The Book Blawg

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God, by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald.

This is sort of the anti-feminist manifesto. I found the book inspiring, but didn't really give me anything new. The back of the book says, "Do you wrestle with cultural messages that demean the homemaker's calling and exalt instead the emotionally androgynous power-woman?" Um, no, not really. I'm pretty secure in my role as a lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mom.

The Autism Answer Book: More Than 300 of the Top Questions Parents Ask, by William Stillman.

The ADD & ADHD Answer Book: Professional Answers to 275 of the Top Questions Parents Ask, by Susan Ashley, Ph.D.

I found both these books to be too general to be of much use. In addition, they are written from a very mainstream perspective, and ignore or only briefly mention alternative therapies and even dietary changes which have been helpful to so many people.

Disclaimer: I received complimentary review copies of these books.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters.

Jessie Kunhardt at Huffington Post summarizes the monster mash-up craze (" 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' Spin-Offs are Out of Control!").

I enjoyed Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, but not as much as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or its prequel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls. I just couldn't get past the fact that no rational society, when faced with giant malevolent sea creatures, would willingly choose to live near the ocean, on islands, or in a giant undersea city. What, there's no place to live inland? Also, I love, love, love, the movie version of Sense and Sensibility - the one with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, and Hugh Grant. It's a rare instance of my liking a movie more than the book, and I don't like where the book deviates from the plot of the movie. You know, Alan Rickman is pretty hunky and I don't like him made ugly, whether by Austen's writing or by squid-like tentacles.

The Milk-Free Kitchen: Living Well Without Dairy Products, by Beth Kidder.

I have been trying to eat dairy-free lately, due to my son's eczema, and I thought this book would help. However I was a bit disappointed when I looked for a dessert recipe - most involve substituting margarine for butter. First, I don't want to eat margarine, either. And second, if I did I wouldn't need a recipe book to make those substitutions.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, by Ree Drummond.

After reading quite a bit of buzz about The Pioneer Woman on my friends' blogs, I decided to check it out for myself. This book is beautiful to look at, fun to read, and full of meat-and-potatoes recipes (and a few others, too). A winner all around.

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte.

Wuthering Heights is supposed to be one of the classics of English literature, but after reading it, I can't see what all the fuss is about. All of the characters are immoral if not downright evil. In tragic fiction one often finds a hero/heroine with a fatal flaw, or a sympathetic villain. Heathcliff has been wronged, but he takes revenge on the guilty and the innocent alike. Cathy has few qualities that would make Heathcliff or Edgar Linton love her. It will be interesting to watch a movie version of the book, and see how these characters are portrayed.