Saturday Review of Books: August 1, 2009

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”~Henry David Thoreau

“I’m all for reading bad books because I consider them to be a gateway drug. People who read bad books now may or may not read better books in the future. People who read nothing now will read nothing in the future.”~Ann Patchett, The Triumph of the Readers

Welcome to this week’s Saturday Review of Books. (I rather enjoy the dueling quotations, don’t you?)

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. Sandra (Molly Fox’s Birthday)
2. Sandra (Little Bee by Chris Cleave)
3. Heather J (The Horse Boy)
4. Heather J (The Last Queen)
5. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Carmen Agra Deedy books)
6. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Read Aloud Thursday picture books)
7. SmallWorld Reads (Funny in Farsi)
8. Page Turner (A Prayer for Owen Meany)
9. SuziQoregon (A World I Never Made)
10. SuziQoregon (Deadly Decisions)
11. Reading to Know (The Castle in the Attic)
12. Reading to Know (Just Do Something)
13. 5M4B (Things Left Unspoken)
14. 5M4B (Usbourne Story Collections)
15. 5M4B (When You Reach Me)
16. 5M4B (The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn)
17. 5M4B (The Precious Girls Club)
18. 5M4B (I Just Want My Kids to Be Happy)
19. Homespun Light (Hearts in Hiding)
20. Carrie K. (The Widow’s Season)
21. Miracle at Midway (Why Homeschool)
22. Pussreboots (Poor Puppy)
23. Pussreboots (Secret of Platform 13)
24. Pussreboots (The Egyptian Box)
25. Pussreboots (Ramona Quimby Age 8)
26. Pussreboots (The Glenn Miller Conspiracy)
27. Pussreboots (Cat and Mouse)
28. Seth H. (Pastwatch)
29. Seth H. (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
30. FleurFisher (The Swan in the Evening)
31. FleurFisher (The Doves of Venus)
32. FleurFisher (Almost Blue)
33. FleurFisher (Jenny Wren)
34. gautami tripathy (The Lost Book of Salem)
35. Lazygal (The Witch’s Guide to Cookign with Children)
36. Lazygal (Ash)
37. Shonda (The Late, Lamented Molly Marx)
38. Deanna//ibeeeg (One Deadly Sin)
39. Deanna//ibeeeg (Chronicles of Narnia: Books and Movies)
40. DebD (Iron and Silk)
41. Jolanthe {Love’s Pursuit ~ Siri Mitchell}
42. Janet @ Across the Page (Amusing Ourselves to Death)
43. Joy (The God of War)
44. Stephen (The Behaviour of Moths)
45. Hope (The American Flaggs by Kathleen Norris)
46. Diary of an Eccentric (A Hatful of Cherries)
47. Diary of an Eccentric (The Spies of Warsaw)
48. Shonda (LoveHampton)
49. Nymeth (Palimpsest)
50. Nymeth (a cool moonlight)
51. Nymeth (The Night Watch)
52. Nymeth (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase)
53. Nicola (a mercy)
54. Nicola (Where the Sidewalk Ends)
55. Nicola (Later, Gator)
56. Nicola (The Trail of Tears)
57. Nicola (Oryx and Crake)
58. Nicola (A Reliable Wife)
59. S. Mehrens, A Library is a Hospital for the Mind (Twenties Girl)
60. S. Mehrens, A Library is a Hospital for the Mind (Twilight)
61. melydia (The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter)
62. melydia (The Eight)
63. melydia (Everything Here is Mine)
64. melydia (The Ig Nobel Prizes)
65. melydia (The Kite Runner)
66. PapuaGirlinDallas (The Temple Bombing)
67. PapuaGirlinDallas (Gilead)
68. Sage (A Confederacy of Dunches)
69. jama’s alphabet soup (chicken dance)
70. jama’s alphabet soup (Food in the Secret Garden)
71. Ti (Book Chatter) Historic Photos of the Chinese in California
72. Carol (Willie and Dwike)
73. Darla D (Finger Lickin’ Fifteen)
74. Darla D (Closed for the Season)
75. Darla D (Courtney Crumrin’s Monstrous Holiday)
76. Darla D (Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception)
77. Darla D (Origin in Death)
78. Darla D (Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City)
79. Becky (Me and You)
80. Becky (Delicious Bug)
81. Becky (Max Spaniel: Dinosaur Hunter)
82. Becky (Binky the Space Cat)
83. Becky (100% Pure Fake)
84. Becky (Plight of the Darcy Brothers)
85. Becky (I, Lorelei)
86. Becky (Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians)
87. Becky (Offworld)
88. Becky (Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute)
89. Becky (Clara’s War)
90. Becky (The Importance of Wings)
91. Girl Detective (Infinite Jest, wk 6)
92. RedHatRob (Good Times Travel Agency)
93. RedHatRob (Reading Made Easy – Student Activity Books)
94. My Two Blessings (Black Hills)
95. My Two Blessings (Libri Multus)
96. My Two Blessings (Ice Blue)
97. teachergirl (River Secrets)
98. teachergirl (The Hunger Games)
99. Kathy (Bermudaonion’s Weblog)
100. Kathy (Bermudaonion’s Weblog)
101. Shonda (Just Listen)
102. Amber (Ravens)
103. Amber (The Castaways)
104. ChristineMM (Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual)
105. ChristineMM (Style Naturally)
106. ChristineMM (The Gift of an Ordinary Day)
107. Shonda (City Dog)
108. Amber (Dead Men’s Boots)
109. Tea (Guardian by Julius Lester)
110. Petunia (The Walking People)
111. Petunia (Home)
112. VioletCrush (Going too far – Jennifer Echols)
113. Girl Detective (Infinite Jest, wk 6)
114. Amber (The Chris Farley Show)
115. Shonda (I Can See You)

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6 thoughts on “Saturday Review of Books: August 1, 2009

  1. I’ve put up my first review in about a month. Its been a slow summer for reviewing books. Thanks for doing this!

  2. Thanks for another Saturday Review, Sherry.

    When I read the quotes I nodded, of course, at the Thoreau. But in reality I’m trying to read all the books I don’t think I will keep to get them off my shelves. In other words, the B list. For every three or four of those I read one I know I’ll keep. My best book so far this year is Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope. Reviewing it will take some time…

    Today’s link is actually a *preview* instead of a review. I love all the dippings I’ve taken from this book and shared some quotes on chords and music from William Zinsser.

    Happy Saturday!

  3. I really like the Patchett quote, and would be that many readers here could name “bad” books they read as children that still helped them become the readers they are today. Also, I find reading the occasional “bad” book helps me recognize and celebrate the good ones!

    I’m about halfway through Infinite Jest, so my link is not a review, rather an essay on the experience of reading it, and reading it in a group, of which many don’t care for it.

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