Blue sky, green trees.
The plot revolves around a little girl who accidentally ruins her mother's special fabric, which kids will recognize as a good girl who did something bad but isn't bad herself. Demonstrates that if a mistake can be fixed, then sometimes it turns out even better than if there was no accident at all.
Shows strong bonds with extended family (Grandpa/Bob). Helps kids understand that adults may get sick, and it's ok to be sad and scared about this. Also shows that it's important to still be with people if they get sick, and try to help them if you can.
Absolutely gorgeous illustrations. The story is a very stripped-down version of the classic fairytale/folktale, which may be a good thing if the kids are the questioning type or if you are good at asking questions of the kids to involve them in the story.
This book came into my hand at a time when I was thinking gardening and farmers markets and “what is so great about organic, anyway?” - that is to say, at a time when I was very receptive to the book's message. Fortunately Nick picked up this book (while I was in the middle of it, oh well), which opened his eyes to food issues as well. In fact, some of our best conversations about how we want to actually live in this world started out as conversations about this book. So what I got out of this book was a new resolve to pay attention to seasonality in my fruits and veggies; a willingness to buy the more expensive local and organic foods, because that is not an area of life to be chintzy about; and new adventures in cooking, making food, and gardening on a teeny tiny Manhattan balcony.
I agree with people who say this book is preachy. It is absolutely intended to make you feel depressed about how you live and eat, and realize that her family is better than yours. The upside is that she gives really practical advice about how to change, and you can either hate and envy her or take the advice and make things better - I think people either love or hate this book depending on which of these they choose. The sections written by Camille Kingsolver are the worst, just insufferably holier-than-thou, so I simply stopped reading those parts. Much better that way.
The book is almost entirely descriptions of the bars, streets, whores, his wife, his father, etc. - the action and plot paragraphs would have filled no more than 5 pages. By the end of the book I was skimming, something I really hate to do, because I couldn't stand any more boring descriptions yet I did want to find out what was in the letter.
Simone de Beauvoir might be one of the old school feminists, but she writes like a misogynist.
The writing wasn't clear, which made it difficult to follow the storyline. Also the end was a letdown.
I couldn't relate to the main character, Murasaki. The author did not provide enough details to make the emotions and situations believable... or they simply weren't believable to begin with.
I loved this book, even though it is absolutely tragic. The author does an excellent job at the end of depicting the misogyny of the times by contrasting the authorities' treatment of Marie Antionette and King Louis XVI - or is it just lingering scraps of respect for a king being demonstrated, when no such scraps existed for this “enemy alien” queen?
I'd actually give this book 2.5 stars, but we round up in my family. The premis of the book is given in the introduction: people who make predictions are frauds. Throughout the rest of the book the author sets out to prove this using seven fields where predictions are prevalent, and he is very convincing. My problem with the book was that it sometimes dragged, and my mind would wander. But for the most part it was pretty good.
This was a matter of fact book, very little speculation about whether or not certain historical rumors were true. If you are looking for a straight recounting of the deeds of the Borgia family, this book will suit you. If you are looking for a shocking and sensational story about the infamous Borgias, wait for HBO to come out with a Borgia series.
I chose this book because I thought its rhymes would help me learn British history, but it absolutely did not work. There are so many damned royals named Charles, Edward, William, James, or Henry, it's just impossible to keep them and their role in history straight. Now, aside from not sticking in my head at all, the book was fine. In fact, it was pretty fun to read. So good for general fun reading, but probably not for learning/retaining info.
This isn't a bibliography in the classic sense, but it does use the works of people connected to Zephyrus Image to frame and guide the telling of the story. It is entirely possible to read this book straight through, for pleasure, and enjoy the story. This is actually how I read it, and my attention was captivated throughout. I doubt that there are many bibliographies for which this is true, so I was happy to have found this book for section 015 of my Dewey Decimal Challenge.
Librarians, library assistants, and archivists listed on the 150 best recession-proof jobs list? Absurd. Libraries across the country are eliminating positions and enacting hiring freezes, and the field itself is undergoing a digital shift that requires fewer workers than ever before. Furthermore, librarians of a certain age are failing to retire, which ties up jobs that might otherwise become available. Few jobs, little growth potential - how are these some of the best recession-proof jobs? The fact that this book lists these jobs on several of its lists makes me question the veracity of any of its information.
Most of the cartoons are about computers and library technology, so they haven't aged well in the 20 years since they were published. This book seems best for people who were adults in the 1980s and early 1990s, who will read the cartoons and fondly recall the upheaval caused by computers. Anyone else will probably be bored or baffled.
The best chapter was “Assassination-1”, which I enjoyed immensely. Everything else was a little dull.
This book was great. It kept me in suspense up through the very last few pages, in spite of all my guessing.
Some of the earlier bits were a little stiff for my ears, but they were written about 100 years ago (literally) so are allowed the formality of their time. I thought his article on mysteries, which was used to introduce his own mystery story in this book, was the best of the bunch - absolutely fantastic.
