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| Author: | Karen Armstrong |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | Non-fiction: Autobiography |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
Thoughtful autobiography of a former nun turned writer about religious thought. | |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness, The | |
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| Author: | Donald McQuade |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | College-prep |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | College-prep |
| Genre: | non-fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
The Seeing and Writing book is a very different book. It too is a book for the entry level college (or perhaps advanced high school?) writer. The over all premise of the book is that we live in a real world where visual text messages have as much, if not more, sway than a full page of text. Certainly, it is a much more interesting book to read and look through and does not pretend to hold the act of writing to a separate standard... a higher standard... than visual images. Rather, the book attempts to have the reader ponder the significance of visual images, text images, and the power of linking the two. | |
The "voice" of the text is much more savvy. Perhaps a tad too trendy for my country bumpkin kids. I am being somewhat selective on which subjects/essays I will have my two work with in the text. There are several exercises in the book that I think my highly visual kids will respond to. The book is also linked to a website which nicely extends the text. | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Seeing & Writing 2 | |
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| Author: | E.L. Konigsburg |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, historical |
| Year of publication: | 1973 |
Eleanor of Aquitaine and some of her friends hang out in heaven and discuss Eleanor's life and loves. | |
Fascinating discussions about the Crusades, British and French history, religion, architecture, and the role of women in Medieval royalty ensue. Illustrations, by the author, in the form of "miniatures" are lovely and fascinating. | |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver | |
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| Author: | Simon Winchester |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | non-fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1998 |
Fascinating but depressing story of the life of the murderer who worked on the OED (one of our favorite dictionaries.) | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Professor and the Madman, The: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary | |
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| Author: | Farley Mowat |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | biographical |
| Year of publication: | 1961 |
A boy's adventures with two adopted owls: one orphaned and one abused. | |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Owls in the Family | |
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| Author: | Susan Orlean |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | biography |
| Year of publication: | 2000 |
Study of a man obsessed with orchids. | |
The language is rough, but the book is well worth reading because of its fascinating descriptions of the orchids and the man and life in this particular stratum of Floridian society, which spans Seminole tribe members to British nobility. | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Orchid Thief, The | |
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| Author: | John D. Fitzgerald |
| Illustrator: | Mercer Mayer |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | biographical |
| Year of publication: | 1969 |
Second volume in the first person series of one of three Catholic brothers growing up in turn of the century Mormon Utah. | |
We were amazed at the similarities and differences between then and now. My 9 year old loved this collection of stories at least as much as she loved the first installment. | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: More Adventures of the Great Brain | |
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| Author: | John D. Fitzgerald |
| Illustrator: | Mercer Mayer |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | biographical |
| Year of publication: | 1967 |
First person story of one of three Catholic brothers growing up in turn of the century Mormon Utah. Warning: Each book in this series veers broadly from (usually) a very cheerful first few chapters, in which the happy life of the narrator's family is depicted to subsequent harrowing chapters in which death, danger, and/or permanent dismemberment often occurs. The books usually resolve relatively pleasantly, but my daughter had difficulty sleeping after reading some chapters. (Although she always insists on getting the next book in the series.) | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Me and My Little Brain | |
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| Author: | Patricia C. Wrede |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, magic |
| Year of publication: | 1991 |
My daughter says, "I really, really like the way the characters use magic in the world the author has built." | |
"Not as good as the Dealing With Dragons books," says my 9-year old. "But I love all the long words the author uses." (We read the first few chapters with the Oxford English Dictionary open on our laps, magnifying glass poised in our hands.) The plot in this one is just a little too complicated for anyone to follow. But we are already searching for a copy of the sequel. In fact, dd is determined to work her way through every book Wrede has ever written | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Mairelon the Magician | |
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| Author: | Maribeth Fischer |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
A novel about unexpected consequences. | |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Language of Good-Bye, The | |