|
July 15
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
Personal Days: A Novel (Paperback)
by Ed Park (Goodreads author!)
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended to Aili by:
The New Yorker
recommended for: Drunk Uncle Joe; anyone who has ever received an email about an imminent server reboot
read in July, 2008
Aili said:
"For the record, I am giving this book 5 stars even though I'm pretty mad at it right now... for ending. It was a pretty quick read. I would say perfect for that business trip you're about to go on, but if you get to go on paid business trips you are ...more
For the record, I am giving this book 5 stars even though I'm pretty mad at it right now... for ending. It was a pretty quick read. I would say perfect for that business trip you're about to go on, but if you get to go on paid business trips you are perhaps not quite in the target audience.
I am a little annoyed that the plot crept up on me -- I was expecting events so mundane they would seem dark/depressing (I've heard And Then We Came to the End is like this, though I haven't read it) -- not actual "dark" plot elements. I kind of wish Ed Park had stuck with the former, though I guess that would have left him with less of a structured novel and more of a genius tone-poem about what the working world is like.
Recommended to anyone who has ever worked in an office. This means you. Go get a copy right now. I will lend you mine but you have to give it back so I can lend it to somebody else after you.
Yours truly,...less
"
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
Adam's Task: Calling Animals by Name (Paperback)
by Vicki Hearne
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended to Aili by:
Dad
recommended for: Hilary, Ny, Lora
read in July, 2008, has a copy to sell/swap
Aili said:
"This is an excellent book. It is about loving animals, but NOT in a cute-widdle-wooda-wooda way. More in the sense of recognizing them as living beings. File under animal (and human) cognition, psychology, and philosophy; and maaaaybe animal training...more
This is an excellent book. It is about loving animals, but NOT in a cute-widdle-wooda-wooda way. More in the sense of recognizing them as living beings. File under animal (and human) cognition, psychology, and philosophy; and maaaaybe animal training after that (but while it gives some excellent advice, this is in no way a how-to manual).
In fact the only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that I have absolutely zero grounding in philosophy, and some of the academic discussion (Stanley Cavell? doesn't ring a bell) was really heavy going and I skimmed more than processed the ideas. But that's my failure as a reader, not Hearne's failure -- she's writing heavy stuff, and expects the reader to keep up.
Read if you love, well, thinking. And own, or might ever own, a doggie or a kitty....less
"
|
|
July 08
|
|
New comment on Aili's review of
In the Garden of Iden (The Company)
(see all 3 comments)
|
|
June 17
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
Scattershot: My Bipolar Family (Hardcover)
by David Lovelace
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended for: Rachel, Alice
read in June, 2008
Aili said:
" David Lovelace, his father, mother, and younger brother have all been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Only his younger sister seems to have dodged the bullet. But bipolar disorder was not well...more
David Lovelace, his father, mother, and younger brother have all been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Only his younger sister seems to have dodged the bullet. But bipolar disorder was not well recognized, nor were there very good treatment options, until the mid-1990s. So David and his family spend years struggling and hurting themselves and each other. This memoir is Lovelace's attempt to educate the lay public about his disorder and to caution his fellow sufferers (and their families) from thinking that they can "beat" their diagnosis.
Based on the cover and blurbs, I was expecting this to be a rollicking! crazy! time! on the model of Running with Scissors, but instead this is a sober, personal, and chilling window into the life of someone with a serious psychiatric condition.
Lovelace comes from a Christian fundamentalist religious background (his father was a Presbyterian minister; his parents met at a Christian revival summer camp) in which individuals were taught to wrestle with their demons and pray for salvation. As an adult, he rejects religion, tries to self-medicate with various illegal drugs, and eventually wholeheartedly embraces modern psychiatry, though his relationships with lithium and antipsychotics can at best be described as love–hate.
Generally Lovelace does an excellent job of owning his life decisions, even though he's made some major mistakes and is frequently narcissistic. That's probably the best thing about the book; phrases like "unflinching portrayal" come to mind. His illustration of his family's religious tradition was also pretty fairly presented (given that he has since forsworn it) and informative. I would have liked more insight into his siblings' experiences (for example, his sister avoids bipolar disorder but grows up to be a therapist -- no issues there!), but the author is clearly focused on describing his own lived experience.
