Bossypants by Tina Fey
Rating: 5 Stars Submitted by: Amanda Amanda says: This was a laugh-out-loud funny book. I'm a big fan of Tina Fey and you can literally hear her in your head as you read this. Her writing is exactly like the way she speaks, and her use of visual aids makes it even better. To get the full effect of the book, I advise being familiar with 30 Rock, or some of the jokes may be lost on you. This was a great book. |
The Myth of Autism by Michael and Elyse Goldberg
Rating: 4 Stars Submitted by: Helene Helene says: This book was quite poorly edited and therefore requires patience. The time and effort is worth it since he offers an avenue for searching out real treatment options for autism and a number of other disorders. The premises for his treatment approaches and proposal for further research are intriguing and credible. The author's passion for his work and knowledge of his material is palpable. Unfortunately, he slips into medical jargon and that's fine if you're in the know but not so fine otherwise. |
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: a Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen
Rating: 2 Stars Submitted by: Julie Julie says: The style is similar to David Sedaris'. A woman who couldn't be more down on her luck; she is admittedly an idiot, which plays a part in her 2 star rating. At times the book was hysterical, other times you just want to smack her to her senses. |
Boardwalk Empire by Nelson Johnson
Rating: 3 Stars Submitted by: Lucian Lucian says: The book that spawned the HBO series, this non-fiction outlines the history of Atlantic City punctuated by greed, corruption and vice, all infused with the party politics of south east New Jersey. The book starts off with a bang, chronicling the rise of the city from a barren beach to a world-class resort in the early 20th century. The reading is interesting and entertaining but peters out two-thirds of the way through as it gets into the politics of the late 20th century and the gangsters are replaced by the standard political party machine. |
1491 by Charles Mann
Rating: 4 Stars Submitted by: Lucian Lucian says: This is an excellent update on a story I thought had been told, but in reality is still emerging. He uses archeological, genetic and anthropologic evidence and findings of the latter half of the 20th Century and first decade of the 21st to illustrate a world much more advanced and diverse then is giving credit for in history books. 1491 tells the tale of the lost Americas, the world destroyed by disease and lost under the sands (or jungle in the case of South America) of time. |
Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson
Rating: 4 Stars Submitted by: Paul Paul says: Good book about educating girls in Central Asia. Excellent follow up to 3 Cups of Tea. Makes you thankful for the education and life that we live. |
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Rating: 5 Stars Submitted by: Amanda Amanda says: I had trouble putting this book down! It was one of those non-fictions that makes you question why you would ever want to read fiction when real life stories like the one of Henrietta Lacks out there for you to soak up. The book is about a doctor in the 1950s who took cells from a woman with cancer, and unbeannouced to her, used them for medical research that lauched a revolution. The format of going back and forth between science and biography really kept this book interesting (not that it needed any help with the subject "matter"-har har) and after reading it, you want to know more. I would suggest this to anyone who loves a great non-fiction or fiction and likes to learn a little something at the same time. |
$20 per Gallon by Christopher Steiner
Rating: 3 Stars Submitted by: Christine Christine says: This book, while interesting, was a rather dry read. I enjoyed the possibilities of what will happen as gas prices rise, but the language could be a little dull and it took a while for me to get through. |