Saturday Review of Books: December 13, 2008

“As a former English major, I am a sitting duck for Gift Books, and in the past few years I’ve gotten Dickens, Thackeray, Smollet, Richardson, Emerson, Keats, Boswell and the Brontes, all of them Great, none of them ever read by me, all of them now on a shelf, looking at me and making me feel guilty.”
~Garrison Keillor

And guilty is what you should feel, Mr. Keillor. Dickens, Thackeray and Bronte, at least, are not to be missed.

Welcome to this week’s Saturday Review of Books.
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Here’s how it works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime this week of a book you’re reading or a book you’ve read. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can just write your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Now post a link here to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

1. Semicolon (Billy)
2. Laura (The Private Patient)
3. Laura (First Person Rural)
4. Laura (Jayber Crow)
5. Laura (The Sugar Queen)
6. Laura (44 Scotland Street)
7. Laura (The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday)
8. At A Hen\’s Pace (3 picture books for big kids)
9. Carrie, RtK (The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe)
10. Carrie, RtK (Prince Caspian)
11. Carrie, RtK (Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
12. 5M4B (Wodehouse books)
13. 5M4B (The Hour I First Believed)
14. 5M4B (Prepare Your Heart for Christmas)
15. 5M4B (Cooking with Trader Joe\’s)
16. Page Turner (The 19th Wife)
17. 5M4B (The Tail of Emily Windsnap)
18. Captive Thoughts (Three Cups of Tea)
19. Captive Thoughts (A Thousand Splendid Suns)
20. Carrie, RtK (Book recommendations)
21. Fate (Skulduggery Pleasant)
22. Carrie K. (Blindspot)
23. Carrie K. (Passion of Artemisia)
24. Bonnie (Kristin Lavransdatter, Pt. 3)
25. Bonnie (Great Expectations)
26. Marg (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)
27. gautami tripathy (Sarah\’s Key)
28. Alessandra (The Tin Princess)
29. Alessandra (The Other Boleyn Girl)
30. Farm Lane Books (The Monsters of Templeton)
31. Farm Lane Books (The Halo Effect)
32. The Thinking Mother (The Moon Shines Down)
33. The Thinking Mother (Txtng the gr8 db8)
34. The Thinking Mother (Predators)
35. The Thinking Mother (Jay McGraw\’s Life Strategies for Dealing with Bullies-short
36. The Thinking Mother (long review: Jay McGraw\’s Life Strategies for Dealing with
37. The Thinking Mother (Wild Things)
38. Jane-Much Ado (Digging to America)
39. Hope (Death Comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cather)
40. MFS (On the nightstand)
41. MFS (Talent Is Overrated)
42. Bookie Woogie (Shark and Lobster\’s Amazing Undersea Adventure)
43. Josette (The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie)
44. Josette (Eclipse)
45. Janet (The Princess and Curdie)
46. Shonda (The Gift)
47. Shonda (Frenemies)
48. Beth F (This Rock)
49. Nicole (The Uncommon Reader)
50. Nicole (Perfect on Paper)
51. Nicole (The Reluctant Widow)
52. Rachel (The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory)
53. Literarily (Shades of Gray)
54. SmallWorld Reads (Twilight)
55. SmallWorld Reads (The Echo Maker)
56. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (read alouds for the week)
57. blacklin(Shakespeare\’s Landlord)
58. Endnotes (Songs for the Missing)
59. Carol (Whitefoot)
60. BermudaOnion (Cross Country)
61. Joy (The American Journey of Barack Obama)
62. Word Lily (Dakota)
63. Word Lily (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince))
64. Girl Detective (Superpowers)
65. Word Lily (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows))
66. She is Too Fond of Books (Mother, You\’re the Best!)
67. She is Too Fond of Books (What Went Right Today)
68. She is Too Fond of Books (Holidays on Ice)
69. She is Too Fond of Books (The Green Beauty Guide)
70. SuziQoregon (Smoked)
71. Jama (Gingerbread Friends)
72. Alphabet Soup (Literary Cookbooks, Part One)
73. Alphabet Soup (Literary Cookbooks, Part Two)
74. Joanne (A Tale Out Of Luck)
75. Joanne (Just After Sunset)
76. Joanne (Thou Shalt Not Whine)
77. Sarah, LH (Christmas At Fairacre)
78. Joanne (Cole Family Christmas)
79. At Home With Books (That Went Well)
80. At Home With Books (Blindspot)
81. S. Krishna (Five Things I Can\’t Live Without)
82. S. Krishna (The 19th Wife)
83. S. Krishna (The Last Oracle)
84. Luanne
85. S. Krishna (The Yoga Teacher)
86. S. Krishna (Holidays on Ice)
87. Luanne ( The Customer is Always Wrong)
88. Ms. Bookish (Santa Clawed)
