| Anne's House of Dreams (1922) by L.M. Montgomery, 227 pages A Bennett 24 July 2005 As I remembered it, but many readings in my younger years seem to make me now read over-quickly to get to my favorite parts, which never seem to last long enough. And the quick-read means the book and the experience of it is consumed before I know it. | Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor, 1859-1900 (1989) by Lamar Cecil, 339 pages James Donahue 10 May 2006 Thorough, very thorough |
Wilhelm II: Emperor and Exile, 1900-1941 (1996) by Lamar Cecil, 356 pages James Donahue 13 May 2006 In bed for four days with a fever, I read and read and then experience odd dreams about myself, the Kaiser, and a labrythine house in downtown Columbus. |
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, 90 pages Steven Krise 29 March 2002 I have to concur with the author of the Preface, it is one of the wisest book I've ever read. However, I have a hard time getting past the idea that it's a bit of a waste of time to take 90 pages to talk about something everyone agrees at the outset can't be ascertained that way. I suppose that's mysticism for you. Richly dense, wise book, regardless. |
Becoming Latina in 10 Easy Steps by Lara Rios, 284 pages Micaela Larkin 17 November 2006 Chicana Chic Lit |
Becoming Americana by Lara Rios, 307 pages Micaela Larkin 27 November 2006 Chicana chic lit... sophomore slump! |
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle, 272 pages Brad Snyder 26 June 2009 Read like a movie script for one of those teen coming of age movies. Halfway through, I did a search. Due in theaters July 10, 2009. Don't waste your time. |
Actually Useful Internet Security Techniques by Larry J Hughes Jr, 378 pages Steven Krise 17 October 2005 Probably more useful in an actual sense 10 years ago when it was written. Interesting (and mostly still relevant) discussion of protocol security and Unix architecture. |
Love Stories of World War II by Larry King, 325 pages Micaela Larkin 24 March 2007 |
The Legacy of Heorot by Larry Niven and two other dudes, 367 pages Steven Krise 05 March 2005 A tale (loosely modeled on Beowulf) of 200 interstellar human colonists upsetting the ecosystem on another planet. The story was mostly lame, but that seems to be par for the course with most sci-fi literature. |
Buffy Visitor by Laura Anne Gilman, 163 pages Jeff Gadd 28 October 2002 |
Like Water for Chocolate [audio] by Laura Esquivel, 0 pages Steve Gadd 19 March 2000 A romantic family epic in the magical-realism style following Tita, who by family tradition is bound to remain single and care for her mother until she dies. |
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 334 pages Julie Gephart 05 March 2002 Pa's resume: Twisting hay into hard sticks for fuel, forecasting weather from muskrat dens |
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 309 pages Julie Gephart 10 March 2002 Pa's resume: "Spelling down" the entire town, getting hair chewed off by mice then putting up with Ma's warning not to be vain |
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 289 pages Julie Gephart 22 June 2002 Reason #564 it sucks to live in a shanty: You sigh with relief when the temperature is twenty below zero, because the "cold snap" is over. |
The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 134 pages Julie Gephart 03 August 2002 A detailed account of how it sucks and sucks and then continues to suck to be a farmer. When you think it can't get worse, throw in a dead baby and a burned-down house for good measure. |
The Dark Bride: A Novel by Laura Restrepo, 368 pages Jaqi Ross 01 November 2003 Using a series of subtly textured interviews, Restrepo’s journalist protagonist mines a rich trove of characters—fortune hunters, guerrilla chiefs, refinery workers, and prostitutes—who, together with the narrator, attempt to decipher the impulsive and mysterious life of the young Sayonara, the unlikely heroine of The Dark Bride. |
A Caress of Twighlight by Laurell K. Hamilton, 326 pages Julie Gephart 02 June 2002 Proof that political maneuvering can be just as tedious in a faerie court as it is in a human court. Only perhaps with more sex. |
