of how poetry is writing what we really want to say, not what we think we ought to say. YAY hard-hitting, gut-wrenching honesty.

There's also a long-ish poem in here about Carver drinking with Bukowski that is *beautiful*.
]]> 26258258 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:06:10 -0700
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Shaindel
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
Another formative book from my youth... I loved this collection so much, I would repeatedly check it out from the library. I've recently been tempted to buy it online, but I'm not sure if I should just go for it or not. Buying a sci-fi collection I was in love with over twenty years ago seems like a sure sign of some sort of uber-nerdiness. I'll be pondering my next move on this one...
]]> 26258166 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:02:39 -0700
author: Madeleine L'Engle
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1973
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
You have to read the whole trilogy to get the full effect :-)
]]> 26258101 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:01:59 -0700
author: Madeleine L'Engle
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
You have to read the whole trilogy to get the full effect :-)
]]> 26258057 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:01:11 -0700
author: Madeleine L'Engle
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1962
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
One of the formative books of my childhood *sigh*
]]> 26257169 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:51:50 -0700
author: Francine Prose
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 01/05
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
I read two Francine Prose short story collections back-to-back when I lived in Florida, so I don't remember exactly which stories were in which, but I remember being entranced and wishing I could write like that. Wow!
]]> 26257216 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:51:04 -0700
author: Francine Prose
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.22
book published: 1974
rating: 5
read at: 01/05
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
I read two Francine Prose short story collections back-to-back when I lived in Florida, so I don't remember exactly which stories were in which, but I remember being entranced and wishing I could write like that. Wow!
]]> 7846179 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:00:15 -0700
I was 100% with the book until Clare's crazy desire to have a baby. This might be just me, but I was pretty unsympathetic after time number whatever that she almost died miscarrying, especially after her response to Henry that adopting would be like "faking"... I understand that everything that happened had to happen to advance the plot, but maybe fewer miscarriages, or something to make her a more believable/sympathetic character?

Overall, a very worthwhile read, if the last quarter of the novel doesn't bother you.

]]>
author: Audrey Niffenegger
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/03/08
shelves:
review:
Most of the way through this book, I couldn't put it down. I really liked the concept, though I struggled with some of the principles of theoretical physics. For instance, if you were time-traveling, could you run into your younger self and be in the same place at the same time?

I was 100% with the book until Clare's crazy desire to have a baby. This might be just me, but I was pretty unsympathetic after time number whatever that she almost died miscarrying, especially after her response to Henry that adopting would be like "faking"... I understand that everything that happened had to happen to advance the plot, but maybe fewer miscarriages, or something to make her a more believable/sympathetic character?

Overall, a very worthwhile read, if the last quarter of the novel doesn't bother you.


]]> 16205347 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:21:33 -0700
There are images in this book that will blow your mind. Normally, I sort of roll my eyes when people type passages from the book on Goodreads, but I'm going to do it for this one:

The minute Alphonse said those words, my guardian angel started humming and circling me happily. I could feel her there, getting excited. Some guardian angels did a terrible job. They were given work in the poor neighborhoods where none of the others wanted to go. Every delinquent kid had one of these miserable angels who made sure that they made the worst of every situation. These angels loved when people did the wrong thing or took risks. You can't have that many bad things happen to you without some sort of heavenly design. I had never felt my angel jump so quickly to work as when she heard the word "heroin." I guess she'd been waiting a while for someone to say it.
*****

WOW, huh? Love this book.]]>
author: Heather O'Neill
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/21/08
shelves:
review:
JUST finished it. And want to read the rest of the "Meet the Author" section in the back, but I'm at work, so should...uh...work.