My only other major criticism is that Lovelace periodically slows down the narrative to discuss the history and characteristics of bipolar disorder; I found these digressions pedantic, but then I have a pretty good working knowledge of current psychiatry and so may not be his target audience.
Overall: chilling; quick read; good for those interested in mental health, memoirs, and family dynamics, or to throw at relatives who don't understand psychiatric diagnoses
[This isn't out 'til August/September, but I grabbed a free uncorrected copy sent to us at work. "Bible" was sometimes uncapitalized.]...less
"
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book #6)
by C.S. Lewis
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in May, 2008
Aili said:
"This is my second favorite Narnia book, after The Magician's Nephew. It reads most like a novel (as opposed to a religious tract), has one of the strongest female characters of the series...more
This is my second favorite Narnia book, after The Magician's Nephew. It reads most like a novel (as opposed to a religious tract), has one of the strongest female characters of the series, and includes my favorite Narnian character, Puddleglum the Marshwiggle. The plot is a sort of mystery/puzzle for the characters to figure out -- Aslan appears at the beginning, gives them clues, and then he's basically gone for the rest of the story, leaving the characters some agency and personal growth of their own. (As compared with many of the other Narnia books, in which personal growth occurs by having Aslan breathe on you.)
While searching for the correct (!) cover image, I randomly came across Livejournal user truepenny's review, which makes a lot of smart points. I encourage you to read it....less
"
|
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
In the Garden of Iden (The Company)
by Kage Baker
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in May, 2008
Aili said:
"[NB: I'm basically just reading all the books that have piled up in my room so I can give them to Goodwill before I move...]
Nifty premise: sometime in the future, some dude invents a) immortality and b) time travel. So he goes back into the dawn ...more
[NB: I'm basically just reading all the books that have piled up in my room so I can give them to Goodwill before I move...]
Nifty premise: sometime in the future, some dude invents a) immortality and b) time travel. So he goes back into the dawn of time and grabs young kids and confers immortality on them, and then they secretly work for him from their time up until the unknown murky future. Problem is that they themselves can't go forward in time, so they have to take on faith that their employer will one day appear and make all their work worthwhile.
This novel (clearly meant to be the first in a series) follows one of these immortals on her first adult mission out into the world, which for her is Elizabethan England.
Problem: Main character's story is pretty interesting for about the first third of the book, until it becomes clear that the major plot involves her romance with a totally emo Protestant Reformation mortal dude. Then the whole story descends into romantic schmoopiness. So. Much. Schmoopiness. By the end I was hoping both parties would die a tragic death, but of course the main character's immortal, ain't she? Sequels ahoy!
If you are into time travel and historical fiction, read some Connie Willis. This is pale, crappy fanfic compared to Doomsday Book.
P.S. The cover image has absolutely nothing to do with the plot....less
"
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.)
by Simon Winchester
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
Pattern Recognition (Paperback)
by William Gibson
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in April, 2008
Aili said:
"Disappointing.
The plot: a marketing consultant with ephemerally-defined special "coolness" powers gets pulled into a(n inter)web of crime and intrigue after she tries to find out who is uploading some neato viral videos. Maybe this plot...more
Disappointing.
The plot: a marketing consultant with ephemerally-defined special "coolness" powers gets pulled into a(n inter)web of crime and intrigue after she tries to find out who is uploading some neato viral videos. Maybe this plot sounded more compelling in the early noughts -- now it seems kind of lame since viral videos are all over.
Other quibbles:
* If you're going to give your main character some sort of special fantasy power, maybe it should further the plot. I just found it distractingly fantastic in a novel that's otherwise pretty realistic.
* The ending was annoying -- not enough was revealed. BOO....less
"
|
|
Aili
gave
to:
One Good Turn: A Novel (Paperback)
by Kate Atkinson
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in April, 2008
Aili said:
"Quick/easy/beach read. Not as good as Case Histories, which was the first to feature Jackson Brodie as a main character.
I do like books (and other media) that feature interlocking storylines...more
Quick/easy/beach read. Not as good as Case Histories, which was the first to feature Jackson Brodie as a main character.
I do like books (and other media) that feature interlocking storylines where connections only gradually become clear. But Jackson Brodie, as a main character, is pretty played out for me at this point. I might pick up future novels in this universe if they focused on one of the peripheral characters (the lady cop, for instance, shows promise)....less
"
|
