Archive for October, 2007
Thursday, October 11th, 2007
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| Author: | Margaret Atwood |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
Margaret Atwood's gift is to write entirely plausible nightmares that resonate to her readers' bones. Problem is, the nightmares she drags us into are so plausible that they do seem to be coming true.
The nightmare we inhabit in Oryx and Crake is an ecological one. Intense, violent, horribly sad. Just what we expect from the best of Margaret Atwood.
A must read.
A bit of a spoiler, below.
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The germ of Oryx and Crake, and yes, in this context, that is a pun, is that at some point, pharmaceutical companies might worry if all disease were wiped out. After all, if no one ever gets sick, then, what would Big Pharma sell?
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Oryx and Crake |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: Grown up, Science, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
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| Author: | A. Manette Ansay |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1999 |
Romantic story with a spooky sub-plot, about the marriage day of a couple who know they are right for each other, despite the misgivings of the bride's family. If you want to validate someone who believes in love at first sight, then this is a book for them. |
One of those "can't sleep until I've finished reading it" books. Not terribly deep, but involving.
-- Emily Berk
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Midnight Champagne |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
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| Author: | Anne Tyler |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction, historical |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
How does Anne Tyler do it? When she describes a person in the context of his or her family, when she makes lips move and words emerge, we KNOW that person, everything about that person. And yet, we keep reading because we know that Tyler will continue to help us learn about not only each person in her story, but also about Life and about ourselves.
As Tyler helped us learn in The Amateur Marriage, most decisions made by anyone, especially in his or her personal life, are going to be made amateurly, and some better than others.
In Digging To America, we meet two families who adopt infants from Asia.
Betsy Donaldson, the aging, opinionated ex-hippie, is never as gentle or tactful as her wardrobe might lead one to expect. The Yazdans, a young Iranian-American couple, find themselves intimidated by Betsy's suggestions, but prove to be just as caring with their young child as Betsy is to her's.
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After reading one of Anne Tyler's novels, we know so much about the characters that we feel that, if the character walked past us in a shopping mall, we might recognize him or her. And Tyler doesn't have to tell us much about each character to work her magic. This one wears a red coaoverallst; that 's hair is always perfectly coiffed. In this way are decisions made and in this way are people known, both in Tyler's novels and in real life.
Tyler's descriptions of the extended communities we build to help ourselves live ours lives are touching and absolutely real.
-- Emily Berk
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Digging to America |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Female protagonist, Fiction, History, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007
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| Author: | Eleanor M. Jewett |
| Illustrator: | Frederick T. Chapman |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, historical |
| Year of publication: | 1946 |
Gentle tale of Hugh, whose family is caught up terrible violence, and who is sheltered and healed in the monastery at Glastonbury during the reign of Henry II of England.
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Fascinating meditations on the monastic life and the men and boys who lived in monasteries, King Arthur, the Holy Grail and its mythology, the value of the written word, and the tensions between State and Church.
As a scandalized observer of US missteps in the Middle East of the 21st century, I was interested to learn how carelessly the Knights Templar planned their military adventures to the Holy Land, and that they considered taking their children with them on their Crusades an honor.
There is SO much we can learn from history, even fictionalized history.
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| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Hidden Treasure of Glaston, The |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
