A Balloon for Grandad

A Balloon for Grandad by Nigel Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really hope I remember this story when my little boys lose their first balloon outside! Such a cute story - especially when you have a little fellow in your life that you can picture being distraught over losing such a nice balloon.

Definitely recommended for up to 2nd grade, especially for families who live a fairly long distance from some of their relatives. :)

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The Fire Next Time

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was fantastic & very thought-provoking - sadly for many of the same reasons as when it was published in the early 1960s. It makes me interested to know what Baldwin would write now if he wrote a follow-up. I like to think that some things have changed, but maybe not at that deep psychological or philosophical level. Highly recommended.

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Headlong Hall

Headlong Hall by Thomas Love Peacock
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The satire is very heavy-handed, so it was somewhat dull, but fortunately brief. :) The satire is predominantly about three schools of philosophy: those who think that human progress in science/technology is positive, those who think it's a negative thing & that we were better off when humans were hardly more than apes, and the third that the positives & negatives pretty much cancel each other out. It was all right and would - should - be used in courses that examine satire as socio-political commentary, but isn't as entertaining to read simply because it is so heavy-handed. Of course, it doesn't help that I wasn't sure what to expect and was hoping for a sort of 19th Century gothic novel. Sigh!

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The Medusa Plot (Cahills vs. Vespers #1)

The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So this book is the first in the series that I read as a book rather than listened to in the car as an audiobook. It was a little bit harder to get into, but was still compelling once I got going. :) The authors working on the series weave a great story! :D It's nice to see more of some of the minor characters from the first series too - in particular Sinead. It's also nice to see the characters working together again, but one can tell that this alliance is still fragile.

Recommend reading the 39 Clues series first. If you liked that, you'll like this continuation series. :)

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O, Pioneers!

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think what I like about Cather's novels is their 19th century characters confronting the turn of the century and it's upcoming shift into "modernity." Changes in season that have always existed mirror changes in technology and values. How the characters interpret or confront those changes are really the interesting part in her stories. I also respect that while Cather admires the pioneer people (often, but not always Scandanavian immigrants) none are portrayed as perfect. All her characters are flawed in some way and even the "happy endings" are more accurately described "not as tragic as it could've been." It makes them hard to read because they bring out the pessimist in me & I am relieved at the end that few of the things that I imagine happening really do.

I think that with so many of the characteristics of modernist novels, that these are a good choice for introducing those concepts to high school readers since it does have an overall plot, chapters, punctuation, etc... that make others (Woolf, Joyce, among others) more difficult for teens to approach. That being said, these novels are not for everyone. I think having a Midwestern youth helps me a bit, but isn't necessary for appreciation.

And for my skeptical friends, she does kill several characters during the course of the novel.



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Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was all right. I found it a little difficult to sustain my disbelief that the narrator of the story, Chevalier, would stand by such a flighty, inconstant, gold-digger. She must've been really something, I guess - some kind of Helen of Troy. Anyway, though she never speaks for herself (her words always come through the filter of her lover, the narrator), she dies at the end while the narrator survives to become an upstanding guy again after having lived in sin so long. While I can appreciate the author not wanting to seem too scandalous in his day, the double standard of behavior is annoying. Unless you like reading classics/romances from the 18th century, this will probably only irritate you. :D

I like this kind of book and it irritated me. (Whiny main characters - especially male ones - irritate me). This would be a good book to explore in a course about transgressive women in the novel over the course of time. Otherwise, if you aren't a fan of 18th century (1700s) literature, I'd skip it and read something different.

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Mind's Eye

Mind's Eye by Paul Fleischman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Quick read as it's in a play format - without most of the set descriptions & stage directions. The main character, Courtney is not very likable, but neither was Pollyanna right after her accident, so I can cut her some slack. Overall, it was a good book about imagination & the value that literature can have for an inner, mental life that other forms of entertainment don't always provide enough substance for.

I would definitely recommend this book to teens who need to do a book report in a hurry. I'd also recommend it to young people who like the sort of tearjerker where the main character (probably) dies in the end because she had sex once & got HIV or fell in love with a boy who dies at the end, etc... because this book is sort of like the book that comes after that. There's a terrible accident & the girl gets paralyzed, but that's not what this book is about. This is about her first few months in the hospital doing physical therapy & slowly recovering a will to live. It's not a tearjerker, but it deals with a terrible calamity that's befallen a beautiful girl.


