|
May 13
|
|
Bobbi
read and liked
Beth's
review of Saturday:
"I may change this number of stars. It started out fairly slow but seems to be picking up and according to the reviews on the book the last 5 pages are scintillating.
Update. Upon finishing this boo"
...read more »
|
|
|
Bobbi
read and liked
Siobhan's
review of Saturday:
"I thoroughly disliked this book. It's the only Ian McEwan book I've read and if this is typical of him, I'm not going back for me.
Each character, and each event, seems to have a massive backstory"
...read more »
|
|
Bobbi
read and liked
Philip's
review of Saturday:
"Many of my friends are unaware of my fondess of Rodeo Sports. (This is, I promise, a review of SATURDAY. Just go with me for a moment.) But it's true, perhaps it's my childhood in the American Sout"
...read more »
|
|
Bobbi
gave
 
to:
Saturday (Paperback)
by Ian McEwan
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended for: indecisive,self-effacing ninnies
Bobbi said:
"Was McEwan's point in writing this book to reinforce the stereotype of British men as as indecisive, self-effacing ninnies, afraid of their own shadows? Or was that men in general? Or the West?
Or...more
Was McEwan's point in writing this book to reinforce the stereotype of British men as as indecisive, self-effacing ninnies, afraid of their own shadows? Or was that men in general? Or the West?
Or was he trying to show that those who profess pacifism in the public square will defend themselves when roused, and that those who claim another viewpoint are just full of bull?
Whatever his point, he made it tiresomely. Saturday, which was rapturously recommended to me by a stranger on an airplane, reminded me of Christopher Darden's prosecution of the domestic violence allegations against O.J. Simpson. I was left wondering: how can such an articulate man snatch -- or rather slowly draw -- tedium out of the jaws of suspense? ...less
"
|
|
May 11
|
|
Bobbi
gave
to:
Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk: A Caseworker's Story (Paperback)
by Marc Parent
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in May, 2008
Bobbi said:
" Marc Parent writes really well. He wrote Turning Stones as therapy, to get four years working as a night caseworker at the New York City De...more
Marc Parent writes really well. He wrote Turning Stones as therapy, to get four years working as a night caseworker at the New York City Department of Emergency Services out of his system. He describes, in harrowing detail, situations that most of us can't even imagine. His job was to wade into emergencies and rescue children, then hand them off to the foster system without learning what happened to them.
Turning Stones takes the reader on Parent's journey from an innocent 23-year-old, freshly arrived from Wisconsin, to the burnout point where he asks, "Can I stay here until I die, or do I get out now while I'm still intact?" Four years is about five times longer than most people last in that job. After reading Turning Stones, you'll understand why. From the psychotic mother who convinced two of her children to jump from a 23rd floor tenement window while her other three children watched in horror to the eight-year-old sexual abuse victim who would not name her abuser, Parent takes us owith him through frustration, empathy, fear, hope, and eventually burnout. The stories he tells will stay with me a long time.
His co-workers spanned the spectrum from caring rescuers to clock-punching bureaucrats,with some unexpected twists in between. While some of them embodied the cynicism and disrespect for families that has led to stereotypes about child welfare workers, most of them were dedicated, heroic, and just a bit eccentric.
Turning Stones takes the reader on Marc's journey through four years of scenes that most people will (mercifully) never see, and I found myself rooting for both the children and for Marc -- that they would arrive at the end with their souls intact.
...less
"
|
|
May 09
|
|
Bobbi
gave
to:
Are Those Kids Yours?: American Families With Children Adopted From Other Countries (Hardcover)
by Cheri Register
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Bobbi said:
"This book was written for parents adopting internationally, but would actually be a good resource for any sort of multiracial family. She gives good advice on how to deal with intrusive questions, and she delves into the deep water that underlies so...more
This book was written for parents adopting internationally, but would actually be a good resource for any sort of multiracial family. She gives good advice on how to deal with intrusive questions, and she delves into the deep water that underlies some of those questions. In so doing, Cheri Register deals with personal, politically sensitive topics, with fairness to some widely divergent points of view, and doesn't fall too far into political correctness. She speaks from personal experience, as well as many firsthand accounts. ...less
"
|
|
May 06
|
|
Bobbi
gave
to:
Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right: How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Lost Its Nerve (Hardcover)
by Bernard Goldberg
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in May, 2008
Bobbi said:
"I liked this book. A lot.
Both conservatives and liberals would find a lot of interesting points (both of agreement and disagreement) in this book, which is a fast read. Bernie Goldberg is the...more
I liked this book. A lot.
