Kat with a K

March Books

I just realized I didn't really read any adult novels in March. Huh.

Dolphins at Daybreak, Magic Tree House #9, by Mary Pope Osborne
Genre: Early readers, adventure
Pages: 67
Rating: 3.8
Comments: This was the choice of my book buddy at the elementary school where I volunteer. I'd never read a Magic Tree House book before, and I was pleasantly surprised. The main characters were likeable, and the book was educational without making it too obvious. I enjoyed it!

Moving Day, Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #1, by Meg Cabot
Genre: Juvenile
Pages: 232
Rating: 4.5
Comments: This is Meg Cabot's first book for younger readers. I wasn't sure how well her signature tone would transfer to this genre, but I was impressed. This, the firs of a series, is about a 9-year-old who is trying to prevent her family from moving to a new neighborhood. Allie is a great character - she's an individual, but Cabot doesn't belabor the "Oh, look how special she is" point the way some writers for children do. Allie stands up for what she believes in, and is willing to recognize when she's wrong and learn from her mistakes. And, of course, like all of Cabot's books, it's hilarious.

Freedom for the Thought that We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment by Anthony Lewis
Genre: Law, history
Pages: 221
Rating: 4.3
Comments: This is a fascinating look at the history of the First Amendment (freedom of speech and the press) and its interpretation. It was extremely informative and surprisingly readable, and it made me want to learn more about several of the topics it touched upon. I only had a few quibbles. Lewis interjected his own views every once in a while, and the sudden switch into first person from third person was jarring. And many of the chapter titles were fairly subtle, so it sometimes took a while to figure out the subject of a particular chapter. I also wish he had given more citations for some things he mentioned. Other than that, though, I thought this was great for anyone interested in issues of freedom of speech, or in the Constitution in general.

It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh
Genre: Home, organization
Pages: 230
Rating: 3.6
Comments: This book sounded interesting because it promised to talk about underlying factors in society, etc. that lead people to have so much stuff. Unfortunately, that section was pretty short, and the rest of the book was pretty standard decluttering/organizational stuff. It was okay, but you can get that anywhere, and I was more interested in the sociological/economic perspective, so I was disappointed in this book overall. It does have some good ideas, though - just not what I was expecting.

Arthur and the Sword by Robert Sabuda
Genre: Picture book, mythology
Pages: 30
Rating: 4.2
Comments: This is a beautiful picture book version of the traditional sword in the stone part of the Arthur legend. I've been a fan of Sabuda's pop-up books for a while, but this book has illustrations made to look like stained glass - also gorgeous. I got it from the library to read to my book buddy, because Merlin, Camelot, etc. were mentioned in her Magic Tree House book (see above) and she had never heard of them. This was a nice introduction to Arthurian legend.

Things I Learned from Knitting by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Genre: Knitting, humor
Pages: 160
Rating: 4.6
Comments: This is the new book by our beloved Yarn Harlot. It takes the form of short essays connecting various sayings ("Birds of a feather flock together," etc.) to the knitting life. As always, she's hilarious, but this one had a nice amount of more serious philosophy type stuff too. I liked this better than her last one.

February Books

Fair Game by Valerie Plame Wilson
Genre: Politics, memoir
Pages: 411
Rating: 4.5
Comments: Wilson was the CIA agent outed after her husband, Joe Wilson, was seen as opposing the Bush administration. It was fascinating to read her side of the story, and I understand what happened with the whole convoluted affair much better now. It was very difficult to read parts of the book, though, because of the CIA editing - instead of trying to rewrite her book, Wilson published the original manuscript with lines blacked out by CIA censors. There's an afterword written by someone else that fills in much of the deleted information, as most of it is on the public record.

Behind My Eyes by Li-Young Lee
Genre: Poetry
Pages: 106
Rating: 4.8
Comments: I first discovered Lee's work back in high school, so I was thrilled to find this new book of his in the library. The main theme of the book is ostensibly immigration, but recurring themes include family, religion, language, and identity. As always, Lee's poems are haunting and lyrical. Highly recommended.

Doesn't She Look Natural? by Angela Hunt
Genre: Christian fiction, women's fiction
Pages: 349
Rating: 3.8
Comments: After a tough divorce and job loss, a woman unexpectedly inherits a funeral home. She takes her mother and two young sons to the small Florida town where the home is located, planning to just fix it up and sell it. I'm sure you can figure out where the plot goes from there. It was a nice feel-good read, and I'll probably look for by this author. One thing I particularly liked was the way the characters' beliefs and faith were woven into the story in a natural way - the reader isn't hit over the head with it as happens in much "Christian fiction."

They Did It with Love by Kate Morgenroth
Genre: Mystery, literary
Pages: 317
Rating: 4.6
Comments: This literary mystery is set amongst a book club in hoity-toity Greenwich, CT. It revolves in point of view between many characters, focusing on Sofie, a recent transplant from New York. Various secrets and complications are revealed as the characters try to figure out what happened to one of their book club members. Some of the characterization was a bit superficial and facile, but overall the book was quite good. And it had my favorite kind of ending for a mystery: it almost completely surprised me, but when I looked back at the plot, I realized it was cleverly set up all along.

The Cult of Perfection by Cooper Lawrence
Genre: Self-help
Pages: 247
Rating: 3.2
Comments: Lawrence discusses various aspects of the perfectionist "lifestyle," trying to take the stigma away from the idea. She provides some pop-psychology reasons why one might be a perfectionist, and some strategies for making these tendencies work to your advantage. Some of it was interesting, but overall it was pretty blah.

Books for January

Apparently I only finished two this month. Ah well; it's been a crazy busy month, and I'm currently in the middle of about four books, so February's list should be longer!

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
Genre: Mystery, women's fic
Pages: 469
Rating: 4.5
Ellie is a small town police chief who is totally out of her league when a potentially feral child wanders out of the forest into her town. Her sister, Julia, is a top child psychiatrist whose glittering career is disrupted when one of her patients kills several other children and then herself. She returns to her hometown in disgrace to try to help Ellie and the child. Along the way, both Julia and Ellie are transformed. Some of the small-town characters are cutesy and cliched, but the main characters are all surprisingly complex, and the story of the child is riveting. This one gets extra points for making me cry - something that doesn't often happen with books. But don't worry, the ending is perfect.

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
Genre: Juvenile, fantasy
Pages: 202
Rating: 4.3
I'd actually never read this one before. I read three or four of the Narnia books as a kid, and liked them, but lost interest somehow and never finished the series. I recently decided to read/reread them all. The edition my library has start with The Magician's Nephew as the beginning of the series (anyone want to weigh in on that debate?), so I started with that this time. (I'd started with Lion, Witch last time.) I don't think this novel was Lewis's best, but it was definitely very good. I think reading these books as an adult makes the humor even better - I loved the running commentary about what a great day the housemaid was having, for one thing. And, of course, it was very interesting to read about the creation of Narnia.