Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Villette by Charlotte Brontë
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved it but I'm traumatized by the feeling that Charlotte Bronte does not like Lucy Snow. In contrast, I love Lucy Snow with all her little stiff curmudgeonly ways. So what does that say about me? And what does that say about whether I would like Charlotte Bronte, that I side with her fictional antihero over her?

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The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this story, just loved the magic and the sorrow and the hope-- it's strangely very 2020 despite being written some years ago. Beautiful writing about love. I recommend it for adults and children alike. And high praise- the story reminds me a bit of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series.

But (I am so harsh but) so much of the story depended on the old- no one told anyone anything trope.

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Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

While Gladwell makes some interesting points and connections which deserve attention and action particularly in policing, I think he has too much sympathy for the devil in general. There is no mention for example of how police feel they deserve complete respect or to what extent they feel comfortable abusing their (basically unlimited power). Furthermore, there is no discussion about how racism, both conscious and subconscious, causes white people to expect complete respect from black people, even when they have no cause to expect or merit such perfect and high respect. And the deadly consequences of both such mindsets especially in combination. Trying to explain the Sandra Bland tragedy without more than an allusion to those issues is completely unbalanced.

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The Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Markovits

The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite by Daniel Markovits
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting perspective. I would recommend reading "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World" by Anand Giridharadas first because it's a related threat to democracy and, in my opinion, a better book. But this has a lot of value as well if you have the time to read it. Spoiler alert: you might not have time to read it if you're in the group of elite currently being devoured by over-work.

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The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was tough getting into it because there were a lot of characters introduced in the first few pages, but once I got past the first few chapters it was a lovely story. The characters are unique and reasonably well-developed for a kid's book, and the story involved everything from following the rules, being polite, and kids recognizing that the adults are also complicated people.

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Cottontail Rabbits by Christina Leighton

Cottontail Rabbits by Christina Leighton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is very difficult to get but short and informative. I read it because James is doing a report in his 4th-grade class.

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The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Took me nearly 4 months to get through it because it is so long. It's a good quarantine read as the main characters are themselves in a bit of a quarantine bubble. There are a hundred stories of varying quality, but some of them were cheerful and bawdy. The tenth day of stories was a bit of a bummer though as things got even more misogynistic and cruel towards the end, especially with the husband that tortured the wife for years and is presented as wise for doing so.

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The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first 70 percent or so was well-written, thoughtful, and enjoyable, but then it jumped the shark into ridiculous thriller territory and I lost all interest. I finished the book but didn’t ultimately like it that much. I only gave it 3 stars because I think that if someone were specifically looking for a thriller they might enjoy this.

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The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a good introduction to systemic racism in America as it exists currently. While it does discuss politics it very evenhandedly explains the forces that have led both the right and the left to contribute to the broken system. It's not a complete history nor does it cover all the relevant legal concepts that contribute to the system but it's a strong and persuasive introduction. It's also excruciatingly sad.

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The End of Everything by Katie Mack

The End of Everything by Katie Mack
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall, I enjoyed this book though it was a bit uneven- slow and somewhat difficult in parts and very engaging in other parts . At times it felt like more of a philosophy book which is something I particularly enjoyed. Definitely not a good place to start if you haven't read layman physics books before. (I'd recommend starting with Brian Green and Stephen Hawkins.) But this is a nice addition of you have a general understanding of the basics.

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Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison

Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

On the one hand, yes, (1) I see all her social justice points. Very well done. (2) I agree with the culture being a diet-culture complete mess. (3) I agree it helps the diet industry. (4) I agree it's a life-thief. I'm definitely glad I read the book.

On the other hand, (1) I'm not 100% convinced about the health benefits or drawbacks to her position. Even if I take her point that the research is unclear, well, it's still unclear. When I was pregnant with my first child I was very heavy and that was no fun at all. It was tough going up the stairs. I don't relish ever returning to that number on the scale because it had consequences even though I was "healthy" because my body was doing what it was supposed to be doing- growing a human life and building up fat to feed the baby. (2) My personal experience with long periods of intuitive eating is that I just gain and gain weight and never plateau. I don't think I'm alone in this. (3) My only periods of weight maintenance have been while I am dieting. And my current diet doesn't benefit the diet industry because while I don't deny myself any foods I do try to eat more fruits and veggies and eat in a certain time frame. It doesn't cost more money because eating less food and less food at restaurants is costing me less money. Finally, (4) let's not pretend that her position doesn't benefit the food industry. As a former employee of the food industry, this is the exact kind of book they would love to champion. For an obvious example, soda is trash food. Sure you can have it as an occasional treat; nothing really needs to be off the menu. But if you're having soda every day, I promise you that's harming your health. There are a million studies about this.

Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1HI1...

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Deadly Companions by Dorothy H. Crawford

Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped Our History by Dorothy H. Crawford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good overview of all the big pandemics plus a bonus chapter about the potato blight in Ireland. This would be a good first book if you’re interested in this topic but if you’ve already read some on this topic you won’t find anything enlightening or entertaining in this one.

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The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack

The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Because my book tastes have been adapting to the ridiculous number of books I consume, these days I'm surprised whenever I like a book that isn't literary. I liked it! It was fun! It was decently written! There were no ridiculous plot holes! It's even a book that might continue to interest me in a reread. This is a good start from Womack.

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