I read this while we were in Rockford over Thanksgiving, and to be honest, I can’t remember that much about it except for the fact that the protagonist’s aunt used laurel soap, which sounded lovely and refreshing, and reminds me that I want to order some laurel essential oil to make the soap for myself. […]
Category Archives: Books
An Absolute Gentleman–R.M. Kinder
January 18, 2008 – 7:07 am
Arthur Blume is a mediocre creative writing professor–and an accomplished serial murderer. The novel takes the form of his “true record” after he has been caught and is in prison; Blume is outraged that he is depicted as a monster even though he calmy states that he has killed 17 people and attempts to set […]
Oh, England!
January 18, 2008 – 6:36 am
I think this might be the year that I get back into blogging regularly. I kind of lost patience last year, for a variety of reasons. But now I have a new three-column template that I’m finally happy about (except for the fact that it has fixed columns)–and I’ve decided that I’m going to start […]
Nice Words - by Steve Smith
September 20, 2007 – 3:00 pm
A few years ago, Steve’s mother Pam pulled out this book that Steve wrote when he was in the second grade. It cracked me up, and she gave it to us. I’ve been meaning to post it to the blog for eons. I was looking for stamps the other day and found it. It’s really […]
The Ballad of Lee Cotton - Christopher Wilson
September 11, 2007 – 3:49 pm
I was feeling rather vindicated when I googled “underrated novels” and ended up on this article that cited both Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai and Calvin Baker’s Dominion right off the bat. And while I ended up getting a whole bunch of other books that I haven’t read off that list, I have one to […]
The Sleeping Father - Matthew Sharpe
September 11, 2007 – 3:31 pm
There are some books that become inextricably linked with a time or a place, and even looking at the spare cover (with the Today’s Book Club logo on it that almost dissuaded me from reading it entirely) makes me think of our Oregon trip and camping next to a peaceful lake in the pine trees. […]
How to be Idle - Tom Hodkinson
September 11, 2007 – 3:06 pm
As the queen of procrastination, I naturally picked up this jaunty orange-colored book thinking it would be a witty romp through the hours of the day. And it’s certainly a romp through the hours, but, well, there’s no way to say this nicely, so I’ll just say it: It’s just not that witty. Or funny. […]
Tanglewreck - Jeanette Winterson
August 30, 2007 – 8:40 am
This summer, I’ve wended my way through a long series of completely forgettable books–aside from Harry Potter, of course– and so haven’t felt compelled to post reviews of anything. But my luck has turned! A few weeks ago, Steve and I went downtown and hit Elliott Bay. Lo and behold, I hit the kiddie lit […]
Thoughts on the Latest Harry Potter Movie
July 13, 2007 – 11:10 pm
1) It was tiresome. Actually tiresome. I couldn’t wait for it to end. The only reason I didn’t walk out was because it was that day where the temperatures reached record highs in Seattle, and the theatre was nice and cool.
2) I really, really hate the girl who plays Hermione.
3) What happened to Harry’s […]
Harriet the Spy
June 25, 2007 – 7:38 am
Which I reread last night, curled up in bed with my Petzel headlamp because Steve was asleep. It was instant childhood revisited. I always pictured Harriet’s bedroom and tiny bathroom as my bedroom and tiny bathroom in our house in Bucharest. It was at the top of a large three story house, and I was […]
Lying Low - Diane Johnson
May 26, 2007 – 7:39 pm
One has certain expections from the author of Le Divorce, L’Affaire, and all those other les nouvelles — or should I be correct and say les autre nouvelles? You know, a wry skewering sense of humor, deft characterization … It’s far from flufff, but all les nouvelles have a certain lightness of touch. Lying […]
For Becky, who has forbidden me from discontinuing the book posts
May 26, 2007 – 6:33 pm
What I’ve read this week:
Joanna Martin plows through the records, letters, and other documents of her ancestors, the Fox Strangways, to deliver a portrait of women and children of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Then we plow through 356 very long pages of Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country […]
On Books
May 22, 2007 – 2:38 pm
Books, books, books.
I’ve kinda decided to stop posting reviews of everything I read because I always feel behind, then put upon, and then the blog languishes unto death. So for now, let me just say that the two best books I’ve read recently are Richard Power’s The Echo Maker (though I still liked In the […]
The Emperor’s Children - Claire Messud
April 17, 2007 – 1:23 pm
What is it about New Yorkers? And why is it that novels about New Yorkers are driving me batty? Maybe it’s the endless introspection. Maybe it’s that there’s always the requisite gay friend. Maybe it’s that, well, maybe it’s just that New Yorkers seem to feel that there’s no other place in the world worth […]
The Thirteenth Tale of the Keep - Diane Egan and Jennifer Setterfield
April 17, 2007 – 12:34 pm
So, there is no little handy Amazon picture and you’ll have to bear with me. The WP-Amazon plug in that I love so much works neither in IE7 nor the latest WordPress version, and I am far too lazy to save the image, upload it, insert it, look up my amazon associates code, link the […]
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
March 29, 2007 – 7:51 am
I tried to read this while Dave was here working on the kitchen. He’s a great guy, but I was feeling very scattered. Not only was I reduced to wandering Seattle like a homeless person, but I was without office, without any place uncluttered to sit (in truth, the house looked like a bomb […]
Playing Catch Up
March 12, 2007 – 9:18 am
I don’t have the energy to write reviews. So here we are again with one-word reviews. I might be able to muster up a couple more words.
Amazing.
The jury’s still out on this one. It’s wonderfully written, but frankly do I care? Not so much.
Decent historical kiddie lit.
Enchanting.
This series is truly a delight.
Totally, completely, absolutely FUN.
[…]
The Inner Circle - T.C. Boyle
February 28, 2007 – 12:06 pm
Once upon a time, I remember really, really liking T.C. Boyle. I devoured The Road to Wellville, Riven Rock, The Tortilla Curtain, and various books of shorts. His writing is so effortless, and he has a unique ability to capture the truly bizarre. But I lost patience with Drop City a chapter in–and while […]
Yesterday’s Houses - Mavis Cheek
February 28, 2007 – 11:52 am
You note there is no handy-dandy little Amazon picture next to this one; I picked it up at Heathrow, and it’s available only in England. It’s too bad. This was a lovely little novel–apparently Mavis Cheek is big on the other side of the pond. I get the feeling based on past titles and the […]
You may never ride a camel … but your donated books can
February 20, 2007 – 9:36 am
From Masha Hamilton via The Elegant Variation:
The Camel Bookmobile made its first run almost a decade ago. Three dromedaries trudged through dusty, arid northeastern Kenya near the border with Somalia to bring a library to settlements so tiny and far-flung they’d become nearly invisible; places lacking roads and schools, where most people had never held […]