The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts

The Teacher's Funeral : A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

When fifteen-year-old Russell Culver's teacher dies right before school is to start, Russell is thrilled. But his dream of an endless summer is not to be, as the school board finds a replacement right away--one who already knows all his tricks and excuses.

This was a fun read, although I found A Year Down Yonder much funnier overall.


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Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

Grace [Eventually]: Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took a while for me to get into the swing of this book. Partly, I think, because I read it entirely during lunch breaks. But mostly it was a little slow in the beginning because I was unfamiliar with Anne Lamont's personal history and style. In her teens and twenties she was a drug user and an alcoholic, and although she's been sober for more than twenty years now, she still talks in her essays about her early years...a little too cavalierly, in my opinion. Something about the way she almost assumes that experimenting with drugs is normal and quite to be expected just really rubs me the wrong way.

On the other hand, her essays are often amusing, and I LOVE her politics, her support for libraries, and her view of faith (i.e. a faith full of love and compassion rather than forcing your narrow beliefs down everyone else's throats). I can see why this book was last month's choice for the book group at my church.


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Among the Hidden

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book last year...or maybe 2 years ago. Good book! I intend to eventually read the rest of the series. It's kind of a "what if" book--i.e. what if resources were scarce enough (or rather, controlled by the government enough) that you were only allowed 2 children...and the neighbors would turn you in to the police/government/Gestapo if they found out you had, say, 3 kids...and then BAD things would happen to you/your kids.


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Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

I never realized a scientific look at sex (research) throughout history could be so very funny! I was thoroughly entertained and fascinated. If the book wasn't now a day overdue (and on hold for someone else), I would go back to the beginning and read it again because it was just that interesting.

Some of my favorite things about this book were the often-snarky footnotes, the photos or other illustrations that began each chapter, the chapter titles (ex: "The Princess and Her Pea" and "Re-Member Me" to name just two that I think I can get away with without turning this review too risque for work) and subtitles (ex: "Can a Woman Find Happiness with a Machine?" and "Creative Approaches to Impotence"), and Mary Roach's incredible ability to be simultaneously matter-of-fact and tongue-in-cheek. Wonderful! Very educational AND fun.


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Guilty

Guilty by Karen Robards

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

(Actually: 3 1/2 stars.)

I put this book on hold and then started reading it expecting a romance novel. Turns out it's more of a suspense novel with some romance thrown in for good measure. And I REALLY shouldn't have started reading it in the evening because I could not stop reading it until it was done lest I have nightmares about the bad guys breaking into my house, etc. Stupid books with their stupid plots that keep you riveted until 3:30 a.m. Curses!

The one thing about this book that drove me crazy was that the heroine refused to tell the hero the truth about what was going on. Of course, the book would only have been about 150 pages long instead of 408 if she had, and it wouldn't have fit with her damaged childhood & the resultant psychological scarring, but still...I hate when people make everyone's lives more complicated and miserable by withholding information!

If you're recommending the book to someone else, be aware that there is some sex in it and a few swear words and a lot of courtroom shooting.


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The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had seen the online video of Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University a couple of months ago. He'd been featured on an episode of "Oprah," and I was so impressed by his optimism in the face of tragedy, that I actually searched for and carved out time to watch the whole lecture. This book is basically that lecture expanded and annotated with additional stories and examples. It's fabulous: funny and wise and poignant. It reads like Pausch is talking directly to you. (I give big kudos to Jeffrey Zaslow who turned Randy's bike-ride-conversations into a book in Randy's "voice.")

Although the book can stand on its own, I would recommend watching the video first so that you can see all the photos and get all the visuals. Only a few are reproduced in the book. Being able to visualize what he's describing or referencing gives more context and meaning to his lessons, I think. And keep the Kleenex box handy for both. This man had SO much life in him, it's hard to believe he actually could have died a few months ago. It simply doesn't seem possible.


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The Red Necklace

The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

I would actually give this book 3 1/2 stars. It is the story of a teenage boy, Yann, raised in France just before the start of the French Revolution. He and his guardian are gypsies who use real magic to entertain people at a theatre in Paris. One night they and the "magician" they work for are hired by an extremely vain and foolish marquis (at the behest of a very evil Count) to perform at a private party for some nobility. During their act, the Count murders the magician. With the help of the young, neglected daughter of the marquis, they barely escape the chateau alive.

To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that the Count has no intention of letting them live. Add in the onset of the Revolution, and you've got a bloody mess.

I think the book could have benefited from some sort of a map of the Paris/Versailles area. And maybe even a brief chronology of the French Revolution. But perhaps teenagers reading the book wouldn't care as much as I do about grasping the full context?

It was a really interesting book, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, as I assume there will soon be one.


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