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, 272 pages Julie Gephart 06 December 2003 “There was one place I could go that might have the answers - Dead Dave’s, a nice bar that served a mean hamburger. The proprietor was an ex-cop who had been kicked off the force for being dead.” The Supreme Court has granted equal civil rights to vampires, and most people regard them as a thrillingly scary tourist attraction. Not so for Anita Blake, who serves up death warrants for the police when vampires run afoul of the law (I guess they don’t put vamps in jail, cuz, you know, you don’t need a bunch of vampires guzzling government blood rations and sitting around watching Oprah all day). It’s a very interesting set-up, and I’m glad, because I already have the next two books in the series. |
The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton, 320 pages Julie Gephart 14 December 2003 “She was gazing at him with a look I had seen in other women. Adoration, love. I’d even experienced it myself for a brief time in college. You get over it.” Second in the Anita Blake series. Still good. I love the fact that even though Anita collects powerful friends, she still gets out of every situation on her own, bullet wounds and all. |
Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton, 336 pages Julie Gephart 18 January 2004 “He looked hurt. I guess most people aren’t used to being suspected of wrongdoing before they’ve actually done anything wrong. ‘All right, you drive.’ He looked very pleased. Heartwarming. Besides, I was carrying two knives, three crosses, and a gun.” Ah Anita, you haven’t let me down yet. Third in series and still going strong. |
The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton, 250 pages Julie Gephart 24 July 2004 “For future reference, so there will never be another misunderstanding between us, I never bluff.” “So you said.” “But you didn’t believe me.” He watched the blood spread across the floor. “I believe you now.” Fourth Anita Blake book, and she’s still the toughest woman on paper. This one spent too much time veering into romance for my taste, and I fear it will only get worse. |
Guilty Pleasures - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Vol. I (1993) by Laurell K. Hamilton, 355 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (2005) by Lauren Willig, 428 pages Jennifer Dear 09 April 2007 |
The Mystery of the Black Tulip (2006) by Lauren Willig, 403 pages Jennifer Dear 14 April 2007 |
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig, 428 pages Micaela Larkin 15 April 2007 |
The Deception of the Emerald Ring (2006) by Lauren Willig, 386 pages Jennifer Dear 16 April 2007 |
The Mystery of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig, 403 pages Micaela Larkin 17 April 2007 |
Atom by Lawrence Krauss, 305 pages Steven Krise 08 December 2002 A history of the universe as told through the "eyes" of an oxygen atom bound in a water molecule in the Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector in Japan. By glossing over hundreds of milions of years in a chapter, the author allows the reader to get a sense of the rhythms of cosmic evolution. Most interesting was the discussion of the origin of life on Earth. |
The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey through the Wine World by Lawrence Osbourne, 272 pages Tony Pisarenkov 18 May 2008 A book not so much about wine as it is about winemakers. A couple of the stories are mildly interesting, and Osbourne does have a knack for a good turn of phrase now and then, but after a while it all starts to sound the same. More detailed comments here |
Die Trying by Lee Child, 422 pages Jeff Gadd 20 January 2002 A great Jack Reacher book of suspense and a great ending too it. |
Killing Floor by Lee Child, 407 pages Jeff Gadd 30 January 2002 Jack Reacher in the first book from L.C. Really great and suspenseful. |
TripWire by Lee Child, 401 pages Jeff Gadd 01 February 2002 Third book just as great as the first two. A great ending too the book. |
Running Blind by Lee Child, 359 pages Jeff Gadd 06 February 2002 The Last Reacher book and it's just as good as the first. |
Echo Burning by Lee Child, 354 pages Mike Gadd 08 January 2003 This book about made me sweat. It takes place in the heart of Texas in the middle of summer. The vivid descriptions of the 115 degree heat made me forget it was winter outside. Good story too. Tough guy/drifter gets picked up by a desperate woman who claims her husband beats her and she's got nowhere to go. He goes home with her and takes care of business. |
Without Fail by Lee Child, 374 pages Mike Gadd 25 June 2003 This is book number 5 and they just keep getting better. Jack Reacher's motto is 'hit them hard, hit them fast, hit them a lot'. He's hired by the Secret Service to see if he can get through their defenses and get to the Vice President only to find out that there's someone out there trying to do just that. |