89. Amber (The Soul Of A Chef: The Journey Towards Perfection)
90. Lightheaded (Queen of Babble)
91. Lightheaded (Home to Big Stone Gap)
92. Reader\’s Respite (Dead Until Dark)
93. Lightheaded (The Bromeliad)
94. Mindy Withrow (When We Were Romans)
95. Kevin Stilley (Some of My Favorite Books)
96. Becky (They Called Me Red)
97. Becky (The Opposite of Invisible)
98. Becky (Engaging Father Christmas)
99. Becky (Sovay)
100. Becky (The Last Exit to Normal)
101. Becky (Prom Kings and Drama Queens)
102. Becky (Charity Girl)
103. Becky (Feathered)
104. Becky (Freefall)
105. Becky (Dear Miss Breed)
106. Becky (Keeping Holiday)
107. Becky (Christmas on Deery Street)
108. Becky (While Shepherds Watched)
109. Becky (Christmas Jars)
110. Becky (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever)
111. Becky (Deck the Halls)
112. Becky (Priscilla and the Great Santa Search)
113. Becky (Tonight You are My BAby)
114. Becky (Where Are My Christmas Presents)
115. Becky (The Mystery)
116. Becky (Before John Was a Jazz Giant)
117. Becky (M is for Mischief)
118. Becky (Everywhere the Cow Says Moo)
119. Alessandra (The Tales of Beedle the Bard)
120. Sally (Lulie the Iceberg)
121. Just One More Book! Children\’s Book Podcast (Sleeping Dragons All Around)
122. Sandra (Who By Fire)
123. Memory (Tales of Beedle the Bard)
124. Memory (Astonishing X-Men: Unstoppable)
125. Memory (The Pirates\’ Pact)
126. Memory (The Pirate King)
127. Green Christmas
128. Melissa (The Girl Who Could Fly)
129. Kristi (The Christmas Edition)
130. Kristi (Drinkwater)
131. Petunia (Sarah\’s Key)
132. Petunia (The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox)
133. Books & Other Thoughts (The Dragonfly Pool)
134. Books & Other Thoughts (The Goose Girl)
135. Books & Other Thoughts (Chalice)
136. Books & Other Thoughts (Swallowing Darkness)
137. Books & Other Thoughts (Yotsuba&!, Vol. 2)
138. Leslie (6th Covenant & Called Out of Darkness)
139. Laura (What Happens When Women Say Yes to God)
140. Teddy ( The American Journey of Barack Obama )
141. Teddy (Islands of Divine Music)
142. Books & Other Thoughts (The Thirteenth Tale)
143. Afterthoughts (Geography of Nowhere/Death by Suburb)
144. Wendi\’s Book Corner (Hannah Grace)
145. Wendi\’s Book Corner (It\’s Your Call)
146. Wendi\’s Book Corner (Your Best Life Begins Each Morning)
147. Wendi\’s Book Corner (Santa Responds)
148. Wendi\’s Book Corner (Hitler and Mars Bars)
149. pussreboots (Cowboy Feng\’s Space Bar and Grille)
150. pussreboots (Martian Chroicles)
151. pussreboots (New Writer\’s Handbook)
152. pussreboots (Margarettown)
153. pussreboots (Jim the Boy)
154. melydia (If Chins Could Kill)
155. Hermie\’s Mom (Man in the Dark)
156. Serena (Green Beauty Guide)
157. Serena (Owen Fiddler)
158. Carey @ The Tome Traveller\’s Weblog (Faro\’s Daughter)
159. Carey @ The Tome Traveller\’s Weblog (Heir to Sevenwaters)
160. Carey @ The Tome Traveller\’s Weblog (The Devil Can Wait)
161. Carol (The Strength of a Sparrow)
162. Carol (Brave New World)
163. Carol\’s Notebook (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever)
164. Diary of an Eccentric (The Inheritance of Exile: Stories from South Philly)
165. Diary of an Eccentric (Hitler and Mars Bars)

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14 thoughts on “Saturday Review of Books: December 13, 2008

  1. Wow! what a waste of good literature! His own books steadily declined (I think) after Lake Wobegon Days. He should pick up and read those classics he’s been given!

  2. That quote made me laugh and I couldn’t agree with you more! Great photo also! Thanks for hosting.

  3. Hi Sherry!
    Two things:
    1. I accidentally forgot to mention the nature of my post in my first attempt at leaving a link, so please delete it if you wish.
    2. I linked to my Read Aloud Thursdays post. I hope you don’t mind. Please let me know if you do and I’ll never, ever do it again. : ) I love your Saturday Review way too much to get banned from it! : )

  4. Sherry, you find the best quotes EVER. GK on the classics! Thank you for hosting SRB. I reviewed Wendell Berry’s children’s book which was just published this week. It’s a jewel!

  5. It’s not the unread classics sitting on the bookshelf that make me feel guilty. It’s all the unread books more than 6 months old.

  6. Thanks for hosting – I always try to visit a handful of the reviews and add links to them on mine if I’ve reviewed them too.

    I added 5 this week.

    🙂 Wendi

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