Both conservatives and liberals would find a lot of interesting points (both of agreement and disagreement) in this book, which is a fast read. Bernie Goldberg is the product of a long, proud liberal tradition. He was dismayed when, as a reporter in the prime of his career at CBS, he realized that his attitudes were shifting to the right. At the same time, he became more and more aware of the fact that the liberals in the Democratic party were being pushed aside by leftists (did you know that there was a difference? There is, and it's important. John Kennedy was a liberal. His patriotism, his support of the military, his fiscal policies -- just to name a few -- would not stand him in good stead in the current Democratic party. But don't feel bad. The Repubs ain't exactly the party of their hero, Reagan, these days either). Goldberg's philosophical evolution brought about the demise of his career at CBS News, which began to end, oh, about the time he wrote a nationally-circulated editorial about liberal bias in the news. Yeah, his then-boss, Dan Rather, had a few problems with that, as Goldberg previously described in his first book, Bias. It must have come as a total shock to Goldberg when Rather was later shown to be a an indisputable paragon of fairness and journalistic ethics (not to mention loyalty to his subordinates whose careers were destroyed) and exonerated of any partisan leanings and, hey, wait a minute! Never mind....
In Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right, Goldberg exposes the hypocrisy on both sides of the American political aisle, comments on the Democrats' sweep of the 2006 elections and predicts that the Democratic Party is on track to continue with its electoral successes as long as the Republicans keep selling out their ideals. As he describes it, Democrats like to raise taxes and spend money and Republicans don't like to raise taxes, but --much to the horror of those who expected them to act like actual Republicans instead of cardboard cutouts with an R on their sweater -- they like to spend even more money. In an attempt to appease and please everyone instead of standing for what they believe, the Republicans are increasingly losing not only power but a raison d'etre.
Some of his more provocative discussions involve the left's increasing hostility towards Israel, as well as a fascinating discussion of the almost-universal refusal of the American and European media to run the infamous Danish cartoons mocking Islam while simultaneously gleefully running pictures of an artist's rendition of the Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung. He writes at length of the coverage of the Abu Ghraib scandal (thirty-two consecutive front-page stories in the New York Times, at one point) paralleled by a media blackout on terrorist beheadings of American soldiers and civilians.
His chapter on Mike Wallace's love-fest, I mean interview, with Iran's President Ahmedinijad is stunning. He describes how Wallace not only fawned over Ahmedinijad, throwing him softball questions and permitting him to lie, preen and grandstand before the world, but he contrasts it with Wallace's usual treatment of American politicians (at least conservative ones) and business and religious leaders. As Goldberg points out, generally on 60 Minutes when an interview subject is blatantly lying, the next thing you expect to see is a video clip -- or three -- of another source demonstrating the inconsistency or downright falsehood. Yet, in the valentine he aired for the head of Iran, Wallace gave him a pass, called no other witnesses, and challenged nothing.
Goldberg's discussion of the Iraq War, of which he is not a fan, is also fascinating. For example, he aptly points out that the Republicans in Congress would have been all over the failures, half-measures and missteps if a Democrat had been calling the shots.
In short, Bernie Goldberg is a conservative(ish) libertarian who currently finds himself (somewhat) without a party. Yet, as he looks at his former party in the rearview mirror, it has drifted so far left it is completely unrecognizeable.
I feel his pain....less
"
|
|
May 01
|
|
|
Bobbi
read and liked
Megan's
review of The Queen's Fool: A Novel:
"I only got like 35 pages into this one. I thought it was boring. It does include a steamy sex scene near the beginning if you're in the mood for that though."
...read more »
|
|
Bobbi
read and liked
Courtney's
review of The Queen's Fool: A Novel:
"I can't believe I read this book. It is a Harlequin Romance promoted as historical fiction. While the book isn't without its merits, it made me consider the inquistion in a way that I never had...it"
...read more »
|
|
April 30
|
|
Bobbi
gave
to:
The Queen's Fool: A Novel (Paperback)
by Philippa Gregory
bookshelves:
didn-t-finish
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Bobbi said:
"I like historical fiction, but I don't think that it needs to be dumbed down, sexed-up and turned into a Harlequin-style bodice-ripper to appeal to a modern audience.
The book opens with the reader's introduction to two adolescent girls. The firs...more
I like historical fiction, but I don't think that it needs to be dumbed down, sexed-up and turned into a Harlequin-style bodice-ripper to appeal to a modern audience.
The book opens with the reader's introduction to two adolescent girls. The first is a fourteen-year-old princess (the future Elizabeth I) whose (enthusiastic) incest with her stepfather is described with a sickening vividness that appears to be intended to titillate. The second is Hannah, the narrator. She is a cross-dressing Converso with "the Sight" who is fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. At about the time the author appeared to (rather clumsily) be setting up Hannah as a "spunky heroine" by showing us that she doesn't want her arranged marriage (around page 40), I just couldn't take anymore. That's as far as I got.
I know that The Queen's Fool is a best-selling book-club fave and well-reviewed, but I just didn't want any more of it....less
"
|
Bobbi------dahling----------it's smashing to be one of your goodreads friends. How does a wife and mother find time to read:-)
