So far this year I've mostly been focusing on reading books that I plan to pass on to other people during Black History Month. The books I've read so far for this challenge are:
1. The Great Cake Mystery by Alexander McCall Smith (children's book)
2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Young Adult)
3. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (non- ( Read more... )

(I feel obliged to add a content note here: this review discusses sexual assault.)

I don't use the word "evil" lightly, but I found myself in its presence early in The Gift of Fear. Security consultant Gavin de Becker is interrogating a woman who narrowly survived a recent three-hour rape. He wants to know if her attacker gave off any signs ( Read more... )

Title: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides [New York 2002]
Summary: "I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver ( Read more... )

1001 Books

2. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry. 624 pages.
Once I started reading this book I had difficulties stopping. Mistry paints a picture of 1970’s India that comes alive, and the characters make you care about them. Warning, though: this is not a feel-good novel. Exceptionally well-written and realistic, though.

3. The Picture of ( Read more... )

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79. A Thief in a Kilt by Sandy Blair Quick read, Scottish highlander romance set in 1400's Scotland. Not bad, third in a trilogy, this one was my 2nd favorite, the 1st being the best. 3.5/5 Review

80. Duke Most Wanted by Celeste Bradley Frothy regency romance, last of a trilogy. I enjoyed it, I read it in a day. It has it's moments of humor, ( Read more... )

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6. Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
7. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
8. The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

Loved Miller's version of Batman. The comic was absolutely brilliant.
First time I've read Faulkner, and I enjoyed him thoroughly.

Currently Reading: Grandin's Animals in Translation
Next Up: Pollan's In Defense of Food, Caras's A ( Read more... )

I must be among a vast minority who did not thoroughly enjoy this book. The story was not as compelling as it could have been because the characters are mostly type - cast. While the historical perspective was interesting and insights into the monastery life were believable, much of the sub plots seemed over the top. Violence for the sake ( Read more... )