Category Archives: On Reading

Healthy Child, Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan

American Literature, On Reading

Synopsis: A practical how-to guide for greening your home. Review: I could have done without the celebrity endorsements in Healthy Child, Healthy World. I really don’t care what kind of diapers Brooke Shields uses or that Noah Wyle’s kids are vegetarians. I guess these are good selling points, but to me these sidebars were just a lot of clutter. I did like the suggestions and recipes for green cleaning, which is something I’ve been working towards for some time, not just for the health of…

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The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff

On Reading

Synopsis: Plagued by nightmares and hallucinations, a mayoral hopeful thinks he can trust a hospital counselor, but when his cancer-stricken daughter has a miraculous recovery, he starts to question his very sanity. Review: My only beef with The Price is that I wish it were longer! I devoured this slim, suspenseful volume over the course of a trip to Brooklyn and back with Superfast Baby asleep in the mei tai. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Like with Alex Sokoloff’s The Harrowing, you think you know where this…

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Books vs. Movies (Booking Through Thursday)

On Reading 8 Comments

Yay–my question got picked!! If you’re coming here from Booking Through Thursday, please note that my url is superfastreader.com, with no “wordpress.” I’d be ever so grateful if you update this if you are linking to me. And thanks for the link love! Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie? So many great…

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Manola Dargis Doesn’t Do Her Homework

On Reading 2 Comments

In her review of Prince Caspian in today’s New York Times, Manola Dargis writes: The Pevensie children can withdraw to London between episodes, but moviegoers are unlikely, and also perhaps unwilling, to escape from Narnia and the other increasingly numerous, and therefore increasingly mundane, places like it. A lovely sentiment, were it not for the fact that the Pevensies DIE to our world in one of the books. Not to mention that several of the books don’t feature the Pevensie children at all. I don’t…

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Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

On Reading 5 Comments

Synopsis: An aging rock star buys an old suit that brings with it a vengeful spirit with a personal vendetta. Review: Let’s just get it out of the way. Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son. His debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box, is a work of horror. And not only is it damn good, it’s good enough to stand on its own. Hill has crafted a simple, elegant, scary little story that manages to delve deep into the nature of regret and repentance. The spectral figure who…

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The Alphabet Meme

On Reading 6 Comments

Picked this meme up from Melanie, in honor of two YA books I read for work this weekend. The goal of this is to list favourite authors according to last name (with a representative fave book as well). Atwood, Margaret — Cat’s Eye Bronte, Charlotte — Jane Eyre Card, Orson Scott — Ender’s Game Dragonwagon, Crescent — The Year It Rained (with Paul Zindel) Eager, Edward — Half Magic Forster, EM — Howard’s End Gibson, William — Neuromancer Hobb, Robin — Ship of Magic Ishiguro,…

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Mayday! (Booking Through Thursday)

On Reading 8 Comments

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do?? And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and…

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Top 20 Meme

On Reading 1 Comment

Picked this up from Becky: The rules: Top twenty favourite books in no particular order. Don’t think about it for too long. Take twenty minutes only to compile your list. Bold the ones you’ve read, or reread, since you’ve started blogging. Include novels, non fiction and plays. 1. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri 2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 3. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious 4. Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King 5. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb 6. Till We Have Faces…

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