Kalliope

Spotted this on the bookshelf at the library and decided to take a look. Since it's a heavy book meant to be used as reference material, I didn't find it necessary to read each page. I just read the information that was most relevant for me. I think that this would be a neat addition to my bookshelf, as it contains quite a bit of information about ruling planets and the signs associated with them. I could see myself using this book to learn more about other people in my life. It is set up in a way that lets the reader go from chapter to chapter and find their birthday planet's corresponding sign. I found out a bit about my own personality reading about Venus, which happened to be in Gemini when I was born. I don't consider this book's information to be the “whole story” of my personality and soul, just as I don't consider any one element of esoterica to be the whole story. I consider ruling planets to be an equal-sized puzzle piece to be reflected on along with other pieces in one's birth chart. A picture cannot be seen by viewing only one puzzle piece; they have to be put together!

Obviously I'm not a teenager. However, I like to read anything I can about the Goddess and deity mythology from around the world. Luckily for me, this was not my first book about such topics. If it had been, it might have skewed my perspective for future reading. I think this is what many readers would refer to as a “fluffy bunny” book. That is, the book oversimplifies Pagan concepts and misrepresents them for presumably young readers. I enjoyed the mythology aspects of the book, as well as the strategies for incorporating these goddesses into one's practice. But the author tended to talk down to her audience. She also offers ridiculous spells: one for getting boys to kiss you, one for increasing your beauty, and even one called “How to Make Problems Magically Disappear.” Really? That's not what magick is! For young people who presumably have little grasp of magick, this isn't the kind of information they need at the surface level. There is some good advice in here for issues young girls deal with (self-esteem, body image, friendship). Why not just make a book about how to deal with these issues, rather than making the readers think they can magick away these issues instead of facing them?

This is a sweet, colorful, and genuine introduction for children to the concept of magic, as Pagans understand it. However, this is for very young children. I found myself wishing there was more to this book, but I'm a grown-up and I tend to read much longer books. It's very, very basic, but I loved the simplicity of the language. The illustrations were pretty, too. I'd be interested in reading the other two books in this series!

Uh...did I read the same book as everyone else? This has pretty stellar reviews on Goodreads, which made me really excited to open it. This was probably one of the books I was most looking forward to reading this year. It's a dystopian YA that features a world where black people (Crosses) are the ones in power, while white people (noughts) are heavily discriminated against and treated like dirt. We follow a Cross named Sephy and a nought named Callum who struggle with their relationship as the prejudice and violence mounts against noughts.

The biggest fault I had with this book was the writing. I REALLY didn't care for it. The plot really takes its twists and turns, yet reading these portions felt like more of a “recap” of the events rather than a detailed account of the events. The writing was often very bloodless and relied quite a bit on dialogue, which didn't help me connect to the world of the book much. The writing just generally felt very childish and way too simplistic for the subject matter. There was awkward humor interspersed in would-be serious moments.

I noticed that a lot of reviewers chalked the writing up to the fact that it's for teenagers, not adults. Anyone who has read even one YA book knows that it doesn't have to be dumbed down for children to understand. Noughts and Crosses dealt with some very important issues, like racism and what it's like to be a minority, but the writing was so awkward, rushed, and immature that it overshadowed any serious discussion or character development. I will not be continuing the series.

This was so fascinating. I'm not really one of those people who studies serial killers, but I do find them interesting to learn about–especially Aileen Wuornos. Like many of them, if she had been given a fairer chance starting out in her life, perhaps her legacy would have been a more constructive one. This book covers 11 years of Aileen's life in prison for the murder of six men (technically seven, but one of the bodies remains undiscovered). It covers all the tediousness and minutia of prison life, but often Aileen reminisces on her life and tells childhood stories. This was the reason I read the book. I wanted to hear her life experience. Who did she care about? What did she care about? What did she like? What did she dislike? Before long my questions got more specific. Why did she have such disdain for people of color? Why did she have such a hard time accepting her own homosexuality when she made frequent references to it in her letters? Why does she deny being abused as a child, when she was a frequent runaway from her home?
Before anyone asks, no, of course I don't applaud her actions. She was a murderer; she confessed herself that all seven men were killed in the first degree. But I cannot write her off because of this. I honestly feel sorry for her; in some ways I kind of like her as a person. Her life experience and character is fascinating to me, and I would recommend this book to anyone who shares my view.

