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).