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.