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The title is misleading, but the story is wonderful. Billy can't sleep at night because he worries about many, many things. Until the day when his grandmother gives him some tiny dolls from her childhood...
I loved the illustrations and the way the story was told. It makes me want to read more books from Anthony Browne!
Read and reviewed: 2018-10-23
Read and reviewed: Jul 12, 2021
I just finished
Part 1: Bradbury's writing style is not that good, and he is only saved by his original ideas. Oh, I miss Le Guin or Orwell's writing quality! The first half was quite contrived and the society that he portrays seems too flat and lifeless, like it's an idea of a world but not a world that humans would design and live in. I like Clarisse a lot, for her intelligence and the way she looks at the world from a different perspective. It's sad that she died, if she did die. She represents a way for Montag to come to realize the life he has been living. Now, they are reading books, and I wonder where it will go. Also, it makes no sense that because they covered the houses with a piece of fireproof plastic, there is no more need for firefighters!
Part 2: this book is weirdly elitist and feels fake. Montag just realized what friendship is by reading a book about friendship?!? Like, no! You don't need to read a book to understand friendship. And they removed the front porch so that people no longer talk or sit in silence. Ha ha ha that's ludicrous. And a lot of people don't read books and will never read a book in their entire lifetime and they still have intense, complex and meaningful conversations with others. This book rubs me the wrong way, but I'm going to keep reading...
I just read the part where we learn that the last liberal arts college shut down years ago. That doesn't make any sense. Humans LOVE stories. And in that world that Bradbury imagines, TV is everything, which means we need actors and designers and sound engineers and all kinds of artists. That really makes no sense facepalm
What I meant by fake in that case is that the dystopian world that Bradbury imagines doesn't rely on the way humans behave, that it doesn't feel probable. It feels too far stretched out, to the point of being ridiculous. People still remember the moments they once cherished, even if they watch ads and are on the phone all day long with their family while watching tv. Why would those have to exclude each other?
So, the decision to burn books didn't come from the government, but there are no more Bible or religious books to be found? That's just absurd. Religion is so important to people, that would never happen, unless a totalitarian government imposes it. In which world, Bradbury?
“Number one, quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. Number three: the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two.”
Part 3 and ending: I had to force myself to read the last part. I was no longer interested in the story and the chase didn't feel realistic. I liked the idea that they kept the books in their heads, but at the same time, they seemed isolated enough to be able to keep some writing with them. I wonder if they ever write. It was never mentioned, but are people allowed to keep diaries, or lists, or anything written?
Overall, I'm glad that I finished the book, as it's a classic and I wanted to know why. I really liked Clarisse, and I understand why she couldn't stay in the story. Mostly, I didn't like Bradbury's writing skill, and I thought the story was just okay. It could have been a short story instead.
Who could resist this irresistible duck, with a heart bigger than the sun? It is such a splendid story of being kind, thoughtful and true to yourself, and all the goods that result from it.
Read and reviewed: 2018-10-18
I was so surprised when I learned that this tale was actually from the 70's, as I thought it was an old classic. This is a really remarkable tale story, with all the classic elements, extremely well written and stunningly illustrated. But that's also why it is not 5 stars but 4 stars. The classic element of the disable and scary witch and the trick of cutting your legs to gain approval. Somehow I wish that Audrey Wood could have created such a strong tale without falling into this ancient parallel of disable = scary/evil.
A final note to mention once again the impressive work of art that could without a doubt be framed in a museum. Very impressive!
Read and reviewed: 2019-11-26
Read it if you're looking for hot sex scenes between two consenting adults binding themselves to explore their fantasies for six nights.
The guy is a narcissist jerk and the heroine is a traumatized woman with PTSD, depression, and social anxiety, but she is not without voice or authority. This is not BDSM.
It ends with a cliffhanger, and the sequel promises to be a HEA.
It is not hard to be drawn by the beautiful illustrations of Genevieve Godbout. For those alone, I would give the book 5 stars. But then there is the text, focusing on the relationship between a 3-4 year old boy and his mom. And that didn't go as well as expected. There is a lot of neglect, emotional confusion, and very difficult conversations for a boy this age. In general, it shows what bad parenting can be: not consoling a child when he cries, threatening to no longer be his mom, being angry and scaring the boy so much that he is afraid to show his emotions: “My eyes begin to fill with tears. I hope Mommy doesn't notice”, letting the boy run away instead of sorting through emotions together... I would not recommend this book.
Read and reviewed: 2019-12-01
This is one of my favorite picture books about friendship EVER! I absolutely love the writing, the plot, the flow of the story, the drawing and all the adorable details of the side characters. And the ending is just so drama-free and so sweet! A charming book, that's for sure!
Read and reviewed 2018-11-26
The illustrations were extremely bright and colorful, which I loved, but the song was not well written. On several pages, it was just extremely hard to sing the words, because there were just too many syllables compared to the original song, and it simply didn't work. I feel like this could have been easily replaced by the author.
For example: “The monkeys on the bus go Chatter, chatter, chatter, Chatter, chatter, chatter, Chatter, chatter, chatter.”
