Take a photo of a barcode or cover
msmichaela's Reviews (546)
Leave it to me to ski once and then need to read a book about skiing. The irony is that this book is all about not thinking, not over analyzing, not criticizing yourself. It's like a yoga manual disguised as a skiing book. I'm glad I read/skimmed it, and will try to remember to just breathe next time I ski.
I love this novel just as much as I did as a kid, when I read it over and over. There's some dark stuff here, including an attempted rape, infidelity and grinding poverty; all but the poverty went over my head as a kid. Sure, the book is melodramatic and trades in some hoary ethnic cliches, but Francie remains one of my all time favorite fictional characters, with her yearning and striving and optimism tempered by realism. So, so glad I re-read this.
Some English major I am--I totally missed the fact that the whole damn book is based on Hamlet! Perhaps I was distracted by the dogs, whose treatment is just lovely. I wasn't a fan of the ghosts or strange coincidences, but I did drop into the world of this novel for long periods of time. Not sure I'd recommend it, though.
I love Russo's novels, and really enjoyed the chance to read more about the story behind his stories. Plus, he meets my litmus test for a memoirist: he's harder on himself than he is on anyone else in the tale.
Fascinating, well told memoir by a Supreme Court justice. The first half of the book, which covers Sotomayor's impoverished NYC childhood, is particularly compelling. (And made a nice follow-up to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which I'd just re-read.) The latter half of the book doesn't rise to that standard, as it's more a recitation of her career. But it's still worth reading if you're even remotely interested in Sotomayor or the court.
Finished this smart, disturbing novel a week ago and haven't wanted to revisit it enough to write a review here. Lionel Shriver can work a complicated plot twist brilliantly, and I'm in awe of the way she experiments with form (this novel is a series of letters from wife to husband). And/but, ye gods, this novel is bleaker than bleak. I swear that dwelling in the perspective of a woman whose son becomes a school shooter affected my parenting - negatively - during the time I was reading this book. It's unforgettable and really, really dark.
Loved this - and not just because it was an excellent palate cleanser after the bleakness WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN. It's an entertaining and surprisingly affecting satire about modern parenting, corporate culture and the ways in which women can behave mercilessly toward other women.
I'd really hoped this novel would be better. But its premise - that a grieving mother joins a knitting group in which each member has her (or his!) own private grief that is eventually revealed - is hoky and the characters are very, very thin. That said, it was a not-unpleasant way to spend a few hours. I should also note that Ann Hood's loss of her own five-year-old daughter led her to write this book... which makes me hesitate to criticize it. Yet while it may have been good therapy for Hood, it's an unsatisfying novel.
The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Tales of Food, Family, and How We Learn to Eat
Lisa Catherine Harper, Caroline Grant
Meh. With the exception of the title essay, none of these essays was all that compelling. Farmers' markets, angst about what your kids eat, family arguments about food--not much novel or surprising here.
Really enjoyed this novel about the wild events that befall the protagonist, a guy named Lizard. Lost the thread on some plot details due to before-bed reading, but that didn't really matter in the end. Nicely written, smartly paced -- a solid read from a Maine author formerly known for his nonfiction.