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maine massacres, the
jan van der willig
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| (The Maine Massacres and The Corpse in the Dyke) : I had been looking for this author’s books ever since I first read two of his in from recommendations from the cool downtown, wilmington bookstore. NO ONE carries them… and the library doesn’t stock his books either. Silly, because this book is in the top fourteen best books I’ve ever read – mostly because of its Zen, smoky, isolationist but wise tone. These are detectives from Amsterdam with a lot of world weary observations and the wryness that often accompanies world-weariness. I equate this detective team and the author to Tom Waits. I would read every one Jan’s written, but I don’t have the funds to purchase, and the library has not the books. |
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reviewed by: kristen |
September 2000 [link] |
recommend 1 thumbs up
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man with a load of mischief
martha grimes
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| Martha is a guilty pleasure. I only read Richard Jury mysteries as I find the rest suck. This book is one I believe that takes place just before Christmas. I remember liking it the best. These books are all named after pubs (and I love pubs. It’s five on Friday whilst I write this.) The best part of her books is that they have a lovely cast of characters and a handsome lonely detective as the main one. AND I’m a huge anglophile. These take place in England. |
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reviewed by: kristen |
September 2000 [link] |
recommend
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marlene
maria riva
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| this is a gossipy, wonderful look into marlene dietrich's life, loves and career. written by her daughter, readers get the inside scoop on the glam life of hollywood in the 40's and 50's. you learn what the stars did before plastic surgery and you see how a real diva lives and breathes. very easy to read, ultimate entertainment, a superb bio. |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
October 2003 [link] |
recommend
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maynard and jennica
rudolph delson
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| This book is all over the place, and I mean that in a good way - it's a totally crazy, fun read. I normally don't like books like these – ones told from the perspective of different characters, but this was likable because the characters were so funny and the dialogue so witty. (It also helped that there was a character list in the back) Set in NYC, it tells the story of how Maynard met Jennica – and how they break up and everything in between with the supporting opinions of everyone in their lives – mothers, fathers, grannies, ex-wife (for green card reasons only) – it's immensely kooky and entertaining. This is one of those rare "relationship" books that could appeal to men and women. |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
July 2008 [link] |
recommend
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meditations
the dalai lama
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| Have I already reviewed this lil' gem that bolstered my life? Yes, I think so. I'm still reading it, however, long after I've read it from cover to cover. I think this book is more like a Buddhist "life's lil' instruction book" or "keep it simple" or "everything I learned in kindergarten was the really useful stuff". Because it's Buddhist however, it's much much more. Well actually, I've only read a copy of "Kindergarten Learning Everything" that my mother had on hand in the can. It was actually quite nice for those assholes (sic) out there who need to quit making everyone nervous by their inability to spend fifteen minutes alone with themselves (and computers and tv aren't you so they don't count). Anyhoo, this book gives me hope in humanity. The more I read lately, the more I realize that I've never been alone. There's a whole universe out there. These books and people have been sitting waiting for me to read them and feel at one (ommmmmmmmm). Although I have rather a flippant tone today, I truly do love this book. It truly is by my bedside. I truly do read it last before I fall asleep (well last night I didn't. I was reading an old National Geographic but the night before and before and before and .....) |
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reviewed by: kristen |
May 2002 [link] |
recommend 1 thumbs up
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memoirs of a geisha
arthur golden
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| I read a book I love! It may be because I adore the Zen landscape (see review for Rituals), but I could not put this book down. The point of view and tone seemed so accurate. I've been a little down on going to the gym, but I was reading this book whilst pedaling on my stationary bike, and it was 35 minutes before I checked the time (usually it's two minutes)! I was choosing reading this book as opposed to playing with my kitties and talking to friends and boyfriend. I feel like all those paintings that I've seen of geishas in Japanese restaurants now are so much more beautiful and complex. The book doesn't have a happy, pat ending, but it has such a real ending. |
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reviewed by: kristen |
September 2000 [link] |
recommend 1 thumbs up
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men and cartoons: stories
jonathan lethem
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| Occasionally enjoyable and very slight, I suspect the latest release from Lethem has been timed to ride on the paperback release of the brilliant Fortress of Solitude. Still there are some stories that are worth checking out here. “The Vision” is an eerie funny story about a man reuniting with a childhood acquaintance for the strangest “game night” ever. “Super Goat Man” follows the misadventures of a failed superhero with a really unfortunate name. “Vivian Relf” is my favorite in this slim collection. A man and a woman meet at a party, convinced that they have met somewhere before (they haven’t). As the story progresses they continue to randomly encounter one another throughout the years. Beautifully written and eerily sad, this is the standout in a volume of stories that vary between so-so science fiction and sad tales that will be overly familiar to Lethem fans. A pretty decent read for a one-hour train ride. |
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reviewed by: JohnLawton |
November 2004 [link] |
recommend
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moneyball: the art of winning an unfair game
michael lewis
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Let me just say this. Only in the past two years have I really begun to give a shit about baseball. I guess when you move to Boston, it's impossible to avoid. However, once I became enamored with baseball I began to thirst for good writing on baseball -- a book that would give me insight into how a baseball team comes together, about the moving and the shaking that goes on behind the scenes. Being a fan of fiction, I didn't think that sports writing could be as entertaining as good fiction (I got a glimpse of great sports writing with Seabiscuit). So I reluctantly picked up Moneyball. It's a wonderful book, really. It concerns the Oakland A's under the managment of Billy Beane. Now, Billy Beane has been heading up a new movement in baseball team management that has begun to rely less and less on old school scouting and more and more on statistics and new formulas for winning, mostly using computers and nerds from places like Harvard and MIT. So, the question is asked, in Moneyball, "How can a team with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball actually compete with the likes of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, who have astronomical payrolls?" Well, you learn, by reading Moneyball that it's about reinventing, about forgetting everything you knew to be true, and sticking your neck out.
