mitchell's profile

708 ratings | 10 reviews
avg rating: 3.28

mitchell's bookshelves

read (709)
currently-reading (5)

to-read (20)
newbery-medal (87)

comic-strip-anthology (38)
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mitchell is currently reading

	07/22 mitchell is currently reading: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by J.K. Rowling bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
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	11/23 mitchell is currently reading: Troubling a Star (Mass Market Paperback) by Madeleine L'Engle bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
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	11/23 mitchell is currently reading: Plantation Boy (Paperback) by Milton Murayama bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
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mitchell's recent updates (rss)

July 22

mitchell is currently reading:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves: currently-reading

my rating:

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mitchell gave

to:
M is for Malice (Kinsey Millhone Mystery)
by Sue Grafton

my rating:

read in July, 2008

mitchell said: "Note: This review does not contain plot spoilers, but it might contain some thematic spoilers for those who don't want to know ahead of time about Kinsey's character development.

I've obviously fallen a few years behind on my reading; when I bega...more Note: This review does not contain plot spoilers, but it might contain some thematic spoilers for those who don't want to know ahead of time about Kinsey's character development.

I've obviously fallen a few years behind on my reading; when I began reading the series, M is for Malice was a few months away from publication. Part of the fault is my schedule (I'm a high-school teacher and usually read Kinsey during summer vacations); part is my just-completed graduate program; part is the fault of L is for Lawless, which I disliked and which is, so far, my least-favorite in the series. In fact, K is for Killer is probably my second-least-favorite, so I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to get to the rest of the alphabet.

Oh, some of the fault probably goes to Harry Potter, too. :)

What a pleasant surprise M is for Malice is. Not only is the story intriguing, but further developments in Kinsey's life take interesting turns. I have to say that unlike some reviewers on GoodReads, I'm not fond of the whole Dietz dynamic. Kinsey's fierce independence and issues of abandonment are important parts of the character I love exploring, but when they spread into her romantic life, I admit feeling quite bored, especially when Kinsey doesn't give us a lot of reason for WANTING her to be with Dietz. I haven't been convinced that she has feelings FOR him because all she talks about are her feelings about BEING with him.

However, her relationship with Tasha and with Tasha's sisters takes a few small steps forward here, which I like, and the entire dynamic with Guy Malek is very interesting. Fans who want mostly plot will be disappointed, I think, at how much introspection there is here, and I agree it does get a big heavy-handed at times. However, in the context of the story, particularly within the framework of this Guy Malek dynamic, it works for me. Perhaps this is my problem with the Dietz thing: So much of Dietz took away from the rest of the story. It felt like a distraction rather than another neighborhood in this world of Kinsey's, unlike her relationships with Henry and Rosie, which have become such important parts of her world that a novel without them would feel wrong.

The prose is about what you'd expect, but I disagree with some of her technical decisions, such as a few misplaced apostrophes and periods where there should be question marks.

Still, a nice return to form for Kinsey, and I'm happily back on the bandwagon. Bring on the Noose!...less "

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July 14

mitchell took the never-ending book quiz.

questions answered:	1435
correct:	679 (47.3%)
skipped:	0
best streak:	20
questions added:	11

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July 12

mitchell liked a trivia question:
What famous work was first rejected by an editor on the grounds that: he did not see why the reader would want to spend 40 pages learning about why the narrator cannot get to sleep at night? see if you know the answer »

July 11

mitchell liked a trivia question:
Which of the following is NOT a superstition that actors observe, when putting on a Shakespeare play? see if you know the answer »

New comment on Cindy's review of The Book of Dreams: Your Dreams and What They Mean

mitchell wrote: "You have need for dream interpretation? "

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July 06

New comment on Jennifer's review of A Prayer for Owen Meany

mitchell wrote: "Good choice. Strange book, but clever and funny. I refuse to see the film that is supposedly based...more "

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July 03

mitchell gave

to:
The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank (Paperback)
by Erma Bombeck

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mitchell gave

to:
The Clan of the Cave Bear (Paperback)
by Jean M. Auel

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July 02

mitchell gave

to:
Griffin & Sabine - An Extraordinary Correspondence (Hardcover)
by Nick Bantock

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mitchell's favorite quotes

"There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name."
— Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread)

20 people liked it

"It did things to a man, Nat thought, to find out he had a brain."
— Jean Lee Latham, in _Carry On, Mr. Bowditch_.

1 person liked it

"Art should be truth; and truth, unadorned, unsentimentalized, is beauty."
— Elizabeth Borton De Trevino (I, Juan De Pareja)

1 person liked it

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