Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Brief Book Review: We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook

We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook: A Mom and Daughter Dish about the Food That Delights Them and the Love That Binds ThemWe Laugh, We Cry, We Cook: A Mom and Daughter Dish about the Food That Delights Them and the Love That Binds Them by Becky Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this glimpse into a mother-daughter relationship and the food that defines it. I also found the daughter's "conversion" to veganism very interesting. If I had a physical copy of the book I would likely try out a few of the recipes that appear at the end of each chapter. An enjoyable, hunger-inducing read.

* I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Monday, June 17, 2013

Book Review: Unveiling Grace

Unveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way Out of the Mormon ChurchUnveiling Grace: The Story of How We Found Our Way Out of the Mormon Church by Lynn K Wilder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fascinating look at the Mormon church and an inspiring account of how God worked in the lives of the Wilder family. Having been active members of the Mormon church for over 30 years (Lynn Wilder was even a professor at Brigham Young University), it took many events, big and small, to open their eyes to the true Gospel. One of the Wilder sons took it upon himself to actually read through the New Testament, and, one by one, the other members of the family followed, noting all the inconsistencies between the Bible and the Mormon scriptures, and subsequently leaving all that they knew to follow the Biblical Jesus. I am encouraged by their story to spend more time in the Bible, because it is "living and active." A very helpful appendix notes many of the contradictions between Mormon doctrine and Christianity.

* I received a free egalley of this book from the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Brief Book Review: Rose Under Fire

Rose Under FireRose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having overdosed on Holocaust literature as a teenager, I was somewhat reluctant to read Wein's latest, a (fictional) Ravensbruck survivor account, even though I thought _Code Name Verity_ was amazing. (As an adult, it seems that such atrocities are harder for me to handle than they were when I was an adolescent.) However, I need not have worried -- Wein is more than capable of taking an old (though important) subject and making it fresh and new through the eyes of 18-year-old Rose, an American, a poet, and a volunteer who ends up in a concentration camp toward the end of the year. The prose and poetry is beautiful, the story harrowing, and the ending uplifting. I am grateful I got to read this.

*I received an egalley from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Brief Book Review: Raising Henry

Raising Henry: A Memoir of Motherhood, Disability, and DiscoveryRaising Henry: A Memoir of Motherhood, Disability, and Discovery by Rachel Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting but a little dry for a "memoir." I suppose the fact that the author is a professor and the book is published by a university press should have prepared me, but I wasn't expecting so much exposition on the author's past research (which was on "freaks," so I can't say it was exactly boring), and her current work in disability studies. A lot of the "memoir" part of her son's first three years was about his therapies and education; I didn't get a real feel for her emotions and feelings about Henry himself, only about his education, his opportunities, his future, and how others perceived him. I also didn't get much of a sense of her relationship with her husband or her older son. Perhaps what this book needs is a different subtitle.

* I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Brief Book Review: Better to Wish (Family Tree, #1)

Better to Wish (Family Tree #1)Better to Wish by Ann M. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This first in a quartet of stories about different generations of the same family begins with Abby, growing up in the 30s. A rather short book intended for middle-graders, it begins when Abby is eight and ends when she is eighteen, so there is a lot that happens offstage between chapters. For a middle-grade book, there is also a lot of tragedy and some rather weighty issues (prejudice, depression, the institutionalization of a disabled sibling, and two significant deaths), but there are also a lot of lighter moments and interesting historical details. The book ends on an abrupt cliffhanger, an event that always annoys me, but I do plan to read the next in the series, so perhaps the desired result was achieved.

*The publisher provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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