The book is not only informative and enlightning, but also contains enough goofballs and neurotics and assholes to compete with the cast of Bull Durham and the Bad News Bears combined. It's a pleasure to see how Billy Bean molds this group of outasts and misfits and no-names into a team with one of the winningest records in all of baseball.
You don't have to be a baseball fanatic to enjoy this. In fact, it's a great primer for getting into the sport for the first time. It's also a fantastic read even if you don't give a rats ass about baseball. I mean, I didn't give a rat's ass about horseracing and I loved Seabiscuit. |
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reviewed by: ericS |
January 2004 [link] |
recommend 1 thumbs up
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monsoon diary
shoba narayan
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At the end of each chapter of this charming and luscious memoir are recipes that the author mentioned in the chapter while recounting her childhood in India. Rich dishes like potato masala, okra curry and yogurt rice made up the many feasts her family cooked on a daily basis. Narayan eventually makes it to the U.S. for college and her food experiences here are no less entertaining. A very interesting look at Indian culture, "arranged" marriages and the nourishment of food for both the body and soul.
Get this book used from amazon.com and you'll read it over and over as well as head to your local Indian grocery for the ingredients to some yummy Indian treats. |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
June 2005 [link] |
recommend
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mother shock: loving every (other) minute of it
andrea buchanan
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In this lovely collection of essays, Buchanan (no relation to Rich, I believe) writes about her first year of motherhood and beyond. Her premise around the term "mother shock" is that becoming a mother is like culture shock - you're in a country where you don't speak the language, you have no idea what you're doing and everything is topsy turvey. But, little by little you make your way through and it's not so scary after all. Finally, after all the mothering books I've read, this is the first one that gave me permission to not love EVERY minute of being a mother without feeling selfish, uncaring and ungrateful. In fact, in one essay she writes out a list of her own "don't love" moments and urges you to add your own (her list includes not loving every minute of the playground, of changing diapers, of being chained to someone else's routine and of HATING the Teletubbies).
This is a must read for new Moms, old Moms or people even thinking about becoming a Mom. |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
October 2005 [link] |
recommend
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mr. strangelove:a biography of peter sellers
peter sikov
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| This biography opens with a quote from its subject: “Some forms of reality are so horrible we refuse to face them, unless we are trapped into it by comedy. To label any subject unsuitable for comedy is to admit defeat.” Try as I might I couldn’t find the individual behind that quote anywhere in this book. While very readable, Sikov’s narrative leaves the reader not really knowing that much more about Sellers. The book is heavy on plot synopsis of Sellers film work (do we really need the plot of Revenge of the Pink Panther broken down for us) and dishy tales about his numerous marriages. What Sikov manages to gloss over such things such as Sellers claims that he saw imaginary little impish people or that he spoke to his mother long after her death. Instances like these are mentioned in passing and bring to the foreground the essential weakness of the book: you don’t really learn too much about Sellers. Throughout the novel, numerous people (Sellers included) state that he is a cipher, that there was not a real person there to know. While there are some very interesting facts about his childhood and several interesting stories about the making of some of his films, this book is overall a disappointment. That said, it still made me want to go watch Being There again. |
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reviewed by: JohnLawton |
November 2003 [link] |
recommend
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mrs. kimble
jennifer haigh
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| "mrs. kimble" was all at once happy and sad and beautiful and touching. the book follows the marriages of ken kimble with three mrs. kimbles in the course of his life. at times infuriating because you can never quite understand why women stick around with men like this but the story flows and shimmies and i was sorry to see it end (but happy with the way it did.) |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
May 2003 [link] |
recommend
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my kind of place: travel stories from a woman who's been everywhere
susan orlean
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Susan Orlean is one of my favorite writers - she has been on staff at The New Yorker forever and most of the articles appearing in this collection are from The New Yorker (as well as Conde Nast Traveler and Backpacker). Her style of writing is straightforward and informative and she never leaves you hanging with unanswered questions - she always knows just what to ask and report on.
In this book, her articles range from a journey to taxidermy championships to an article about a woman in New Jersey that was keeping tigers in her home. Also included is a great article on the "Papaya" shops in NYC (why papaya and hot dogs) and a fun little essay on the randomness of the Sky Mall catalog. Great fun. |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
December 2005 [link] |
recommend
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my life in france
julia child
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A loving and spirited tribute to Child's time in France - where her life essentially began. Written by Child along with her grand-nephew, Alex Prud'homme, it starts with Child and her husband Paul's move to Paris in 1949 when she didn't know how to cook or speak French. By the time the book ends, she's a fluent Parisian and a famous cook, her cookbooks in every household. Her story is very inspirational - she didn't find her true calling until she was almost 40 - and the process of writing "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is explained in detail and is endlessly interesting. A lovely look at Paris and France post-WWII.
Two must read follow-up books are, of course, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", and the wonderful Julia Child biography "Appetite for Life". |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
August 2006 [link] |
recommend
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my name is asher lev
chaim potok
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| I read this book for a book club that my friend invited me to. I don't really like book clubs but we had a lively discussion about this story. Asher Lev is a Hasidic Jew in Brooklyn with an amazing talent for art that his parents rail against from day one. While Asher goes on to become a critical success, his relationship with his parents gets more and more strained. Will his magnum opus be the straw that breaks the camel's back? (The answer is yes and it takes a long time for the book to get there.) |
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reviewed by: lisa may |
February 2005 [link] |
recommend
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