Persuader by Lee Child, 465 pages Mike Gadd 14 April 2004 The more I read from this guy the more I like him. Great character development over the 6 books he's done so far. The plot moves along nicely and the big finish is always plausible. |
The Enemy by Lee Child, 464 pages Mike Gadd 13 May 2005 Number 8 in the series takes us back to the beginning for a look into what made Jack Reacher who he is. |
An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca, 341 pages Steve Gadd 09 September 2002 The savior of Chrysler tells his side of the story at Ford, how he rose through the ranks with hard work and great success, only to be fired by a paranoid Henry Ford. Includes Iacocca's argument in favor of a government bailout for Chrysler, despite being a champion of the free-enterprise system, and a chapter against airbags, written before Chrysler's about-face on that topic. |
Brew Chem 101 - The basics of homebrewing chemistry by Lee W Janson, 117 pages Steven Krise 28 December 2002 Very broad overview of the chemistry of brewing from mash-in, through wort boiling, to fermentation. Highlights were the discussion of the chemical sources for off-flavors (and their remedies) in Chapter 5 and the discussion of beer-tasting in Chapter 6. The preceding chemistry was handled with broader strokes than I was hoping for. I guess I'll be searching out George Fix's "Principles of Brewing Science". |
Brew Chem 101 by Lee W Janson, 117 pages Steven Krise 25 June 2005 Starts off as a 5th grade primer on chemistry, but peaks to an informative discussion of the chemistry of brewing in chapter 3. Sadly, it finishes off with what appears to be a required section for any book written about homebrewing, a discussion of the causes and cures for off flavors. I did finish it in a days time, so that's a good ppd booster. |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning: Book the First (1999) by Lemony Snicket, 183 pages A Bennett 15 June 2004 It is hard to imagine a more marvelously, cleverly written novella. Delightfully drawn from the work of both Edward Gorey and Tim Burton, and yet somehow, perfectly, like nothing else, ever. Snicket easily takes as much fun from relating the details of his story as from the mechanics used to relate it. What luck there are 12 more unfortunate events in the series! Possibly the second most perfect non-literature book I have ever read (The Blue Sword being first). Not a misstep to be found amongst any of its thirteen, dolefully wonderful chapters. |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill: Book the Fourth (2000) by Lemony Snicket, 196 pages A Bennett 16 June 2004 How unfortunate that when I needed a fix of this new book-bound drug that I was in a grocery store that only had book four to sell me, and not two or three. Encouragingly, a word here which means, "happily", such a bad beginning did little to dim my enjoyment of the text. |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room: Book the Second (1999) by Lemony Snicket, 192 pages A Bennett 21 June 2004 A thrilling sidebar was offered around page 35 on dramatic irony. Rather made me wish I had it to copy and pass around to students when I was teaching. |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window: Book the Third (2000) by Lemony Snicket, 217 pages A Bennett 23 June 2004 An event containing flesh-eating leeches, hurricanes, a doll named Pretty Penny, and naturally the most severly nefarious non-magical villain about which I've ever read, Count Olaf. |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Slippery Slope: Book the Tenth (2003) by Lemony Snicket, 337 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Grim Grotto: Book the Eleventh (2004) by Lemony Snicket, 323 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital: Book the Eighth (2001) by Lemony Snicket, 255 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography (2002) by Lemony Snicket, 212 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Carnivorous Carnival: Book the Ninth (2002) by Lemony Snicket, 286 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Vile Village: Book the Seventh (2001) by Lemony Snicket, 256 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator: Book the Sixth (2001) by Lemony Snicket, 259 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy: Book the Fifth (2000) by Lemony Snicket, 221 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril: Book the Twelfth (2005) by Lemony Snicket, 368 pages A Bennett 30 October 2005 Take a lesson, JK! The next-to-last book in a series can be more than just a page-heavy stalling tactic. The Baudelaires spend this excellently-named tome pondering the nature of villainy, and moral cost of attempting to live nobly in a corrupt world. |