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Three Bears' Halloween

The Three Bears' Halloween by Kathy Duval
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oldest son (age 4) thought this was a little scary, but was relieved that it wasn't a real witch, just Goldilocks in disguise. :) A cute story and take on the traditional Three Bears story.

Recommended for kids who like fairy tales, older preschool to 2nd grade will probably enjoy it the most. :D

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Star Wars ABC

Star Wars ABC by Scholastic
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It only gets 3 stars because it has some stuff from the "first three" movies, which I can't stand. Luke, Han, & Leia all the way (and no CG Yoda)! Darth Vader and the Emperor - really? do you need more sith lords? I didn't think so. That's what all the published fiction is for.

Anyway, it has R2-D2, so Seth is happy. And he wants to know the names of the individual stormtroopers. Maybe I'll have him write to George Lucas about that. ;D

Otherwise, it's fine - I have no other complaints. Geek parents and their geeklings will love it. :D

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Art Attack

Art Attack: A Brief Cultural History of the Avant-Garde by Marc Aronson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not a lot of new information here for me, but it's an excellent introduction to the avant garde in the arts during the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. Written with teens & young adults as the target audience, it would also be appropriate for any layperson looking for a place to start on this subject. Very readable. Aronson has done well - the only way it would be better would be if the illustrations were in color.

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Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Maggie Berg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book gave me a lot of insight into Wuthering Heights' enduring status as a classic. I think the reason I disliked Wuthering Heights so violently was because I'd always heard it was a love story & that isn't the case at all. Heathcliff is pretty much a psycho and Catherine is a drama queen. Both are definitely narcissistic. Passionate, yes, but still damaged goods (I mean seriously, who'd dig up the corpse of their beloved - twice?). I liked this analysis of the book because it discussed the fact that all the action in the book is interpreted through at least one filter (Lockwood) and mostly through 2 - Lockwood telling us what Nelly told him what she observed and what the other characters told her. I can appreciate the unreliable narrator aspect and I think I can more fully appreciate the text - even though I still find it disturbing.

I would definitely recommend the book - with the caveat that I think the readers should read something else *about* the book also (doesn't have to be this particular work of criticism). I definitely got a lot more out of it that way.

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Annotated Art

Annotated Art: The World's Greatest Paintings Explored and Explained by Robert Cumming
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good for both people new to art & art history and for those who know a bit already. The author discusses the artists' techniques, why the paintings are significant, materials used, and symbolism. There is a lot of information packed into the little annotations! For teens with art assignments, this would be a good place to start researching if the artist or movement is represented within (it covers most of the main developments in painting).

Recommended to people curious about art and who don't want to be intimidated by a longer book. :)

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Organic Gardening!

Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener by Fern Marshall Bradley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a terrific reference for the home gardener with at least a little bit on just about everything you'd want to know. I plan to pick up a copy for myself to have on hand since we now have more gardening opportunities. :) I will admit I haven't read every page at this point, but did read the articles on the topics relevant to what we're growing right now.

Highly recommended for all gardeners (especially beginners!).



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The Pot and How to Use It

The Pot and How to Use It: The Mystery and Romance of the Rice Cooker by Roger Ebert

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Before going any further, I will admit that there weren't as many recipes as I'd have liked. I know some of that is due to differences between rice cookers' timing mechanisms and other related issues. Still. Essentially, it lets you know that you can use a rice cooker to make a variety of dishes (with rice! ... or noodles, or oatmeal, etc...) as one pot meals without using a stove. A lot of these, though, you can use a slow cooker for or cook on the stove in one pot. It is a nice tool for summer time cooking, though, when you wouldn't want to turn on the oven or stand over a simmering pot on the stove.

