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jonscott9's reviews
206 reviews
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
4.0
This is a tight, dear book, especially for those who have pets, have historically had pets (I'm in that group), and have lost pets. Loved the pup as narrator, reminiscent of the inventive, brilliant way in which Death Himself narrated The Book Thief, a young-adult tome that I relished. The protagonist, a trying-to-make-it car mechanic-cum-racecar driver, quickly gains the reader's empathy. He's a damn good man, if not in that so-obvious larger-than-life-hero Atticus Finch type of way. (But what did C.S. Lewis write? "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.")
I won't say more. If this book and this sliver of a review pique your interest, just read it.
I won't say more. If this book and this sliver of a review pique your interest, just read it.
Leavings by Wendell Berry
3.0
Another sturdy collection of poems from the stalwart Kentuckian. Not many here grabbed me as others have (those in Given, for one), but these tender meditations on life both spiritual and bucolic are well worth anyone's time. We homo sapiens could stand to stop and smell the roses—whether lush or frozen or dead or just returning—more often. Berry is amazing at doing just that. The mundane becomes the mountainous by this man's pen, and always rightfully so. His poems are earnest but never overreaching, and, anyway, he quietly lives and writes by the notion that "A man's reach will always exceed his grasp."
It's good to read from older, wiser people. And this guy is so very wise.
My favorite WB poem, for what it's worth:
http://www.panhala.net/Archive/Sabbaths_1999_II.html
It's good to read from older, wiser people. And this guy is so very wise.
My favorite WB poem, for what it's worth:
http://www.panhala.net/Archive/Sabbaths_1999_II.html
It Chooses You by Miranda July
3.0
Intriguing premise. Novel interviews. Constantly enjoyed it.
"I doggedly asked each PennySaver seller if they used a computer. They mostly didn't, and though they had a lot to say about other things, they didn't have much to say about this, this absence. I began to feel that I was asking the question just to remind myself that I was in a place where computers didn't really matter, just to prompt my appreciation for this. As if I feared that the scope of what I could feel and imagine was being quietly limited by the world within a world, the internet. The things outside of the web were becoming further from me, and everything inside it seemed piercingly relevant. The blogs of strangers had to be read daily, and people nearby who had no web presence were becoming almost cartoonlike, as if they were missing a dimension.
"I don't mean that I really thought this, out loud; it was just happening, like time, like geography. The web seemed so inherently endless that it didn't occur to me what wasn't there. My appetite for pictures and videos and news and music was so gigantic now that if something was shrinking, something immeasurable, how would I notice? It's not that my life before the internet was so wildly diverse — but there was only one world and it really did have every single thing in it. Domingo's blog was one of the best I've ever read, but I had to drive to him to get it, he had to tell it to me with his whole self, and there was no easy way to search for him. He could be found only accidentally.
"Scientifically, my interviews were pretty feeble, as questionable as 'The Missing Movie Report,' but one day soon there would be no more computerless people in Los Angeles and this exercise wouldn't be possible. Most of life is offline, and I think it always will be; eating and aching and sleeping and loving happen in the body. But it's not impossible to imagine losing my appetite for those things; they aren't always easy, and they take so much time. In twenty years I'd be interviewing air and water and heat just to remember they mattered."
"I doggedly asked each PennySaver seller if they used a computer. They mostly didn't, and though they had a lot to say about other things, they didn't have much to say about this, this absence. I began to feel that I was asking the question just to remind myself that I was in a place where computers didn't really matter, just to prompt my appreciation for this. As if I feared that the scope of what I could feel and imagine was being quietly limited by the world within a world, the internet. The things outside of the web were becoming further from me, and everything inside it seemed piercingly relevant. The blogs of strangers had to be read daily, and people nearby who had no web presence were becoming almost cartoonlike, as if they were missing a dimension.
"I don't mean that I really thought this, out loud; it was just happening, like time, like geography. The web seemed so inherently endless that it didn't occur to me what wasn't there. My appetite for pictures and videos and news and music was so gigantic now that if something was shrinking, something immeasurable, how would I notice? It's not that my life before the internet was so wildly diverse — but there was only one world and it really did have every single thing in it. Domingo's blog was one of the best I've ever read, but I had to drive to him to get it, he had to tell it to me with his whole self, and there was no easy way to search for him. He could be found only accidentally.