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1) (1999) by Lemony Snicket, 162 pages Brad Snyder 30 August 2009 Reading this out loud to my youngest daughter. I'm enjoyed the book, but loved the time with her. |
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoi, 1192 pages James Donahue 27 March 2002 So many great things, but here are only three of them: 1) Tolstoi has the ability to use completely fresh metaphors and allegories to describe events and feelings that nevertheless make perfect sense; 2) he has the uncanny ability to have different and unique characters (counts, thirteen-year-old girls, French officers, religious spinsters); he perfectly enters the head of each; and 3) he really gets into the mindset of what it is like to live through "historical" times |
Resurrection by Leo Tolstoi, 568 pages James Donahue 12 June 2002 A juror discovers that the defendant is a women he seduced years earlier, an act which led to a life of prostitution and crime. He repents for the next five hundred pages, seeing the true nature of the penal system, the hypocritical Church, and his own depths of depravity. Tolstoi's last work, written to finance his religious group's emigration to America. Gone however is Tolstoi's ability to portray all views and all types, gone his wonderful metaphors and descriptions… |
The Sebastopol Sketches; The Kreutzer Sonata, and other stories by Leo Tolstoi, 459 pages James Donahue 29 July 2002 Contains Tolstoi's shorter works. Such an eye for detail. Incredibly 'fundamentalist' in his older days. |
How Much Land Does A Man Need; and other stories by Leo Tolstoi, 242 pages James Donahue 04 January 2003 An odd collection of stories which groups together some of his earlier stories of swashbuckling in the Crimean War with some of his later religious parables. |
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, 851 pages Steve Gadd 06 March 1999 If you're one of the few people for whom the ending hasn't been spoiled, read it soon. |
The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy, 159 pages Steve Gadd 23 May 2000 It took a while to find this novelette, but the enjoyable story and touching portrait of these people made it worth the search. |
The Devil by Leo Tolstoy, 52 pages Jonathan Misirian 13 May 2005 Tolstoy's short stories are worth reading over and over again. The Devil is a study in the psychological affects of lust. |
The Hill by Leonard B. Scott, 410 pages Jeff Gadd 05 November 1998 |
Charlie Mike by Leonard B. Scott, 412 pages Jeff Gadd 19 October 2001 |
The Hill by Leonard B. Scott, 341 pages Jeff Gadd 15 January 2002 a Vietnam book about two brothers in the war. |
Dulles by Leonard Mosley, 497 pages James Donahue 15 November 2005 A composite biography of John Foster - FCCCA bigshot and Ike's S-of-State -, Allen - chief of European intelligence during WWII and main figure of the early CIA -, and Eleonor - influential economist and key diplomat to postwar Austria and Germany. Two brothers and a sister at the heart of it all. Tone is colloquial and readable, personality and story-driven. (Mosley was the "Bob Woodward" of his generation.) |
Missionary of Moderation: Henry Melchior Muhlenberg and the Lutheran Church in English America by Leonard Riforgiato, 237 pages James Donahue 03 October 2002 A biography of an amazing man. Muhlenberg came to the colonies in 1742 and by the force of his pastoral leadership organized the disparate Lutheran churches into a synod, all the while staying clear of evangelical revivalism and staid seventeenth-century orthodoxy. A remarkable testimony. |
Looking for Trouble by Leslie Cockburn, 273 pages Steve Gadd 02 May 2004 Memoirs of a fearless news correspondent who traveled to hotspots around the world interviewing leaders and covering conflict. Includes encounters with the Hussein brothers, drug lords, and other bad guys from Afghanistan to Cambodia. In a notable interview, we learn that Iranian vice-president Mohajirani admires Salman Rushdie, comparing him to García Márquez and James Joyce, his favorite writer. |
Art Blakey: Jazz Messenger by Leslie Gourse, 209 pages Tony Pisarenkov 06 March 2009 A brief and very mediocre biography of the great jazz drummer Art Blakey. Does give you some appreciation of his role as a mentor to young musicians, but otherwise fairly worthless. |
