Tag: reviews

Friday Fifteen

Leave a comment

Happy Friday, everyone! Let’s kick off the weekend with some good ol’ fashioned fifteen-word book reviews.

382721. Lidia’s Italy in America by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali
Great recipes and glimpses into Italian-American communities. Can’t wait to try the Shrimp Fra Diavalo.

2. Ming Lo Moves the Mountain by Arnold Lobel
Fun folktale about changing perspectives. I used to pull this out all the time.

3. Happy Birthday, Molly! (American Girls: Molly #4) by Valerie Tripp
I learned about the Blitz during WWII from this book.

4. Speaking With the Angel ed. Nick Hornby
Short story collection with some great writers. Features my favorite work by Dave Eggers.

5. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Didn’t connect with me like I wanted. Probably read too close to quirky Weetzie Bat.

Friday Fifteen

Leave a comment

What a crazy week! A Veronica Mars movie, a new pope, Pi Day, the Ides of March, the announced end of Google Reader, a day above 50 degrees–I can’t handle this kind of intensity. Fortunately, we can always count on the Friday Fifteen. This week in fifteen-word book reviews:

1. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
I was new when we read this in fifth grade. Needed an Egypt Game group.

2. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Read years after The Giver, initially didn’t know they were connected. Better that way.

3. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
Best use of music in a book ever. Funny and sharp and thrilling, Barrytown-style.

4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
In the town of Chewandswallow, global warming means a tomato tornado. All that vitamin C!

5. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Watched the Little Prince TV show growing up. Shocked to find the book was different.

Friday Fifteen

Leave a comment

It’s a gross Friday in these parts, but it’s also a certain playwright Walt McGough’s birthday, which makes the day infinitely better. To celebrate, today’s Friday Fifteen is all about plays. Here we go!

1. Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring
First play I read. We acted it out in sixth grade. I was Agatha.

2. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
I spent the entire play hating Willie Loman and waiting for him to die.

3. The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Inspired a YA short story adaptation. Also “Those are pearls that were his eyes”—awesomeness.

4. How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel
What I imagine Lolita would feel like from Lolita’s point of view.

5. Wit by Margaret Edson
Stunning depiction of a prickly Donne scholar with cancer. Edson’s first play–the mind boggles.

Friday Fifteen

1 Comment

Welcome to March, everybody! They say March comes in like a lion, so let’s start the month with some lion-related books:

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Tell me you didn’t open your closet and hope you’d find Narnia.

2. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness #3) by Tamora Pierce
My least favorite of the series; she’s away from the main cast for so long.

3. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Gorgeous take on Aesop’s fable. Try telling me children’s illustrations aren’t fine art.

4. Lionboy by Zizou Corder
Got this for free at the midnight release of Harry Potter #6. Didn’t grab me.

5. The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
Here’s betting your family isn’t as messed up as Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine’s.

Friday Fifteen

Leave a comment

Happy Friday, everybody! Somehow it’s already the last Friday in February. Half the time I feel like February will never end, and the other half I feel like it’s over before I know it. To celebrate February’s status as the shortest month of the year, let’s round out the Friday Fifteen with some short story collections:

1. The Complete Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
My ideal Hemingway is served in small doses. “Hills Like White Elephants” is great, though.

2. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger
A must for Glass family fans, especially if you’ve read “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”

3. Selected Stories by Alice Munro
Munro is excellent, but mostly I remember the intense author photo on my library copy.

4. The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block
Cool Block-style spins on classic fairy tales, including lesser-known favorites like “Snow White and Rose Red.”

5. Best American Non-Requied Reading 2002 ed. Dave Egger and Michael Cart
My first foray into Best American. Would be curious to go back to this one.

Friday Fifteen

Leave a comment

Another Friday, another Friday Fifteen! Check out this week’s best (only?) fifteen-word book reviews:

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Still bitter that Jo ended up with Bhaer, who was down on her fiction.

2. Troubling a Star by Madeleine L’Engle
Feels out of place among the other Austins, especially after A Ring of Endless Light.

3. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Hornby captures an honest, relatable (if not always likable) voice.

4. The Messy Room by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Mama Bear loses it when Brother and Sister can’t clean up their stuff.

5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Collins provides a powerful look at how war sucks for everyone. Even the “winners.”

Friday Fifteen

3 Comments

It’s a snowbound Friday Fifteen here in New England. Perfect time to curl up with some snow-themed fifteen-word book reviews:

1. Baby-sitters’ Winter Vacation (Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #3) by Ann M. Martin
The BSC goes on a school ski trip. Somehow baby-sitting follows them.

2. Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman
All the animals go sledding, wear cute winter gear. Good for read-aloud and counting.

3. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
Orphans, an evil governess, wolves, a goose boy–no wonder it was a favorite.

4. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
A shared notebook creates wild winter fun in New York. Charming and clever contemporary YA.

5. Kiss My Bundt: Recipes from the Award-Winning Bakery by Chrysta Wilson
The only appropriate response to a snowstorm? Stay in, read, and bake.

Friday Fifteen

1 Comment

Happy Friday, everybody–and happy February! February is my birthday month, so I’m gearing up for a month of (hopefully) fun. Including lots of good fifteen-word reviews.

97805532742951. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Everyone in fifth grade cried. Except me. I have a heart of ice.

2. All Around Atlantis by Deborah Eisenberg
Lovely collection of stories. Literary fiction in just the way I like–quiet and grounded.

3. Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Fourth in the series, but I read it first. Great fun for kids into theater.

4. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
“Are you brave enough for Scary Stories?” NO. No. Definitely no. *cowers*

5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I gleefully wrote an essay about why the last section of the book is awful.

Friday Fifteen

1 Comment

Another Friday, another Friday Fifteen, in which I review five books in fifteen words or less. Onto the books!

97806897118171. Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
Read a short story excerpt of this in Seventeen; was excited to find the novel.

2. The McSweeney’s Joke Book of Book Jokes by McSweeney’s Publishing and John Hodgman
My dad saw this randomly and bought it for me. Nice move, Dad.

3. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Running away to the Met and figuring out an art history mystery? So much yes.

4. Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Excuse me, I’m having all the feelings. Simple but powerful.

5. Life Stories: Profiles from The New Yorker ed. by David Remnick
Excellent collection of profiles ranging from Marlon Brando to dog show people.

Friday Fifteen

Leave a comment

I’m feeling kind of like this, so thank goodness it’s Friday. Check out this week’s collection of fifteen-word book reviews:9780307277695

1. My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’Homme
Julia’s a favorite–fearless, funny, and an enthusiastic learner. She and Paul warm my heart.

2. Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee
Fun art captures a wild ride. (Although reading the book is ride enough for me.)

3. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Probably my least favorite of the series, but some powerful moments–Pan! My heart!

4. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
You’re either a Faulkner or a Hemingway. I’m a Faulkner. Could not get into it.

5. Amy and Laura by Marilyn Sachs
Where I first heard the “golden arm” story. Another one I reread a lot.