The Age of Shiva

by Manil Suri

5 stars

A lovely (and sad) novel told from the point of view of a mother telling her son her story, their story. Bold and honest, I found myself shocked when I got to the end and realized the author was a male. The voice of Meera is so clearly female; it's amazing how intimately the author grasped motherhood and the mind and body of a woman.

I Hate Other People's Kids

by Adrianne Frost

3 stars

As Parker was pulling me down a non-fiction aisle at the library, I furtively spun my head in all directions looking at titles as quickly as I could and this is one of those funny titles that caught my eye. I took a second to grab it before I was tugged in another direction. I didn't know what exactly to expect when I opened it up as it advertised it as "a complete handbook for navigating a world filled with tiny terrors," but it was mostly just a humorous outlook on kids in public (think Samantha Jones from Sex and the City) . Being a new parent myself, I found myself mentally defending the actions of the children and their parents at times in this book, but when I realized the whole thing was just a joke, I laughed out loud quite a few times. A quick fun read, but nothing I'd say you'd have to read before you kick the bucket.

I Never Told Anyone: Writings by Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

Edited by Ellen Bass and Louise Thornton

I cannot rate this book. The experiences of these women cannot be debased by stars. This was by far the most difficult read I've done in awhile. I could not read this in large chunks as sometimes I found myself holding my breath and I could feel the stress tense up my body. Other times the rage came on so fast that it engulfed me for the rest of the day. Some days I didn't dare pick up the book because I knew I was mentally weak those days and wouldn't be able to emotionally handle it. I grieved for these women. I grieved for my own past. I grieved at the thought of my own child going through something like this. And I grieved knowing that these things are still happening and probably always will happen to children everywhere.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

By Kim Edwards

5 Stars

It is hard to imagine that Kim Edwards did not personally experience each of the situations and emotions that her characters did in this book. Her insights drew me close to each of her character's feelings of guilt, love, and anger, and I could not help but think that I was somehow a part of the story. She managed to depict the cruelty that people are capable of, and yet any anger I felt over the actions of the characters, was then washed away by sympathy for their humanity. I recommend this book to anyone in search of a deep meaningful tale.    

Eat Pray Love

Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

5 Stars!

In this book Elizabeth Gilbert somehow manages to give spiritual insights while maintaining a humorous, down to earth outlook on the daily events of her life. While reading this book, I was constantly intrigued by her journey through heartbreak, as she traveled around meeting random characters that all played an important role in her healing process. It was very entertaining, and I was saddened when I realized I was reaching the end.

Bridget Jones Diary

Bridget Jones is a quirky, humorous character, who magnifies the stereotypes of women in today's society through her obsession over her weight, her diet, and her outfits, and is constantly plagued by bad hair days. Helen Fielding has told a witty and entertaining story through diary entries of her colorful character Bridget, who repeatedly gets caught up in sticky situations and never fails to make a fool of herself.  I would recommend this book, and its sequel, to anyone in search of a light and clever read.  

Mission Accomplished! Or How We Won the War in Iraq

by Christopher Cerf and Victor S. Navasky, Illustrations by Robert Grossman

3.75 stars

This book is mostly comprised of out-of-context quotes from "experts" in reference to Iraq and the war. Dripping with sarcasm, it is very one-sided and does a very good job of making our government officials and other "experts" look like idiots (not saying they aren't, but it's obvious what the aim was with this book just by looking at the cover). I did learn some new things from the book, but mostly it just confirmed what I had already surmised from living and breathing in the USA right now.

The Woman Who Wouldn't

By Gene Wilder

3 Stars

Yup, Gene Wilder. The same actor you know and love from Blazing Saddles and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Apparently he is also a writer. I read this book in one sitting. An hour and 15 minutes later, the story was complete. Yes, sometimes less is more, but this lacked substance. I laughed a few times, but mostly the story is just silly while trying to be serious and seriously unrealistic. Cute is another word I might use to describe it. It might make a nice romantic comedy, perfect for a sappy Universal (or even Disney) picture. Maybe it's already been done?

The Story of A Marriage

By Andrew Sean Greer

3.5 Stars

This is an intriguing novel full of surprises and strange twists every step of the way, but somehow overall it doesn't ring true. Even for the time period it is set in, it hardly seems feasible that a woman so in love with her husband never has a single heart to heart with him, even after finding out his secrets, no, especially after finding out his secrets, through a third party whom she has no reason to trust. I wouldn't tell someone not to read it, as it does have some lyrical beauty and it has a unique way of pulling you in one direction and then flipping you around to see a whole other point of view and it really opened my eyes to my own misconceptions.

Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered It

by Mike Hoyt (Editor), John Palattella (Editor), Columbia Journalism Review (Editor)

4.5 Stars

A view of the war (and how it's been reported) straight from journalists in Iraq. Because it is an oral history, the book is not exactly easy to read (which is the only reason that it didn't get 5 stars from me). We often write differently than we talk, don't we? But, it still offers an insight that is both scary and disheartening. The pictures alone moved me beyond tears. Well worth the read.

Introduction to This Blog

I decided to start this blog because I have been checking out books at random at the library lately, and I've been thinking to myself, Self, wouldn't it be nice if the library had a rating system so that you could choose your books with a more educated guess? Well, of course it would! But since our little local library doesn't quite seem up to speed like that, I thought it might be fun to do my own review! This way anyone else who has read the book can post a comment along with their own rating of the book, or if they haven't read the book it might entice them to check it out (or not).

If you are interested in becoming an author and contributing to this blog, just send me an email or respond to this with your email address!

Happy Reading!
Erin :)