Wolf Whistle by Lewis Nordan, 290 pages Jaqi Ross 16 March 2004 The murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy lynched for whistling at a white woman, is at the center of this ALA notable book that also won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. |
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Lewis Wolpert, 243 pages Tony Pisarenkov 29 December 2008 I was misled by the subtitle ("The Evolutionary Origins of Belief"), and once I discovered what the book was really about, it proved to be a disappointment. A few more comments here. |
A Great and Terrible Beauty (2003) by Libba Bray, 403 pages A Bennett 15 June 2004 Blah. Yeck. And yet, more blah. Amazing that a novel set in both Imperial India and Victorian England at a girl's finishing school rife with corsets and rosewater manages to sound not one whit like its main character (or any character in it) ever left the year 2004, much less middle America. And don't get me wrong--one of the most perfect renderings of this time period and these locales was written by a woman living in Tennessee. (See also The Little Princess and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett) Dear Ms. Bray: Please add also to my list of outrages regarding your novel: why, why write all four hundered some pages in first person PRESENT tense? P.S. I hate you. |
Utopia by Lincoln Child, 385 pages Mike Gadd 18 June 2003 Like Michael Crichten's "Prey", this one gets lost in all the special effects and techno-speak. It takes place in a futuristic amusement park where someone is trying to steal the technology and tear the place down. Are we supposed to care about robots as characters? |
Jane Austen in Hollywood by Linda Troost & Sayre Greenfield, Editors, 186 pages Kristin Schrock 24 April 2002 Essays critiquing the Austen film adaptations (there were six just in '95 and '96 alone). Mostly, these essays discuss what was altered and why. On the portrayal of Darcy: in virtually every scene before the Pemberly scenes, he is situated by or walking towards a window or mirror. Also, he's usually in profile. Necessary Vocabulary: intradiegetic, harlequization, romantification |
Split: A Counterculture Childhood by Lisa Michaels, 307 pages Julie Gephart 03 November 2002 The author recalls her childhood spent at political rallies, communes, and traveling the country in an old milk truck. Then she grows into a pretentious college student, and it the book takes a turn toward the tedious. |
mistaken identity by Lisa Scottoline, 565 pages Steven Krise 23 June 2004 Is Connolly Bennie's twin or not? Is she dead now? |
Chronicles of Prydain I: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander, 219 pages A Bennett 05 March 2002 The first book in a series about Prydain. Alexander, like most fantasy authors gives readers names upon names that make you pause for too long wondering how they are supposed to be pronounced. |
Chronicles of Prydain II: The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander, 220 pages A Bennett 08 March 2002 In book one Eilonwy (the best character) was said to have red-gold hair, in this book it's blonde. Magic, or poor continuity? You decide. |
Chronicles of Prydain III: The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander, 206 pages A Bennett 13 March 2002 Being a tertiary hero ain't so bad, as long as you get to hang out with Gwydion, Prince of Don. |
Chronicles of Prydain IV: Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander, 272 pages A Bennett 18 March 2002 Dear Taran, formerly "Assistant Pig-Keeper," now "Wanderer": Beware shepherds claiming your parentage. Signed, your friend, Oedipus P.S. Say 'hi' for me to Eilonwy when you see her in the next book. |
Chronicles of Prydain V: The High King by Lloyd Alexander, 286 pages A Bennett 29 April 2002 Series capper. Excellently paced denoument. You know you've grown to care about characters when you're sitting at the Wendy's shedding tears quietly into your fries over the death of Llonio the Lucky. Necessary Vocabulary: hummock, gulled. |
Westmark Trilogy I: Westmark by Lloyd Alexander, 184 pages A Bennett 13 May 2002 It is not everyday you have a revolutionary like Florian to rally 'round. Necessary Vocabulary: [printer's] devil, mountebank. |
Westmark Trilogy II: The Kestrel by Lloyd Alexander, 244 pages A Bennett 21 May 2002 Holy Revolution, Cabbarus lives! Hot-headed rebels demanding a writ of inalienable rights, queens commanding armies, ex-printer's devils ambushing enemy supply trains in the Domitian Mountains? And Florian? Aristocracy? ...will Westmark endure, or fall prey to Regian betrayal? Necessary vocabulary: curvetting, fieldpiece, limber, breech [cannon], saber, chivvied. |
