Michelle Jones - The United States (64 books)

Michelle Jones is now friends with Ryan Bright

Michelle Jones gave

to:

Sarah's Key
by Tatiana de Rosnay (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

Michelle Jones gave

to:

Keep Your Wives Away from Them by Miryam Kabakov

Keep Your Wives Away from Them: Orthodox Women, Unorthodox Desires
by Miryam Kabakov

read in August, 2010

My rating:

Michelle Jones gave

to:

Words On Fire: One Woman's Journey Into The Sacred
by Vanessa L. Ochs

read in August, 2010

My rating:

I really enjoyed this book. Engaging with sacred Jewish texts as a woman is a challenge and it was fascinating to see how Ochs did it head on. Really inspiring.

Michelle Jones gave

to:

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
by Aimee Bender (Goodreads Author)

read in August, 2010

My rating:

Not at all what I expected but I enjoyed it very much. It's a very...fluffy read for lack of a better term, and I mean that in a good way.

Michelle Jones gave

to:

The Frozen Rabbi
by Steve Stern

read in August, 2010

My rating:

I would give this 2.5 stars if I could. This is a case of I'm glad I read it, I would not read it again and I can't think of anyone I would recommend it to.

Michelle Jones gave

to:

The Friend Who Got Away: Twenty Women's True Life Tales of Friendships that Blew Up, Burned Out or Faded Away
by Jenny Offill

My rating:

The Friend Who Got Away is a collection of essays on friendships lost. More than I’d like to admit I’m haunted by friendships that were once very important to me but now no longer exist. So I was obviously the target audience for this book. While I e...moreThe Friend Who Got Away is a collection of essays on friendships lost. More than I’d like to admit I’m haunted by friendships that were once very important to me but now no longer exist. So I was obviously the target audience for this book. While I enjoyed some essays very much I didn’t enjoy the book as a whole. I think I have to blame at least part of my dislike on my sensitivity to the subject matter. My longing for friendships past made me judgmental to the authors in the book who acknowledged that the death of a friendship was caused by their own deliberate actions. “I miss friendships that ended through nothing I intentionally did so how dare you whine about how much you miss the friend you intentionally hurt.” I became bitter at authors who say they think they possibly could salvage friendships if they’d just make the first step and write or call. But I became more bitter still at myself because I know the same holds true for me. If I’d only make that first step there are a couple relationships that could be salvaged but I know they wouldn’t be good. I know that they would only be based on the other person’s terms. But I want to be optimistic for other people so in my head I condemn those authors. “You’re being so selfish. Why won’t you just call her. She probably misses you and needs you and yet you just refuse to call.” I know I won’t call and I don’t want to chastise myself for it, so I chastise them.

That the essays all mark the end of friendships and not a single one offers any glimpse or hope of reconciliations is probably what bothers me most. Clearly it shouldn’t since I knew full well what the book was about. But while reading the few essays that I really related to I kept hoping that the last page would be about how the author had called, or the friend had sent a letter and they were repairing and rebuilding the friendship. I wanted some hope that deep, deep friendships, particularly between women, don’t die so easily and that there is always hope for the relationship to grow and thrive again. None of these essays gave me that hope and I don’t have that hope in my heart.
I’ll never read this book again, not by any fault of its own but because reading it just reminded me far too much of pains and longing that I try not to think about so much.(less)

Michelle Jones gave

to:

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
by Julie Powell

read in February, 2006

My rating:

Julie Powell was rapidly approaching 30, unhappy with her job, frustrated with where she was in her life and unsure where she was going. All of this sounds way too familiar to me to allow me to even consider not reading this book.

At that edge of 30...more

Michelle Jones gave

to:

A Moveable Feast
by Ernest Hemingway

My rating:

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you kept from making engagements each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happines...more

Michelle Jones gave

to:

The Sun Also Rises
by Ernest Hemingway

read in July, 2006

My rating:

Of course I’ve read this at least once before. Maybe twice though I can’t remember. What I do remember is not particularly liking it the first time round. This time was very different. I think I was never ready for Hemingway until I read A Moveable F...more

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Michelle Jones is now friends with Ryan Bright
Dec 28, 2010 12:24am
Michelle Jones gave to: Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Aug 29, 2010 11:54am
Michelle Jones gave to: Keep Your Wives Away from Them: Orthodox Women, Unorthodox Desires by Miryam Kabakov read in August, 2010	My rating:
Aug 28, 2010 06:10pm
Michelle Jones gave to: Words On Fire: One Woman's Journey Into The Sacred by Vanessa L. Ochs read in August, 2010	My rating:
I really enjoyed this book. Engaging with sacred Jewish texts as a woman is a challenge and it was fascinating to see how Ochs did it head on. Really inspiring.
Aug 21, 2010 06:06pm · see review
Michelle Jones gave to: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (Goodreads Author) read in August, 2010	My rating:
Not at all what I expected but I enjoyed it very much. It's a very...fluffy read for lack of a better term, and I mean that in a good way.
Aug 21, 2010 06:02pm · see review
Michelle Jones gave to: The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern read in August, 2010	My rating:
I would give this 2.5 stars if I could. This is a case of I'm glad I read it, I would not read it again and I can't think of anyone I would recommend it to.
Aug 12, 2010 06:22am · see review
Michelle Jones gave to: The Friend Who Got Away: Twenty Women's True Life Tales of Friendships that Blew Up, Burned Out or Faded Away by Jenny Offill	My rating:
The Friend Who Got Away is a collection of essays on friendships lost. More than I’d like to admit I’m haunted by friendships that were once very important to me but now no longer exist. So I was obviously the target audience for this book. While I e...more
Jul 30, 2010 12:17pm · see review
Michelle Jones gave to: Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell read in February, 2006	My rating:
Julie Powell was rapidly approaching 30, unhappy with her job, frustrated with where she was in her life and unsure where she was going. All of this sounds way too familiar to me to allow me to even consider not reading this book. At that edge of 30...more
Jul 30, 2010 12:17pm · see review
Michelle Jones gave to: A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway	My rating:
“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you kept from making engagements each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happines...more
Jul 30, 2010 12:16pm · see review
Michelle Jones gave to: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway read in July, 2006	My rating:
Of course I’ve read this at least once before. Maybe twice though I can’t remember. What I do remember is not particularly liking it the first time round. This time was very different. I think I was never ready for Hemingway until I read A Moveable F...more
Jul 30, 2010 12:15pm · see review

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