Life in a Suitcase
Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag. - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Review: Dear Committee Members
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
That was hilarious. It says I started this back in January, but actually I didn't start it until yesterday and then I blew through it, often trying not to laugh out loud and wake Kait, since I usually read while she's napping next to me.
I think that academics everywhere should read this and it would be a good pairing with the novel Stoner. It's funny and at the end poignant.
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Review: Let's Eat Ramen and Other Doujinshi Short Stories
Let's Eat Ramen and Other Doujinshi Short Stories by Nagumo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I'm a newbie to graphic novels in general, but especially to manga. I think that this went a bit over my head, as I was rather confused by the extreme simplicity of the plots. A shy girl eats ramen , there's a few lesbians, and a sort-of ghost.
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Review: H2O
H2O by Irving Belateche
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
That was ok. The writing was a bit simplistic and the plot and world building could have used some work, but it was fairly enjoyable. I'm not sure where this came from, but I'm guessing it was a Kindle freebie.
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Sunday, May 03, 2015
Review: Explaining the Explicit
Explaining the Explicit by Julian Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've read this before: about two years ago I went through a minor obsession with Kindle Singles and downloaded almost anything with an author I recognized. I read and even made notes on this one, though I only vaguely recalled the essays as I reread them. And I've got no idea why if skipped reviewing it last time. Mostly what I got out of it was a list of further books to read in the future, but it was an interesting read.
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Review: Body and Soul: Short Story
Body and Soul: Short Story by Barbara Gowdy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
That was an interesting exploration of an elderly woman and several foster children she cares for. I've always meant to read some Gowdy and I'm now curious to see what her novels are like.
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Saturday, May 02, 2015
Review: Lilliput
Lilliput by Sam Gayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
That was cute. I look forward to reading it with Kait one day. It's made me want to reread Gulliver's Travels, which I last read in my first year of university.
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Friday, May 01, 2015
Review: Snowdrops
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller
My rating: 0 of 5 stars
That was engrossing. I stayed up reading it until 3 am in spite of the fact that I know I'll pay for the exhaustion later once Kait wakes up. I identified with a lot of the expat commentary, though Korea has nothing on the decadence of the Moscow expat - or maybe it does if you're a banker.
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Friday, April 24, 2015
Review: Stand Tall!: A book about integrity
Stand Tall!: A book about integrity by Cheri J. Meiners
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked this introduction for children about having integrity. It covers making the right choices, sticking to your word, being kind, etc. There are lots of helpful activities at the back of the book to expand on the ideas. A great book to introduce as children start school.
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Review: Stand Tall!: A book about integrity
Stand Tall!: A book about integrity by Cheri J. Meiners
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked this introduction for children about having inter girth. It covers making the right choices, sticking to your word, being kind, etc. There are lots of helpful activities at the back of the book to expand on the ideas. A great book to introduce as children start school.
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Review: Forgive and Let Go!: A book about forgiveness
Forgive and Let Go!: A book about forgiveness by Cheri J. Meiners
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A useful book to help children walk through negative feelings that provides strategies to feel more positive. Lots of helpful guidance questions and activities at the back. I'm not sure I agree with the step regarding imagining a person apologizing.
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Review: Stay!
Stay! by Alex Latimer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this! We need to buy a paper copy for Kait because Buster and Watson have a lot in common as bad habits go.
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Review: Voices Are Not for Yelling
Voices Are Not for Yelling by Elizabeth Verdick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think this would be a great resource for classrooms of younger children. The illustrations are inclusive. I liked that the book started out positively, then introduced the problem and solution. I did think perhaps there could have been coverage of when yelling is okay - for help, cheering for something, etc.
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Review: Nanny and Me
Nanny and Me by Florence Ann Romano
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The illustrations are beautiful and it fills a need in terms of explaining to children what having a nanny will be like.
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Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read a ton of Poirot novels in my early teens. I can't recall if this was one of them, but since back then I was relying on small mall bookstores rather than the much bigger ones with better selection of today, I read them very much out of order and missed tons I'm sure.
Anyway, it was an enjoyable read and I might have liked it even more if I hadn't read it in tiny chunks while nursing Kait, which occasionally made it hard to follow along with Poirot's reasoning.
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Sunday, April 19, 2015
Review: A Land Without Jasmine
A Land Without Jasmine by Wajdi Al-Ahdal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
That was really interesting. The end was a bit annoying - I wanted more than a mystical bridegroom to explain what happened. I liked the shifting perspectives of each chapter, though I found Jasmine's the most interesting.
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Review: Gnome on the Range
Gnome on the Range by Jennifer Zane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
That was bizarre but enjoyable. A romance based around horse semen found in garden gnomes. I'm guessing I got this as an Amazon freebie and it was worth the read just for the outlandish situation.
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Saturday, March 21, 2015
Review: The Olive Tree
The Olive Tree by Elsa Marston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The story was a bit meh, but I loved the setting and the illustrations.
