My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was amazing. I didn't give it five stars because it lagged in some places. But her narration of the horrendous things that happened during China's cultural revolution make me ashamed that we weren't studying this in school when it was going on and shortly after. Why do we ignore Asia in our Social Studies classes? Her memory is incredible, and her accounts of real-life communism experiences make it easy to see why this system of government never works in practice. Her courage was extremely inspiring and I think one of the best defenses against too-powerful governments is a highly educated populace.
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Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
All Done . . . Again
Dirk finished the bar exam on Thursday afternoon, so we went out to Rubio's as a family to celebrate! Then he fell asleep for several days. We are glad the ordeal is over and we'll find out the results in a few months. Sort of anti-climactic. But at least it's over!
Gigi is wearing Dirk's shirt because she was cold.
Friday, February 13, 2009
My review
rating: 2 of 5 stars
I bought this book at a library sale and was so excited because I just loved The Poisonwood Bible by her; I could not stop talking about it. This book was kind of disappointing in that it took me until about page 162 to get into it, and even then, it wasn't the life-changer that the other one was. But, it did get me thinking about gardening and beekeeping and fun things I'd like to do someday. There was a lot of sex in it. In fact, the whole book was about reproduction and evolutions of all kinds; animal, plant, human, so I get what she was doing there. But it got tiresome fast.
But the most irritating thing about the book is that the author came off soapboxey quite often. I was fascinated to read about the sin of hunting predators vs. prey, and organic farming, and beautiful gardens and raising goats, etc. But it is less effective when it comes off preachy. She also came off anti-religious in a cheap shot sort of way. The characters she obviously wanted us to think of as heroines were, without exception, worshipers of nature and disparaged any kind of organized religion. On the other hand, the most despicable of her characters, the most small-minded and snipey, were always big church-goers. That's annoying, because it is clearly the author's own feelings that religion is not for the truly spiritual. She did this in Poisonwood, too, but that one was a story all about a religious hypocrite. I get that. Now, I am afraid that everything I pick up by her is going to be an obnoxious statement against organized religion. Boring. And small-minded.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Haircut
After much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth every morning when it was time to brush hair, Gigi and I had both had enough. I cut her hair on Saturday and though I was intimidated by the task of trying to get it all even, it turned out alright. After I'd cut about six inches off, I asked her what she thought. "More cutting!" was what she said. I was sad to see her pretty locks go, but I have loved the easier maintenance. Her hair was always getting into her food and I had to wash it constantly. One morning, I even found a fruit snack in there. Now I understand my mom's rule that we could only grow our hair out once we were old enough to take care of it ourselves.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Red Scarf
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
I haven't read a book this good in a long time! I plan to rush out and get all her books now. Kate Furnivall is obviously passionate about Russia. She paints pictures you can almost see and touch. She isn't Russian, though, so she is allowed to have happy endings :) This story was so well told, I got lost in the book and hated to see it end. It's just the kind of book my husband hates when I get hold of, because if I'm not reading it, I'm talking about it. This time, though, he's to blame, because he bought it for me for Christmas. Thanks, Dirk!
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Outliers
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was excellent. It really was thoughtfully done and eye opening. My only complaint is that the author sometimes made assumptions or drew conclusions that were jumps from the facts he provided. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it was meant as an examination of success and the qualities of successful people, but it makes a great parenting book! Also, it made me think we Americans are too afraid of hard work for our own good!
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Friday, January 16, 2009
The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears
My review
rating: 1 of 5 stars
Depressing and completely forgettable. So, probably very highly regarded literature :)
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