Saturday Review of Books: February 21, 2008

“‘What shall I do with my books?’ was the question; and the answer ‘Read them’ sobered the questioner.
But if you cannot read them, at any rate handle them and, as it were, fondle them. Peer into them. Let them fall open where they will. Read on from the very first sentence that arrests the eye. Then turn to another. Make a voyage of discovery, taking soundings of uncharted seas. . . . Arrange them on your own plan, so that if you do not know what is in them, you at least know where they are. If they cannot be your friends, let them at any rate be your acquaintances. If they cannot enter the circle of your life, do not deny them at least a nod of recognition.”

~Winston Churchill

Welcome to this week’s Saturday Review of Books.

Here’s how it usually 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.

Thanks to everyone for participating.

1. Book Psmith (Bookends)
2. Biblauragraphy (Jellicoe Road)
3. Book Psmith (Ice in the Bedroom
4. Janet (The Irrational Season)
5. BOOKIE WOOGIE (How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird)
6. Kerrie (AREA 7, Matthew Reilly)
7. caribookscoops (Mufaro\’s Beautiful Daughters)
8. hollybookscoops (The Whirlwind)
9. caribookscoops (Nic Bishop Frogs)
10. Amy @ My Friend Amy (Tender Grace)
11. Amy @ My Friend Amy (Winter in Madrid)
12. Leah @ The Friendly Book Nook (Club Sandwich)
13. Carrie, RtK (Janet Halfmann picture books)
14. Carrie, RtK (Here\’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady)
15. Carrie, RtK (Don\’t Make Me Count to Three)
16. 5M4B (Jane Austen Ruined My Life)
17. 5M4B (Born Country)
18. 5M4B (Indignation)
19. 5M4B (The Velveteen Principles)
20. 5M4B (All I Need is Jesus and a Good Pair of Jeans)
21. 5M4B (The Mighty Queens of Freeville)
22. Kristi (The Spring of Candy Apples)
23. Maw Books (The Story of Ruby Bridges)
24. Maw Books (Everyone is Beautiful)
25. Maw Books (Matrimony)
26. Maw Books (Nic Bishop Frogs)
27. Tasses (The Help)
28. Framed (“Stand Back,” said the Elephant)
29. Framed (The Cruelest Month)
30. Word Lily (Snitch)
31. Petunia (The Mighty Queens of Freeville)
32. Margot (Mysterious Affair at Styles
33. pussreboots (Too Tall Alice)
34. pussreboots (The Savage)
35. pussreboots (Rapunzel\’s Revenge)
36. pussreboots (Q is for Quarry)
37. pussreboots (Pigeon Wants a Puppy)
38. Krakovianka (Crow Lake)
39. FleurFisher (The Elegance of the Hedgehog)
40. FleurFisher (The Castle of Wolfenbach)
41. FleurFisher (The Girl from the Chartreuse)
42. Farm Lane Books (The Lost Estate)
43. Farm Lane Books (The Hunger Games)
44. Farm Lane Books (The Ghost)
45. Farm Lane Books (The Bolter)
46. gautami tripathy (I Know This Much is True)
47. Violetcrush (Crossed Wires)
48. Kerrie- an interview with Hercule Poirot
49. Hope (Return from the River Kwai)
50. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (The Love Letters by Madeleine L\’Engle)
51. Deanna (Deerskin)
52. Nicola (The Valentine Cat)
53. Nicola (Fool)
54. CoversGirl (A Plague on Both Your Houses)
55. Nicola (Serenity: Those Left Behind)
56. Nicola (Wolves in the Wall)
57. Nicola (Saint Valentine)
58. Nicola (Devil Bones)
59. Nicola (The Life & Death of Spiders)
60. CoversGirl (The Sculptress)
61. Nicola (Toon Books)
62. Nicola (Pieces of My Heart: A Life)
63. Nicola (Rapunzel\’s Revenge)
64. melydia (Fermat\’s Last Theorem)
65. melydia (Invisible Man)
66. Kittling: Books (Drood)
67. Lynne (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society)
68. Lynne (Very Valentine)
69. Lynne (Conviction)
70. Stephanie (North of Beautiful)
71. Lynne (Plum Spooky)
72. Margaret (The Septembers of Shiraz)
73. SFP (Buddenbrooks)
74. MFS at Mental multivitamin (Your Child\’s Strengths)
75. PisecoMom (Body Surfing)
76. SmallWorld Reads (The Road)
77. SmallWorld Reads (The Bonesetter\’s Daughter)
78. Joy (The Hunger Games)
79. Amy@The Sleepy Reader( The Shape of Mercy)
80. (blacklin) The Ivy Tree
81. Presenting Lenore (The Poison Apples)
82. Presenting Lenore (North of Beautiful)
83. Books & Other Thoughts (Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics)
84. Books & Other Thoughts (Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire)
85. Books & Other Thoughts (The Riddle)
86. Books & Other Thoughts (Magic Bites)
87. Books & Other Thoughts (The Colour of Magic)
88. Books & Other Thoughts (Here Lies the Librarian)
89. Sarah M., LH (The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax)
90. Beth F (Old Man\’s Cave)
91. Beth F (Mouse Guard)
92. Beth F (More Home Cooking)
93. Shonda (Shoots to Kill)
94. My Two Blessings (The Book Thief)
95. My Two Blessings (A Ghost in the Machine)
96. My Two Blessings (Hercule Poirot\’s Christmas)
97. ChristineMM (Purge)
98. The Book Lady\’s Blog (Callisto)
99. My Cozy Book Nook (The Hour I First Believed)
100. Molly (The Monsters of Templeton)
101. Book Chatter (Things I Want My Daughters To Know)
102. Jew Wishes (Tightrope)
103. Girl Detective (Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe, v. 5)
104. Michele (The Book Thief)
105. Michele (Knit Two)
106. Lazygal (The Weight of Heaven; Thrity Umrigar)
107. Lazygal (You or Someone Like You; Chandler Burr)
108. Lazygal (Need; Carrie Jones)
109. Lazygal (The Moonflower Vine; Jetta Carleton)
110. Lazygal (TMI)
111. Amber (Uncommitment: Dealing with a Predator)
112. Memory (Nebula Awards Showcase 2004)
113. Memory (Watchmen)
114. Memory (Making the Perfect Pitch)
115. Memory (The Year\’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Seventeenth Annual Collection)
116. Mindy Withrow (The Red Leather Diary)
117. Mindy Withrow (Never Let Me Go)
118. Melissa Wiley (books read in Jan, several reviews)
119. Carol (Band of Brothers, Beyond B of B)
120. Captive Thoughts (Under a Wing)
121. S. Krishna (The Fire Gospel)
122. S. Krishna (School of Essential Ingredients)
123. S. Krishna (One True Theory of Love)
124. S. Krishna (Posed for Murder)
125. S. Krishna (The Last Mughal)
126. S. Krishna (Outliers)
127. Benjie (Coffeehouse Theology)
128. krin (In Fond Remembrance of Me)
129. krin (Invisible Monsters)
130. krin (Hush)
131. Becky (Punk Farm On Tour)
132. Becky (Banishment)
133. Becky (Young Person\’s Guide to Orchestra)
134. Becky (Mothstorm)
135. Becky (Skeleton Creek)
136. Becky (Two Shall Become One)
137. Becky (Dizzy)
138. Becky (Piano Starts Here)
139. Becky (Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumg)
140. Becky (Christianity in Crisis 21rst Century)
141. Becky (I Got Two Dogs)
142. Becky (Dance Recital)
143. Becky (Shake It Up Baby)
144. Becky (Love That Puppy)
145. Becky (Stuck in the Mud)
146. Marta\’s Meanderings (Fatal Friday)
147. Marta\’s Meanderings(When Evil Came…)
148. Marta\’s Meanderings(While My Sister Sleeps)
149. Marta\’s Meanderings(Undercover Alien)
150. Belinda (What the Dead Know-Audio)
151. Carey @ The Tome Traveller\’s Weblog (People of the Book)
152. Belinda (A Cup of Tea)
153. a lovely shore breeze (Lethal Legacy)
154. At Home With Books (The Angel Maker)
155. At Home With Books (The Art of Racing in the Rain)
156. At Home With Books (Silent in the Sanctuary)
157. Fate (The Kingdom of the Occult)
158. Fate (The Brief History of the Dead)
159. Serena (Secret Love Poems & Giveaway)
160. Diary of an Eccentric (The Suburban Dragon)
161. Diary of an Eccentric (Gold Dust on His Shirt)
162. Diary of an Eccentric (ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes, Year 1)
163. Diary of an Eccentric (Tomato Girl)
164. MTheads (Whittaker Chamber\’s: Witness
165. Amy Letinsky (Foreskin\’s Lament)