Westmark Trilogy III: The Beggar Queen by Lloyd Alexander, 237 pages A Bennett 05 June 2002 Revolution breaks out in Marianstat, but who has time to worry very much about that when gephart has stabbed you in the back over vacation by pretending to need time to dress in her room--all the while reading like a madman? Necessary vocabulary: dicing dens, duckboard, midden heaps, abdicate. |
The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander, 283 pages A Bennett 19 December 2002 At this point, would I read Lloyd Alexander's laundry list? Yes, quite probably. For all that, this book doesn't have the spark that made The Chronicles of Prydain and Westmark great. |
Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander, 195 pages A Bennett 26 December 2002 As Alexander's books and writing go, this one is quite facile, and plays on familiar themes; the loss of parents, the orphaned child who finds substitute parents to fill such a void, and the role (of the outcast) such a child often is expected to play within society. |
Chronicles of Prydain: The Foundling and other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, 122 pages A Bennett 30 December 2002 A slight, though pleasant-enough collection of short stories elaborating on (and relaying the foundation of) the series of books I loved me so well. |
The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen by Lloyd Alexander, 273 pages A Bennett 15 January 2003 Once again, an excellent start to the New Year. Alexander understands sorrow and fear, and never fails me. Even when I think, for the first few chapters, the book's gonna stink. Necessary vocabulary: yaman, cangue |
The Arkadians by Lloyd Alexander, 273 pages A Bennett 12 April 2003 A slanted version of Greece--including familiar yet not-quite-right versions of myths such as the Trojan Horse, woven into the story. |
Vesper Holly Series I: The Illyrian Adventure (1986) by Lloyd Alexander, 132 pages A Bennett 16 March 2004 "The poor child was suffering a touch of nerves--the result, naturally, of being more or less confined to a cave, subsisting on cheese and firey hot sausages, and being surrounded by desperate characters; including the most dangerous man in Illyria. It was no kind of life for a Philadelphian. (p.80)" "Killing us was, in itself, criminal in the extreme; to do so with deliberate disregard for a noble monument to antiquity was nothing less than heartless vandalism. (p.105)" (Dear Mike Gadd--I see you--hot on my heels. Beware the wrath of the lacrosse stick!) |
Lafayette in Two Worlds by Lloyd Kramer, 352 pages James Donahue 31 August 2002 A biographical account of the adult Lafayette, with particular attention to his symbolic/political role in the two 18th-century revolutions. |
I Know What U Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan, 198 pages Jeff Gadd 14 September 2001 |
The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold, 112 pages Julie Gephart 03 November 2002 This is part of a larger science fiction series that I stumbled into with my standard excuse that I found it published free online and therefore had nothing to lose. A young ruler with severe birth defects has to judge a case where locals kill children who are born imperfect. |
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, 502 pages Julie Gephart 05 July 2003 This book was foisted upon me by a co-worker, but it wasn’t too bad. A physically handicapped tutor finds himself in the middle of court politics and intrigue. |
German Women For Empire, 1885-1945 by Lore Wildenthal, 202 pages James Donahue 07 February 2003 Examines the various women's groups and their activities -- nursing, bride matching, independent farming -- in the colonies. Concludes that German women used race as a concept more frequently than German men as a means to justify their inclusion in a male space. |
Self-Help (short stories) by Lorrie Moore, 163 pages Kristin Schrock 27 March 2002 All hail the brilliance of Lorrie Moore! Her stories are funny with a sharpness that hurts. She exalts puns (in the best possible way). So begins one story: "Understand that your cat is a whore and can't help you." |
Birds of America: Short Stories by Lorrie Moore, 291 pages Kristin Schrock 25 July 2002 Wonderfully sad, depressing stories. Not quite as many puns, but still very good. Interesting factoid: the city of Vicksburg, which surrendered to Grant on the 4th of July, refused to celebrate Independence Day until 1971. |
