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Elizabeth's Books
Love is the Best Medicine by Nick Trout
46 min 52 sec ago. It's a shame Love Is the Best Medicine: What Two Dogs Taught One Veterinarian about Hope, Humility, and Everyday Miracles has such a treacly title, because it offers some fascinating insights into the world of veterinary medicine. Nick Trout, a veterinary surgeon, is at his best when describing the nerve-racking minutes when a beloved pet is under the knife. It's filled with great factoids. Who knew that rabbits are so tricky to operate on because it's hard to trach them (all those teeth, little mouth) and they have irregular heartbeats?
-->Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 17:05As I've mentioned previously, I've decided to try to make 2010 a year of more books from different genres, including young adult novels, which led me to Vegan Virgin Valentine .
-->The Big Rewind by Nathan Rabin
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 13:20I picked up The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You by Pop Culture after hearing an interview with Nathan Rabin last summer on NPR. In the interview, he came across as a pop-culture-loving, geeky meek soul that I could relate to, or at least be friends with in an alternate universe.
-->The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 11:08There's been criticism on both side of Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - it's either too pro-Hmong/Lia Lee's family or too pro-doctor. I've always believed that if neither side of a story is entirely happy with your article or book, then you've done something right.
-->Next Stop Reloville by Peter T. Kilborn
Mon, 03/01/2010 - 11:19After reading several positive reviews, I hunted down Next Stop, Reloville: Life Inside America's New Rootless Professional Class . The book is well-written and researched. It provides an interesting look at the "relo" lifestyle of many Americans, and Kilborn hammers home his thesis of the negative impact on communities like Alpharetta, Georgia.
-->Close Relations by Susan Isaacs
Tue, 02/23/2010 - 13:53My mom and I discovered Susan Isaacs a few years when I picked up Any Place I Hang My Hat: A Novel , which we both read and liked. After that, I eagerly picked up After All These Years: A Novel and Past Perfect: A Novel , and thought they were fresh, fun, and a literary step above your average "chick lit" novel.
Then I started going to Isaacs earlier work, reading Compromising Positions and now Close Relations . And I am befuddled.
-->Amazing Grace by Megan Shull
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 19:25While I slog through a book about business and housing, I decided to take a break and spend an evening reading Amazing Grace . I'm trying to read more young adult fiction to get a sense of what's out there.
I suppose you could do worse than read, or have your teen read, Amazing Grace . The heroine, 15-year-old Grace Kincaid, starts the story by leaving behind her stellar tennis career and celebrity status to live undercover as a regular girl in Alaska. (It's all very Hannah Montana meets Northern Exposure).
-->The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Sat, 02/13/2010 - 17:54My father went out and bought The Help for me just because he had enjoyed reading it so much. (I think he had already lent his copy to someone, and yes, my father is awesome and a big patron of my book habit.)
-->Laughing Without an Accent by Firoozeh Dumas
Sat, 02/13/2010 - 17:36A smooth continuation from Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America , Dumas continues to write charming essays on life as an Iranian-American. Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of a Global Citizen tackles more of her adult life, from choosing to take the television out of the house and the effects of that on her children, to dealing with a mother-in-law who seems like she's out of a Grimm fairy tale.
-->Born Round by Frank Bruni
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 16:56Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater is an engaging memoir about the life of former New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, largely focused around his relationship to food. From his Italian family pushing seconds and then criticizing his weight, to his unhealthy stabs at extreme weight loss, Bruni never delves too far into psychobabble regarding food and body image. Yet he delivers a compelling look at the emotional connection to food.
-->A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 17:01It turns out that A Reliable Wife was the perfect book to read this week. Why, you ask? It's because it takes place in 1907 Wisconsin, which is remarkably similar to Baltimore 2010, currently suffering from Snowpocalypse: The Threequel.
-->A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 11:16A Perfectly Good Family: A Novel (P.S.) has the dubious honor of being the first book of 2010 that I hated.
What's sad about that is I am a big fan of Lionel Shriver - I thought We Need to Talk About Kevin: A Novel (P.S.) and The Post-Birthday World were both great; well-written with an element of mystery that made them both "can't put down" reads.
The premise of A Perfectly Good Family: A Novel (P.S.) is simple: following the death of their parents, three children have to decide whether to sell their childhood home. In order to keep it, two would have to buy the third out.
-->Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 18:32I don't think I would have picked up Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America without it being a book club selection, but I found it delightful, if a bit light. Dumas recounts her childhood in Iran and America with amusing anecdotes and a distinct voice.
While Dumas skates over deeper political topics or analysis, she also is astute when pointing out the difference in how her family was treated after the Iranian hostage crisis or how she went by the name "Julie" for a period of time.
-->Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 20:34I was really worried about reading and reviewing Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust . I was concerned that if I didn't like it, armies of Chris Brogan's devoted followers would hunt me down, even if there are maybe five readers of this blog at the moment.
-->Expecting Adam by Martha Beck
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 20:02So let's start with the easy part - Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic movingly encapsulates what a Harvard doctoral student went through when she discovered she was pregnant with a child with Down's Syndrome. Martha Beck writes in a brisk style and includes powerful anecdotes about the reaction of her students and family members. She delves into deep questions about intellect, spirituality, and values.
-->The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 19:32Compared to The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible and The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World , this collection of essays is a lot lighter, both in scope and length. It's like a primer into the world of A.J. Jacobs, and you will have likely some of these essays elsewhere, such as "My Outsourced Life." That said, many of the essays are incredibly funny, and Jacobs continues to be the eccentric neighbor you wish you had. It's a good place to start with his work, but get this book from the library if you've read the other two.
-->This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
Mon, 02/01/2010 - 17:39Apart from the fact that This Is Where I Leave You is wonderful, which it is, it also was the only thing that made a 5-hour flight to Phoenix bearable, since it was one of those times where I was trapped next to an obese man and the person in front of you put her seat back. And there were unhappy dogs. Suffice to say that I read Tropper's latest in a contortionist-like position.
-->You're Wearing That?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation by Deborah Tannen
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 18:21Here's how a conversation with my mother went after I finished reading You're Wearing That?: Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation .
"So it turns out that Tannen talks about the Big Three that mothers and daughters fight about: hair, clothes and weight."
"Oh," my mother said. "I thought one of those would be nails."
And thus I looked down at my nails and thought "yeah, she's right, I really do need a manicure."
-->The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 18:12A.J. Jacobs joins the line of those on a year-long quest in The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible . But this one resonated far more with me than, say, a year without shopping or trying to cook all of Julia Child's recipes.
-->Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick
Sun, 01/31/2010 - 17:17I love everything about Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading . I love Lizzie Skurnick's style of writing; I love that a publisher let her write about teen classics we never stopped reading; I love that there are also essays by Jennifer Weiner, Meg Cabot, and Laura Lippman.
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