Princess Academy by Shannon Hale My kid said this was good, and assured me it wasn’t anything as cutesey as the Princess Diaries. It is a coming of age novel involving girls in a somewhat fantasy/middle-ages world, but it doesn’t feel like it’s in McFantasyland the way I’d feared, even though the premise sounds pretty …
Category: Book Review
Sep 20
Book Review: The Secret Place
The Secret Place by Tana French I think that this is the weakest of Tana French’s books I’ve listened to so far. That said, it’s still an amazing book with depth and nuance far beyond what the police procedural murder mystery genre requires. Holly Mackey, who was a child in the previous book Faithful Place, …
Sep 19
Book Review: The Hidden Half of Nature
The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health by David R. Montgomery This book starts talking about gardening, segues to talking about microbiology, and finishes by talking about gardening. It’s basically about the microbial world and how it impacts us. Most of this is information I’ve read about in other books, …
Aug 24
Book Review: Pieces of Her
Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter Andy is the thirty-year-old, somewhat late-blooming daughter of Laura, a beloved speech pathologist and pillar of the community. As they’re having lunch to celebrate Andy’s birthday, Laura becomes involved in a random shooting and reveals skills she shouldn’t possess given the background Andy knows of her mother. After a …
Aug 21
Book Review: The Turn of the Key
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware This book is better than “In a Dark Dark Wood” but not as good as “The Woman in Cabin 10.” The main character still acts a bit dumb, but not colossally dumb like “go on a weekend retreat with people you haven’t spoken to in years” kind …