Last Harvest by Witold Rybczynski

This was interesting: he traced every step in the development of a new neighborhood.

Ice Bound by Jerri Lynn Nielsen

I thought this was be a fairly tame "here's my 15 minutes of fame!" sort of book but I thought it was fascinating.

A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure and Passion Inside One of America's Best High Schools by Alec Klein

This was mildly interesting. The pressure these kids are under is amazing and saddening. I admit that I was reading looking for secrets to the production of super-students. Unfortunately, the only thing I came away with was: "Start with a kid already internally motivated or convince them that you won't love them and/or will punish them if they don't excel."

No thanks.

Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Ooh, this was good--I was prereading it since I'll be having my 9yo read it for school this year. Books like this make me glad that I'm a homeschooler! The story was engaging, the background (ancient Egypt) was fabulous, and I thought Mara was the perfect feminist heroine--even allowed a love story, but noted for her bravery and self-defense. Do not be put off by the cheesy 80s cover art! Highly recommended for adults and kids--would be a great read-aloud.

Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family by Patricia Volk

So disappointing--it was about as interesting as reading someone else's family history.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Completely entertaining and filled with all manner of interesting tidbits, Weisman's book does justice to its unique topic. It didn't fall down until the last few pages where he suggests a world-wide single child policy as a miracle cure for all of the world's environmental problems. That's too clever by half, but the rest of the book is great.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

So, so hard to read--even novelized, you know the tragedies lived by the Afghani people aren't fiction. But such an excellent, gripping book with love and redemption on every page.

FDR by Jean Edward Smith

Good but not great. Possibly my fault since I've read several others books skirting the subject and so there wasn't a whole lot new here. But a few interesting tidbits.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Better than New Moon but didn't hold a candle to Twilight.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

Easily one of the ten best books that I have ever read, this exploration into the experiences of Hmong immigrants with the American health care system shone a revealing light on both. Highly, highly recommended.

Head Start with the Book of Mormon by Vicki Lynn Rasmussen

When I think about the curricula available to evangelical homeschoolers, I instantly become guilty of several of the deadly sins. Oh, if I were a young earth creationist, the riches that would be mine!

Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni

This was a pretty good mix of personal and political reflections on life in Iran and the challenges of being bicultural.

Predators, Prey, and Other Kinfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy by Dorothy Solomon

By turns fascinating and tragic, this tale of a childhood on the run from the authorities is a compelling read.

Homeschooling by Samuel Blumenfeld

This book was a nice blend of hysterical fearmongering related to public schools and homeschooling advice too vague to implement (but concrete enough to inspire guilt). Most highly unrecommended.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

I thought it was wonderful and the ending was exactly right. (For some reason, I didn't care too much for the epilogue, however.)

Genesis 1-4 by C. John Collins

Collins has a handful of interesting insights here, but overall this book was a disappointment.

New England White by Stephen Carter

So: I could guess the ending within the first hundred pages, the book consisted almost entirely of unbelievable coincidences, the story was hard to keep track of, and the ending was disappointing. But I still kind of liked it.

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman

Contains some interesting thoughts on the cognitive processes that doctors use to make diagnoses (and misdiagnoses). Not earth-shatteringly good, but fairly interesting.

Little Heathens by Mildred Kalish

Reminiscent of the Little House books (but with adult content), this memoir of life on a farm during the Great Depression was delicious and thought-provoking. It would make for a great book-group discussion. Recommended.

Genesis by Nahum Sarna

Well: the book itself is a work of art and the commentary was wonderful. It is a shame that the JPS is so expensive, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

Genesis as Dialogue by Thomas Brodie

His basic thesis is that the stories in Genesis all form diptychs. In some cases, this seems true; in others, it seems forced.

The Savior and the Serpent by Alonzo Gaskill

There were a few interesting insights and questions in this book, but overall I was very disappointed in it. There were some glaring errors, but the biggest flaw was that he spent most of the book castigating some people for taking the text too literally and others for not taking it literally enough without ever making it clear by what metric we determine how to take what. His overall thesis is unconvincing.

House Thinking by Winifred Gallagher

Some interesting data points here but mostly a mish-mash. Her room-by-room formula doesn't work so well when most of the info isn't room specific and this book is too short to try to combine examples, theory, and practice.

Genesis Vol I and II (Word Biblical Commentary) by Gordon Wenham

This was a solid and useful commentary but not earthshaking.