All that being said, I give it 3 stars because Ebert and the blog comments he's included are so entertaining. A great culinary quick-read. Recommended for people with rice cookers! :D



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Bunny Drop

Bunny Drop 1 by Yumi Unita

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am enjoying this since it takes on a lot of grown-up issues: do parents "sacrifice" themselves to raise kids? should they? what makes a family? how should adults explain things to children like death? Probably because I have a lot of similar thoughts floating around in my mind, I find it a little comforting to have a comic story with a lot of the same issues. I don't like a lot of the novels with these topics because they're too melodramatic or the characters are too self-centered to be enjoyable.

Recommended to parents who enjoy comics/manga.



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Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Having read through the forward and some of the pre-recipe chapters, I've determined that I like the writing style. Having made a couple of the recipes (a sauce good on fish & eggs and a steak recipe w/sauce), I've determined that this is a cookbook I must own. I will cook fish more often just because that recipe was so good (& simple too). I doubt greatly that I'll cook every recipe a la Julie & Julia, but it is so well put together and so clear that it is really a book that belongs on the shelf of everyone who cooks at home. It pushes you out of your culinary ruts with a nudge and gives a range of possibilities for cooking the same dish over and over, but with variations so it's different every time you bring it to the table. And though some of the dishes take some time, those that I tried did not & dinner was finished within 30 minutes with the addition of a simple green salad or some "steam in bag" veggies that balanced out the fish (or steak) with the richer sauce very nicely.

I think it'd take a very long time to fully appreciate this book, so I'm hoping to receive it for Mother's Day or my birthday this year, but will keep the copy I borrowed from the library until I can't renew it anymore!

A must-own for everyone who cooks at home and those who don't, but love food. If I could give a book 6 stars out of 5, I'd do it.

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Exploring World Art

Exploring World Art by Andrea Belloli

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book groups works of art together on a topic regardless of where they were created or when. This is useful for a very general introduction to art history, but does not provide much depth. The descriptions of each work provide information about the time, place, and culture in which the object was created. This is a very visual book - a bit like the Eyewitness books from DK press - only with more depth on each particular picture. Overall, an interesting book for young people (6th grade +) interested in art or history, but not a useful book for an assignment (not enough depth on any one thing).



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A Child's Garden of Verses

A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I remember having read at least some of these poems as a little girl. "The Swing" and "My Shadow" were poems I remembered in particular, though whether I read this before or read those in a different collection, I can't be sure. My oldest boy (3 & a half yrs old) really enjoys the poems. His favorite thus far is "My Shadow." The illustrations in this edition are wonderful also. Very highly recommended for bedtime reading with kids of all ages. Great alternative to a lot of the comical poetry for kids and Mother Goose (though I like those also).



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Cautionary Verses

Cautionary Verses by Hilaire Belloc

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A predecessor to Shel Silverstein. The Cautionary Tales are the best part of the collection in my opinion. :) There are some illustrations that are offensive by today's standards, but might provide a good bridge to a conversation with children about *why* they're considered in extremely bad taste (at best) and what happened to cause public opinions to change. For the most part, the poetry itself isn't as bad in the places where nationality or race are mentioned & Belloc does take a stab at Western Europeans & their looks and characteristics also. Overall, I'd recommend the Cautionary Tales to fans of Shel Silverstein & the entire work to his more mature fans.



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M

M by Jon J. Muth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The artwork is terrific! Reminiscent, but not a copy of the film. The story's very well told also with the confusion/instability in the perpetrator's mind being carried through the storytelling style as well. Recommended for those who enjoy the artwork of graphic novels as well as those who especially enjoy the German Expressionist films of the 1930s.



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Princess de Cleves

The Princesse de Clèves by Marie-Madeleine de LaFayette

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


For the time it was written, it's a pretty racy story of passion and illicit love. By today's standards, it's not nearly so! All that being said, I enjoyed it after I got used to the style and the more stilted language than what I typically read.

Recommended to people interested in the time period - both in literature and history.



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Bookhunter

Bookhunter by Jason Shiga

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A quick, but action-packed read. Even more awesome than I'd hoped! :D Agent Bay's hard-boiled edge totally makes the story. A must-read for all library staff who enjoy comics & graphic novels



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Three Bears

The Three Bears by Byron Barton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Seth (age 3) like the simple illustrations and the story is well-adapted for the sometimes wiggly toddler or preschooler.



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