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Stranger in a Strange Land - Paperback -

The first half or so of Stranger is quite good. The idea of a human so foreign that he must learn all the aspects of language, culture, and history that …

- Feb. 13, 2010
Botchan - Paperback -
Botchan is a book for those who find (or found) themselves in a world that they can't entirely understand and that doesn't seem to understand them. - Jan. 27, 2010
Catching Fire - Hardcover -

I am so glad that Catching Fire did not devolve into a mere romance novel after the ending of The Hunger Games. The love triangle is still there, of …

- Jan. 15, 2010
And Another Thing... - Hardcover -

I really wanted to like And Another Thing"¦. I have such fond memories of reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in college, and I have loved everything else …

- Jan. 10, 2010
The Hunger Games - Hardcover -

Early on in The Hunger Games I was disappointed by how similar it was to Battle Royale, a Japanese novel where children are put on an island and forced …

- Dec. 27, 2009
Blindness - Paperback -

The first thing that struck me while reading Blindness was the fact that the dialogue in the book is not separated by quotations, or new paragraphs. What this means is …

- Dec. 26, 2009
What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy - Paperback -

I probably shouldn't have been, but I admit I was surprised when I realized (about 20 or 30 pages in) that Gee wasn't going to be an apologist for video …

- Dec. 17, 2009
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon - Paperback -

Clearly I must have enjoyed Beyond the Blue Event Horizon considering I read it in about four days. It's interesting, though, because for the first couple days it really didn't …

- Dec. 8, 2009
Olive Kitteridge - Paperback -

I knew Olive Kitteridge was a pulitzer prize winner, so I was not surprised that I enjoyed reading the book. I was, however, immediately surprised that the first chapter didn't …

- Dec. 2, 2009
The River of Doubt - Hardcover -

I don't read a lot of nonfiction books, so when I received this as a gift over 18 months ago, I thought it sounded neat, but I had no driving …

- Nov. 26, 2009
Dune - Paperback -

This is actually the second time I've read Dune, the first being several years ago in college. While I still enjoyed it, I remember enjoying it more the first …

- Oct. 31, 2009
Grip of the Shadow Plague - Paperback -

Grip of the Shadow Plague shows yet again that Mull is able to write an entertaining, exciting, and imaginative tale for children and adults alike. While it still may not …

- Oct. 14, 2009
East of Eden - Paperback -

There are so many good things that can be said about East of Eden that it is hard to know where to start, so I'll start with something simple. This …

- Sept. 29, 2009
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information - Hardcover -

It would be easy to look at the title of this book, and the subject material, and to brush it off as a dry, niche subject that would only be …

- Sept. 10, 2009
The Fall of Hyperion - Paperback -

The two aspects I enjoyed the most in Hyperion are completely absent in the second book. First of all, instead of a series of short stories that, when combined, reveal …

- Sept. 5, 2009
Hyperion - Paperback -

Hyperion initially struck me as a dense, confusing book. Though this may sound like a complaint, it is actually a quality I appreciate in science fiction and fantasy books. Rather …

- Aug. 21, 2009
America America - Paperback -

America America is a beautifully written book that is full of insight, especially for someone who has just had a child and is often thinking about what being a father …

- Aug. 8, 2009
Rise of the Evening Star - Paperback -

There isn't much that can be said about Rise of the Evening Star that I didn't cover in my critique of Fablehaven. It is an exciting and fun book to …

- July 27, 2009
The Amber Spyglass - Paperback -

I read the first two books in this series soon after receiving them as a gift, nearly 2 years ago, so there were some things I may have forgotten between …

- July 24, 2009
Fablehaven - Paperback -

Fablehaven was an interesting book to read having just completed The Children of Hurin. While I enjoyed both, the contrast between the epic scope and the sense of doom prevalent …

- June 27, 2009
The Children of Hurin - Hardcover -

I've had Children of Hurin for over a year now, but was always afraid to actually read it. For some reason, I didn't think I would enjoy it as much …

- June 21, 2009
Kokoro - Paperback -

Kokoro, according to the foreword by the translator, is best translated as "the heart of things". In many ways, this seems fitting for this book. From the beginning, when the …

- June 5, 2009
The Last Olympian - Hardcover -

Rick Riordan has done it again, with another wildly entertaining Percy Jackson book. Even 5 books into the series, nothing has been lost. It still has the same great style …

- May 22, 2009
To Kill a Mockingbird - Paperback -

Somehow, I have never read To Kill a Mockingbird until now. Yet, so many of the characters (Atticus Finch and Boo Radley in particular) were familiar by name. This just …

- May 14, 2009
The Gift of the Jews - Paperback -

The first thing I want to say about Gift of the Jews is that I am not a historian. I feel it is worth mentioning this because I am in …

- April 20, 2009

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