There are images in this book that will blow your mind. Normally, I sort of roll my eyes when people type passages from the book on Goodreads, but I'm going to do it for this one:

The minute Alphonse said those words, my guardian angel started humming and circling me happily. I could feel her there, getting excited. Some guardian angels did a terrible job. They were given work in the poor neighborhoods where none of the others wanted to go. Every delinquent kid had one of these miserable angels who made sure that they made the worst of every situation. These angels loved when people did the wrong thing or took risks. You can't have that many bad things happen to you without some sort of heavenly design. I had never felt my angel jump so quickly to work as when she heard the word "heroin." I guess she'd been waiting a while for someone to say it.
*****

WOW, huh? Love this book.
]]> 13587231 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:18:43 -0700
This anthology includes my poem, "Surgery."]]>
author: Jr., Martin Willitts
name: Shaindel
average rating: 0.00
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 06/19/08
shelves: anthologies-i-m-in
review:
This is a poetry collection edited by Martin Willits, which he put together in honor of his wife, Frances Willitts, who lost her battle with cancer. I'd recommend it for anyone whose life has been touched by cancer.

This anthology includes my poem, "Surgery."
]]> 24895821 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:16:35 -0700
This edition includes my poem, "Sleeping Man and Woman, Circa 2000, C.E."]]>
author: Matthew Davis
name: Shaindel
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/19/08
shelves: anthologies-i-m-in
review:
Ghost Road Press puts out an anthology each year of what they consider the best poetry, fiction, and essays out of the submissions they've received. Previous Open Windows have received Colorado Book of the Year Awards.

This edition includes my poem, "Sleeping Man and Woman, Circa 2000, C.E."
]]> 23216370 Thu, 29 May 2008 08:42:31 -0700
This is Stoker's little known, and seldomly written about first novel. I did my first Master's thesis (the Humanities University of Chicago one) on this novel and Dracula as two different interpretations of the Irish land war. At the time, I think I was the first person outside of Ireland to write scholarly work on this novel.

Anyway, many people hate it and think it's horribly written. What you MUST understand is that Stoker is writing an Imperial Adventure Romance--think of H. Rider Haggard's _She_, where a proper gentleman goes to a strange country, falls in love with a woman of another race, and colonialism ensues. The interesting thing here (to me, anyway) is that it is an Englishman and an Irish "peasant" woman, so the issues of social class are really interesting. There is also an interesting unease about what race she really is since she is "Black Irish"; it's as if even her having black hair throws the entire novel into a bevy of racist jokes at times.

You can also see that Stoker is *thinking* of writing something *like* Dracula, if not Dracula itself, because the evil moneylender in this novel (the villian) is "the very devil himself," "he'll bleed you dry," etc.

I wrote something like 80 pages on this novel and Dracula, so I obviously thought something worthwhile was there...]]>
author: Bram Stoker
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.12
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 01/99
date added: 05/29/08
shelves:
review:
I can't believe I forgot to add this! I just thought about it when I saw that Dracula was still on my "currently reading" shelf and got recommendations of "More books by Bram Stoker."

This is Stoker's little known, and seldomly written about first novel. I did my first Master's thesis (the Humanities University of Chicago one) on this novel and Dracula as two different interpretations of the Irish land war. At the time, I think I was the first person outside of Ireland to write scholarly work on this novel.

Anyway, many people hate it and think it's horribly written. What you MUST understand is that Stoker is writing an Imperial Adventure Romance--think of H. Rider Haggard's _She_, where a proper gentleman goes to a strange country, falls in love with a woman of another race, and colonialism ensues. The interesting thing here (to me, anyway) is that it is an Englishman and an Irish "peasant" woman, so the issues of social class are really interesting. There is also an interesting unease about what race she really is since she is "Black Irish"; it's as if even her having black hair throws the entire novel into a bevy of racist jokes at times.

You can also see that Stoker is *thinking* of writing something *like* Dracula, if not Dracula itself, because the evil moneylender in this novel (the villian) is "the very devil himself," "he'll bleed you dry," etc.

I wrote something like 80 pages on this novel and Dracula, so I obviously thought something worthwhile was there...
]]> 16138621 Thu, 29 May 2008 08:25:22 -0700
This go-round, I'm thoroughly enjoying thinking about the naming of characters--that the men have "action names" Harker, Bilder, etc., that Lucy Westenra's name means "light of the west"; concentrating on the contrast between Lucy and Mina in the novel; today, my students and I read Freud's "The Uncanny" and discussed Dracula in terms of that essay.

