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July 22
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Beth
is currently reading:
The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (Hardcover)
by Lucette Lagnado
bookshelves:
biographies_memoirs,
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Beth
gave
to:
Murder With Puffins: A Meg Langslow Mystery (A Meg Langslow Mystery, Book 2)
by Donna Andrews
bookshelves:
funnylight,
mysteries
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
Beth said:
"Another fun Andrews mystery. Not enough puffins, though.
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July 21
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Beth
marked as to-read:
Kate Remembered (Paperback)
by A. Scott Berg
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Beth
gave
to:
Murder With Peacocks (A Meg Langslow Mystery, Book 1)
by Donna Andrews
bookshelves:
funnylight,
mysteries
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
Beth said:
"Finally got around to reading the first of the Meg Langslow series, of which the penguin-titled one is still the best (more laughs per page). But I can see why this one won a lot of awards for a first novel. Quite funny, and great characters. The fir...more
Finally got around to reading the first of the Meg Langslow series, of which the penguin-titled one is still the best (more laughs per page). But I can see why this one won a lot of awards for a first novel. Quite funny, and great characters. The first person narrator is well drawn and interesting from the first page. No wonder the series has stood up so well....less
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Beth
gave
to:
The Abstinence Teacher (Hardcover)
by Tom Perrotta
bookshelves:
literary_fiction
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
Beth said:
"I picked this up on a whim at the library, and I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. The author does a decent job of making a born-again Christian (a former druggie and rock musician--someone who could be a stereotype in more than one way) a...more
I picked this up on a whim at the library, and I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. The author does a decent job of making a born-again Christian (a former druggie and rock musician--someone who could be a stereotype in more than one way) a sympathetic, complex character. And the main female protagonist, a progressive, feminist, divorced woman who teaches sex ed, is complex as well and very convincing. He doesn't tie up the story in a bow at the end, either, and I appreciated that--it has a little more depth to it than if he'd created a "happy ever after" ending. I'm planning to read more of his novels....less
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July 22
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Beth
installed the Goodreads Facebook Application 
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July 17
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Beth
gave
to:
Trigger (Hardcover)
by Susan Vaught
bookshelves:
young_adult
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
Beth said:
"Intense story told from the point of view of a teenager who unsuccessfully tried to kill himself and has to recover from the subsequent brain injury. The author's professional experience is brought to bear brilliantly. And the teen voice feels very r...more
Intense story told from the point of view of a teenager who unsuccessfully tried to kill himself and has to recover from the subsequent brain injury. The author's professional experience is brought to bear brilliantly. And the teen voice feels very real. All the characters are convincing, including his parents. Terrific writing, compelling themes carefully handled. Beautiful. I plan to read more of Vaught's stuff, especially Big Fat Manifesto....less
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Beth
gave
to:
Bare Bones: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels)
by Kathy Reichs
bookshelves:
mysteries
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
Beth said:
"Interesting, complex plot that kept me turning pages despite some quibbles I had with the writing (e.g., early on she describes various people, and one of them is described as black, while the others aren't identified by race; later she incorporates ...more
Interesting, complex plot that kept me turning pages despite some quibbles I had with the writing (e.g., early on she describes various people, and one of them is described as black, while the others aren't identified by race; later she incorporates issues of race in the plot and portrays a cop unsympatheticlaly as fairly racist, so I'm not sure why she was so inconsistent/sloppy early on). I think I'll read some more in the series. The forensic anthropology angle is pretty interesting....less
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Beth
gave
to:
Driving with Dead People (Hardcover)
by Monica Holloway
bookshelves:
biographies_memoirs
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
Beth said:
"One of those memoirs that make you laugh and then shake your head and then wince a lot. Not hugely original themes based on these familiar elements: a dysfunctional family, an idiosyncratic kid, a small town in the rural Midwest. Because the author w...more
One of those memoirs that make you laugh and then shake your head and then wince a lot. Not hugely original themes based on these familiar elements: a dysfunctional family, an idiosyncratic kid, a small town in the rural Midwest. Because the author was obsessed with death and liked to play at the local mortuary, and because she's about the same age and the setting was similar, this book did remind me a bit of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. (But it's not as brilliant.) Warning to anyone who's triggered by abuse stories: her family was abusive, and toward the end of the book there's even more revealed about just how bad it was....less
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July 07
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Beth
gave
to:
Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son: A Memoir of Becoming a Man (Hardcover)
by Kevin Jennings
bookshelves:
biographies_memoirs,
glbt
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
Beth said:
"I've been meaning to read this ever since last year, when I heard Jennings read from his book and speak about GLBT issues in schools. He's an excellent speaker and a good memoirist. His exploration of class issues is at least as rich as his descripti...more
I've been meaning to read this ever since last year, when I heard Jennings read from his book and speak about GLBT issues in schools. He's an excellent speaker and a good memoirist. His exploration of class issues is at least as rich as his description of his coming out journey. He is insightful about his experiences growing up in a poor Southern family, attending Harvard, and teaching at elite prep schools and how these intersected with his struggles with coming out and speaking out against homophobia and hypocrisy....less
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