1 to 16 of 16
Review Date: 8/17/2019
This is a great book for someone who is interested in language. It discusses the science of linguistics in bite-sized essays. Originally written for a series of 5-minute radio broadcasts, this is a great introduction to a scientific approach to language.
Review Date: 5/30/2015
I love Shannon Hale's fantasies, but this book didn't really work for me, especially in the first half. The descriptions of the movie industry and the characters who were part of that world gave me the feeling the author wasn't writing about what she knew, but was instead relying on stock stereotypes. The editing was also uneven.
That said, the idea of the story was interesting, and I liked many of the Utah characters, especially Mike. The battle with cancer was poignant and the section where Becky was being wooed was very nice.
That said, the idea of the story was interesting, and I liked many of the Utah characters, especially Mike. The battle with cancer was poignant and the section where Becky was being wooed was very nice.
Review Date: 5/5/2021
What a cozy read! Though the heroine goes through trials and difficulties, all is well at the end.
Review Date: 1/28/2022
A great deal of fun! This classic from 1873 manages to follow Phileas Fogg around the world, with delays and rescues and drama, and still provide a twist at the end. Highly recommend!
Review Date: 2/28/2019
I love Downton Abbey, but this book really left me cold. The characters are not well developed and have no lives outside of the pages of the book, and the plot drags. I hope Fellowes sticks to developing TV shows, but I probably won't be reading another novel by him.
Review Date: 8/13/2020
Beautifully illustrated book of quotes about children!
Review Date: 7/18/2020
The first and third stories in this volume were nice fantasy romances, with interesting magic and interesting stories. I got this book because of the deaf character in Moonglow and I enjoyed that story a lot. The middle story was problematic because I didn't feel like the author had a real understanding of the setting, which was odd because it was a modern corporate workplace.
Review Date: 4/8/2022
I really enjoyed this post-apocalyptic science fiction. There was a focus throughout on language change that could be expected in a 1000-year timespan, which I appreciated. I felt like what was used in the book didn't go far enough, but if it had it would have been impossible to read. And there was discussion of other language changes that didn't show up in the examples on the page. Also, there was deaf representation (v. brief), which I didn't expect. Overall, I found myself surprised by the reveals and happy at the way the story unfolded.
Home on the Ranch: Family Ties: Cowboy in the Making / The Renegade Rancher
Author:
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
1
Author:
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
1
Review Date: 7/18/2020
This is a double book, with two novels in it. I enjoyed the first one, about a musician who goes to his grandfather's ranch after an injury and his relationship with a local woman. The characters were appealing and I enjoyed the Rocky Mountain setting.
At five pages into the second story, I couldn't tell what was happening, so I gave up.
At five pages into the second story, I couldn't tell what was happening, so I gave up.
Review Date: 1/14/2022
This book is a wonderful academic biography of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I appreciated the depth and rigor of the work, and the amount of information that it gave. It is written in an engaging style, but it is still quite dense. Though I already knew many of the events of his life, it helped me put some things into context and gave me a greater understanding of the context of his life. Highly recommend!
Review Date: 5/31/2015
It drags a bit in the middle, but picks up nicely for a very satisfying ending.
Review Date: 6/6/2022
This book has two main focuses. One is done well but the other is very problematic.
One focus is the antisemitic environment of academia in 1960. This theme is interesting, and by turns funny, poignant, and traumatic. If this had been the whole book I would have rated it higher.
But the other focus is the Netanyahu family, with Benjamin (Israeli prime minister) as a 10-year-old child. In these sections the author seems mostly interested in showing them as uncultured outsiders (the narrator calls them 'the Yahus' in case you miss it) with no concept of social or academic norms. There are chapters giving the history and politics of Zionism (disguised as a letter of recommendation) and chapters eviscerating Ben-Zion's (Benjamin's father's) actual, real-world scholarship. And chapters showing the bad parenting Benjamin and his brothers got.
It felt really mean-spirited and is based on a story Harold Bloom told the author near the end of his life. Even if it's true, I'm not sure what purpose it serves. Pulitzer or not, this is a book to think twice before reading.
One focus is the antisemitic environment of academia in 1960. This theme is interesting, and by turns funny, poignant, and traumatic. If this had been the whole book I would have rated it higher.
But the other focus is the Netanyahu family, with Benjamin (Israeli prime minister) as a 10-year-old child. In these sections the author seems mostly interested in showing them as uncultured outsiders (the narrator calls them 'the Yahus' in case you miss it) with no concept of social or academic norms. There are chapters giving the history and politics of Zionism (disguised as a letter of recommendation) and chapters eviscerating Ben-Zion's (Benjamin's father's) actual, real-world scholarship. And chapters showing the bad parenting Benjamin and his brothers got.
It felt really mean-spirited and is based on a story Harold Bloom told the author near the end of his life. Even if it's true, I'm not sure what purpose it serves. Pulitzer or not, this is a book to think twice before reading.
Review Date: 8/21/2020
I really loved this book and found it very engaging! It was a wonderful mix of history and modern day. A story of a religious book that was saved multiple times by people who were not so religious. There were a couple of major plot twists that took me by surprise, but were ultimately satisfying.
Review Date: 4/8/2015
This book is as much about the bird watchers in Central Park as it is about the birds. There's romance, drama, and tragedy here as well as a nice introduction to the park and the birds who live there.
Review Date: 5/2/2022
Content warning for violence, alcohol use, and sexual violence. I could not finish it. It's very well written; if you're not sensitive to these topics you may want to read it.
Review Date: 3/17/2019
I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. It deals with a lot of themes worth exploring, both in literature and in the discussion of literature: Power, fear, racism, love, and more. I did feel like there were about 100 pages too much of falling in love and what that felt like. Otherwise, I loved the world, the characters, and the writing.
1 to 16 of 16
