This book is a little evangelical and cutesy, but the recipes and strategies for non-toxic, non-commercial home cleaning are sound. A good starting point!

My first reaction to this book is a strong desire to have read it before having seen the movie. But not being in possession of a time machine, instead I had the experience of landmarking the pitons the screenplay was hung on.

Ultimately, though, I think the novel was vastly superior in its nuance and moral ambiguity. One of the things that most irked me about the movie of Children of Men was the cliche, America-centric view of those who’d been banished, that sea of brown skin where people were violent and evil.

This happened in the book too, it’s true, though it was a tangential aspect, and more attention paid to the causes than the results.

And the part where pets really had become substitute children… on the whole far more creepy and thoughtful.

Read this one!

Accordion Crimes was not so much a novel as a series of loosely interconnected vignettes. And even within the vignettes it was entirely possible the point of view could slip, and you’d be suddenly looking through the eyes of a different character with just the change of a paragraph.

And really, to be frank, none of the situations or characters held the charm, wit, and detail that made The Shipping News such a delightful read.

I don’t think I’d recommend this one…

So so so pretty and fun! I need to cook from it soon!

Bizarre and amazing. What is it about? Does it matter? Does water? Do we?

This was a re-read. The books get less interesting as Adrian gets older, but it’s a pleasure to hang out with such a lovably hapless misfit.

Wow! This was really engaging to watch. Creepy, riveting, the whole nine yards. I was very pleasantly surprised.

I think I need to buy this one. Not so much for the sausage section, because I’m not so much on the sausage making (eating yes!) but to do all the lovely, lovely curing and smoking.

What a lovely book for the hard core carnivore.

This was a pleasant and quick read with a sort-of chaotic and fun plot. Not much meat to it, but that little glimmer of madness makes the caper stick a little bit more than it might otherwise.

This book is weird. And not very good. And about Elian Gonzales and Cuban refugees and … what? WHAT? It’s weird.