Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i'm not going to add too much here to all the accolades this book has already received. it's a sweet story and i happily devoured it.

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Joy on Demand by Chade-Meng Tan

Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness Within by Chade-Meng Tan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this for work, as part of a guided study.
Compared with Search Inside Yourself, this book is much more accessible and seems less bound by the whole must-appeal-to-HR construct. Like Search Inside Yourself, the cartoons are fat-phobic.
But the information is useful (already a couple of simple exercises have dramatically shifted the way I operate throughout my day), and I really enjoy his writing voice. The voice is self-deprecating but friendly, and he has a logical way of describing things.

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The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i enjoyed the story a lot -- it's nice to read the story from the point of view of the queen and not some dude. i liked the witchcraft aspect. and of course it's very interesting to read about a bloody and intrigue-filled court that has nothing to do with henry viii.

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It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig

It Starts with Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways by Dallas Hartwig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i have been meaning to read this for a long time. it's very interesting. i had already done a whole30 so i was already convinced, but it was interesting to read through their arguments for eliminating certain foods.

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Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i enjoyed this; it's fun to read a roald dahl book for the first time. i don't think i'll read it to my kids for a good long while.

there is the standard issue lack of women characters and the horrible quentin blake drawings (i always hated those, even as a kid).

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The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

there isn't much to say about this book that hasn't been written already, but it tore me up. there is a love story tucked in there but also so much suffering and misery.

some nights i had to follow it with a chapter of a roald dahl book just to bring my stress level up to something tolerable.

it was heart-wrenching. but fascinating as hell.

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Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

War of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was fun to read, but for some reason it wasn't nearly as compelling as his Khan series for me. Or the Julius Caesar series, for that matter.

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The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The Chosen by Chaim Potok
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i enjoyed reading about the comparisons and disagreements among the jewish people in brooklyn. i used to live near a hasidic community and i wish i had read this then.

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The Almost Nearly Perfect People by Michael Booth

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book on the recommendation of an acquaintance. I was not impressed. There are some interesting insights and hypotheses on why the Nordic countries and citizens are like they are, but overall it seemed very negative and also poorly researched.

Except for Denmark and Sweden, it seems like he hadn't spent much time in the Nordic countries. His method seemed to be to arrive, chat with a handful of "experts" -- professors and the like -- and then make a lot of sweeping generalizations based on geography, long-ago history, and one or two current events.

The author is apparently married to a Dane and gives scathing descriptions of Danes and Danish culture. I suppose he figures that they can "take it," but it was still enough to make me put the book down for a couple of weeks.

He loves the Finns (as do I!), so that section was more flattering, but it seemed like he hadn't spent very much time there. He judged Helsinki after visiting in July, and he should have known better: July is vacation month in the Nordics and the cities are almost empty.

The one positive effect of the book, however, is to prompt me to schedule a few visits to my other Nordic neighbors. My Swedish and Danish colleagues are charming; I hope they better represent their own people.


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Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Villette by Charlotte Brontë
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

this book is amazing. i enjoyed Jane Eyre, but this floored me. Brontë manages to repeatedly set the reader up for happiness and then crush him/her.

if you like your stories tied in a nice bow, this is not for you.

if you like to expect a bow but then have someone set fire to the ribbon instead, then read this.

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What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just a really enjoyable YA novel. It's engaging, with some some fun twists.

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Re: tracks i hear through the apartment floor

Eagle eye Cherry 's "Save Tonight"

On Jan 29, 2016 7:44 PM, "Angela Carpenter" <angelacarpenter@gmail.com> wrote:

Kanye West's "Gold Digger"

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 6:43 PM, Angela Carpenter <angelacarpenter@gmail.com> wrote:

i'm starting a new series. we live above some university students and their music selection is amazingly broad.

right now: Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You"

Re: tracks i hear through the apartment floor

Kanye West's "Gold Digger"

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 6:43 PM, Angela Carpenter <angelacarpenter@gmail.com> wrote:

i'm starting a new series. we live above some university students and their music selection is amazingly broad.

right now: Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You"

tracks i hear through the apartment floor

i'm starting a new series. we live above some university students and their music selection is amazingly broad.

right now: Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You"

What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As always, Gladwell's stories are compelling. This book is just a collection of his long form magazine articles over a period. Lots of different topics and it's surprising the ones that are still on my mind.

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