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Book Report
Jul. 5th, 2014 10:24 amOne Woman Farm by Jenna Woginrich – I really like Woginrich’s writing. She is passionate about farming and although she has little money, she has been determined to do as the title says: she runs a one-woman farm in upstate New York. This book is like a diary format giving snippets of her life on her farm. Grade: B
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell – I guess I can’t decide what I think of Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Is it just a bunch of interesting stories that he pretends add up to more or does it contain real insights? In this book, his basic argument is that things that look like weaknesses might actually be strengths and vice versa. I almost kind of lean towards thinking that he came up with his premise (show people how a “weakness” might not actually be a weakness!) and then found cool stories to support that idea. In any case, I listened to the book on audio and it never bored me. (And after I wrote this in my Word file with all my other book reports, I found thisarticle online and I can’t disagree with it). Despite some negative thoughts towards the book and Gladwell’s approach, for lack of being boring it gets a grade of: B-
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakarun – A novel taking place in modern times. A handful of people find themselves stuck in an office after an earthquake. As their space fills with water, oxygen starts to dwindle, and their drinkable water supply declines, they decide to pass the time by each sharing one amazing thing that happened to them. I loved the premise and enjoyed their individual stories, but the ambiguous ending left me feeling very cheated. Grade: C
A Sliver of Light by Bauer, Fattal, and Shourd – An amazing book that I finished in three days despite its 334 pages and despite the fact that I worked a full day on two of the three days. This is a true memoir by three American hikers who were hiking in Iraq and unknowingly crossed into Iran when an armed guard waved them over through the unmarked border. They were detained and then a complete nightmare began. I’m not sure why I loved this book so much. It was extremely compelling; despite the smiling photo on the back cover, I still had to find out what happened to the trio. They write beautifully and vividly, and they always give just the right amount of detail. I truly was awed by their experiences and their book. Grade: B+/A-
A Dream Foreclosed by Laura Gottesdiener – I have to say that between this book and between what I learned from “The New Jim Crow” about the War on Drugs really being a War on Black People, I am despondent as never before. This county seems hellbent on waging war against its dark-skinned impoverished people. This book lays out the foreclosure crisis. The unlawful and plain stupid deeds taken against the poor, like forcing people who actually paid their mortgage into foreclosure (really, seriously – there is a practice called robo-signing where these mortgage companies just pick on low income people, don’t accept their payments, and start forcing them into foreclosure...what??!!) are mind-numbing. The book shows how some have fought back and won. But dang we seem hellbent on going back to a feudal society with no middle class, lots of poor people, and a ruling elite that runs everything. And yes, I realize the irony of writing this at my dining room table as Mary's Cleaning Service cleans my house. Seriously. I feel I should disclose this. Grade: B
Books I Started Reading But Didn’t Finish - Or “Why I gave so many grades of B”
There are two novels I started reading but never finished, since my last report. As far as I know, both novels were decently well-acclaimed (i.e. – neither was of the historical-fiction-of-questionable-taste genre that I often enjoy), but I couldn’t finish either one. There was what I call the groan factor, the fact that picking up the books had become a chore and that the authors failed to hook me. I could have stuck it out and forced myself to finish them, but I just can’t think of a reason ever to make myself do so. I mean, life is short, I have so many books that I want to get to, and I’m fairly convinced that if I had made myself finish them, they’d have been books that would’ve gotten grades of C- or D+. I guess I believe that the novelist failed to do her job if, after 50 pages, I’m not interested enough to finish.
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell – I guess I can’t decide what I think of Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Is it just a bunch of interesting stories that he pretends add up to more or does it contain real insights? In this book, his basic argument is that things that look like weaknesses might actually be strengths and vice versa. I almost kind of lean towards thinking that he came up with his premise (show people how a “weakness” might not actually be a weakness!) and then found cool stories to support that idea. In any case, I listened to the book on audio and it never bored me. (And after I wrote this in my Word file with all my other book reports, I found thisarticle online and I can’t disagree with it). Despite some negative thoughts towards the book and Gladwell’s approach, for lack of being boring it gets a grade of: B-
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakarun – A novel taking place in modern times. A handful of people find themselves stuck in an office after an earthquake. As their space fills with water, oxygen starts to dwindle, and their drinkable water supply declines, they decide to pass the time by each sharing one amazing thing that happened to them. I loved the premise and enjoyed their individual stories, but the ambiguous ending left me feeling very cheated. Grade: C
A Sliver of Light by Bauer, Fattal, and Shourd – An amazing book that I finished in three days despite its 334 pages and despite the fact that I worked a full day on two of the three days. This is a true memoir by three American hikers who were hiking in Iraq and unknowingly crossed into Iran when an armed guard waved them over through the unmarked border. They were detained and then a complete nightmare began. I’m not sure why I loved this book so much. It was extremely compelling; despite the smiling photo on the back cover, I still had to find out what happened to the trio. They write beautifully and vividly, and they always give just the right amount of detail. I truly was awed by their experiences and their book. Grade: B+/A-
A Dream Foreclosed by Laura Gottesdiener – I have to say that between this book and between what I learned from “The New Jim Crow” about the War on Drugs really being a War on Black People, I am despondent as never before. This county seems hellbent on waging war against its dark-skinned impoverished people. This book lays out the foreclosure crisis. The unlawful and plain stupid deeds taken against the poor, like forcing people who actually paid their mortgage into foreclosure (really, seriously – there is a practice called robo-signing where these mortgage companies just pick on low income people, don’t accept their payments, and start forcing them into foreclosure...what??!!) are mind-numbing. The book shows how some have fought back and won. But dang we seem hellbent on going back to a feudal society with no middle class, lots of poor people, and a ruling elite that runs everything. And yes, I realize the irony of writing this at my dining room table as Mary's Cleaning Service cleans my house. Seriously. I feel I should disclose this. Grade: B
Books I Started Reading But Didn’t Finish - Or “Why I gave so many grades of B”
There are two novels I started reading but never finished, since my last report. As far as I know, both novels were decently well-acclaimed (i.e. – neither was of the historical-fiction-of-questionable-taste genre that I often enjoy), but I couldn’t finish either one. There was what I call the groan factor, the fact that picking up the books had become a chore and that the authors failed to hook me. I could have stuck it out and forced myself to finish them, but I just can’t think of a reason ever to make myself do so. I mean, life is short, I have so many books that I want to get to, and I’m fairly convinced that if I had made myself finish them, they’d have been books that would’ve gotten grades of C- or D+. I guess I believe that the novelist failed to do her job if, after 50 pages, I’m not interested enough to finish.