Read and reviewed: 2018-10-23
This is such a sweet story about a girl and her mom going grocery shopping for soup day, cooking together, playing together, and then waiting for the soup to be ready. It is a great book to learn about cooking and how to chop the ingredients. Warm colors, beautiful illustrations, pleasant narration.
Read and reviewed: 2018-10-25
What a cutie! Flowing narration, beautiful illustrations, and a touch of humor here and there. I would recommend it :)
Read and reviewed: 2018-10-08
This book captures so well the mental exhaustion of parents who are waken up multiple times a night to help their kid potty training so it's hilarious. A great find to teach your kid to gain confidence about going to the toilet all by themselves.
Read and reviewed 2018-12-05
One of my favorite book series of the year. I absolutely love Mouse and Mole!
Read and reviewed: 2019-11-27
Those stories are very strange for bedtime: kidnapping, stealing and days of mistakes and misadventures.
Read and reviewed: 2018-10-13
The drawings were extremely cute, but I really disliked the way they were talking to each other, and to blue bird
I have been going through my old NetGalley backlog, finding the books that have expired at my local library. This one is from April 2023, so not too old compared to other, but my taste in books has changed quite drastically since then!
SO, you get the story of a Swedish vet who grew up on a farm with distant parents, and who starts her career in the Norwegian countryside. She talks about nature, enjoys her independence, her home, and her garden, works hard and is content with the value she provides to the community. She pretty much keeps to herself and is very introverted. At one point, she meets an old woman who lives deep in the wood, and it feels like an inspiration, an important moment to tell her that she could do it herself, living on her own and being content with her life!
After that, the writing felt a bit off, so I checked who the author was, and discovered it was a man! So that got me guarded, to write about the inner life of a woman ‘authentically'. And oh my, the more I read, the more the book lost stars and got boring. I liked it so much at first, but then I just wanted it to end.
I thought it would be a book about an introverted woman who loves her job as a vet, loves her life in the countryside surrounded with nature, who continues to be her own independent self. But in the end, after finishing the book, it feels more like a book about a vet who starts her career alone, then met a man, and than had a baby girl, who - we are hinted - might become a vet herself. Way less interesting!
Also, the guy was one dimensional, we didn't really know anything about him. He is like a white bed sheet drying in the sun. I don't get it, this absence of communication. I don't need a lot to happen in books, but this one was just too basic. It lost itself in its writing.
Edit: Was she really lonely? She was. She was happier in the days leading to her boyfriend's visit. What frustrates me with this book? That she could have had a life on her own but decides to find a partner and form a family? Maybe? Maybe it was interesting that maybe parts of her life hinted to her self-independence, but in the end she found a man that resembled both her parents, her mom with the love of arts and the plays on the radio, her dad with the practically and her difficulty to talk to him? Maybe the guy was the man for her. A good balance. What of this book now? Did it work? Yes. Was I still bored half-way through it? Yes. Did I wish the story had taken a different approach? Yes as well. It is what it is. 3 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
At first, I was skeptical of her blind desire to set a world record, even as she was facing death by dehydration, but then she explored her childhood and I understood why she needed to prove to herself and to the world that she could do it. I'm only at 16% of the book so we'll see. So far, it's 3 stars.
Update: I just finished the book and wow, what an epic ending and epilogue! I bumped the rating from 3 to 4 stars.
Read and reviewed: 2020-01-30
I had some doubt about this book when it started with this quote, which felt very exclusive and quite vague at the same time: “To all those brave enough to become who they truly are, stay courageous”.
The book itself is a reformulation of what I have read hundreds of time in other self-help books: a) Short biography on how the author was living an unsatisfying life, had a breakthrough and then applied some life-changing method to be fully fulfilled in the present. b)List of those tips: morning gratitude, live with intention, retrain your brain, bedtime reflection. c)Repetitive journal worksheet to practice those tips. Done.
On a positive note, I really enjoyed the illustrations and the care that has been put in creating such a lovely and colorful book.
Thank you NetGalley and Rock Point for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Read and reviewed: 2018-11-30
This book made me cry. One of the best books I know about missing a parent and finding ways to cope with it.
Read and reviewed 2018-12-05
The writing was bad and I didn't like the moral of it. Also, the poor people would have been accused of theft is they would have intended to sell the gifted jewels; the statue was so beloved, people would have recognized the jewels and made the connection.
Read and reviewed: 2022-05-17
Extremely well written biography of Venus and Serena Williams. The collage's quality was unfortunately uneven.
Interconnected stories of three generations of women across India and the USA. I wish the writing could have been better. I feel like the beginning of the book was good, but not subtle enough ; the middle of the book rushed and stereotypical ; the last third more diverse and alive, as if the author felt very passionate writing it. I enjoyed the introduction of colorful side character, such as the Grandma discovering the new world of thrift shops, the warm and kind friendship with Ken, the colliding worlds of a man and Tara on a trip to the temple... So many rich moments that kept me reading to learn more about them and what impact they will have on the main characters. A poetic ending, which still leaves me with many unanswered question. Could have been longer and more satisfying.