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Review: The Other Side of the Wall
The Other Side of the Wall by Simon Schwartz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
That was interesting. I hadn't realized that legally leaving East Germany was an option.
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Review: Fishfishfish
Fishfishfish by Lee Nordling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
That was interesting. I'd like to see the various stories kids could tell using the illustrations.
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Review: A Dog's Breakfast
A Dog's Breakfast by Annie Graves
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this! It's the kind of book you can enjoy yourself while reading to children because of the snark.
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Review: Sing Freedom!
Sing Freedom! by Vanita Oelschlager
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I learned things about Estonia reading this and it's a good introduction to the history of the USSR.
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Review: Me, Too!
Me, Too! by Annika Dunklee
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
If I had a child who felt left out by a friend or had a new student joining my classroom, I could see reading this.
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Review: Look Where We Live!: A First Book of Community Building
Look Where We Live!: A First Book of Community Building by Scot Ritchie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A nice little introduction to the basic ideas of good citizenship.
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Review: My Family Tree and Me
My Family Tree and Me by Dušan Petričić
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The story is simple but the illustrations are wonderful.
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Review: Eat, Leo! Eat!
Eat, Leo! Eat! by Caroline Adderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So sweet. Perfect to read to a picky eater, while a big pot of pasta is cooking or on the way to grandma's.
And now I'm hungry!
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Review: Eat, Leo! Eat!
Eat, Leo! Eat! by Caroline Adderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So sweet. Perfect to read to a picky kid, right before a dinner of pasta or on the way to visit grandma.
And now I'm hungry!
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Review: Pop Goes the Circus!
Pop Goes the Circus! by Kate Klise
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
That was cute. I'd totally read the previous books in the series. I'll have to look out for these once Kait's old enough.
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Review: Gronk Volume 2
Gronk Volume 2 by Katie Cook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Gronk took two volumes to grow on me because at first I had a hard time seeing who the audience was - it seemed at times like something you could read with a five year old, but the nerdy references are clearly for my generation (or at least Wyatt's.) But it's really cute - the cat, the dog , the monster who acts like a toddler... It brought to mind Calvin and Hobbes a few times.
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Review: Gronk Volume 1
Gronk Volume 1 by Katie Cook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Gronk took two volumes to grow on me because at first I had a hard time seeing who the audience was - it seemed at times like something you could read with a five year old, but the nerdy references are clearly for my generation (or at least Wyatt's.) But it's really cute - the cat, the dog , the monster who acts like a toddler... It brought to mind Calvin and Hobbes a few times.
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Review: A Day in Canada
A Day in Canada by Per-Henrik Gurth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Super cute! I'd like all of these books for Kait one day!
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Review: Cailyn and Chloe Learn About Conjunctions
Cailyn and Chloe Learn About Conjunctions by Megan Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If I were still in Korea teaching grammar, I'd love to use this rather than the boring, dry grammar books we always had. Great tie in with writing as well.
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Monday, February 16, 2015
Review: Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
That was quick and cute. I laughed (quietly though, the baby was sleeping) a few times.
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Review: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reread Feb 2014 - I thought I'd reread this on my kindle (my paperback copy is somewhere in the bookshelves and boxes and piles that my poor, long-suffering parents keep for me in Canada) since I have are You My Mother? and I thought a refresher would be nice. And now I'm feeling compelled to tackle Ulysses or at least some Colette.
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Review: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reread Feb 2014 - I thought id reread this on my kindle (my paperback copy is somewhere in the bookshelves and boxes and pikes that my poor, long-suffering parents keep for me in Canada) since I have are You My Mother? And I thought a refresher would be nice. And now I'm feeling compelled to tackle Ulysses or at least some Colette.
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Sunday, February 15, 2015
Review: The Dovekeepers
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
That it took me so long to finish this is not because I didn't like it. It's just that with four separate narrators, it was easy to allow myself to be stalled as each section finished. I'm curious to read some non-fiction about Masada having era this. I found the stories of the women and their children quite moving, tinged with the sadness of knowing how their story would likely end.
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Sunday, February 01, 2015
Review: The Royal Cup
The Royal Cup by Bastien Vivès
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
2.5 stars. Admittedly, I haven't read the first book and that might have bumped it up to 3 stars for me, because I'm not into fight scenes in almost any media, so if I had a better sense of the characters motivations, that might have helped. It got interesting at the end though.
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Review: Suffrajitsu: Mrs Pankhurst's Amazons
Suffrajitsu: Mrs Pankhurst's Amazons by Tony Wolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
That was a lot of fun. Great illustrations (and I've been to both of the settings, London and Glasgow.) The storyline is interesting and I'm curious to see where it will go next.
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Review: Surf War!: A Folktale from the Marshall Islands
Surf War!: A Folktale from the Marshall Islands by Margaret Read MacDonald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This would be a great story to read while learning about the Marshall Islands. I liked the illustrations and it's got a nice message.
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