• /
  • /
  • Bite-Sized: Quick Reviews of My Recent Reads

Bite-Sized: Quick Reviews of My Recent Reads

January 16, 2013 — 8 Comments

I’m happy to participate in a new monthly link-up hosted by Anne Bogel:

twitterature monthly reading link up short reviews

If you are looking for some great books to read, but you don’t want to read super long book reviews, this link up is a great place. We are all providing short and quick Twitter-style book reviews from our most recent reads.

Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott: Expect the best of Anne, unfiltered, funny, quirky, profound. Not necessarily organized.

Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans: One of the best books I’ve read in awhile, and one of the most important. Eschet Chayil!

Reached by Ally Condie: My favorite of this YA trilogy. We get to hear from Xander. Questions answered. Mystery still present. Creativity seen as vital in society.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Egenides: Eugenides intended to revive the marriage plot with a modern spin. I liked his premise but felt no emotional investment in his characters.

Check out Anne’s post here and find links to the other participants before heading out to the library today!

In Fiction, Non-Fiction
permalink

Kelly Wiggains

Posts Facebook Google+

Kelly Wiggains, a high school English teacher turned homeschooling mom, likes to surround herself with good literature, beautiful things, and big ideas, and she wants her home to reflect those things, too. Here at KellyWiggains.com she talks about everything From Literature to Living.
  • http://myhometableau.com Johanna

    Love seeing what you’re reading. I am way too wordy to do this…I’ll work on it though. Maybe next month? ;)

  • http://gravatar.com/growinginhisglory Keri @ growinginhisglory

    I found you on Twitterature. Anne Lamott’s book is on my Goodreads shelf, but I’m very curious about Year of Biblical Womanhood. I’ve heard lots of mixed comments on it, particularly regarding the author’s interpretation of scripture. Now, I must invest in it! Thanks for sharing!

    Keri
    http://www.growinginhisglory.com

  • http://modernmrsdarcy.com Anne @ Modern Mrs Darcy

    Re: Anne Lamott and Rachel Held Evans: Yes and Yes! (Okay, I’m still waiting to read Help, Thanks, Wow–but that’s how I feel about it already.)

    I couldn’t agree more about The Marriage Plot. So much of it was done so well….and yet! I’d like to read Middlesex but haven’t yet.

    (Keri, I thought A Year of Biblical Womanhood was fantastic, and her tone was such that even dissenters could at least see she has a point. I was truly baffled by some of the nasty reviews I read.)

  • http://kellywiggains.wordpress.com kellywiggains

    Keri, I agree with Anne about A Year of Biblical Womanhood. Rachel approaches her experiences with grace, humor, and snark. But she approaches Scripture with humility and respect. I didn’t understand all the negative reviews either.

  • http://www.momscupofambition.com Jillian Kay

    Thanks for reminding me about a Year Of Biblical Womanhood. I’ve had it on my list for a while and keep forgetting to pick it up.

  • http://twitter.com/quirkybookworm Jessica Howard (@quirkybookworm)

    I’ve really never heard great things about Eugenides. Slightly mystified by his popularity – guess we can blame Oprah?

  • http://kellywiggains.wordpress.com kellywiggains

    @Jessica: You may be right. He’s a great writer, and there were passages of The Marriage Plot that I just loved. The book as a whole lacked connection. Ultimately, I didn’t like how he portrayed the main female character – she never listened to anyone; she had very few female friends, and she found the male *ahem* anatomy more interesting than most women I know. It just seemed unrealistic.

  • http://www.sarahronk.com Sarah Ronk

    Hi! Stopping by from the Twitterature link-up. I have A Year of Biblical Womanhood on my stack, excited to get started!