Tag Archives: 21st Century

Teaser Tuesday–Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

American Literature, On Reading

A fun new meme! TEASER TUESDAYS ask you to: # Grab your current read. # Let the book fall open to a random page. # Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. # You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given! # Please avoid spoilers! From Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I…

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Two Books on Breastfeeding Issues

American Literature 3 Comments

Milk, Money, and Madness by Naomi Baumslag and Dia L. Michels Mother’s Milk by Bernice Hausman I’m researching an essay on breastfeeding practices and ended up reading these two dense and serious tomes that delve into America’s abysmally low breastfeeding rates. The American Association of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for at least a year, and the World Health Organization recommends at least two. Yet many women opt out of trying, or give up at some point well before a year. Milk, Money and Madness examines the…

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Our Babies, Ourselves by Meredith Small

American Literature 6 Comments

Synopsis: An exploration of how parenting styles around the world bring into question our definition of normal infant behavior. Review: I was familiar already with a lot of the content of Our Babies, Ourselves, because Meredith Small’s findings crop up in a lot of literature on attachment parenting. However, it was still well worth reading because she delves so deeply into issues of evolution, natural selection, biology, and human development to demonstrate why parenting styles vary across cultural lines. She looks at tribes like the…

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Parenting, Inc by Pamela Paul

American Literature 2 Comments

Synopsis: An overview of the craze for consumption that has overtaken American parents. Review: I would’ve read Parenting, Inc even if I didn’t have a baby, because I find spenders (and hoarders, too) to be endlessly fascinating. I’ve also been interested in child development since I was in high school, and of course as a new mother I was really curious to see what Pamela Paul discovered about the baby industry. Surprise, surprise–people will say anything to make money! And parents are more than willing…

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The Sister by Poppy Adams

British Literature 4 Comments

Synopsis: When elderly Ginny’s sister returns home for the first time since she was a girl, old memories surface that threaten Ginny’s carefully ordered existence. Review: I’m incredibly thankful for the Queens Library for getting The Sister to me so quickly–I can’t remember the last time I read a book so recently published. The review in the New York Times made me think that it’d satisfy my aching desire for more books like Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. Gothic intrigue. Family secrets. Opaque narration. Superfast…

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Madapple by Christina Meldrum

American Literature 2 Comments

Synopsis: Accused of murder, a troubled young woman tries to piece together the odd facets of her life, starting with her supposed immaculate conception. Review: The chapters in Madapple alternate between a teasingly opaque courtroom case, and defendant Aslaug’s reminiscences about life with her disturbed mother and eventual reunion with her long lost aunt and cousins. Nothing about Aslaug’s life has been ordinary. Her mother claimed that Aslaug had no father because she had never had a lover. She raised Aslaug in the woods, among…

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Before We Get Started by Bret Lott

American Literature 5 Comments

Synopsis: An author’s memoir of the writing life. Review: Yesterday, I had the pleasure of having my work ripped to shreds at a workshop led by Bret Lott. I say “pleasure” because (a) he was right, and (b) he made it fun. I knew from reading Before We Get Started that I’d respect his opinion, but what I didn’t know was that I’d enjoy the time as much as I did My favorite takeaway from Lott’s book is that art that endures has some element…

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The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

American Literature

Synopsis: A spirited young woman takes on the all-male secret society at her boarding school, and not just because her boyfriend’s one of the leaders. Review: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks reminded me a lot of Rushmore, and that’s a good thing. It’s quirky and offbeat, combining intelligence and heart within a clever, original plot. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Frankie’s sabotage of the Secret Order of the Basset Hound stems from her sense that her boyfriend is underestimating her. In one sense, she’s just…

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Real Sex by Lauren Winner

American Literature

Synopsis: An exploration of the meaning of chastity in the 21st century. Review: Real Sex is an excellent companion piece to Anna Broadway’s Sexless in the City. Winner offers a larger cultural and historical context for Broadway’s desire to live chastely, and has some ideas about why Broadway expresses some disappointment in the way she has been taught by the church to think about sex. Winner’s analysis is thoughtful and well-researched, and is worth reading even by those who don’t hold the same beliefs in…

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Waiting for Daisy by Peggy Orenstein

American Literature 8 Comments

Synopsis: A writer and journalist who never wanted kids finds herself spiraling into obsession when she begins to try to conceive. Review: Peggy Orenstein paints herself in such a bad light in Waiting for Daisy that it’s next to impossible to sympathize with her predicament. And that’s too bad, because three miscarriages are a lot to suffer through. However, Orenstein paints her desire for a child not as a powerful emotional urge but as an accomplishment she can’t live without. She never once talks about…

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