And I thoroughly believe that no beings on earth know more about vampires and gothic literature than Nina Auerbach and David Skal. ]]>
author: Bram Stoker
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1897
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 05/29/08
shelves:
review:
I hate to admit how many times I've read Dracula; let's just leave it at my first Master's thesis was on Dracula, and let your imagination take it from there. Although Stoker does make errors in the writing of this novel that can make you cringe, it is going to be entertaining, thought-provoking reading until the end of time. No matter what perspective you take it from--feminist, historical, Marxist--it's a brilliant read.

This go-round, I'm thoroughly enjoying thinking about the naming of characters--that the men have "action names" Harker, Bilder, etc., that Lucy Westenra's name means "light of the west"; concentrating on the contrast between Lucy and Mina in the novel; today, my students and I read Freud's "The Uncanny" and discussed Dracula in terms of that essay.

And I thoroughly believe that no beings on earth know more about vampires and gothic literature than Nina Auerbach and David Skal.
]]> 21980347 Sat, 10 May 2008 09:40:20 -0700
I was pleasantly surprised. I *really* liked this novella. It was the right size for the story. I think too often writers cram a lot into a short story or stretch out not enough into a novel. I really liked the character of Mirabelle. I liked her struggle to find herself. She was believable. She had real thoughts, real feelings. I was a bit thrown by the Jeremy conversion toward the end of the book, but I don't even understand love and romance in real life, so making it have to be a stretch in a book isn't a huge downfall for me. I am SO glad that Ray Porter remained Ray Porter throughout the novella, decent (sort of) but never fully redeemed. The unforgivable sin in this novella would have been to have him become a prince charming and rescue Mirabelle, or something, a la _Pretty Woman_. ICK!

It did set up the expectation that some older man out there will pay off the remaining $58,000 of my student loans, but it hasn't happened yet.]]>
author: Steve Martin
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 01/04
date added: 05/10/08
shelves:
review:
I read this book out of curiosity because I'd always wondered what kind of writer Steve Martin is. (I mean, I'd used his quote "I think I did pretty well, considering all I started out with was a bunch of blank paper" for YEARS in writing classes, at the tops of syllabi, etc. I could at least see what he'd done with that blank paper.)

I was pleasantly surprised. I *really* liked this novella. It was the right size for the story. I think too often writers cram a lot into a short story or stretch out not enough into a novel. I really liked the character of Mirabelle. I liked her struggle to find herself. She was believable. She had real thoughts, real feelings. I was a bit thrown by the Jeremy conversion toward the end of the book, but I don't even understand love and romance in real life, so making it have to be a stretch in a book isn't a huge downfall for me. I am SO glad that Ray Porter remained Ray Porter throughout the novella, decent (sort of) but never fully redeemed. The unforgivable sin in this novella would have been to have him become a prince charming and rescue Mirabelle, or something, a la _Pretty Woman_. ICK!

It did set up the expectation that some older man out there will pay off the remaining $58,000 of my student loans, but it hasn't happened yet.
]]> 7510756 Mon, 05 May 2008 10:46:53 -0700
There is one plot twist at the beginning (which I won't give away), but I think it was a brave direction for Dillard to take. At some times, I liked the "distance" from the characters. They live in their heads, and we feel rather detached from them; but at the same time, it's something that makes the novel difficult to get into. There are those novels that you can't put down, and this wasn't one of them until after the first hundred pages, perhaps. I think that Dillard is doing something philosophical with the emotional distance we feel from the characters, but it makes The Maytrees difficult to get into at first.

The thing that is the strength and weakness of the novel at the same time is Dillard's poetic use of language. Sometimes it's beautiful:

--Let's pretend we're old, Lou remembered saying back when they were young. They had been watching hurricane waves rip the outer beach. To walk back they aligned adjacent legs like a pair in a three-legged race.

--Those days will come soon enough, Maytree said. His gravity had startled her. Now those days were here. (206).

And sometimes the poetic language is SO distracting. There are sentences with internal rhyme in them that will sometimes make you feel like you're in a madhouse.

Still, it's an important book to read. I can't explain it. I just know.


]]>
author: Annie Dillard
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/05/08
shelves:
review:
I *just* finished reading this book, and I'm sure I've got to let it resonate a bit. First, let me say, this is an important book to read. Annie Dillard is doing something really interesting here, but I'm not sure quite what it is--which is part of the quiet and beauty of the novel.

