Tag: memoir

Book Review: A Far Cry from Kensington

A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark I’d never read anything or heard anything about this author, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t always like to read stories about female protagonists set in historical periods, because it often fills me with feminist rage, but Mrs. Hawkins manages to live in the …

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Book Review: The Map That Changed the World

The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester I usually love books like this, and I usually don’t review books that I haven’t finished, but I don’t know if I want to waste any more time on this one. I’m 93 hard-won pages into this and I think I’m going to quit. So far …

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Book Review: Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening

Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart by Carol Wall The best thing I can say about this book is that it made me cry. I suppose that’s not too hard, because I cry easily, especially when the subject matter (people getting cancer …

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Book Review: The Color of Water

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride A novel, or memoir, at its best, will give you a window in to the life of someone you might never meet in real life. This memoir, if you can call it a memoir when half of it is about …

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Book Review: Goodbye Things

Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki I would have rated this book as excellent if it had been able to convince a hoarder to embrace the tenets of minimalism. I would have rated it as acceptable if it had merely told me what I know about minimalism and not really cemented it. …

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