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12 thoughts on “Saturday Review of Books: February 21, 2008

  1. I love that quote! Thanks for continuing to do this. Wow, so many reviews so early in the morning (7:30 on the east coast!)

  2. I absolutely love the quote you selected by Winston Churchill. I think I should like to copy it and read it to my English classes at the end of the year – as a gentle reminder to continue reading throughout the summer, and throughout their lives.

  3. Good morning everyone! I followed up last week’s Story of Edgar Sawtelle with a fun graphic novel this week, and am in the middle of a novel about Hurricane Katrina, which I hope to finish for next week. Happy weekend and happy reading.

  4. This week I reviewed an odd memoir of sorts that was overall a little disappointing (The Red Leather Diary) and a spine-tingling thriller with theological implications (Never Let Me Go). Ah, the endless variety of books! Thanks for continuing to host this weekly symposium.

  5. Sherry, it has been a great reading week for me. I gave a talk on Children’s Literature and saw the lights turn on for three self-proclaimed non-readers. I’m giving them your Picture Book Preschool to get started. Reading Band of Brothers and Beyond Band of Brothers gave me a respite from Mein Kampf. I found some really fun-looking books on organization at the public library, and am intermittently reading an “economic romance” published by MIT.

    Do you have the source for the Churchill quote? I love it. Thanks!

  6. Hiya, I notice that if you have reviewed more than one book, it’s a bit difficult to add as the character limit is 80. Am I the only person with this problem? Sorry to whine as I think that this is a lovely idea.

  7. The Churchill quote comes from a book of essays called Thoughts and Adventures. The essay is called Hobbies.

  8. I’m new to this posting thing, and I messed up my book review post, something about limited space for the url. My apologies. I’ll try to figure it out! Enjoyed reading several of the reviews. Thanks

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