There is one plot twist at the beginning (which I won't give away), but I think it was a brave direction for Dillard to take. At some times, I liked the "distance" from the characters. They live in their heads, and we feel rather detached from them; but at the same time, it's something that makes the novel difficult to get into. There are those novels that you can't put down, and this wasn't one of them until after the first hundred pages, perhaps. I think that Dillard is doing something philosophical with the emotional distance we feel from the characters, but it makes The Maytrees difficult to get into at first.

The thing that is the strength and weakness of the novel at the same time is Dillard's poetic use of language. Sometimes it's beautiful:

--Let's pretend we're old, Lou remembered saying back when they were young. They had been watching hurricane waves rip the outer beach. To walk back they aligned adjacent legs like a pair in a three-legged race.

--Those days will come soon enough, Maytree said. His gravity had startled her. Now those days were here. (206).

And sometimes the poetic language is SO distracting. There are sentences with internal rhyme in them that will sometimes make you feel like you're in a madhouse.

Still, it's an important book to read. I can't explain it. I just know.



]]> 11005425 Fri, 02 May 2008 10:58:13 -0700
I first heard about this book when I met Alex on MySpace (perhaps the greatest networking tool for writers, EVER!) and then bought it when I learned that US Weekly had given it a good review. It's really a great collection, all held together by the theme of fathers--hence the title _Male_of_the_Species_. This is a terrific exploration of fatherhood; some of the fathers are: a Latino father who is hitch-hiking to his daughter's lesbian wedding and awkwardly tells the driver who picks him up that he's going to a funeral b/c the truth is just as awkward for him, a son who learns the truth about his father's "hunting trips"... Many, many great stories. Not a weak one stands out in my memory.

A great read for someone putting together a story collection.]]>
author: Alex Mindt
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/02/08
shelves:
review:
I finished this collection last night. LOVED it. I only wish I'd had more spare time so I could have read it sooner--and taken less time to read it--so the stories could have held together as a collection more for me.

I first heard about this book when I met Alex on MySpace (perhaps the greatest networking tool for writers, EVER!) and then bought it when I learned that US Weekly had given it a good review. It's really a great collection, all held together by the theme of fathers--hence the title _Male_of_the_Species_. This is a terrific exploration of fatherhood; some of the fathers are: a Latino father who is hitch-hiking to his daughter's lesbian wedding and awkwardly tells the driver who picks him up that he's going to a funeral b/c the truth is just as awkward for him, a son who learns the truth about his father's "hunting trips"... Many, many great stories. Not a weak one stands out in my memory.

A great read for someone putting together a story collection.
]]> 16224227 Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:44:34 -0800
I don't read a lot of children's books (because I don't have children), but this book was written by the daughter of one of my current students, and she just loaned it to me. I LOVE this book and would strongly recommend it to anyone who has "picture book age" children.

In it, Sleeping Beauty's prince is a typical guy. When he hears a dreadful noise coming from a castle, he hopes for a dragon and is quite let-down when he discovers, "a snoring girl." Throughout the book the prince tries any way possible to wake Sleeping Beauty other than to kiss her (because, after all, he's heard that girls have germs).

This is a delightful rhyming picture book, and I LOVE the illustrations as well. I like both of Wilcox's books I have read so far.

And kudos to my student Nancy for raising such a talented daughter!...]]>
author: Leah Wilcox
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 02/08
date added: 02/23/08
shelves:
review:
The beginning of this review is the same as the review for Wilcox's other book because I spent some of my office hours Friday reading these two books. I know, I know, someday someone will figure out that letting me be a professor wasn't a good idea. I should definitely be chained to factory equipment somewhere. Anyway, here goes...

I don't read a lot of children's books (because I don't have children), but this book was written by the daughter of one of my current students, and she just loaned it to me. I LOVE this book and would strongly recommend it to anyone who has "picture book age" children.

In it, Sleeping Beauty's prince is a typical guy. When he hears a dreadful noise coming from a castle, he hopes for a dragon and is quite let-down when he discovers, "a snoring girl." Throughout the book the prince tries any way possible to wake Sleeping Beauty other than to kiss her (because, after all, he's heard that girls have germs).

