Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...Again

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure how many times I've read through this series, but this time through I noticed so many more subtle details that hint at what is to come in the seventh book. I really cannot get enough of these characters and this imaginary world that Rowling so deftly created. Already into the seventh, and I just finished the sixth this morning. That's how good these books are. Happy reading--

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School in Paris by Kathleen Flinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was delicious. Though I'll never cook the recipes Flinn mastered at Le Cordon Bleu (French wine and aspic aren't my things), I loved getting lost in her world of perfect mise en place and sharpened knives. I daydream at least once every few days about packing up and moving to Europe, so this was a perfect escape.

Now if only Julie as in "Julie and Julia" had been this likeable....

Happy reading and happy eating~

ps. I devoured this book in two days. It was so good I brought it to school to read during downtime. Like I said, delicious.

Notes from a Blue Bike

Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World by Tsh Oxenreider
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I stumbled upon Tsh's writing through other bloggers and podcasters. I love her simple approach to life and her candor at her attempts of living more intentionally. I read a fair amount of this style of book that is neither an actual self-help book or memoir, but still is a reflective recollection of experiences and the lessons the writer took away from those experiences. Tsh is the type of woman you hope moves in next door. I really like her as a person, and so I'm willing to go on a quiet journey through a few years of her existence as a parents, wife, writer, and person.

I feel like this review reads like the literary equivalent of valium, but this book was in fact, calming and insightful. I felt better about the world after reading it and more eager to go out and create the kind of life I want...rather than waiting for it to come to me.

As always, happy reading and good luck living a more intentional life.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...Again

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While the fifth iteration of Harry is a bit too angry for my liking, I do love this book. Definitely one of my very favorites of the series. The ending as I've said before is epic. I needed a couple hours with this book today. Perfect start to my weekend. On to the next....

Happy reading--

Sourdough

Sourdough by Robin Sloan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A book whose title shares its name with one of my favorite foods and is based in the Bay Area has so much going for it already. I love when authors use local knowledge to create a more authentic setting, and Sloan, though not a San Francisco native, understands the Bay and the thriving, albeit bizarre, tech industry that drive much of our local economy....

I loved the beginning of this book. I loved Lois and how she fell in love with her takeout dinner place. I loved her discovery of baking bread and how it fed her in so many ways. But then the book got a little weird. Sloan likes intricate puzzles, mysteries, and the idea of breaking the status quo. And I felt like the story lost a bit of its heart in the overly complicated plot twists through the second half.

I'm not sorry to have read this book. I love books that center around food and the people who make it. Perhaps it all goes back to my capstone English course in college that centered on food and folklore, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you really, really love food, you read a lot, and/or you liked Sloan's first book.

Happy reading and happy, happy sourdough eating--

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...Again

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ironic that I finished this book almost two years to the day that I finished it on my last read through of the series. I love these books, though like I said a couple years ago - there's much too much rehashing of previous stories' details. The characterization is remarkable, especially as you look at the nuance Rowling creates of what good and evil looks like. It's not nearly as black and white as I believed when I was younger. Love that Rowling challenges assumptions as she tells her stories. Already into the next one as I write this. Can't help myself. Happy reading--

Maus I

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

February 5, 2018
I am more and more impressed with Spiegelman's Maus each time I study its pages. He embedded so many symbols and details as he told his father's story. So well done. Glad I got a little time to reread at least this first volume alongside my students.

June 21, 2014
Every once in a while a book comes along and does something no book has done before. Maus is like that for me. Perhaps it's because it's only my second graphic novel. Or perhaps it's because I had low expectations because I didn't expect a book told in graphic form could illicit the type of emotion that comes from prose. Either way, Spielgman's Maus tells a story of the Holocaust in a way that is relatable and poignant. The choice to make the Jews mice and the Nazis cats while also choosing to have story be delivered in a narrative from a father to a son made it eerily like a horrifying bedtime story - the type where you are hoping there is a happy ending that is coming rather than a perpetual unfolding of despair and tragedy. Alas, there are no happy endings when millions were killed simply for clinging to faith or for being born with characteristics they had no control over. This is storytelling at its finest.