Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H.F. Saint
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Saturday, December 14, 2024
Review: Memoirs of an Invisible Man
Friday, December 13, 2024
Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
January 1, 1980
Oh, my I loved me some Christie back in the day. The details of plot are entirely lost in my mind. Two things stick with me: a world of adults without kids, and Hastings affection for auburn hair.
***
I'd been vaguely wanting to re-read this for a while. And then we were stranded on vacation without wifi (I know, right?), and the daughter didn't have anything on her Kindle she wanted to read, and she couldn't get anything new, so she and I swapped Kindles until we could get us some internet.
My daughter does not download everything on the planet. There wasn't anything I hadn't already read, but there was a Complete Works of Agatha Christie Volume I. Thirty three years ago, when I first read this, I didn't know it was Christie's first published novel. Nor had I recalled that it was a locked-room mystery. Nor that Hastings was so very dim; I'd thought of him as at least reasonably bright, like Dr. Watson.
Anyway. This isn't my favorite Christie, And Then There Were None is, but WOW, this really is the quintessence of country-house murder mysteries. It's got the Edwardian aristocracy, the obsession with alibis, the cast full of dubious characters with hidden motives. Really, the only thing it is missing is an obsession with train schedules. Classic.
View all my reviews
Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
January 1, 1980
Oh, my I loved me some Christie back in the day. The details of plot are entirely lost in my mind. Two things stick with me: a world of adults without kids, and Hastings affection for auburn hair.
***
I'd been vaguely wanting to re-read this for a while. And then we were stranded on vacation without wifi (I know, right?), and Veronica didn't have anything on her Kindle she wanted to read, and she couldn't get anything new, so she and I swapped Kindles until we could get us some internet.
My daughter does not download everything on the planet. There wasn't anything I hadn't already read, but there was a complete works of Agatha Christie Volume I. Thirty three years ago, when I first read this, I didn't know it was Christie's first published novel. Nor had I recalled that it was a locked-room mystery. Nor that Hastings was so very dim; I'd thought of him as at least reasonably bright, like Dr. Watson.
Anyway. This isn't my favorite Christie, And Then There Were None is, but WOW, this really is the quintessence of country-house murder mysteries. It's got the Edwardian aristocracy, the obsession with alibis, the cast full of dubious characters with hidden motives. Really, the only thing it is missing is an obsession with train schedules. Classic.
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Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Review: Special Delivery: A Useful Book for Brand-New Mothers in Which Shirley Jackson as Chief Resident Provides a Sane and Sage Approach to the Hilarious and Homey Situations Which Accompany the Advent of Motherhood
Wednesday, December 04, 2024
Sunday, December 01, 2024
Review: We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation
We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation by Eric Garcia
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
03 June 2023
P 64
Quality reporting shifting the conversation around people on the autism spectrum from disability to normal variation found in the population.
But it makes me incandescent with rage that all the attention has gone to pleasing rich white parents of young boys while the girls, transgendered, racial and ethnic minorities, poor, rural and adult populations are underdiagnosed and pushed to the side again. Why, yes, this is exactly the same pattern as in ADHD which, fun fact, has a very high level of comorbidity with autism.
And the rage tires me out and distracts me, and requires soothing cat time, or falling down a rabbit hole on the internet, or something. Which means I can only read a little and this is already the third or fourth time I have had to return it and check it out again.
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Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Monday, November 11, 2024
Review: The Scrambled States of America Talent Show
The Scrambled States of America Talent Show by Laurie Keller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
We'd kind of forgotten about Laurie Keller. But Tash is feeling the love of picture books, and this was always one of her favorites. It's amusing with lots of corny jokes, there are little details to the pictures to discover (Washington DC is riding on NC, SC sleeps with a teddy bear), and there's the opportunity to actually learns some things such as the date of entry as a state and the official two-letter abbreviation. Fun, informative, and rewarding to re-read. Definitely a favorite.
Library copy.
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Thursday, November 07, 2024
Review: I Am Too Absolutely Small for School
I Am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
2008 Jun 23
I love Charlie's patience with and amusement by Lola.
