Here's the total for March - 18 books read, which brings me to 50 for the year. Appropriate links and comments as follows:
Monkey Town - The full review will be in the summer issue of Eclectica. This is a great way to introduce the Scope Monkey trial to the 12 & up set and handles the whole evolution vs creationism conflict really well. It's also based on real people with a great Author's Note in the end explaining all the research and who is real and all that.
8 Men Out - This was one of those books from the TBR pile. It belonged to my father and I've been meaning to read it for ages. It was absolutely outstanding and should be considered critical reading not only for baseball fans but for anyone interested in labor history and unions in the US. As Americans, we really don't know beans about labor history and we really should. Oh - and Pete Rose still does not belong in the Hall of Fame.
Teenage Liberation Handbook - In this book the author puts forth not only a solid argument as to why many teens would do better learning on their own, but she gives you the nuts and bolts (by subject) as to how you can do, what other teens have done, and what you need to succeed and excel. If only I had this when I was in high school - it would literally have changed my life.
Case of the Missing Marquess - I raved about this one earlier this month. It really is an outstanding mystery and introduces a great new girl detective. I expect to see many good things from Enola Holmes in the future and look forward to more titles in the series. (Full review in the summer Eclectica.)
20th Century Ghosts - This review will be up next week at Bookslut, but I already wrote about my love for it. Joe Hill is one great short story writer - one of the best I have read in ages - and I can't wait to see what he does with his novel next year.
Unprocessed Child - This was a bit of a memoir about a mother unschooling her daughter. I would have liked to know more about how she did it or what the girl learned rather than so much touchy feeliness - if that makes any sense. I get that her daughter was in a happy trusting environment but....well, what the heck else was going on?
Widdershins - Just fired off the first round of questions to Charles de Lint for an interview in June at Bookslut. If you are a de Lint fan you will love love love this book. For those who are new to his work you might want to start with the story collections - only because this novel concerns two of his longest and most beloved characters (and you certainly need to read The Onion Girl first). But it is divine, I loved it.
Amaryllis - Reviewed in my April column at Bookslut with other great historical fiction. This was a boy book! Yea!!!! Great Vietnam War era story; excellent war book for teens, all around good stuff. I already told you how I loved it.
Desert Crossing - Elise Broach caught my attention with Shakespeare's Secret last year. This is a teen adventure story that is totally different but equally well done. It's in the May column, with other adventures, both fiction and nonfiction.
How Children Learn - This is a classic education book by John Holt, a guy who thought the public schools were screwed up because of the way in which subjects were taught. It can be dry at times, but overall it is fascinating to read how children assimilate information and what goes wrong to squash their drive to learn. I think we all remember when school was fun - in the early years - but sometime around age 13 it goes to hell fast. Holt knows why and reading him was quite the learning experience for me.
Last of the O-Forms - I raved it about a couple of weeks ago and wrote a full review for April or May for Bookslut (still not sure if it is fitting in this month). James Van Pelt does some very cool things with this Sci Fi collection and it's a must read for fans of the genre (or short story fans period.)
Lives of the Muses - Off the TBR pile and way way overdue. I have wanted to read this book for ages and I so enjoyed what she had to say about Lee Miller (who I never heard of), Alice Liddle, Yoko Ono (eek), etc. This is really the kind of short history I adore - it gives me the opportunity to know just enough about some people so that if I want to delve into longer books on my own I can. Heck it's by Francine Prose (who has a very original short story in the new issue of VQR by the way); you can't wrong with her!
Julia's Kitchen - Very different middle grade novel (meaning it's aimed at the 10 & up crowd, but teens will like it too). I wrote about it a week ago and will review it this summer - not sure where yet, but I'll keep ya posted.
Ghost Orchid - Read this for Bookslut and will review it in May. It is just an outstanding suspense novel, great mystery set at a writer's colony. Lots of very cool history, lots of freaky ghost moments - all in all it's one of those lush rich books that you don't put down. I liked it a lot.
Blessed are the Cheesemakers - This was one of those "balance books" I wrote about the other day. I was really losing my mind with some heavy nonfiction and this sweetheart of a book was just what I needed. No politics, no war, no murder. It was a great romance but way beyond that as a nice little social drama in the Irish countryside. Exactly what I needed and I would recommend it to others in need of a similar diversion.
Last Child in the Woods - I'll write about this more next week, but suffice to say we have removed ourselves way too much from the natural world. I was fascinated by Natural History when I was young but told by many many folks that there was no future in it. Clearly, we have our priorities way out of whack.
Kabul in Winter - Hopefully I will be able to interview Ann Jones about her amazing book but regardless I wll be writing a review of how much it impressed the hell out of me and also infuriated me to a whole new level. This is largely about the social situation in Afghanistan and how US dollars don't help nearly as much as we think they do. (The quote that killed me was when an education consultant said that basically 20% of every dollar donated to a nation gets to the people there - the other 80% lines the pockets of American contractors who set up the programs and take money every step of the way.) I'm writing letters to my senators and congressmen because of this book and I'll post those too.
Wild Lives - This was a surprise arrival, a YA title about the history of the Bronx Zoo. I'll write more about it this week but thought it was quite well done for middle grade and up readers who are interested in Natural History and a must read for anyone at all interested in zoo history. (And the pictures of early zoos and animals sitting in concrete cages will break your heart.)
Okay - that's all for March!
