false 36 674 673 true 5632937 read 1 true 67481 currently-reading 0 true 67480 to-read 171 false 1494740 2008 167 false 4085721 2009 69 false 1198819 mlis 40 false 1128013 couldnt-finish 21 false 1409838 2007 18 false 68125 alltimefavs http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81202763 to: The Bog Baby (Paperback) by Jeanne Willis
bookshelves: 2009
despite my tough facade, i cry at commercials, commencement speeches and picture books about having to let someone you love go, even if that someone you love is a bog baby. beautiful illustrations and a sweet story. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79800308 to: Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays (Hardcover) by Zadie Smith
bookshelves: 2009
the more i like a contemporary fiction author, the harder it is for me to really appreciate their essay collections. i was able to "get it" a bit more after reading the jezebel review, which clearly stated some of the things i couldn't quite pin down about what i liked & disliked. i will say, smith is the only person who really gave me a reason to consider giving david foster wallace's footnotes another chance, with her last essay. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80276107 Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King (Hardcover) by Brad Matsen
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79656194 Hetal's review of The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)
by Dan Brown

i have thoughts and opinions about this, but i think i made that clear at the beer garden! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79529673 to: Living Dead Girl (Hardcover) by Elizabeth Scott
bookshelves: 2009
really fast read (like, one entire lunch and afternoon break). the booktalk i heard at CBF09 was way better than the book itself. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79238817 to: I Am the New Black (Hardcover) by Tracy Morgan
bookshelves: 2009
my first book read on the kindle software for iphone. i can't tell if i didn't like the book because it was terribly written (true) or i hated the experience of reading on such a tiny screen (also true).

the voice of the book didn't seem to be either morgan's or the ghostwriter and there was a lot of repeating statements. i really hated that i constantly had to press the screen to move forward after every few paragraphs and found myself zoning off a bit more often than i normally do.

i guess the real ebook test now is to read a book i know i like and see how that works out, but for now i'm going to stick to the traditional. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78551526 to: Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife (Hardcover) by Francine Prose
bookshelves: couldnt-finish
accidentally left this book in my locker over the weekend, which was the final pin in the already deflating project to read this book alongside the diary of anne frank.

the last few books i've read have been so fantastically depressing that i thought this literally analysis of an another depressing situation might be a burst of fresh air. it wasn't, really, because i hadn't read the book and wasn't really interested in the differences that were then discussed.

i do love the book cover - i could stare at it forever. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78332883 to: Columbine (Hardcover) by Dave Cullen
bookshelves: 2009
incredibly well written, sensitive to the subject without sparing the reader any details. it seems odd to give a book about something so horrific five stars, or to say it was one of the best books read this year, but it's very compelling.

i was drawn to this book while working on my field experience in a high school. i was a teenager myself when this happened and don't really remember following the story after a certain point. i was incredibly surprised to see that everything i thought i could say was true about the incident was, in fact, false. this book will stay with me a long time. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78175896 to: Liar (Hardcover) by Justine Larbalestier
bookshelves: 2009
what youth services oriented librarian DIDN'T freak out over the controversial original cover of this book? it was good buzz, though, because i'm not sure i would have picked up this title otherwise (although that's probably false, considering the book reviews i read but still).

there's just not much you can say about this book without ruining it for anyone else. i did hit a point where i had to put it down because something happened that was not the something i expected and i didn't know how i felt about the story from that point on. basically, it made me hate it, but i get the point of what larbalestier was trying to do. i just wasn't expecting it and you really have to keep an open mind about this whole story.

i was also mad because that something was basically a very similar plot to my now discared 2009 nanowrimo plot, so maybe my meh 3 star review is just because of that. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78167118 to: Stitches: A Memoir (Hardcover) by David Small
bookshelves: 2009
turns out stitches was the book to get at book expo this year... and i didn't. luckily, i found it just sitting on the jcpl shelf and devoured it. i've read so many interviews with small, as well as controversy over it's national book award win in the YA category. no matter what you choose to play it as - memoir, adult, graphic novel, teen - this book is haunting. ]]>