This is a delightful rhyming picture book, and I LOVE the illustrations as well. I like both of Wilcox's books I have read so far.

And kudos to my student Nancy for raising such a talented daughter!...
]]> 16223810 Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:35:15 -0800
In it, Rapunzel mishears when the prince tells her to let down her hair and throws down her underwear, dirty socks, and, at last, her maid (with whom the prince happily runs off). We all knew that handsome princes aren't all they're cracked up to be, anyway :-)

This is a delightful rhyming picture book, and I LOVE the illustrations as well. I like both of Wilcox's books I have read so far.

And kudos to my student Nancy for raising such a talented daughter!]]>
author: Leah Wilcox
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 02/08
date added: 02/23/08
shelves:
review:
I don't read a lot of children's books (because I don't have children), but this book was written by the daughter of one of my current students, and she just loaned it to me. I LOVE this book and would strongly recommend it to anyone who has "picture book age" children.

In it, Rapunzel mishears when the prince tells her to let down her hair and throws down her underwear, dirty socks, and, at last, her maid (with whom the prince happily runs off). We all knew that handsome princes aren't all they're cracked up to be, anyway :-)

This is a delightful rhyming picture book, and I LOVE the illustrations as well. I like both of Wilcox's books I have read so far.

And kudos to my student Nancy for raising such a talented daughter!
]]> 7499092 Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:02:07 -0800
author: Tom Wolfe
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 01/06
date added: 02/12/08
shelves:
review:
While I was reading this book, I couldn't put it down. But then I got to the end, and I really had philosophical issues with it. I couldn't figure out the point. Was it an anti-feminist ending? Was it a "you can't escape your roots" ending? Hmmm... Whether or not I liked the ending, the book made me care enough to look at blogs, interviews, etc., that questioned the ending, so it at least had me that invested.
]]> 13054902 Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:33:35 -0800
author: Esther Hoskins Forbes
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1943
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 01/21/08
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]]> 13054879 Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:33:25 -0800
author: E. Annie Proulx
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 01/21/08
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]]> 11244709 Sat, 29 Dec 2007 18:26:32 -0800
I was really impressed considering before this book, Diamant was thought of as the "Jewish Martha Stewart," writing books like Planning Your Jewish Wedding, etc.

An excellent read!]]>
author: Anita Diamant
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 01/00
date added: 12/29/07
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This book was my present to myself upon graduating with my first grad degree. I went straight from graduation to dinner to Barnes & Noble. Anita Diamant uses one of my favorite devices--taking a little known or minor character in a story and telling the story from that character's point of view (think John Gardner's Grendel or any of Gregory Maguire's books). She takes Dinah (the daughter of Jacob who is mentioned in only one verse of the bible) and the four wives of Jacob and writes their story.

I was really impressed considering before this book, Diamant was thought of as the "Jewish Martha Stewart," writing books like Planning Your Jewish Wedding, etc.

An excellent read!
]]> 10945408 Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:15:54 -0800
author: Jane Austen
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1818
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 12/25/07
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It's been a while so I don't remember a great deal, but this is basically Jane Austen's venture into "gothic literature." Beautiful young girl, haunted house, etc. Not as strong as other Austen novels but still very fun and enjoyable.
]]> 10945334 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:16:27 -0800
author: Marguerite Duras
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1376
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/24/07
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review:
I read this book WAY back in high school, so I don't remember much, but I do remember it was possibly one of the first books to move me to tears. A young French girl has an affair with an older Chinese man (as in older than she is, since she's a teenager) in pre-war Vietnam. Beautiful story of a forbidden relationship in terms of class, race, family, etc. Gorgeous, gorgeous!
]]> 10945350 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:24:41 -0800
This book is indispensible for anyone interested in American lit. It's a perfect example of realism, regionalism, local color, etc., and even though it was written in 1919, I think it's still a perfect read for short story writers. What Anderson did in 1919 with the interconnected short stories as a novel, uh...that's what everyone's doing *now*. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. ]]>
author: Sherwood Anderson
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1919
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/24/07
shelves:
review:
This book was incredibly ahead of its time (considering it was published in 1919). It is basically a book of interconnected short stories, each one centered around a character in the small town of Winesburg, Ohio. I'm from the Midwest and went to college in Alabama and felt like I was *forced* to read Southern literature (which I now appreciate, but then it was like being force-fed Brussel sprouts because they're "good for you"). This book was like coming home.

