Bethany's profile

96 ratings | 80 reviews
avg rating: 3.72

Bethany's bookshelves

read (96)
currently-reading (4)
to-read (33)
fiction-and-literature (51)

children-s (19)
book-group (18)
science-fiction (12)
re-read (10)

mystery (10)
non-fiction (10)
food (7)
did-not-finish (3)

cookbook (1)

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Bethany is currently reading

	05/15 Bethany is currently reading: Out of Africa (Hardcover) by Isak Dinesen bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
	Bethany said: "Book Group book. " add a comment
	01/06 Bethany is currently reading: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Hardcover) by Michael Pollan bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
	Bethany said: "Broke my book buying diet again and ordered this online. " add a comment
	01/05 Bethany is currently reading: Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders (P.S.) by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads author!) bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
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Bethany's recent updates (rss)

July 22

Bethany marked as to-read:
South (Paperback)
by Ernest Shackleton
bookshelves: to-read

my rating:

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Bethany read and liked Julian's review of South:

"This isn't usually my type of book, but I really got into this one, partly because the captain was actually a decent writer as well as obviously a pretty extraordinary individual. "

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Bethany read and liked Joanna's review of Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang:

"Fascinating.
Frightening.
Hopeful.

This apocalyptic novel took over my life today. Copyright 1974 and it reads like a current bestseller. I was completely swept up in the story, and long for the many characters to all become whole. I was cons...more "

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Bethany added:
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (Hardcover)
by Kate Wilhelm
bookshelves: science-fiction

my rating:

read in November, 2007

Bethany said: "Gremlin Jane's review of this book inspired me to get the book on e-bay.

A book entirely worth reading! A fascinating look at the "end of our race" when we are no longer able to procreate. Scientists come up with a cloning solution, bu...more "

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July 21

New comment on Bethany's review of Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, Book 1)

Bethany wrote: "Yes, it is, but I did not realize it until I posted the book on goodreads. "

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July 20

Bethany read and liked Keely's review of Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, Book 1):

"I was savaged by a miniature poodle the other day--wait--no. Someone protested my review of The Giver the other day, and amongst a lot of Ad Hominem attacks, made the argument that children needed gr...more "

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Bethany read and liked Matt's review of Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, Book 1):

"i think 'ender's game' is the only book i've read three times. for me books often don't have repeat reading value in the same way some movies have repeat viewing value. it's probably because a movie takes two hours of your time while a novel, for me...more i think 'ender's game' is the only book i've read three times. for me books often don't have repeat reading value in the same way some movies have repeat viewing value. it's probably because a movie takes two hours of your time while a novel, for me, takes a week or longer. so for someone like to me read a novel twice, not to mention three times, is really saying something [and yes, i realize the inherent snobbery in that statement].

i've thought long and hard about what makes 'ender's game' so appealing. it's got a sympathetic protagonist, lots of great action, lots of heart, and a plausible twist of an ending. on those merits only 'ender's game' works. it's a lot of fun to read and orson scott card manages to inject some really moral and ethical quandries without resorting to didactism or heavy-handedness. for example, the manipulations of the battle school powers-that-be are presented and inspected, but card never explicitly paints them as the enemy. they are who they are, for better or for worse, but it's up to the reader to for his or her own opinions. same for ender and his merry band of castoffs. card understands that good v. bad is never as simple as black v. white. the world and universe are, more often than not, varying shades of gray. and the folks who inhabit that gray universe, for better or for worse, are who they are. they all have a part, they all have a purpose--even if those parts and purposes contradict each other.

'ender's game' is also a great story of the value and importance of friendship. i choke up everytime ender's friends great him over the headset and the kids prepare for the final 'battle.' who wouldn't want friends like bean, petra, hot soup and the rest? i sure would.

but i think the real appeal for 'ender's game' comes from the belief that we all want to believe that there's something uniquely special about us. i think it's safe to assume that most of us have, at one point or another, felt like the underdog, the castoff, the misfit, the misunderstood, or the underappreciated, and that if people would just give us a chance, we'd shine. in that way ender is very much a universal character. he embodies a small part of each ous. yes, he is treated unfairly and manipulated, but he's also the smartest kid in the room. there's something very appealing about that. at least there is for me. whether or not i'm the smartest person in the room is irrelevant, but i want to believe it. and whenever i read 'ender's game' there's a small hope that it just might be true....less "

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Bethany added The Time Traveler's Wife to the book list Best Books Ever
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Bethany marked as to-read:
Join Me! (Paperback)
by Danny Wallace
bookshelves: to-read

my rating:

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New comment on Johna's review of The Glass Castle: A Memoir

Bethany wrote: "I have this book in my pile of books to read! Thanks for the good review, I will have to move it up...more "

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see all 96 of Bethany's books »

Bethany's groups (recent posts)

Vermont — 24 members — last activity 04/07/2008 04:15PM
Nos lego in viridis mons montis.

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Bethany's friends (22)

	Latharia 272 books, 40 friends Friend details Online "We were both doing 101 Things In 1001 Days, and our mutual friend, KimZ, connected us through our blogs, and then BookCrossing, and now here! Bethany lives not too far from where I went to college, and from where some of my extended family lived for years!"
	Kimz 343 books, 50 friends Friend details Through Goodreads "Met on Goodreads! Becoming fast friends. :D"
	Maria Savva 70 books 407 friends
	Joanna 1244 books, 26 friends Friend details Book club, Worked Together "Work together, and are in a Book Group together!"
	Sean 533 books, 20 friends Friend details Book club
	Cindy 82 books, 8 friends Friend details Worked Together
	Gremlin 80 books 45 friends
	Angela 0 books 11 friends
	JoAnne 77 books 14 friends
	Dani 35 books 8 friends
	Jennifer 0 books, 8 friends Friend details Book club
	Cary 0 books, 10 friends Friend details Book club
	Jamie 9 books, 13 friends Friend details Worked Together
	Kristin 1 book 2 friends
	Galandrielle 0 books 9 friends

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