"Scientifically, my interviews were pretty feeble, as questionable as 'The Missing Movie Report,' but one day soon there would be no more computerless people in Los Angeles and this exercise wouldn't be possible. Most of life is offline, and I think it always will be; eating and aching and sleeping and loving happen in the body. But it's not impossible to imagine losing my appetite for those things; they aren't always easy, and they take so much time. In twenty years I'd be interviewing air and water and heat just to remember they mattered."
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
5.0
One thing I really appreciate about this man is his knack for a timely, creative analogy. He's a master at dispensing those, and they just make sense. He always helps me see the world in a new way, one that at the same time feels very familiar but that I couldn't express in thought or word.
He also comes off as strikingly humble given his scholarship, accolades, and all. This is one of Lewis's benchmark works. It will endure as long as this world does, or as long as there are books. Enough "meat" here in his theological reasoning to have my mind munching on the stuff for weeks, or really, for the rest of my life.
He also comes off as strikingly humble given his scholarship, accolades, and all. This is one of Lewis's benchmark works. It will endure as long as this world does, or as long as there are books. Enough "meat" here in his theological reasoning to have my mind munching on the stuff for weeks, or really, for the rest of my life.
The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman
4.0
Fantastic street-style photographer—and he's a native Hoosier at that.
http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/the-thread/the-sartorialist-clothes-encounters/
http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/the-thread/the-sartorialist-clothes-encounters/
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
4.0
Larson interweaves compelling stories about the plans and mishaps surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with the even more engaging account of H. H. Holmes, a scamming businessman who moonlighted as America's first serial killer.
Once I got into the dual story, it steamrolled. Larson's just a great writer, and the morsels of info that he selectively feeds the reader are right on time. How often is a book suspenseful and educational all at once? Of course it's a pop history lesson, but it's well told and steeped in fact.
Once I got into the dual story, it steamrolled. Larson's just a great writer, and the morsels of info that he selectively feeds the reader are right on time. How often is a book suspenseful and educational all at once? Of course it's a pop history lesson, but it's well told and steeped in fact.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
2.0
I consider myself a punctuation czar. A straight-up card-carrying member of the grammar sanhedrin.
And this book annoyed me the longer it went on. Lynne Truss's words percolate periodically, and she's winsome often. Just the topic, and that it became such a smashing literary success for her, wore on me. Is it this simple to write a hit book? Egad.
It's a book that seems interesting only because it comes from a Brit, with all her Brit-tastic humor and wording.
All I recall from reading from this (gasp! I did not finish yet, likely won't) is that she took the Hugh Grant-Sandra Bullock vehicle "Two Weeks Notice" to task over the movie title's shabby punctuation. Not once, but drummed it up at least 2-3x. (Wonder what Ms. Truss would think of *that* abbrev, heh.)
That's the kind of book this is. A lot of little amuse-bouches, if you're into this sort of thing (apostrophes), but a bit grating after a time, and then snowballing in that department as you plod along. Oy.
Oh, my bookmark stranded in the midst of this read tells me that I do credit Truss with teaching me the words bedraggled, bathetic, and pernicious. Guess it wasn't a total wash.
Maybe I'll return to this and finish one day. A day when I've read everything else I want to that's worth it. In the afterlife.
And this book annoyed me the longer it went on. Lynne Truss's words percolate periodically, and she's winsome often. Just the topic, and that it became such a smashing literary success for her, wore on me. Is it this simple to write a hit book? Egad.
It's a book that seems interesting only because it comes from a Brit, with all her Brit-tastic humor and wording.
All I recall from reading from this (gasp! I did not finish yet, likely won't) is that she took the Hugh Grant-Sandra Bullock vehicle "Two Weeks Notice" to task over the movie title's shabby punctuation. Not once, but drummed it up at least 2-3x. (Wonder what Ms. Truss would think of *that* abbrev, heh.)
That's the kind of book this is. A lot of little amuse-bouches, if you're into this sort of thing (apostrophes), but a bit grating after a time, and then snowballing in that department as you plod along. Oy.
Oh, my bookmark stranded in the midst of this read tells me that I do credit Truss with teaching me the words bedraggled, bathetic, and pernicious. Guess it wasn't a total wash.
Maybe I'll return to this and finish one day. A day when I've read everything else I want to that's worth it. In the afterlife.
Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff
3.0
As the son of a one-time preacher man, this was a read that made a thousand memories flood back into view. I think I appreciated that. I chuckled fairly frequently, laughed a couple times, got sad a few times, and tore through this read on a plane ride.
bits that nailed me:
+ using "faith like a child" as an escape pod from difficult theological discussions
+ judging fundamentalists for being judgmental
+ hating on megachurches
+ saying someone is going to have a bigger house in heaven than you
+ finding typos in the worship music
+ the smell of old hymnals
+ writing "Xian" instead of "Christian"
other bits funny, totally true, and/or poignant to me:
+ not knowing whether to pray for a friend having *plastic* surgery
+ missionary dating: when God calls you to convert the sexy and unchurched
+ disguising gossip as prayer
+ telling other people maybe God gave them the gift of singleness
+ falling in love on a mission trip
+ the metrosexual worship leader (with funny +/- points quiz to discern where he ranks)
+ crock pots
+ tuning out if the pastor is younger
+ fearing your church will do something wacky the one time you invite a friend
+ losing the will to clap during songs
+ tragically hip church names that sound like designer clothing stores
+ bringing someone The Casserole of Hope during a tough time
+ completely disregarding all known copyright laws
+ not knowing how to hold hands (*never* interlock your fingers! -- personal funny story for that one)
+ scheduling a "revival"
+ telling testimonies that are really exciting right up to the point one actually became a Christian
+ side hugs
+ guilt trips
+ pretending to believe all sins are equal
+ confessing "safe sins"
+ temporarily suspending faith when getting behind the wheel to drive [seriously, some of the Jesus-fish drivers out there are crazy-go-nuts]
bits that nailed me:
+ using "faith like a child" as an escape pod from difficult theological discussions
+ judging fundamentalists for being judgmental
+ hating on megachurches
+ saying someone is going to have a bigger house in heaven than you
+ finding typos in the worship music
+ the smell of old hymnals
+ writing "Xian" instead of "Christian"
other bits funny, totally true, and/or poignant to me:
+ not knowing whether to pray for a friend having *plastic* surgery
+ missionary dating: when God calls you to convert the sexy and unchurched
+ disguising gossip as prayer
+ telling other people maybe God gave them the gift of singleness
+ falling in love on a mission trip
+ the metrosexual worship leader (with funny +/- points quiz to discern where he ranks)
+ crock pots
+ tuning out if the pastor is younger
+ fearing your church will do something wacky the one time you invite a friend
+ losing the will to clap during songs
+ tragically hip church names that sound like designer clothing stores
+ bringing someone The Casserole of Hope during a tough time
+ completely disregarding all known copyright laws
+ not knowing how to hold hands (*never* interlock your fingers! -- personal funny story for that one)
+ scheduling a "revival"
+ telling testimonies that are really exciting right up to the point one actually became a Christian
+ side hugs
+ guilt trips
+ pretending to believe all sins are equal
+ confessing "safe sins"
+ temporarily suspending faith when getting behind the wheel to drive [seriously, some of the Jesus-fish drivers out there are crazy-go-nuts]
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
3.0
What to say here? Quirky AF. The main characters were weird, wild and entirely believable. They were all too human. I have to think that people like them exist.
July tells the story of a lovely woman who has not found love, and who discovers things about herself and wanting another person courtesy of some sad, ridiculous and/or hilarious professional, personal and living situations. A slow reader usually, I ended up slam-reading this novel.
July tells the story of a lovely woman who has not found love, and who discovers things about herself and wanting another person courtesy of some sad, ridiculous and/or hilarious professional, personal and living situations. A slow reader usually, I ended up slam-reading this novel.
Dog Songs by Mary Oliver
3.0
So lovely. Having lived with one to (for all of 48 hours) three dogs at a time for the past four years now, this slender book of poems means so much more to me than it would have before a wonderful new layer of life and love was opened up to me. In truth, I probably wouldn't have opened these pages at all but for the wonder of dogs in my life. It was beautiful to see on these pages the affectionately drawn dogs of Oliver's septuagenarian experience with canines over the years.
My two favorite sections from different poems:
"A dog can never tell you what she knows from the smells of the world, but you know, watching her,
that you know almost nothing."
"Be prepared. A dog is adorable and noble. A dog is a true and loving friend. A dog is also a hedonist."
My two favorite sections from different poems:
"A dog can never tell you what she knows from the smells of the world, but you know, watching her,
that you know almost nothing."
"Be prepared. A dog is adorable and noble. A dog is a true and loving friend. A dog is also a hedonist."