I liked this better than The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tarot and Fortune Telling. The author's voice was more inviting and sincere. I really liked the fact that she used three different decks (not just the Rider Waite, which is still a deck I like) to illustrate meanings. It also went in detail about the artwork on each card, showing how the message was communicated through imagery.

I love these books so much! They're so easy, so effortless, yet memorable, full of heart, and funny in an earnest and nostalgic way. I have absolutely loved the 3 before this one, and I really enjoyed this one as well. However, if I had to rank them, this one would probably be at the bottom. Not for any dealbreaker-type reason. It's just that Mia is in peak neurotic form in this story, almost to the point that I wanted to shake her! But I still loved it and devoured it in a day. I was so excited to revisit Mia's world and bask in the perfection that is Michael Moscovitz. Also exciting to learn that Mia and I are both Tauruses!

Didn't finish. I didn't make it very far, simply because I have other books I want to read with more promise than this one. The only exciting thing about the book was the setting, which is very mysterious and enticing. The characters were all one-dimensional and the story didn't focus on one thing long enough to develop it interestingly. A story about dueling magicians in a mysterious circus has no excuse to be so boring. It's taken me a long time to pick up this book, which I've owned for over two years, and now I know why.

This started out as a heartbreaking look into a woman's life under Chairman Mao Tse-tung. Parts 1 and 2 were poignant, touching, and often very sad. Part 3 didn't quite have the same effect. In fact, I skimmed quite a bit in Part 3. I had a problem with the writing as well. Some of her passages were romantic and tearjerking, especially those dealing with her love for Yan. However, she doesn't use quotation marks, which made reading dialogue often confusing and awkward. I cried a couple times reading this book, and I think it will sit on my heart for a while. It could have been better written, though.

I'll start off by saying I was surprised and a little disappointed with how short the book was. Despite its bleak setting and its turn-away descriptions, I could have kept reading this book long after it ended. That's how gripping it was.

The entire time you're reading you know that Precious is going to be all right in the end. I don't attribute this to having already seen the movie. You just know. Rather than take away from the story, I think this adds to it. You want to see her get out all right and you want to know how.

I also liked how the book ended. It wasn't a Disney ending at all. It wasn't something where all the ends are neatly tied up and it sends you on your way. It ends at a nice, yet appropriately unresolved, place. I like endings like that. However, like I said, I could have kept reading.

Some people won't like this book because of the style. For me, it made the story that much more effective. The flow was natural and stream-of-consciousness, and I was able to fall right into the story and just keep turning pages.

I also feel this story works better as a book than a movie. The movie was well-acted for sure, but it felt very cheesy at times. The book never feels like that. However, I do think the movie is worth a watch, just for Monique's acting chops. Incredible.

I must admit I skipped a large portion of the poetry in this book. It didn't interest me, to be honest. I read all of Precious' poems, but I had no reason to read the ones written by her classmates. Why should I? They're not the focus of the story. You don't really care as much about their stories or their characters as you do Precious'.

This book is truly a warm cup of cocoa (or dare I say, a cup of raspberry cordial?) for the heart and mind. My inner nature-loving, romance-loving, country girl was beaming from ear to ear reading this. All the characters were so sweet and lovable, even the not-so-nice ones. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

I can see why this book is on so many favorites lists here on Goodreads! I really enjoyed this. Walls illustrates and expands her childhood world so broadly and fantastically that it indeed felt like fantasy. She wove the story of her childhood and adolescence like an adventure, when in reality it was stitched together with all the horrors of life–poverty, abuse, and unhealthy relationships. At times this book was very frustrating to read–not because of the writing style, but because of how horrific and sad the story was when it could have been anything else. Walls' parents were the most frustrating, yet fascinating, part of the story. They were larger-than-life in their selfish yet childlike and adventurous ways. They painted their experiences like a fairytale they were living in every moment, from petting a live cheetah to sitting hungry in a damp and freezing shack. Perhaps this is how they coped with the lives they led–making it a living story in the present. This is pretty much required reading for memoir lovers.