Who can resist the freckle-faced red headed girl? Full of fun:)
2. Good Grief, Third Grade by Colleen O'Shaughnessy McKenna ***
An accurate portrayal of third graders, I bought this when I was in elementary school and never got around to reading it. Cute, but I'm on to bigger and better things now (like Pippi Longstocking;) ).
3. The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotzwinkle ****
A gift from The Cheese, not my usual fare but fun and interesting nonetheless. Full of humor but also a social commentary.
4. Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night, Stories by Thisbe Nissen ****
Some are better than others; they seemed to get better the more I read. A good mix of characters and plots, everything feels fresh and original.
5. How Stella Got her Groove Back by Terri McMillan ***
Starts off very strong with witty dialogue and an easy to follow stream of conciousness, but by the midway point everything started to get tired and repetitive. The last 150 pages were fluff.
6. To Be Real, ed. Rebecca Walker *****
A most awesome collection of third wave feminist writings! Loved most, disagreed with a few, but if I agreed with everything I read what kind of an intellectual would I be? Diverse, thoughtful collection.
7. Quilting the Black Eyed Pea by Nikki Giovanni *****
I love Nikki. Another great collection of her poems and "not quite poems."
8. Women's Voices: Early Years at the University of Michigan by Doris E. Attaway and Marjorie Rabe Barritt ****
Kind of a slow read, but interesting oral history type tidbits.
9. Poems by Maya Angelou *
You've gotta respect Maya, she's a cool woman, but I just don't feel her poems. Not big on the rhyming stuff, it just doesn't do it for me.
10. Having Our Say by Sadie Delany and Bessie Delany with Amy Hill Hearth ****
Incredible women, not only because they lived to be 104 and 109, but also because of their wit, determination, and totally unique personalities. Strong sisters.
11. He Sleeps by Reginald McKnight **
I took an English class with him and he was one of the most interesting professors I had. Unfortunately, his book dragged and didn't make a lot of sense. I just didn't get the point. The ending had some redeeming qualities, but couldn't make up for the rest of the book. It's currently for sale on half.com if you want to buy it from me;)
12. The Reckoning by Randall Robinson *
I loved loved loved Robinson's first book, The Debt, which totally rocked my world and gave me a new perspective. It was like an updated version of Savage Inequalities. That said, I was incredibly disappointed with his new book. His use of language succeeded in making me feel inferior to his obvious intellect, and his focus on two characters did not bode well for the point he was trying to make. The longest chapter in the book, while interesting if used on its own, seemed out of place with the rest of the book.
13. Necessary Madness by Jenn Crowell*****
At first I was being overly critical about this book because it was written by a seventeen year old and received tons of positive critical acclaim when it came out in 1997. A lot of the words felt superfluous and like the author was trying to impress people, saying that even though she was young she knew lots of 50 cent words, and in other spots the dialogue felt very contrived. But despite my initial apprehensions and as much as I tried to be critical, this book was filled with very real characters, and the emotions encapsulated within the pages were incredible. I wanted to keep reading well beyond the final page.
14. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith*****
I think I am the charter member of my grandma's book club. This was a "Sarah you have to read this, I just know you'll love it" (skeptically, warily) "Okay, Gram..." (shudder). I don't usually read mysteries. I don't usually go for my grandma's fare (mysteries, murder, cheap romance) but I figured I'd humor her and give the book that's supposedly the hottest thing around right now a try. I read three chapters the first night and finished the book the second day. It was like Encyclopedia Brown for grow ups. It was funny, it was clever, it was sweet, it was uplifting. I learned about a different culture and I learned how to solve a mystery. And I learned it from a cool, calm and collected middle-aged single chick:)
15. The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom by Sadie and Bessie Delany with Amy Hill Hearth*
While I found their first book to be insightful, uplifting, and full of good old fashioned wisdom, this so-called wisdom book was basically a recap of the least interesting parts of their first book. Skip this add-on and stick with the real thing instead.
16. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith ***
The second in the four part series from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Not as enjoyable as the first. This book concentrated more on the various characters than on the main character (I would have liked more about her and less about the secondary characters) and focused much less heavily on the detective business, which was my favorite part about the last book. Still an interesting read, but not what I was expecting or hoping for.