Before I get to my review of Fables: Animal Farm, I need to write a short rant. If you don’t want to read it, skip the next four paragraphs to get to the review :) I’m posting this review while at work (something I never do) because my internet at home is disconnected. You see, [...]
Book Review
The Elements of Journalism is the first book I had to read for my short-form reporting class here at Madison. The book was first published in 2001 after a group of journalists joined together and formed the Committee of Concerned Journalists to ask the question “What is journalism for?” To answer the question, the committee [...]
I got really into Scrabble last year after I installed the Facebook application Scrabulous. Because I’m an English major, everyone assumes I’m better at Scrabble than I actually am; in truth, I pretty much suck at the game. Why? I simply don’t have the dedication. It takes a weird sort of passion to be really [...]
The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World is A.J. Jacobs first lifestyle experiment — a quest to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. In terms of plot, that’s really about it. At first, I didn’t really like The Know-It-All. I thought it took a long time to get going, [...]
I love YA fiction, and I have been reading it a lot lately as a break to most of the heavier reading I have for school. I usually love to read memoirs, nonfiction, that sort of thing, but just can’t seem to deal with the genre after a long day of class. But, when I [...]
This weeks Weekly Geek challenge (courtesy of Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf) was to pair up with another Weekly Geek and do book interviews. I was paired with Christine from She Reads Books. Interestingly enough, we both chose to interview each other about memoirs, written by female authors, exploring cultures vastly different [...]
I picked up The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs because I read two positive reviews of it — raych at books i done read and Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf — and because I am always up for a good memoir/creative nonfiction piece. Happily, I wasn’t disappointed by the [...]
What do a paint tester, orthopedic surgeon, doll sculptor, and race car driver have in common? They are just four of the unique careers held by women featured in Water Cooler Diaries: Women Across America Share Their Day at Work, the third book in the This Day in the Life series by Joni B. Cole [...]
My first act as a Madisonian was to get myself a library card. The first thing I checked out from the Madison Public Library was March by Geraldine Brooks. March is a historical fiction novel that reimagines the character of Mr. March from Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women. The story follows March’s experiences as [...]
Trying to review Blankets by Craig Thompson makes me want to go back, again, on my opinions about the use of “graphic novel” versus “comic book.” It almost seems irreverent to call Craig Thompson’s book a “comic book” because it has everything a good memoir has, just written in comic book form. Blankets is Thompson’s [...]
