Although I do not like reading violent stories, one of my favorite books has such a poignant message that I love it regardless, or maybe because of, the brutal facts is illustrates. In Beloved by Toni Morrison, the ghosts of slavery live on, even though it is the year 1873. In one sense, Beloved is
I thought I understood satire when I read Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” But reading Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels solidified the meaning of satire for me. The two works seemed to illustrate the difference between telling and showing. Reading “A Modest Proposal” was like reading a textbook example of satire, while experiencing the nuances and humor
Since I just spent a long weekend in Utah, I suppose it’s appropriate to review the book I recently read about Mormon architecture! Except for the Kirtland Temple picture, the pictures below (and the links to additional pictures) are ones I took this weekend. As I read about Chicago architecture last month, I found myself
I needed to sharpen our kitchen knives, so I found a book to help me along, specifically, An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives by Chad Ward. Overall, I liked the information I read. I got excited about my kitchen knives! But when I went to try and sharpen my own
When I was about 75 pages into my slim, 98-page volume of John Donne’s poetry, I was bored. But then I read the last section of the book: the Divine Poems. After reading that section, I’m pretty sure I’ll be revisiting Donne’s poetry again. I didn’t hate the beginning portion of the book; I just
The narrator of Alice Sebold’s first novel, The Lovely Bones, is dead. Meet Susie. Susie Salmon was 14 when she was brutally raped and murdered in a cornfield near her home. Now, as her family recovers and learns to live again, she watches them from her gazebo in her heaven and begins to come to
The Chicago School of Architecture by Carl W. Condit is an academic examination and description of the architectural movement in Chicago after the Chicago fire, from about 1875 until about 1925. Because it was written in 1960s, some of the information may be dated, but it was still an informative introduction to the study of
I love a book about books, so I thought I’d pick up the slim 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, and the sequel, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. Between reading the two books, I also watched the movie, staring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins as part of Chance #10 (Book/Movie Comparison) for the Take
Most mornings, after my son (age 23 months) finishes his breakfast, he jumps out of his chair and runs to the kitchen stool, yelling, “Cook! Cook!” He climbs the stool and pounds the counter, a big smile on his face, for he knows I’ll probably give in and cook something with him. (I normally prepare
I like to read aloud longer stories to my 23-month-old while is his playing with his toys. Since I finished reading A.A. Milne, I needed a longish book to read so I picked up the Velveteen Rabbit by Margaret William Biano, illustrated by Monique Felix. I love this story, probably because I relate to toys
I really enjoyed the book First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. It has just a few words per page, and it is very simple, coming full circle and ending with “First the chicken. Then the egg.” The illustrations were gorgeous paintings (and well deserving of the Caldecott Honor). There were die cuts, which my
We own the audio and book of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, and my son (23 months) loves it. Each page has a colorful animal, and the text asks the animal “what do you see?” In the end, the children say they see all the
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