i know! i'm going to lose my book bloggers' license!
but really, there's something so refreshing about taking some time to read articles on citation analysis, and usability studies, and all the other great library science literature that's out there.
oh wait. no there's not.
my bad.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Saturday, March 18, 2006
book 18
the other boleyn girl, philippa gregory
rating:
this book was pretty awesome in a non-taxing sort of way. a nice spring break read. it's all about anne boleyn's sister, mary, who was actually king henry's mistress before anne boleyn was. or at least, that's how it plays out in the book (the author has a doctorate in 18th century literature so i'm sure she had some solid historical research skills). i was really into fat historical novels a few years back, and this one reminds me why. they're really absorbing. and there's typically lots of adultery and deception and drama and stuff.
rating:
this book was pretty awesome in a non-taxing sort of way. a nice spring break read. it's all about anne boleyn's sister, mary, who was actually king henry's mistress before anne boleyn was. or at least, that's how it plays out in the book (the author has a doctorate in 18th century literature so i'm sure she had some solid historical research skills). i was really into fat historical novels a few years back, and this one reminds me why. they're really absorbing. and there's typically lots of adultery and deception and drama and stuff.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
book 17
heir to the glimmering world, cynthia ozick
rating:
for some reason, i didn't really get into this book until the last third or so. it's about a girl named rose who goes to work for this german family living in new york in 1933. the family, the mitwissers, is completely weird, with lots of kids, a mother who is having some kind of breakdown, and a father who studies a very small religious sect. the family is completely supported by a sporadically present benefactor, james, who is sort of like the real christopher robin in that his father wrote a series of adventures about a bear boy, modelled after his son. i know, it's complicated. but i got really into it at the end, and i thought that rose was a really great character, alienated but strangely involved in everything.
rating:
for some reason, i didn't really get into this book until the last third or so. it's about a girl named rose who goes to work for this german family living in new york in 1933. the family, the mitwissers, is completely weird, with lots of kids, a mother who is having some kind of breakdown, and a father who studies a very small religious sect. the family is completely supported by a sporadically present benefactor, james, who is sort of like the real christopher robin in that his father wrote a series of adventures about a bear boy, modelled after his son. i know, it's complicated. but i got really into it at the end, and i thought that rose was a really great character, alienated but strangely involved in everything.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
book 16
the ghost orchid, carol goodman
rating:
i was pretty pumped about this book, because i enjoyed goodman's earlier novels, particularly the first, the lake of dead languages. this one fell short for me, though. it's a mystery type of thing and has two parallel narratives: one about a woman at a famous writers' retreat who is writing a novel about the events that occurred on that same estate in 1893, and then the actual narrative of those events. it's well written, like her other novels, but i think this one bothered me because it dips a little too far into the supernatural. i guess it makes sense, since the legendary events that took place on the estate in 1893 involved a medium who was called to contact the souls of three dead children. eh, i don't know. i guess i just wasn't really in the mood to suspend my disbelief.
rating:
i was pretty pumped about this book, because i enjoyed goodman's earlier novels, particularly the first, the lake of dead languages. this one fell short for me, though. it's a mystery type of thing and has two parallel narratives: one about a woman at a famous writers' retreat who is writing a novel about the events that occurred on that same estate in 1893, and then the actual narrative of those events. it's well written, like her other novels, but i think this one bothered me because it dips a little too far into the supernatural. i guess it makes sense, since the legendary events that took place on the estate in 1893 involved a medium who was called to contact the souls of three dead children. eh, i don't know. i guess i just wasn't really in the mood to suspend my disbelief.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
book 15
giving up america, pearl abraham
rating:
i read pearl abraham's first novel when i was in high school and i really loved it. randomly, a few weeks ago, i looked her up in the library catalog and found out that she's since published two more books. i could rate this book higher based on the quality and style of the writing, but i found it really depressing, so i can't really go higher than 3.5 'bots. it's about a woman from a hasidic family (deena) who marries an orthodox jew (daniel), and, according to her family, the marriage is doomed from the start. it's fine until seven years into it, when daniel clearly becomes obsessed with one of the secretaries at his office. the thing that bothered me the most was that deena became a total enabler, befriending this woman from daniel's work and so on. i don't know. the writing was great, and the book had a nice, even pace, but the story just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
rating:
i read pearl abraham's first novel when i was in high school and i really loved it. randomly, a few weeks ago, i looked her up in the library catalog and found out that she's since published two more books. i could rate this book higher based on the quality and style of the writing, but i found it really depressing, so i can't really go higher than 3.5 'bots. it's about a woman from a hasidic family (deena) who marries an orthodox jew (daniel), and, according to her family, the marriage is doomed from the start. it's fine until seven years into it, when daniel clearly becomes obsessed with one of the secretaries at his office. the thing that bothered me the most was that deena became a total enabler, befriending this woman from daniel's work and so on. i don't know. the writing was great, and the book had a nice, even pace, but the story just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
book 14
on beauty, zadie smith
rating:
this book was really good. i've never read anything by zadie smith, and i was a little wary because her books always get so much hype, but i enjoyed this. the characterizations were really excellent, and i really liked the way things came together. i hated the father. yeah, a good book. smart without being too pretentious.
rating:
this book was really good. i've never read anything by zadie smith, and i was a little wary because her books always get so much hype, but i enjoyed this. the characterizations were really excellent, and i really liked the way things came together. i hated the father. yeah, a good book. smart without being too pretentious.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
something else i've missed: curtis sittenfeld has a new book coming out. i really liked her first novel, prep, even though there were some definite lulls and lags in the story. i guess i'm a sucker for coming-of-age books. so the new one interests me as well, but i'm a little torn, because, after reading, enjoying, and highly praising prep, i read a few of her articles and reviews and realized that she has a tendency to be (or at least to come off as) a raging, pompous bitch. i guess i can avoid an ethical dilemma by checking it out from the library and not officially supporting the author.
Friday, March 03, 2006
book 13
neuromancer, william gibson
i can't even rate this book because i spent so much time during my reading of it being completely confused. it was science fiction/fantasy week in popular materials, and i read this book on matt's recommendation. it's really well written, and there's lots of cool stuff that happens, but i just couldn't really get that into it. i'm not good with cyberpunk science fiction, i guess. apparently i have no imagination. i think i'll have to reread this when i have more mental energy to devote to it.
i can't even rate this book because i spent so much time during my reading of it being completely confused. it was science fiction/fantasy week in popular materials, and i read this book on matt's recommendation. it's really well written, and there's lots of cool stuff that happens, but i just couldn't really get that into it. i'm not good with cyberpunk science fiction, i guess. apparently i have no imagination. i think i'll have to reread this when i have more mental energy to devote to it.
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