Category: Friday Fifteen

Friday Fifteen

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Happy Friday, everyone! What better way to end the week than with some fifteen-word book reviews:

1. Friends by Helme Heine
I used to love this book, especially the rooster’s rainbow tail.

2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Just as cute and fun as everyone said. Can I study abroad in Paris?

3. Barefoot Contessa, How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten
The ones I’ve tried turned out well. Apparently Ina likes her Bolognese spicy—woohoo!

4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The most depressing Steinbeck book. And he wrote about dead puppies.

5. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Not my favorite, but I like how Fanny holds it together amidst so much crazy.

Friday Fifteen

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So. It’s been the Week of Suck to end all Weeks of Suck. And here in Boston we’re currently still waiting for an end to an intense manhunt that’s been going on nearly 24 hours. But the Boston community is holding strong, so this week’s Friday Fifteen is dedicated to Boston-area writers.

1. Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Great writing, but I’m more of an indoor girl.

2. Choosing a Jewish Life: A Handbook for People Converting to Judaism and for Their Family and Friends by Anita Diamant
Warm and inclusive look at conversion. Read for novel research; very interesting on its own.

3. The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin
How to win friends and influence people with tasty veg.

4. The Devils Arithmatic by Jane Yolen
Pretty sure I read this, but totally forgot the “time travel” and am questioning myself.

5. Drown by Junot Diaz
Read in a contemporary novel class; one of the few I really remember.

Thanks to everyone for the support and love this week! Bostonians and non-Bostonians alike, we are going to get through this.

Friday Fifteen

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Let’s kick Friday off with this week’s fifteen-word book reviews:

97800605723411. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
“Sick” was my favorite. I think I looked at the illustrations more than the poems.

2. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
The ultimate novel about academia. Which says it all for me.

3. Felicity Saves the Day (American Girls: Felicity #3) by Valerie Tripp
No, Ben, you can’t fight in the Revolutionary War because you already have a job!

4. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Sci-fi YA takes on Frankenstein. Really dug it, but felt complete; why’s there a sequel?

5. The Bad Beginning (The Series of Unfortunate Events #1) by Lemony Snicket
I liked that the Baudelaires never solved problems easily. Lots of literary fun sprinkled throughout.

Friday Fifteen

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Hey guys, it’s finally Friday! Time for some book reviews in fifteen words or less.

1. Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale, Nathan Hale, and Dean Hale
A fun wild-west take on the fairy tale. Can see this working for reluctant readers.

2. Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan
At thirteen I had mixed feelings about this feminist-cult book; felt very dated.

3. Faulkner in the University ed. Frederick L. Gwynn, introduction by Douglas Day
Read The Sound and the Fury, matriculating at UVA. Of course I snatched this up.

4. Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
Or “How to Host a Dinner Party Without Having to Cook.” Our 2nd grade play.

5. The Older Boy (Sweet Valley #15) by Francine Pascal
You’re sixteen and think a sixth grader looks like an average high school girl? Riiiight.

Friday Fifteen

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Happy Friday, everyone! Can you believe it’s the end of March? This month was kind of a whirlwind for me, so I’m glad to see April on its way. Let’s round out the month with some good ol’ fashioned fifteen-word book reviews.

97814197016891. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Expected to love this one (evil geniuses! fairies!) but couldn’t connect with the characters/world.

2. Chief O’Neill’s Sketchy Recollections of an Eventful Life in Chicago by Francis O’Neill, ed. Ellen Skerrett and Mary Lesch
Memoir by a policeman in early 1900s Chicago, who then documented Irish folk music.

3. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
Great rhyming early reader; but even in first grade I wondered what it all meant.

4. Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
Doyle does MG? Awesome! Sweet and touching road trip/ghost story with four generations of women.

5. Once Upon a Time (Childcraft: the How and Why Library #4) by World Book-Childcraft International
Mostly nursery rhymes and folk tales, but a solid primer for young reader Annie.

Friday Fifteen

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Happy Friday, everyone! Let’s kick off the weekend with some good ol’ fashioned fifteen-word book reviews.

382721. Lidia’s Italy in America by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali
Great recipes and glimpses into Italian-American communities. Can’t wait to try the Shrimp Fra Diavalo.

2. Ming Lo Moves the Mountain by Arnold Lobel
Fun folktale about changing perspectives. I used to pull this out all the time.

3. Happy Birthday, Molly! (American Girls: Molly #4) by Valerie Tripp
I learned about the Blitz during WWII from this book.

4. Speaking With the Angel ed. Nick Hornby
Short story collection with some great writers. Features my favorite work by Dave Eggers.

5. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Didn’t connect with me like I wanted. Probably read too close to quirky Weetzie Bat.

Friday Fifteen

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What a crazy week! A Veronica Mars movie, a new pope, Pi Day, the Ides of March, the announced end of Google Reader, a day above 50 degrees–I can’t handle this kind of intensity. Fortunately, we can always count on the Friday Fifteen. This week in fifteen-word book reviews:

1. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
I was new when we read this in fifth grade. Needed an Egypt Game group.

2. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Read years after The Giver, initially didn’t know they were connected. Better that way.

3. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
Best use of music in a book ever. Funny and sharp and thrilling, Barrytown-style.

4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
In the town of Chewandswallow, global warming means a tomato tornado. All that vitamin C!

5. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Watched the Little Prince TV show growing up. Shocked to find the book was different.

Friday Fifteen

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It’s a gross Friday in these parts, but it’s also a certain playwright Walt McGough’s birthday, which makes the day infinitely better. To celebrate, today’s Friday Fifteen is all about plays. Here we go!

1. Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring
First play I read. We acted it out in sixth grade. I was Agatha.

2. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
I spent the entire play hating Willie Loman and waiting for him to die.

3. The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Inspired a YA short story adaptation. Also “Those are pearls that were his eyes”—awesomeness.

4. How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel
What I imagine Lolita would feel like from Lolita’s point of view.

5. Wit by Margaret Edson
Stunning depiction of a prickly Donne scholar with cancer. Edson’s first play–the mind boggles.

Friday Fifteen

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Welcome to March, everybody! They say March comes in like a lion, so let’s start the month with some lion-related books:

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Tell me you didn’t open your closet and hope you’d find Narnia.

2. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness #3) by Tamora Pierce
My least favorite of the series; she’s away from the main cast for so long.

3. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Gorgeous take on Aesop’s fable. Try telling me children’s illustrations aren’t fine art.

4. Lionboy by Zizou Corder
Got this for free at the midnight release of Harry Potter #6. Didn’t grab me.

5. The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
Here’s betting your family isn’t as messed up as Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine’s.

Friday Fifteen

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Happy Friday, everybody! Somehow it’s already the last Friday in February. Half the time I feel like February will never end, and the other half I feel like it’s over before I know it. To celebrate February’s status as the shortest month of the year, let’s round out the Friday Fifteen with some short story collections:

1. The Complete Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway
My ideal Hemingway is served in small doses. “Hills Like White Elephants” is great, though.

2. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger
A must for Glass family fans, especially if you’ve read “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”

3. Selected Stories by Alice Munro
Munro is excellent, but mostly I remember the intense author photo on my library copy.

4. The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block
Cool Block-style spins on classic fairy tales, including lesser-known favorites like “Snow White and Rose Red.”

5. Best American Non-Requied Reading 2002 ed. Dave Egger and Michael Cart
My first foray into Best American. Would be curious to go back to this one.