 |
G
garbage land: on the secret trail of trash
elizabeth royte
|
|
| You will never throw away something again without thinking twice after reading this book. Perhaps you'll be inspired to never throw something away - period. Each chapter of Royte's book follows different parts of her trash - her recyclables, her composting, her trash-trash, etc. The research she presents, the people she meets and the concepts she explores are all so interesting and her writing is clear, funny and consise. While I've always realized garbage has to go somewhere, reading about it in such detail really made me stop and think about what I consume and what I dispose of. This book would make a great documentary and should be required reading for the masses. |
|
|
|
reviewed by: lisa may |
February 2006 [link] |
recommend 1 thumbs up
|
garlic and sapphires
ruth reichl
|
|
| A delicious memoir of Ruth Reichl's reign as New York Times restaurant critic and all the madcap disguises she employed while trying to critique NYC's food scene. Donning wigs, crazy outfits and heavy make-up, Reichl was able to eat at hot spots without being noticed and could rate the restaurant on how they treat the average Joe. I read in another book that in the 80's the expense account for the NY Times critic was something like $80K since they eat at restaurants 5 or 6 times before giving out stars. Hence, eating at Daniel five times with four guests each time costs thousands of dollars. I wish I had that job. |
|
|
|
reviewed by: lisa may |
June 2005 [link] |
recommend 1 thumbs up
|
generation x
douglas coupland
|
|
| When Douglas Coupland toured my school (university of GA), this very interesting girl who embodied all I wanted to be was in a film project with me. She asked me if I wanted to go and see the reading at a local bookstore. I thought anyone who openly thought they were generation x were total weirdos. It was like saying you're cool and looking through magazines and what your friends wore to buy your clothes. I thought for a moment to give Doug and the generation a chance based on her (Megan’s) influential opinion, but I didn't until much later (like a year). How stupid of me. Basically, these two books are what I wish my life and friends could aspire to. I wish so wholeheartedly that these characters existed so that I could try and be their friend. These books are pretty much philosophy books to me. (I can't really remember much of the difference between them). Once again, I was so stupid to believe what the "they" said. My liking these books still draws ridicule, but I stand by my opinion. When I first got on the Internet, I tried to find Doug's e-mail address repeatedly (like a hobby) because I heard that if you actually wrote to him, he considered going to see you and have lunch. |
|
|
|
reviewed by: kristen |
September 2000 [link] |
recommend
|
gentleman prefer blondes
anita loos
|
|
| Yes, the Marilyn Monroe movie was based on this "diary of a professional lady" set in the 20s and the diary was originally published in installments in Harper's Bazaar. The author, Anita Loos, began to notice the different lives blondes and brunettes had so she started this spoofy diary of the life of a blonde in NYC and it's such good fun, politically incorrect and witty. Lorelei is the main blonde who goes about with rich men wanting to "educate" her. All she does is spend their money and try to reform her ignorant friend Dorothy. They manage to have one of their suitors pay for a trip abroad where they meet the Prince of Wales and get analyzed by "Dr. Froyd". For these girls, the idea of roughing it is not getting to stay at the Ritz and having to order room service instead of going out each night. A great book for getting a feel of the roaring 20s and the humor of the time. |
|
|
|
reviewed by: lisa may |
May 2004 [link] |
recommend
|
gods in alabama
joshilyn jackson
|
|
| "There are gods in Alabama. I should know, I killed one." And so begins the mesmerizing tale of Arlene Fleet who left Alabama for Chicago ten years earlier vowing to stop having sex, stop lying and never, EVER return to Alabama. Unfortunately, Alabama shows up in Chicago in the form of an old classmate looking for answers in the disappearance of the star high school quarterback during senior year. Arlene has no choice but to head back home to her lily-white family - with her black boyfriend in tow - and set things straight. Or at least lie her way through it. A wonderful novel chock full of Southernisms, sweet moments and more twists and turns than the dirt road to your Me-Maw's house. As one reviewer put it: "gods in Alabama is crazy-good". |
