Archive for January, 2010
« Previous EntriesBook Review: Hounded to Death by Rita Mae Brown
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Long time readers of this site will already be aware that I am a bit of a Rita Mae Brown fan. Indeed I have reviewed several of Ms. Brown’s books and have been heard to complain that she only seems to crank out mysteries these days, rather than the non-genre [...]
Book Review: The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf was my book club’s selection for our February discussion. It was also a book we had on tour recently through TLC so I’d read a few reviews before I ever opened the book- although I don’t think that swayed my opinion of it.
Calli [...]
Sunday Salon: Catcher in the Rye Read-a-long
Submitted by Book Nut
This past Thursday, J. D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, passed away. As I was watching people’s reactions on Twitter, I realized something: I’ve never read Catcher in the Rye. Somehow, for some reason (actually many reasons, some of which I can actually recall but won’t go into [...]
January 2010 Jacket Flap-a-thon
Submitted by Book Nut
It’s the end of January (finally). It wasn’t a bad month, reading wise. It started out slow, but picked up near the end, I think. And that’s a good thing. On a side note: do y’all like my commentary on the jacket flaps or not? Sometimes, I don’t know what to say [...]
Carter Finally Gets It
Submitted by Book Nut
by Brent Crawford
ages: 13+
First sentence: “In the back room of the Pizza Barn, with only two weeks before the start of high school, my boys and I are at the Freshman Mixer.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Carter is not exactly what you’d call a suave person. He’s got ADD, and [...]
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Submitted by Book Nut
by Lynn Truss
ages: adult (but it’s not inappropriate for anyone really interested in punctuation)
First sentence: “To be clear from the beginning: no one involved in the production of Eats, Shoots & Leaves expected the words “runaway” and “bestseller” would ever be associated with it, let alone upon the cover of an American [...]
LIbrary Loot 2010-04
Submitted by Book Nut
I’m going to top last week’s pathetic loot because this week I didn’t even bother going to the library because I’m sick as a dog (where on e, instead sending K with a friend. All they brought back were my holds, so that’s what we have for the week.
This week’s loot:
Middle Grade [...]
Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart
Submitted by Book Nut
by Beth Pattillo
ages: adult
First sentence: “The taxi pulled up outside Christ Church, and I climbed out of the backseat, but the scorching July heat stole my breath and the threatened to press me back inside the cab.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy sent to me by a publicist.
Claire is [...]
Book Review: Righteous Porkchop by Nicolette Hahn Niman
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Everyone eats. So perhaps almost everyone could benefit from reading Righteous Porkchop which is both a well-researched and highly readable hands-on primer about factory farming, and Nicolette Hahn Niman’s highly personal memoir of her personal journey of activism on behalf of farm animals. Ms. Niman was an attorney for the [...]
Something I’ve Been Meatning to Do Anyway
Submitted by Book Nut
And along comes a challenge to help me with it. It’s the POC Reading Challenge. It’s an easy one, too: sign up for a level — in my case, Level 3 (7-9 books) but I’m aiming for Level 4 or 5 — and commence reading books. I’m going to keep a running [...]
Front and Center
Submitted by Book Nut
by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Here are ten words I never thought I’d be saying…”
Support your local bookstore: buy it there!
I adored both Dairy Queen and The Off Season. Really, I did. But… maybe it had been too long since I read those books. Maybe I really wasn’t in the mood [...]
If you feed them, they will grow..
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Apparently my daughter’s feet grew. Overnight. While she slept.
This morning she announced, ”Mom, I can’t go to school. My shoes don’t fit.”
Me: ”You have lots of shoes. TRY A DIFFERENT PAIR!”
Her: ”I did. None of them fit.”
Hmmm. They must have fit yesterday, because she went to school. She wore shoes. Why [...]
Sunday Salon: Unsung YA Books
Submitted by Book Nut
I’m a little late to this party, but since Kelly at YAnnabe made the suggestion that I throw my hat into the ring, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. So, my two cents about the best YA books you’ve probably never read.
The Order of the Odd-Fish, James Kennedy: I [...]
Unfinished Angel
Submitted by Book Nut
by Sharon Creech
ages: 8+
First sentence: “Peoples are strange!”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Some books stick in your mind because they have a brilliant plot. Some because they have created a fabulous world. Others because they have great characters, ones that you want to take home to your mother.
And others, still, [...]
Book Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
This month my book club discussed The Boy In the Striped Pajamas by Irish author John Boyne.
I was quite stunned by this book, a book meant for children but one that carries very adult themes. I’ve read other books about the Holocaust but never one like this.
Bruno is a 9 [...]
Book Review: 400 Sensational Cookies by Linda J. Amendt
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
400 Sensational Cookies by Linda J Amendt is one of those rare books who’s title is totally accurate. The recipes are sensational as are the cookies that would be created by the recipes. It took me a while to read through this book, as I would read a few pages [...]
My Most Excellent Year
Submitted by Book Nut
A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park
by Steve Kluger
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Since you’d never guess it from looking at me, nobody can tell that words like because, fart, there, and banana come out sounding like “becazz,” “faht,” “they-a,” and “bananer” when I say them out loud.”
Support your local independent bookstore: [...]
Library Loot 2010-3
Submitted by Book Nut
Both K and I are cranky today, so all we did was go in, find books (not many movies, much to our displeasure), pick up our holds, and get out.
It must be January.
This week’s loot:
Picture books:
Puffling, by Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas
How Do You Wokka-Wokka?, by Elizabeth Blueme/Illus. by Randy Cecil
I Will [...]
Q & A with Peter from Flashlight Worthy
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Today I welcome Peter Steinberg, creator of Flashlight Worthy Book Recommendations, a site dedicated to giving out great recommendations for book clubs.
BOTB: Hi Peter! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Peter: I’m 39, and live with my wife and our dog Henry in Brooklyn, NY. We actually live [...]
Book Review: SOUP from DK Publishing
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Can there be anyone who does not love soup? Easy to prepare, healthy and delicious, soup may well be the ultimate in comfort food. And for cookbook fans, DK Publishing’s SOUP would appear at first glance to be a must-have volume. Bright red, substantial and solid with beautiful photographs of [...]
10 Questions for Rosanne Parry
Submitted by Book Nut
I was completely captivated when I read Heart of a Shepherd last month, and was more than happy when the book made the Cybils shortlist for Middle Grade fiction. I totally agree with what Sherry at Semicolon wrote when she called it “a treat to be savored.” It very much is. And [...]
Book Review: Bear Portraits by Jill Greenberg
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Those who know me are probably already aware that I consider myself a bear. And I have to apologize in advance to anyone who arrived here searching for “bear photos” and expecting pictures of hirsute men. But for fans of all varieties of wild ursus, Jill Greenwood’s Bear Portraits [...]
A Wrinkle in Time
Submitted by Book Nut
by Madeline L’Engle
ages: 9+
First sentence: “It was a dark and stormy night.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
I thought, as I started this deceptively small novel, what was it that captivated me about this book when I was a child? See, I have the copy I originally got — was it [...]
Coming Soon!
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
I’ve had to retire from the library and go out on disability, but I continue to be immersed in the world of books and will resume regular publication on Monday January 18, 2010. Please visit again soon for more reviews of the latest and greatest books.
Visit 1800blogger to see all [...]
The Sunday Salon: January 17, 2010
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Good morning! I hope it’s bright and sunny where you are!
In Southern California we are bracing ourselves for a MAJOR WINTER STORM! Take cover! There may be some rain! I might not be laughing about this a week from now, but when the weather forecasters cry wolf a few times, [...]