Better by Atul Gawande

I love Gawande's writings and many of the essays in this book were excellent and thought-provoking. But it was disappointing to find two that I had already read (in the New Yorker) and another essay (and the conclusion) that seemed irrelevant to the theme and mere padding. Oh well.

Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata

Kolata points to evidence that humans have a (very narrow) weight preset and that it is virtually impossible for them to diet their way below that amount (at least, for the long term). I'm no scientist and can't judge the evidence, but one would think that given the discrimination obese people face in this culture that if it were possible to be thin, they would be. So I'm inclined to believe her and think that all of the cultural focus on losing (large amounts of) weight will someday join leeches in the history books.

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Wow! This was excellent. This was another pre-read for studying ancients next year, but I totally got into it--amazing suspense for a children's book. Highly recommended. Would be a great family read-aloud, too.

The Boy of the Painted Cave by Justin Denzel

I read this since it will be part of Simon's reading for our study of Ancients next year. I think it is a good, if not stellar, choice for pre-history.

House Update

OK, this is supposed to be a book blog, but I haven't been reading much since I've been working on the house so . . .

. . . brace yourself for a pretty scary 'before' picture. (Two people had the same reaction on seeing this bathroom for the first time: "That paint looks just like baby poop!")



And here's the after pictures:



(I think the first picture is a truer representation of the paint color.)

Here's the master bedroom, which also has a scary 'before' (yellow and gold/orange spongepaint; mercifully, I don't have a picture):



Now, I think that wall needs something, but I don't know what. Also, should I paint the nightstands white or black?

Here are a few more views of the master bedroom:




I'm pleased with how the stencil turned out; definitely the best way to cheaply add interest to a huge, blank wall.





And this if from my yard (how cool is that?):



This is the library; over the bookcase, it reads "I have always imagined that paradise is a kind of library."



This is the master bedroom. I like the tile but I don't like the paint. Any ideas on what color would be better?



This is one of the walls in the gameroom (AKA the DMZ):

Light on Snow by Anita Shreve

eh.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Normally I read until midnight, but last night I was so wiped out at 10pm that I decided to set aside my Serious Book and read a few pages of a new Fluff book to get to sleep.

At 4:04am, I finished My Sister's Keeper. I literally couldn't put it down--this book's strengths were its incredible characterization of a half dozen major characters as well as its compelling portrayal of a family ripped apart by a child's illness.

Now that it is the light of day, I've been vacillating between thinking that the twist at the end was pure stupidity and thinking that it was the perfect encapsulation of the idea that we, ultimately, don't control . . . anything.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

On the one hand, Barbara Kingsolver is a delicious writer who chronicles well the tale of her family's year of eating mostly home-grown food. On the other hand, this book suffers prodigiously in comparison with The Omnivore's Dilemma, which covers much of the same ground without sounding preachy or elitist. Despite Kingsolver's repeated reminders that she wasn't being preachy or elitist, she was. I'd have a helluva lot easier time eating locally if I could hire a caterer for a family party or calculate food costs without counting labor costs (or time).

River of Doubt by Candace Millard

I can't remember the last time a non-fiction book gave me so many nightmares; let's just say I won't be canoing down the Amazon any time soon. This well-told tale of Theodore Roosevelt's near-death while exploring an unknown tributary of the Amazon is worth reading.

The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto

I've wanted to read this forever but was always put off by the price tag--imagine my surprise when I found it at a library sale. Anyway, it was terribly disappointing. I didn't trust his credentials to address the topic and the text seemed to meander.

Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway by Dave Barry

Gotta love Dave Barry. I always have to go find my husband and read big sections out loud to him.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this lovely and magnetic book.

On the Wealth of Nations by P. J. O'Rourke

This was such a disappointment. It was like O'Rourke forgot to be funny.

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson

This was the lamest, cheesiest, most emotionally manipulative book I have ever read.

Sex God by Rob Bell

I've been listening to (and enjoying immensely) some of Bell's sermon podcasts, but this book didn't do much for me. It bordered on the incoherent--some interesting ideas that just didn't feel fleshed out.

The Writings of Camilla Eyring Kimball

This was an enjoyable read; charming for its datedness but nonetheless hinting at the intellectual life of what might be the most interesting prophet's wife.

Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner

A good memoir about a woman's conversion from orthodox Judaism to Christianity. And we can play six degrees of separation: I learned about this author from Susan Wise Bauer's blog (they're friends) and the author mentions her friendship with Jana Reiss in the book.

Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner

This was pretty good; not life changing but a nice read.