Book Review

Summary: As ambassador to Romania shortly after the end of Communist rule, Jim Rosapepe worked hard to help the country shed the image of an old, dark, haunted place and bring Romania into the 20th century and all that implies. His wife, Sheila, used her skills as a journalist to work with the Romanian people to make the transition possible. In this book, Sheila and Jim chronicle their time in Romania by taking the reader through each of Romania’s eight regions and the changes that have helped shape the country.

I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle back-to-back earlier this year as part of my semester-long class on food writing. While both look at what we eat, they approach the issue from very different directions. Pollan’s book is a more academic look at the structures and politics that make up the food system, while Kingsolver’s memoir applies some suggested reforms to her family’s food choices for a year.

One Sentence Summary: Still learning to use her psychic powers, Claire Voyant finds herself wrapped up in secret societies and good deeds while still working to survive high school and figure out the problems with her problematic crush.

One Sentence Review: Mechling’s second book about Claire improves on the problems with the first, creating a readable story with convincing high school drama and even more time with a cast of excellent background characters.

Sentence Summary: Since she was a little girl, Claire Voyante has had dreams that have connections to her real life. Will Claire learn to use these dreams in time to help protect a new friend while trying to find her place in a totally new school?

One Sentence Review: Claire is a sweet narrator you can’t help but root for and want to know more about, even though the plot sometimes feels confused and the minor characters sometimes slip into the background.

Two Sentence Summary: As a grad student, Ventaktesh befriended J.T., a gang leader from the projects in Chicago. Over several years, the two formed a tense friendship that allowed Ventaktesh unprecedented access to the inner-workings of life in the area and the gang’s role in the community.

One Sentence Review: Ventaktesh’s methods and lack of awareness of the implications of his project can be frustrating, but the book provides an intimate look into a world most people would prefer to ignore.

One of my goals for the end of the year is to have reviews written for all the books I read in 2009. I’m not quite there yet, but close. When I started listing the unfinished reviews I realized there were a bunch of books I read that I just didn’t have that much to say about. Rather than making them all their own posts, I just decided to group them together into one post. Enjoy!

Two Sentence Summary: On November 15, 1959 four members of a prominent family were brutally murdered for no apparent reason. This book reconstructs the crime and follows the investigation of this senseless crime.

One Sentence Review: Capote’s book is chilling and creepy, but reconstructs this crime so fully it’s earned it’s status as one of the central tomes of literary journalism.

One Sentence Summary: To learn to be a chef, journalist Bill Buford follows the path of celebrity chef Mario Batali from the kitchen of Batali’s restaurant in New York back to the origins of Batali’s cooking education in rural Italy.

One Sentence Review: Buford’s profile of a chef and his restaurant were more interesting than Buford’s own attempts to learn the origins of Italian cooking, but the book’s look at what it means to be a chef from the inside was readable, and made me happy I don’t lead that life :)

One Sentence Summary: Journalist Eric Weiner is unhappy so he decides to visit some of the world’s happiest places to see if where you live can really make or break your mood.

One Sentence Review: Weiner’s book is a little light and sometimes lacks detail, but overall it’s an amusing journey I’m glad I tagged along for.