This book is indispensible for anyone interested in American lit. It's a perfect example of realism, regionalism, local color, etc., and even though it was written in 1919, I think it's still a perfect read for short story writers. What Anderson did in 1919 with the interconnected short stories as a novel, uh...that's what everyone's doing *now*. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
]]> 10945397 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:57:54 -0800
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1925
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/23/07
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]]> 10945379 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:57:16 -0800
author: Henry James
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1881
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/23/07
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]]> 10945360 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:56:20 -0800
author: Walt Whitman
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1855
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/23/07
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review:

]]> 10945358 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:56:18 -0800
author: Emily Dickinson
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.88
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/23/07
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review:

]]> 10945356 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:56:08 -0800
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1818
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/23/07
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review:

]]> 10945298 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:53:51 -0800
author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/23/07
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review:

]]> 10944467 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:36:55 -0800
Fremont sacrificed a lot to tell this story. Think about it--if your family were hiding a secret for *decades* and you wrote a memoir about, that would take guts, wouldn't it? Fremont is an excellent writer and a terrific person. When she's not teaching at the Harvard summer writers' institute, she's a public defender (not a glamourous life). Maybe it's not what everyone expects in their Goodreads reviews, but I think a writer being a good human being is worth a bonus star :-) ]]>
author: Helen Fremont
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 12/23/07
shelves:
review:
This may be the first memoir I've ever made it through because I'm NOT a fan of nonfiction. (If life were so interesting, why would we need to make stuff up?). I read this book b/c Helen Fremont is a friend of a friend and was a guest writer giving a reading at the community college where I taught at the time. This book is a beautifully told story paralelling Fremont's discovery that her family was covering up their Jewish identity after the Holocaust, which prompts her to come out of the closet to them--the dynamics of honesty, secrecy, family, etc., are very powerful.

Fremont sacrificed a lot to tell this story. Think about it--if your family were hiding a secret for *decades* and you wrote a memoir about, that would take guts, wouldn't it? Fremont is an excellent writer and a terrific person. When she's not teaching at the Harvard summer writers' institute, she's a public defender (not a glamourous life). Maybe it's not what everyone expects in their Goodreads reviews, but I think a writer being a good human being is worth a bonus star :-)
]]> 10781070 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:00:20 -0800
I'd recommend this book for anyone putting together a short story collection and anyone who understands heartache and taverns.

]]>
author: Rebecca Barry
name: Shaindel
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 12/07
date added: 12/20/07
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I just finished reading Barry's book today and LOVED it. As a writer, I've really been interested in the inter-connected short stories/recurring characters device (b/c it's something I'm trying to do). The setting was beautifully developed in that Lucy's Tavern is the place where we as readers meet/fall in love with/are heartbroken for all of Barry's characters. The last story in the collection ties everything together *beautifully*.

I'd recommend this book for anyone putting together a short story collection and anyone who understands heartache and taverns.


]]> 10195728 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:09:50 -0800
author: William J. Bennett
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 01/95
date added: 12/09/07
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As much as I can't stand William Bennett, I really love this book. I had a professor who used it as a text for our Ethics class, and I liked using it in addition to the pretty heavy philosophy textbook that was the "real" textbook for the class. Some wonderful stories and poems in here, "The Velveteen Rabbit," "The Children's Hour." A wonderful find for people of all ages.
]]> 9656830 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:07:59 -0800
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Shaindel
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at: 01/00
date added: 11/28/07
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I read this book because I was in the full-length ballet, Daughters of Avalon, (choreographed by Diana Greene) when I was in college. This book is a really creative retelling of Arthurian legend from a feminist perspective, meaning the women play much more major roles, and the lines between good and evil are much more blurred. A really fun read, especially considering at the time I was working a horrid, horrid corporate job, I would keep this book at my desk and read it during my lunch break--a nice escape!
]]> 9482018 Sat, 24 Nov 2007 08:54:21 -0800