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msmichaela's Reviews (546)
Entertaining novel with intersecting story lines. It ends up being relatively implausible, but diverting nonetheless.
This is a solid 3.5 stars. I love Susan Orlean, but methinks she fell a bit too far under the spell of old Rin Tin Tin, the dog(s) who became a Hollywood star... and then an obsession for the many humans who came into his (their) orbit. A little repetitive in places, and a little too detailed in others.
I loved this story of two high school-aged sisters in a New Jersey beach town over the winter. Bauman gets the setting and mood just right -- smooching boys amidst the dunes, biking down cold, windy streets, hanging out in nearly vacant arcades. The arc of the sisters' stories is entirely plausible, and wholly diverting. The only thing that kept me from falling fully into the world of "Rosie and Skate" was an inconsistent series of choices Bauman made about using Jersey Shore place names. They read the Asbury Park Press and one has a boyfriend at Rutgers -- totally legit. But the Ocean Grove Correctional Center? The town exists, but it's not inland and it certainly doesn't host a jail. These small inconsistencies pulled me out of an otherwise lovely, bittersweet YA novel that would appeal to plenty of adults.
A little too scary for my sensitive 6.5-year-old, but we still found it an entertaining and memorable read-aloud.
I'm officially a big Lauren Groff fan now. "Arcadia" may have been the best novel I read all year and while "Monsters of Templeton" didn't quite reach that level, I'm entirely happy to have read it.
Affecting memoir in a series of mostly interconnected essays. Could have been better edited to eliminate some repetition - it's obvious that they were originally published separately. A very quick but moving read.
Hilarious British counterpart to Tina Fey's Bossypants. Would love to have drinks with Moran - she is whip smart, has had a crazy life and is a hardcore feminist. The book dragged a bit about two-thirds of the way through, but otherwise I'm thrilled to have discovered Moran.