Thursday, July 24, 2014

Review: Ricochet: Two Women War Reporters and a Friendship Under Fire


Ricochet: Two Women War Reporters and a Friendship Under Fire
Ricochet: Two Women War Reporters and a Friendship Under Fire by Mary Jo McConahay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Fantastic. Not just an examination of the lives of a reporter and photographer reporting on the war in El Salvador, but also an examination of friendship and the changes that can rock the foundations of friendship. Well-written and fascinating.



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Review: Medic Against Bomb: A Doctor's Poetry of War


Medic Against Bomb: A Doctor's Poetry of War
Medic Against Bomb: A Doctor's Poetry of War by Frederick Foote

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Some of these poems really moved me, some really confused me. I suppose that's unsurprising, as I'm not much of a poetry reader. Overall, it was interesting but I think I prefer poetic prose to poetry itself.



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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Review: Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir


Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I don't think I could have picked a better book with everything that's going on if I tried. It's not just that with the gestational diabetes and the needles and the stress that I needed a good laugh, but that it turns out there's a chapter in this book all about Jenny Lawson having to give herself needles in the belly while she was pregnant. I'd never met anyone who'd had to do this, or even heard about it and it was reassuring to learn that I'm not the only one to be freaked out at the possibility of hitting the baby with the needle.

Plus, as I told Wyatt, it's funnier than small pox.



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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Review: The Speckled Monster


The Speckled Monster
The Speckled Monster by Jennifer Lee Carrell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This book was so damn good. Granted, I LOVE stuff like this. They should make all the anti-vaxers read it, really, so they understand what exactly is at stake when one chooses not to vaccinate. It's such an easy read too, with endnotes that explain where the author filled in the details and extrapolated from what is known.



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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Review: War of the Gods


War of the Gods
War of the Gods by Justine Borrego

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



So, that wasn't very good at all. Nothing really ever happens in this book. I'm an adult and I'm not sure I really get how the kid beat Zeus and Jupiter at the end. Too much telling, not enough showing. Too much travelling across the sea, not enough actual action. And it's not like there was character development instead of plot either.



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Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Review: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy


Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



So freaking good. So good, in fact, I put it on the baby registry, because I kept picturing myself someday reading it to Kaitlin. It's a lovely modern fairy tale about a very scientific-minded girl who ends up having to believe in magic in order to save the world, and at the same time, her family. Charming.



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Review: Lilly Babysits Her Brother


Lilly Babysits Her Brother
Lilly Babysits Her Brother by Brenda Bellingham

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Meh. If I had a child who had a severe allergy, or a sibling with one, I might buy this for them. But in general, I found it too lesson-based and not interesting enough narrative-wise.



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Review: Phoebe's Way


Phoebe's Way
Phoebe's Way by Pamela Ditchoff

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



For the first part of the book, I was super annoyed by the dog narration. Particularly the repetitive way each chapter started. About halfway through though, I became interested enough in the individual histories to not mind at all.



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Review: Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices


Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices
Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was a good introduction to transgender issues. It alternated chapters of people's lived experiences with chapters on issues. I found the latter to be a bit on the basic side but I enjoyed reading the people's stories.



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Thursday, July 03, 2014

Review: The F- It List


The F- It List
The F- It List by Julie Halpern

My rating: 0 of 5 stars



I like it when teenagers in novels remind me of students I've taught. These teens masturbate, smoke, swear, and have sex. The plot line was occasionally a bit much - that's a lot of death and illness surrounding one teenager - but overall, I found it interesting and moving.



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Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Review: Honey Bee's Adventures at Wilderness Pond


Honey Bee's Adventures at Wilderness Pond
Honey Bee's Adventures at Wilderness Pond by Cathryn Carman Davis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I really liked the language and the rhyming, but felt like the storyline needed a bit more.



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Review: The Little Moose Who Couldn't Go to Sleep


The Little Moose Who Couldn't Go to Sleep
The Little Moose Who Couldn't Go to Sleep by Willy Claflin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I really liked the story line and the illustration. Wasn't very keen on the attempt to dialect the language.



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