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jenniferkat's reviews
574 reviews
This Death by Drowning by William Kloefkorn
3.0
Kloefkorn is Nebraska's state poet, and [book: This Death by Drowning] is his memior. Well, part of his memior anyway... These are all stories of his life that are centered, in some way around water. I believe he has two other memiors written and is writing a fourth, so when he's finished, he will have centered on all four elements: water, fire, earth and air.
Perhaps not riveting, it was at least an interesting read. Some of it covers his childhood in Kansas and some of his adult life in Nebraska. [book: Restoring the Burnt Child] is the next part, and is the 2008 One Book, One Nebraska pick, so I will probably read it. After reading Kloefkorn, I will probably seek out more Nebraska authors such as Mari Sandoz and read some more stories by Willa Cather.
Perhaps not riveting, it was at least an interesting read. Some of it covers his childhood in Kansas and some of his adult life in Nebraska. [book: Restoring the Burnt Child] is the next part, and is the 2008 One Book, One Nebraska pick, so I will probably read it. After reading Kloefkorn, I will probably seek out more Nebraska authors such as Mari Sandoz and read some more stories by Willa Cather.
Awareness: Conversations with the Masters by Anthony De Mello
5.0
Without overstating this too much... this book really gave me a new world view when I read it in my early 20's. It was my introduction into Eastern philosophies, and oddly enough, written by a Catholic priest.
American Savior: A Novel of Divine Politics by Roland Merullo
4.0
Won this as a First Reads- It's so awesome to have a book with "Advanced Copy- Not For Sale" printed on it! Thanks!
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When I first began this book, I had a hard time getting Christopher Moore's Josh (Jesus)character out of my head. I will admit that the Jesus of American Savior didn't immediately strike me as much as the Jesus of Lamb.
However, after a few chapters, I was able to put that aside and begin to enjoy this book. This is a story that chronicles a presidential run by none other than Jesus Christ. One reason that I liked it so much is that the politics of the book were more or less politics I could agree with. I imagine that there are quite a few people who would disagree with Merullo's Jesus' take on abortion: he had no position because abortion is neither right nor wrong. I think that if the historical Jesus came back to run for President, it would be much like this book: half of the country embracing him and half (including the religious right) eschewing him as a crazy liberal hippy.
I think what this book spoke to me the most about was my desire to see a politician who 1) really wants to make things better and 2) wants to involve everyone, regardless of race, class, creed or religion in the discussion of how to do that. *sigh*
Anyway, it was a humorous book that was extremely topical. Identifying the thinly veiled newscasters was a lot of fun. One thing that I really appriciated was that this book wasn't preachy, Jesus wasn't constantly telling people to go to church and as a matter of fact, never even promoted Christianity as a religion. The last scene between Jesus and the narrator, while predictable, I found to be very touching. Oh, and in full disclosure- one scene involves Jesus giving a stump speech in a "pretty little college town named Kearney." Kearney actually was my pretty little college town, so I got a huge kick out of that. Go Lopers!
****************
When I first began this book, I had a hard time getting Christopher Moore's Josh (Jesus)character out of my head. I will admit that the Jesus of American Savior didn't immediately strike me as much as the Jesus of Lamb.
However, after a few chapters, I was able to put that aside and begin to enjoy this book. This is a story that chronicles a presidential run by none other than Jesus Christ. One reason that I liked it so much is that the politics of the book were more or less politics I could agree with. I imagine that there are quite a few people who would disagree with Merullo's Jesus' take on abortion: he had no position because abortion is neither right nor wrong. I think that if the historical Jesus came back to run for President, it would be much like this book: half of the country embracing him and half (including the religious right) eschewing him as a crazy liberal hippy.
I think what this book spoke to me the most about was my desire to see a politician who 1) really wants to make things better and 2) wants to involve everyone, regardless of race, class, creed or religion in the discussion of how to do that. *sigh*
Anyway, it was a humorous book that was extremely topical. Identifying the thinly veiled newscasters was a lot of fun. One thing that I really appriciated was that this book wasn't preachy, Jesus wasn't constantly telling people to go to church and as a matter of fact, never even promoted Christianity as a religion. The last scene between Jesus and the narrator, while predictable, I found to be very touching. Oh, and in full disclosure- one scene involves Jesus giving a stump speech in a "pretty little college town named Kearney." Kearney actually was my pretty little college town, so I got a huge kick out of that. Go Lopers!