|
|
|
reviewed by: lisa may |
September 2005 [link] |
recommend
|
going with the grain: a wandering bread lover takes a bite out of life
susan seligson
|
|
| to hell with the atkin's diet - bread is the food of life!! this brilliant book takes us all over the world to see the culture of bread making and eating. each chapter is a different bread and place so you can skip around and read only what interests you. seligson takes us to the wonder bread "bakery, to aunt eunice's kitchen for biscuits and gravy and then on to morocco, india, and ireland just to name a few. each essay includes a bread recipe. this week, i plan on making 12 loaves of bread and perfecting my southern biscuit form. |
|
|
|
reviewed by: lisa may |
April 2003 [link] |
recommend
|
gone with the wind
margaret mitchell
|
|
| It feels kind of silly to "review" this book, but I do think it's worth the read. I'm famous (in my family) for reading this book in fourth grade. I haven't read it since, but I obsessed over the whole world portrayed in this one (I don't recommend it to escapist, imaginative young girls). What can I say? I liked it. |
|
|
|
reviewed by: kristen |
July 2000 [link] |
recommend 2 thumbs up
|
goodbye tsugumi
banana yoshimoto
|
|
In this book, Maria Shirakawa--a 19 year old or so girl--moves from her rural japanese fishing village (where she lived in a hotel with her mother, her aunt and her two cousins Yoko and Tsugumi) to Tokyo, where she lives with her mother and father. Upon finding out that the seaside family inn will be closing in the fall, Maria insists on returning and spending the summer with Tsugumi, Yoko, and their new friend Kyoichi (who is also Tsugumi's boyfriend). Tsugumi is constantly sick and ailing, but her outrageous spitfire spirit drives her throughout the novel.
A short exerpt: "Tsugumi plopped down on our plastic spread. She gazed out at the ocean, squinting against the light. Just beyond her, the curve of our beach umbrella cut sharply into the blue sky, flapping crazily, noisily in the wind. It was such an amazingly bright, vivid scene that I lay there unable to tear my gaze away. My heart felt as if it might flutter off to some place far away."
Banana Yoshimoto writes such beautiful, haunting, spare prose that somehow, without being ridiculous or over-the-top or Hallmark-card-esque, she can make you cry. |
|
|
|
reviewed by: victoria |
May 2005 [link] |
recommend
|
gossip girl
cecily von ziegesar
|
|
| Apparently, this is the book series that all the teens are reading nowadays. I just HAD to find out what it was all about. And this is what it is all about: each chapter is interspersed with an e-newsletter from anonymous "gossip girl" about well, duh, gossip. It follows the social scene of rich New York City prep school kids from east and west side elite families. During the day they ditch school to go shopping at Barney's and at night they go to charity events and then drink and smoke at all the hippest clubs in NYC. Lots of sexy teen talk you'll love! |
|
|
|
reviewed by: lisa may |
July 2004 [link] |
recommend 1 thumbs up
|
gregor the overlander
suzanne collins
|
|
I love Y.A. books. That said, this one is particularly enjoyable and imaginative, to the point of almost being more engrossing than HARRY POTTER. Yes, I know this may sound like heresy, but if you have a kid in your life (I.E. anyone around 20 years old or less ;) you should definitely share this book with them.
The plot: Gregor is an 11-year-old guy who is stuck with more than his fair share of responsibilities due to his family's hardships ever since his father left. While babysitting his sister and folding laundry in his apartment's laundry room, his attention drifts for a minute and Boots falls down a weird laundry chute...Of course, Gregor has to follow her. This chute leads them to an underground world, complete with enormous talking cockroaches, bats, spiders...and rats. There are also humans, who have adapted over hundreds of years to life under the earth. Even as Boots makes friends with the roaches and anyone else she meets, Gregor tries to escape but the attempt is cut short by meeting two killer rats. He is rescued by some of the humans; and they explain to him that he is a warrior foretold in prophecy to protect them from the emerging rat army. This book is engrossing–I read the first one in 30 minutes, I couldn't put it down–and very enjoyable. While it may be written for a basic reading level, I thought it was better caliber-writing than Dan Brown's in "ANGELS & DEMONS." |
|
|
|
reviewed by: victoria |
August 2005 [link] |
recommend
|
|
|
|
|
|
