Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy hosts a monthly link-up for sharing casual, tweet-sized book reviews. Here's what I've been reading...
by Mark Kurlansky
Regional food history pieced together from WPA files. I only read the "Middle West" section but really enjoyed poems "Nebraskans Eat the Wieners" and pieces about whole hog roasting. Worth perusing for history lovers and foodies.
by Susan Cain
FINALLY got around to reading this--and even Professor read the first half or so. Conclusion: I am an introvert and that's all right. Wonderful, even.
by Sandra Steingraber
About raising kids in this environmentally-compromised world today. Honestly, this book mostly made me want to cry and hide my kids under a rock. It's not written with a "how to help or do better" tone, just "these are the horrible facts and if everything about modern life doesn't change, we're all going to die of cancer and disfiguration"...sometimes ignorance is bliss.
by Aimee Bender
I actually checked this out because there was a note in the front about how somebody had put white out over the swear words and the next reader felt it her civic duty to write them back in and tell the world she had done so.
This was a coming-of-age story about a girl who can taste people's emotions in the food they've cooked and how it affects her whole life and family--fun-ish read, beautiful prose. Oh, and a few swear words, whited out or not, depending on your copy.
selected by Garrison Keillor
Trying to ease back into poetry reading; this was a nice, sweeping collection. The introductory essay is worth reading for itself.
Loved Quiet -- so interesting and affirming. Yes, we are pretty wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested in the Good Poems book: I write a bit of poetry and want to read more in order to learn different techniques and styles, but I'm often unsure what would be good to read. This sounds like a great anthology.
Yes, I think anthologies are the way to go until you've got a handle on a particular poet you'd really like to read. At least, that's the strategy I'm going with! Garrison Keillor also has another Good Poems book (the Hard Times one came later) that I'm reading through now. I haven't been quite as fond of this one, but it's had a few winners in it.
DeleteI loved reading Quiet! I learned a lot from it, especially on the point of introverted parents and their introverted kids...which is me and my son completely!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Quiet influenced your parenting; so far my oldest is pretty darn extroverted, but if the other one is less so I may have to read it again and pay more attention to the parenting section. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThe Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is one that I wanted to read but somehow it fell off my radar. Now it's firmly back on the radar, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteGood! It was really subtle and I'm not sure I was able to go along with one of the plot resolutions, but the prose was so pretty I enjoyed it anyway.
DeleteI will have to add the particular sadness of lemon cake to my reading list. And the swear word battle is just hilarious...it definitely gave this book an interesting life;)
ReplyDeleteAgreed! But even without the swear word battle it was a fun read...but the battle makes for a good story :D
DeleteHmmn the lemon cake book sounds great! I just mighttt pick it up. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteIt's subtle but very good. Thanks for stopping!
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