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Tuesday, November 05, 2024
Saturday, November 02, 2024
Tuesday, October 08, 2024
Thursday, October 03, 2024
Sunday, September 08, 2024
Review: Dogs
Dogs by Emily Gravett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2010, March 6
I love Gravett's art, so would have enjoyed this book regardless. Actually, we all loved it, and everyone had to pick out their favorite dog. The picture of the Old English Sheepdog explosively shedding is worth the price of admission.
Library copy
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Review: Blue Chameleon
Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
December 4, 2011
Simple concepts such as one finds in board books, but in large, beautiful spreads. Really beautiful. Like, a great inspiration for a nursery beautiful.
Library copy
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Review: Wolf Won't Bite!
Wolf Won't Bite! by Emily Gravett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love Gravett's books: they're pretty, and funny with a nice twist, and the production values are high. In this case, the story actually begins on the front endpapers and ends on the back endpapers. Actually, we all love Gravett. The girls won't check out her books on their own, but if I do they will be happy to read them.
And yes, the pigs do remind us of Olivia, in a good way.
Library copy.
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Review: Matilda's Cat
Matilda's Cat by Emily Gravett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
June 20, 2014
Matilda's cat doesn't like many things that Matilda would expect it to. But that's okay, because Matilda's cat like her.
The child and the cat are just fabulous. I especially love how Matilda recalls Max in his wolf suit. Brilliant.
Library copy
***
It's weird to me to look at previous dates read and see, for example, that I have only ever read this book in June and July. Why would that be?
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Review: Wolves
Wolves by Emily Gravett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.
Without the opportunity to browse the shelves in the usual way I've been just thinking of an author I like, looking them up at each of my usual sources, and thus, acquiring as many as possible. So now: Emily Gravett.
15 May 2021
I don't know how or why, but somehow I had gotten the review for Again posted on the Wolves page. So now I'm correcting that.
This is a book about libraries and books, more than it is about wolves, but there's a fun metafictional book reading here: on one level a rabbit goes to a library and checks out a book and reads it and we get to see what it is.
But on another level we learn that wolves love to eat...
With an alternate ending for sensitive readers.
***
4 February 2007
We like twisted tales, so this was a big hit all around.
Library copy
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Thursday, September 05, 2024
![Design Like You Give a Damn [2]: Building Change from the Ground Up](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1345683316l/10887582._SX98_.jpg)
Sunday, September 01, 2024
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Monday, August 12, 2024
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Review: A Sorceress Comes to Call
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had to put it down, because work and eating and such, but this just brought me so much joy. Kingfisher is so good at creating an outrageous fictive world in which people behave much more like real humans do. Very much more than I do, to take one example. The mix of horror, humor, and caper is beguiling.
Plus geese, and beautiful endpapers, and a really lovely cover that I can't stop admiring. Highly recommended for a Halloween read, or a gift to others if you can't hold off reading it yourself right away.
Library copy
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Monday, August 05, 2024
Review: What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?
What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean? by Lauren Child
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2008 Jun 9
We like Clarice Bean in picture books, too.
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Review: Babe : The Gallant Pig
Babe : The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I started by reading one amusing line aloud to the PandaBat. Then he made me start over at the beginning and read it all out loud, and then he read a chapter or two to me. It's hilarious and adorable. He's our favorite pig, now. We have nothing but contempt for poor Wilbur, bless his heart.
***
Just to be clear, I'm not a farm sort of gal. For five years my father kept chickens and we lived in the middle of nowhere and I hate that. Nonetheless, King-Smith has charmed me no end. He writes with great humor and insight into the way people think (even dog and sheep and pig people). Perfect for reading aloud, appealing to all ages.
But please note, the illustrations, though attractive, aren't well suited. The author is talking about how big and lean Babe has grown, and the illustrator is still drawing him as a piglet.
Library copy
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Review: What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?
What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean? by Lauren Child
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2008 Jun 9
We like Clarice Bean in picture books, too.
View all my reviews
Sunday, August 04, 2024
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Monday, July 29, 2024
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