Holes by Louis Sachar, 240 pages Mike Gadd 01 June 2003 Good little story. I read it to see if it would be appropriate for my fifth grader. An easy movie to make as well. |
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, 504 pages Steve Gadd 09 March 1998 Great book. A short-lived attempt to continue my goal of eliminating unread books from my shelf, bogged down by Northanger Abbey. |
The Master Butchers Singing Club (2003) by Louise Erdrich, 389 pages James Donahue 10 June 2006 Erdrich captures the lonely but interdependent world of North Dakota between the wars by focusing on the German and Native American families living side by side (and sometimes in the same bed.) A good read, but languidly written. Example: "It was a song he'd sung with Johannes, drunk, in forgetfulness which he could not now forget, as the wheels turned them forward and forward, far from Germany, onto the wideness of plains of America where the wars were not between the same old enemies he was used to, but were over before he'd got there, the great dying finished, and the blood already soaked into the ground." |
Death on the Installment Plan by Louis-Ferdinand CĂ©line, 592 pages Tony Pisarenkov 05 July 2009 Had its moments, but on the whole -- definitely a slog. CĂ©line's Journey... was much better, and that's saying something. |
Journey to the End of the Night by Lous-Ferdinand CĂ©line, 446 pages Tony Pisarenkov 25 June 2008 I'm glad I read this now, and not fifteen years ago when I first became aware of it. Detailed comments here |
Decisive Battles of the Civil War by Lt Col Joseph B Mitchell, 207 pages Steven Krise 11 May 2002 Broad, if not in-depth, overview of the Civil War. Interesting feature is that troop movements are outlined on modern day road maps. |
We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, 479 pages Jeff Gadd 14 July 2003 A true book about the soldiers who fought in Vietnam. Tells the story of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry fights against the North Vietnamese soldiers. |
Army Blue by Lucian K. Truscott IV, 381 pages Jeff Gadd 25 September 2003 Lt. Matthew Blue IV is being court-martialed for deserting from the enemy in Vietnam, but the trial has a lot of twists to it. Is he innocent or guilty? A great book. |
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy, 236 pages Jaqi Ross 14 April 2004 Quick read - gotta love a memoir. |
The Thaw Generation by Ludmilla Alexeyeva, 321 pages James Donahue 08 March 2004 An engaging memoir of one of the primary dissidents in 1960s-1970s Soviet Union. Reading this memoir gives me a good sense of both the strengths and real weaknesses in a freedom movement that bizarrely fell one of the greatest empires in history. (But now what?) |
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Albert Urrea, 495 pages Micaela Larkin 19 April 2006 Novel trying to capture the life of real life mystic Teresa Urrea who helped promote Indian revolts in turn of the century Sonora, Mexico. I was dissappointed in the book. The author's strength lies more in his award winning non-fiction on immigration and his memoirs of growing up Mexican in Southern California. |
Samuel Johnson is Indignant: Stories by Lydia Davis, 301 pages Kristin Schrock 11 May 2004 Lydia Davis is this generation's Gertrude Stein. And I mean that in a good way. So, what you get are stories that are one sentence long, and other bizarre stories that examine language and storytelling in that groovy post-modern way. Also, another egret appears. |
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millett, 506 pages Micaela Larkin 01 February 2006 "What if Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard, the primary physicists from the Manhattan Project, returned to contemporary America to survey their atomic legacy?" -- Amazing!!!! |
The Family Romance of the French Revolution by Lynn Hunt, 204 pages James Donahue 24 January 2003 Hunt examines the French Revolution through the prints, plays, and paintings of the time which obsess over the death or absence of fathers. Hunt makes the point that the French comprehended the political revolution in very familial terms. Provocative historiography. |
Winning methods of bluffing & betting in poker by Lynne Taetzsch, 128 pages Steven Krise 19 June 2009 Nice little book with suggestions about how to read people, bluff, and most importantly conceal your own style. |