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
3.0
I suppose it's pretty trite to compare the protagonist in [book: The Bell Jar] to the protagonist in [book: Catcher in the Rye], but I'll do it anyway!
So, what do our protagonists, Holden Caulfield and Esther Greenwood have in common? They are both young adults (late teens) heading toward mental breakdowns in post WWII America. While Holden's story takes place mainly in Manhattan, Esther's starts there, but moves to a few different settings.
In my advancing age, one of the things that bothered me so much about Holden is that the older I got, the whinier he sounded. I am left with an overall sense of wanting to tell him to grow up. Not so much with the character of Esther, though. Her descent into her breakdown seemed much more genuine (for lack of a better word) probably becasue Plath was writing from her own life experiences. I don't mean to imply that Esther is anything more than a female Holden, but I was only a few pages into the book when the comparison was apparent to me; and although I loved, loved, loved Catcher, The Bell Jar just felt a little more real to me.
So, what do our protagonists, Holden Caulfield and Esther Greenwood have in common? They are both young adults (late teens) heading toward mental breakdowns in post WWII America. While Holden's story takes place mainly in Manhattan, Esther's starts there, but moves to a few different settings.
In my advancing age, one of the things that bothered me so much about Holden is that the older I got, the whinier he sounded. I am left with an overall sense of wanting to tell him to grow up. Not so much with the character of Esther, though. Her descent into her breakdown seemed much more genuine (for lack of a better word) probably becasue Plath was writing from her own life experiences. I don't mean to imply that Esther is anything more than a female Holden, but I was only a few pages into the book when the comparison was apparent to me; and although I loved, loved, loved Catcher, The Bell Jar just felt a little more real to me.
Perfect by Natasha Friend
4.0
[book: Perfect] is the story of a thirteen year old girl who has recently lost her father and had developed an eating disorder. Like [book: Lush], which dealt with an alcoholic father, Perfect tackles a touchy subject with a lot of humor and realism. I think I liked Perfect better than Lush, the Hanukah prayer scene brought tears to my eyes!
Friend was recently a guest author in our area and she told us that in her fourth book, Nightswimming, her three protagonists (from Perfect, Lush and Bounce) would meet as 16 year old camp counselors. It was so fun to see how excited some of the students got over this announcement! I must admit that it piqued my interest as well and I will certainly be reading Bounce in the near future.
Friend was recently a guest author in our area and she told us that in her fourth book, Nightswimming, her three protagonists (from Perfect, Lush and Bounce) would meet as 16 year old camp counselors. It was so fun to see how excited some of the students got over this announcement! I must admit that it piqued my interest as well and I will certainly be reading Bounce in the near future.
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan, Rachel Cohn
4.0
After two weeks of waiting in vain for this movie to show up in our theater, I just decided to read the book!
It's the story of Nick and Norah and one night in Manhattan. I thought it was really funny and really sweet. It didn't contain quite as many music references as say, [b:King Dork|10570|King Dork|Frank Portman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166254201s/10570.jpg|4196], but still very hip nonetheless. I got the soundtrack a couple of weeks ago and was a little disappointed to see that none of the songs from the book actually made it on to the soundtrack, but oh well.
Overall, this book proves two points I have always believed: 1. Hipster adults write the best teenagers and 2. I really should have grown up in New York City.
It's the story of Nick and Norah and one night in Manhattan. I thought it was really funny and really sweet. It didn't contain quite as many music references as say, [b:King Dork|10570|King Dork|Frank Portman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166254201s/10570.jpg|4196], but still very hip nonetheless. I got the soundtrack a couple of weeks ago and was a little disappointed to see that none of the songs from the book actually made it on to the soundtrack, but oh well.
Overall, this book proves two points I have always believed: 1. Hipster adults write the best teenagers and 2. I really should have grown up in New York City.
Shaping Literacy Achievement: Research We Have, Research We Need by
2.0
Have you ever been interested in how to shape literacy achievment? Dying to know what research we have on teaching reading and writing? Interested in what research we need? Then brother, this is the book for you.