Reviews and Comments

𝔦𝔬𝔰𝔒𝔭π”₯𝔳𝔰 π”Ÿπ”¦π”Ÿπ”©π”¦π”¬π”±π”₯π”’π” π”žπ”―π”¦π”³π”°

bibliothecarivs@ramblingreaders.org

Joined 2Β years, 2Β months ago

Joseph N. Anderson (he/him) Β· ΒΉhusband Β²father Β³friend ⁴anglophile ⁡π”ͺπ”’π”‘π”¦π”žπ”’π”³π”žπ”©π”¦π”°π”± ⁢librarian ⁷humanist ⁸ecologist ⁹socialist ¹⁰ally ΒΉΒΉbibliophile ΒΉΒ²melophile ΒΉΒ³cinephile ¹⁴ovovegetarian ¹⁡fΓΊtbol fan, &c.

Shoshone-land / Utah, USA Β· bibliothecarivs.blogspot.com

I read an average of 22 books per year, about 2/3 nonfiction and 1/3 fiction. I'm also active on Litsy, LibraryThing, & Goodreads.

I rate books I read with the following system: β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… It was great β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜† It was good β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜†β˜† It was middling β˜…β˜…β˜†β˜†β˜† It was bad β˜…β˜†β˜†β˜†β˜† It was awful

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Brooke Gladstone: The Influencing Machine (2011) 4 stars

The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media is a nonfiction graphic novel by journalist …

The Influencing Machine by Gladstone & Neufeld

4 stars

Raised lots of interesting questions. Neufeld's art was good and sometimes unexpectedly clever and funny.

Robert Macfarlane, Edward Abbey: Desert Solitaire (2020, HarperCollins Publishers Limited) 4 stars

Desert Solitaire A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey

4 stars

First read in 2010. My wife Amy and I started the audiobook of this American nature classic last June while driving home from Moab, Utah, a place that is very special to us. Acknowledging Abbey's ableism, racism, sexism, and hypocrisy, one can't deny that he's a compelling writer. I wish all readers of this book could also read Robert Macfarlane's introduction. Now I must read Amy Irvine's critical response, 'Desert Cabal: A New Season in the Wilderness'.

Rainbow Rowell, Faith Erin Hicks: Pumpkinheads (Paperback, First Second) 5 stars

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked …

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks

5 stars

A simple story about friendship, place, and the excitement of young love in the autumn before adulthood.

#UniteAgainstBookBans and #LetUtahRead

Jude Piesse: The Ghost in the Garden (2021, Scribe Publications) 5 stars

The Ghost in the Garden by Jude Piesse

5 stars

I received a free copy of this book through LibraryThing in exchange for a review.

Piesse has written a wonderful, meandering exploration of the Darwin family, their childhood garden in Shrewsbury, her own journey into motherhood as an academic, garden labour and the people who do it, and the importance of place and the living world as we all face the crisis of global heating.

My family and I briefly visited Shrewsbury from the US in Oct 2016 so it was interesting to think of the author possibly being in the town and writing the book while we were there.

It was very strange to be reading two nonfiction books at the same time (this one and Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey) that include people killing rabbits by throwing stones.

Rebecca Solnit: Orwell’s Roses (Paperback, 2021, Granta) 4 stars

β€œIn the year 1936 a writer planted roses.” So begins Rebecca Solnit’s new book, a …

Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit

4 stars

🌹 My first Solnit. I love Orwell and I'm interested in all the topics covered so I would have given it five stars but something about the way she wrote caused me to have to reread often just to understand what she meant. I'm not sure why. 🌹