BestBooks is a record of all of the books that I have read since November 2004, with brief descriptions and reviews.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
The Mummy Congress by Heather Pringle
Exceptionally intriguing, The Mummy Congress ranks as one of the best books that I have read this year. It reads more like a collection of essays on different topics, all somehow related to the practice of mummification. I honestly don't want to describe it too much for fear that I won't do it justice, but I will say that her picture of Chilean women digging through handfuls of sand for pigment with which to paint their deceased children seven thousand years ago will probably be with me for a long time. Highly recommended.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Dr. Spock: An American Life by Thomas Maier
It is hard to overestimate Dr. Spock's influence--he taught all those hands how to rock the cradle. Maier's book did an excellent job of exploring his life and exploding the myth of his "permissiveness" (which I had always believed accurate but now see as a political attack raised not by his book but by his opposition to the Vietnam war before it was cool). Maier deftly elucidates the failures of Spock's personal life in a way that makes him seem not a hypocrite but rather a flawed man. Highly recommended.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate diCamillo
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The Young Joseph Williams Trilogy by Dean Hughes
I read these to the boys because they were the only juvenile historical fiction about Church history that I could find. They weren't that good: the plots plodded, the characterization was flat, the writing was lame. The third volume was slightly better in that it took on some heavy issues of Mormon culpability in Missouri (my five year old knows about Danite excesses now), but I still can't recommend these.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Sunday, November 12, 2006
A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks
To me, novels either "work" or they don't: they either succeed in creating a world--or they don't. This one worked and it was a joy to read even though the topic was horrific and the details graphic. (The only sour note was the revelation at the end of the rector's character.) This is the kind of book that would lead to excellent book group discussions (although it might have a smidge too much sex and violence for some book groups). Recommended.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
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2006
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November
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- The Mummy Congress by Heather Pringle
- Dr. Spock: An American Life by Thomas Maier
- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
- The Tale of Despereaux by Kate diCamillo
- The Young Joseph Williams Trilogy by Dean Hughes
- Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
- A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger
- Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldi...
- Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
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November
(9)