Review: The Austere Academy

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Favorite word definition: The waning light of the sunset--the word "waning" here means "dim, and making everything look extra-creepy"--made the shadow of the coach's turban look like a huge, deep hole.



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Review: The Miserable Mill

The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Favorite insight: It is much, much worse to receive bad news through the written word than by somebody simply telling you, and I'm sure you understand why. When somebody simply tells you bad news, you hear it once, and that's the end of it. But when bad news is written down, whether in a letter or a newspaper or on your arm in felt tip pen, each time you read it, you feel as if you are receiving the news again and again.



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Review: The Wide Window

The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Reviewer's Note: I will be making a general review at the end of this series, so as not to make the same comments about each installment over and over. Each "mini-review" will just contain my favorite insights, quotes or definitions. Or maybe a comment that couldn't wait for the overall wrap-up/review when I finish Book 13.

Favorite insight: "Stealing, of course, is a crime, and a very impolite thing to do. But like most impolite things, it is excusable under certain circumstances. Stealing is not excusable if, for instance, you are in a museum and you decide that a certain painting would look better in your house, and you simply grab the painting and take it there. But if you were a very, very hungry, and you had no way of obtaining money, it might be excusable to grab the painting, take it to your house, and eat it."



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Review: The Bad Beginning

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A children's book without the frou-frou. Saw the film first (a mish-mash of the first three books) and I enjoyed it thoroughly. While Jim Carrey as Count Olaf (and his alters) was criticized for his very comic turn in the film (vs. the serious and "scary" Count Olaf in the L. Snicket series), I enjoyed it nevertheless. And I'm happy to say that I was very entertained by The Bad Beginning as well.

Snicket's (yes we know it's Daniel Handler) grim narration of the Baudelaire children's travails, his long and darkly lyrical sentences, and his on-the-spot definition of mouthful-ly words are, ironically, a joy to read. Despite the book's sinister way of telling the Baudelaire story, I still find myself more scared of the Grimm Brothers' "fairy tales." Somehow, regardless of Snicket's repeated warnings that there will be no happy ending for the Baudelaires, you still see a ray of light every once in a page (and you feel in your gut that there will be something nice for them eventually).

L. Snicket says this is The Bad Beginning of the Unfortunate Events series. I think it's The Formidable First. Bring on the second one.



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Review: SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy

SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy by John Maddox Roberts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I enjoyed this second installment of J.M. Roberts' SPQR series. Though I was familiar with Catilina's character (the bearded suspects were no suspense for me anymore), there were a lot of very good parts in the novel; I had a good fill of history, witticisms, useful Latin adages, and plain clever humor (that made me laugh out loud a number of times).

The Catiline Conspiracy makes me look forward to the third book in this series, which is a great thing. It only means more of Ancient Rome for me.



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Review: Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There is an insight from The Perks of Being a Wallflower that I will paraphrase to describe what I thought of M. Pollan and M. Kalman's Food Rules: You know that something's very good when you are changed after reading it.



I can't say that it was only after reading this book that my entire outlook on food and health changed. Before this, there was D. Buettner's Blue Zones--an equally eye-opening achievement. As Blue Zones was thorough, Food Rules was concise. And I love (and was changed by) them both. However, Pollan's book came with a lovely lovely bonus--Maira Kalman's breathtaking, happiness-inducing paintings. It was like a yummy icing on a cake (which, according to Pollan's Rule No. 45, should be homemade, and Rule No. 79, should be eaten only on special occasions).



My only qualm was the lack of a bibliography or references page (so that I would know that the studies and the research quoted in the book were actually based on actual data). Yup, there was a smattering of footnotes, but I guess I was hoping that the author's assertions would be backed up by evidence (ah, the journalist/social scientist haha in me). But I will not deprive it of five stars just because of this.



And, then again, maybe the book was meant to be that way: to be as simple and as bite-sized as possible--so that readers would easily digest the book's interesting collection of info/truths/rules. And Pollan's easily understandable/applicable rules worked pleasantly well with Kalman's art: like a slice of chocolate cake and coffee (which, thanks to Rule No. 51, I now know I could enjoy in moderation as long as it comes from a plant and not a factory).







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Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Lovely, poignant book. Breezed through it (easy read), but took time to reflect on the protagonist's many reflections/quotable quotes (great thing). There were many lessons learned, and situations I could actually relate to. Themes of friendship, family, bullying, homosexuality, sex, gender, child abuse, relationships were explored.

I had struggled throughout The Perks of Being a Wallflower whether to give it four or five stars. I eventually settled for four, because I feel that I have encountered the book's format and heard the main character's voice before (They say The Catcher in the Rye, but I don't know. Maybe a cross between Catcher and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time?).

Other than that, this book is a must-read. And if you love 80s/90s music (The Smiths, etc.), then you would really appreciate it more. The Smiths' "Asleep" must have been mentioned three hundred times in Perks.



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