Christine Seifert's Blog: Lady Professor Reads, page 11

Reading on Planes

One of my favorite things about air travel is turning off my devices. I know I could put my phone in airplane mode any time I want. I don’t. I allow myself to be distracted, largely by things I don’t care about.

But on a plane, I’m held captive. I can’t access anything because I’m too cheap to pay for wifi. I can be alone with books for as long as the plane is in the air, assuming I can signal to my seatmates that I don’t want to talk. That can be challenging since I attract talkers. (Case in...

Books That Take Time to Love (or Appreciate)

Have you ever read a book that you initially didn’t like–or even hated–and then you later realized your initial opinion was all wrong?

It happens to me fairly regularly. I think that’s because I’m a slow thinker. One of my wonderful colleagues once told me there are two kinds of thinkers: microwaves and crock-pots. She identifies as the latter; that is, someone who needs to simmer for a long period of time. It takes longer, but it’s so much richer. Microwaves can zap for thirty seconds and wa...

Book of the Month Club: June 2018

I know an actual book of the month club exists. I belong to one with only one member: Me.

Once a month–always on the first Saturday of the month–my dear husband looks at my TBR list and selects a book for me. It comes in the mail a few days later, and I get excited every. single.time.

I love being surprised with book mail. I mean, yeah, I pick the contenders, but someone else picks the book. It’s the best of both worlds: I get a surprise, but I don’t have to risk getting a book I’ve already r...

Weekend Theme: Middle-Class Motherhood

I read two books over the weekend that both dealt with motherhood and missing children. I’m formulating thoughts.

Review: The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

Elevator Pitch: A bookish girl, Greer Kadetsky, heads off to college and discovers all of the ways the world is sympathetic to men (especially rich white men), often at the expense of women. After meeting Faith Frank, a famous feminist in the vein of Gloria Steinem, Greer devote herself to feminist cause. Greer’s exciting new life upends all of her plans, including her plans with her high school boyfriend Cory, who has an awakening of his own.

My Tagline:  Hmm, this is tough because the novel...

What Kind of Reader Are You? A Grazer or a Gulper? Or Both?

It’s taken me a long time to become a grazing reader; that is, a reader who can pick up a book and read a page or two and then put it down and continue on with all the other quotidian tasks of life that don’t involve reading.

I used to think reading was an occasion. I felt like I couldn’t read until I had everything else done. Only then could I sit down (or lie down) to gulp, usually at bedtime when my energy was at its lowest.

At some point in my life, I had inadvertently absorbed the lesson...

My TBR

All my library holds came in at exactly the same time, just when I received my book-of-the-month pick. Here’s what’s on tap for the next couple of weeks. Here’s what I’ll be reading over the next few weeks.

I’m starting with Stephen McCauley’s My Ex-Life. He’s been one of my favorite authors since high school/college.

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Four Books I Didn’t Like That Everyone Else Loved

[image error]“I have unpopular opinions.”

I’m always disappointed when I read a much-hyped book that all of my favorite reader friends loved, only to find that I just didn’t get it.

I mean, I understand that everyone has different tastes. Books come into your life at the right or wrong time. Every reader is unique. Et cetera. Et cetera. So not liking a popular book says nothing about the book itself. It just means it wasn’t for me.

[image error]“You are a very stupid book, but this coffee seems fine.”

Still, it bums m...

Review: Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

[image error]Elevator Pitch: Ani FaNelli has a secret, but she’s not going to let that stop her from getting the life of luxury she wants. She’s going to marry a blue blooded New Yorker, continue working at a glamorous women’s magazine, carry designer handbags, and make you so jealous of her perfect life that you’ll want to weep. But what if her past collides with her present?

My Tagline: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson meets Sex and the City 

Genre: I’m going to call it contemporary fiction. I found it on...

Review: Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

Elevator Pitch: Crappy husband plans exciting vacation day for his hot wife with a bad digestive system. Psychological thrills ensue.[image error]

My Tagline: Sleeping with the Enemy meets Anthony Weiner

My Opinion: I love a good unreliable narrator, and Paul Strom is pretty unreliable. He’s also arrogant and socially clueless, which makes him an even more interesting character. You know he’s up to something, but you’ll keep reading to find out what it is.

Paul’s wife, Mia, is wholly sympathetic. (Of cour...