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August 01
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Christin
gave
 
to:
The Virgin of Small Plains (Paperback)
by Nancy Pickard
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Christin said:
"This was a middling Midwestern moral tale about truth, first love, and second chances. My mother reads around two books a week, and sometimes, particularly when faced with watching mind-numbing episodes of Drake & Josh with my cousin, I...more
This was a middling Midwestern moral tale about truth, first love, and second chances. My mother reads around two books a week, and sometimes, particularly when faced with watching mind-numbing episodes of Drake & Josh with my cousin, I pick up whatever has a catchy title. While I loved Pickard's portrayal of Abby and her birds, I was more than a little bored with the other characters same old archetypes (wronged white knight ex-boyfriend, brooding sheriff, bad seeds, et al.), not to mention the all-too-predictable ending. Plus, it was set in Kansas, and the endless corn fields and herds of cattle were none too appealing, despite the brief foray into the miraculous. I am evidently an East Coast elitist. ...less
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Christin
gave
to:
Plain Truth (Paperback)
by Jodi Picoult
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Christin said:
"Murder + Melodrama + Amish Country= Winner!
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Christin
gave
to:
The Pact: A Love Story (Paperback)
by Jodi Picoult
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Christin said:
"I don't know if I remember this story so clearly because I read it during my own angsty adolescence or because I happened to see the Lifetime movie which cast the improbable and unexpectedly milquetoast Megan Mullaly as Emily's mother. This tale of ...more
I don't know if I remember this story so clearly because I read it during my own angsty adolescence or because I happened to see the Lifetime movie which cast the improbable and unexpectedly milquetoast Megan Mullaly as Emily's mother. This tale of friendship, promises, and heartbreak among two couples and their children who fall in love and make a suicide pact is an unabashed tearjerker, but I think it is Picoult at her zenith....less
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Christin
gave
to:
Nineteen Minutes (Paperback)
by Jodi Picoult
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Christin said:
"I have read several of Picoult's other works, and I was sorely disappointed by this ever-so-predictable school shooting yarn. The characters were interesting and sympathetic, but I knew what was going to happen as soon as Peter and Josie stopped bei...more
I have read several of Picoult's other works, and I was sorely disappointed by this ever-so-predictable school shooting yarn. The characters were interesting and sympathetic, but I knew what was going to happen as soon as Peter and Josie stopped being friends in the 6th grade....less
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July 27
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Christin
gave
to:
Belfast Confetti (Paperback)
by Ciaran Carson
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Christin said:
"It makes me sad that Ciaran Carson has such a bug up his ass about Seamus Heaney, since they are two phenomenal Irish poets who both write amazing poems. Why can't we all just get along, boys? Oh, that's right, because only one of them won the Nobe...more
It makes me sad that Ciaran Carson has such a bug up his ass about Seamus Heaney, since they are two phenomenal Irish poets who both write amazing poems. Why can't we all just get along, boys? Oh, that's right, because only one of them won the Nobel. And though I appreciate Carson's talent and economy, his poems are broody, masculine (compensating again?), and a little too lonely for my taste. They make me feel like he has no friends, and one might argue that a state of isolation is necessary for some poets, but Heaney is warm and elegant like Irish coffee, and Muldoon is obviously the life of the drunken wordplay party like an Irish carbomb. Reading Carson is like doing shots of Jameson's alone on a rainy day when your dog died and your boyfriend dumped you. Nevertheless, his title poem is stellar. ...less
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Christin
gave
to:
Selected Poems: 1978-1994 (Paperback)
by Medbh McGuckian
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in April, 2008
Christin said:
"Medbh McGuckian and I are probably never going to be bff. Her poems are striking and beautiful, but I've read this whole collection twice now, and I am still not exactly sure what any particular poem is about. I am beginning to think I picked up ...more
Medbh McGuckian and I are probably never going to be bff. Her poems are striking and beautiful, but I've read this whole collection twice now, and I am still not exactly sure what any particular poem is about. I am beginning to think I picked up a volume of cast-offs from her other collections. The poems are more atmospheric, mood pieces about feeling and subconscious rather than actual events or narrative. And they all run together so much so that I can't name a single one. I feel like I need to sit down with her analyst and have him/her explain them to me.
The only other time I've ever felt that maybe I wasn't smart enough for a book was reading Karl Kirchwey as a freshman, and even then, I was mostly sure what the poems were about or at least vaguely aware of who was speaking and where they were set. But I grew into his work as I read more classical literature. God willing that will happen with McGuckian too, but until then, I feel like she is going to be the Achilles' heel of my professional life....less
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Christin
gave
to:
Collected Poems (Hardcover)
by Michael Longley
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Christin said:
"Michael Longley is the old guard: a Guinness, hale and hardy and 100% brewed in Ireland. I think the younger generation of scholars and poets makes cracks and calls him Wing Commander Longley for his obsession with the Great War, but I just love his...more
Michael Longley is the old guard: a Guinness, hale and hardy and 100% brewed in Ireland. I think the younger generation of scholars and poets makes cracks and calls him Wing Commander Longley for his obsession with the Great War, but I just love his poems. "Pipistrelle" and "The Leveret" are my favorites for their unexpected gentleness and poignancy without sacrificing depth. And he is the only one ballsy enough to dedicate a poem to Medbh McGuckian where he calls her "dear". If my own beloved grandpa was a poet, he would be Michael Longley, and that is one of the greatest compliments I could give. ...less
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Christin
gave
to:
Collected Poems (Hardcover)
by Derek Mahon
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Christin said:
"I have read a lot of Irish literature, granted mostly the classics and the yet-to-be-completely Canonical women (wait for my book), but the favorite surprise of my literary life is a toss-up between Mahon's sheer genius, "A Disused Shed in Co. W...more
I have read a lot of Irish literature, granted mostly the classics and the yet-to-be-completely Canonical women (wait for my book), but the favorite surprise of my literary life is a toss-up between Mahon's sheer genius, "A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford," and Michael Longley's "Pipistrelle". In the grand tradition of continuing my Irish male poets as potentates metaphor, Mahon is a Harp, light, quick and satisfying. His poems are lyrical and richly allusive without being heavy-handed, and he always has the most interesting epigrams and dedications. The whole collection is a keeper. ...less
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Christin
gave
to:
Jane Eyre (Oxford World's Classics)
by Charlotte Brontë
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Christin said:
"Jane and Mr. Rochester have an s&m relationship, and Jane likes it like that. And it really thrills me to no end that straight-laced clergyman's daughter and perpetual homebody Charlotte peppered the novel with so many subversive and kinky little...more
Jane and Mr. Rochester have an s&m relationship, and Jane likes it like that. And it really thrills me to no end that straight-laced clergyman's daughter and perpetual homebody Charlotte peppered the novel with so many subversive and kinky little quirks. I have read it a hundred times and will probably read it a hundred more. One day, when I teach it, we will read theories of bondage and watch Secretary. For more, see my Corner-winning paper, "Jane in Chains: Of Bondage and Bird Metaphors in Jane Eyre "....less
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Christin
took the never-ending book quiz.
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