Tag Archives: favorite

Readathon: French Milk, by Lucy Knisley

Posted on April 10, 2010 by Thistle

Quick Summary: This is a memoir/diary/travelogue of the month Lucy Knisley and her mother spent in Paris. They rented an apartment and spent a month seeing the sights, eating French food, and generally getting to know themselves better. It’s also … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Adult, Visual | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Readathon: The Magician’s Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo

Posted on April 10, 2010 by Thistle

Quick summary: A young boy seeks answers when a fortune teller comes to town. She tells him he must follow the elephant to find his sister. The boy thinks she can’t be right – there are no elephants in his … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Children's, Prose | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick

Posted on April 3, 2010 by Thistle

Hugo Cabret lives alone in a busy Paris train station. The year is 1931. Hugo must keep the clocks running so no one discovers that his uncle, the Timekeeper, has disappeared. He must also forage and sometimes steal in order … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Children's, Visual | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Germinal, by Émile Zola

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Thistle

Germinal is about a poor mining town in mid-1800s France. As the economy gets worse and worse, the miners begin to starve to death under unfair pay schedules. They have no protection from labor laws, and go on strike under … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by JK Rowling

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Thistle

The Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my two favorite HP books, along with the Half-Blood Prince. I never get tired of it, no matter how many times I read it. This is Rowling at her best, in writing, in … Continue reading →

Posted in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, Children's, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Liar, by Justine Larbalestier

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Thistle

There will be absolutely no spoilers, not even a hint of them, in this review. Micah is a liar. Nothing she says can be trusted. And yet she swears that she didn’t kill her boyfriend Zach. She had nothing to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Red Tree, by Shaun Tan

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Thistle

Fair warning – I want to discuss what this book means to me, which means I will talk about everything, including the end. While the book is more about the journey and less about what happens, if you don’t want … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Children's, Visual | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Painted Veil, by William Somerset Maugham

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Thistle

I’m reviewing this book together with my good friend Karen of Books and Chocolate. Amanda: Hi Karen! Thanks for buddy-reviewing with me! I think I want to start out by talking about William Somerset Maugham. I first read one of … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Thistle

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a classic coming of age story set around the turn of the century in immigrant-heavy Brooklyn. It’s so much more than a coming of age story, though. This is the third time I’ve read … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Housekeeper and the Professor, by Yoko Ogawa

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Thistle

The Professor was once a brilliant mathematician, but an accident in 1975 left his short-term memory damaged. While he is able to clearly remember events prior to the accident, his memories since then are limited to the past 80 minutes. … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments