Category Archives: Year

Messenger, by Lois Lowry

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Thistle

This is the third book in the loosely-related trilogy including The Giver and Gathering Blue. It is more of a sequel to Gathering Blue, but ties The Giver in and answers all the questions I had at the end of … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Children's, Prose | Tagged | 1 Comment

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Thistle

This book is about two women, Miriam and Laila, who are married to the same abusive man, Rasheed, in Kabul. The two women are about twenty years apart in age, and the book explores their lives prior to, during, and … Continue reading →

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Sky Burial, by Xinran

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Thistle

This book was surprisingly captivating, interesting, and fast. I began to read it last night, and within an hour, I’d gone through the first quarter. The book is sort of a memoir-in-proxy. Xinran is a journalist, and in 1994 met … Continue reading →

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Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Thistle

In summer of 2007, while visiting my brother in Chicago for his graduation, my dad told me that each time he traveled, he read this book. My dad’s a meticulous sort of person, just like the main character here, Phineas … Continue reading →

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The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Thistle

Minor spoilers. Rather than post a plot summary of this book, I’d rather take you through my thoughts about the story as I went along. This book blew all my expectations out of the water, simply put. I expected to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Specials, by Scott Westerfeld

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Thistle

Humanity is a cancer, and we are the cure. –Dr. Cable of Special Circumstances I’ve thought for a long time how I can write this review without spoilers, and I’m sorry, I don’t think I can. So if you’re planning … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Three Incestuous Sisters, by Audrey Niffenegger

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Thistle

Spoilers. Honestly, I’m having a difficult time considering this a true book. It’s supposed to be a graphic novel, but it reminds me of an adult-level picture book, with huge pictures on one page, and small bits of text opposite. … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Visual | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Thistle

Pretties is the second in the Uglies trilogy. In this book, Tally has finally become pretty, and is struggling to fit into the pretty world. She has everything she wants, but can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right. That … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, 2010, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Ella Minnow Pea, by Mark Dunn

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Thistle

[For ease of reading this book review, every instance of the word “letter” will refer to notes people write to each other, and “character” will mean a letter of the alphabet. I won’t use the word “letter” to refer to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Thistle

Between ADHD, dyslexia, and a pretty defiant attitude, Percy Jackson has always had problems in school. In fact, he can’t make it more than a year in any single school. But in sixth grade, his problems get worse when mythological … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Children's, Prose | Tagged , | 4 Comments