Netkata Interactive Interactive itibaren Purba Ariagaon, West Bengal, Hindistan itibaren Purba Ariagaon, West Bengal, Hindistan

I sang my way through this book, thanks to a seemingly endless listing of good tunage. The way the author wove lyrics into descriptions and memories was just fantastic. On the whole it's just well-written and left me with words to finally describe what I and so many millions of other people feel about the music we share with one another -- "When we die, we will turn into songs, and we will hear each other and remember each other." Given the title it's obviously a lovely mix of the bitter with the sweet, but by far the sweet wins out. (I mean, he totally had me at Gregory Abbott and some "Shake You Down," which charts a very specific lite-rockin' moment in time for me back then.) I never thought I'd miss a cassette tape, but this book brought back so many amazing memories of all my own tapes that have long since been discarded ... My favorite mix from this book is "the comfort zone" chapter, as I, too, loved me some Hi-Five -- and mad bonus points for including some Mint Condition "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)." That was completely my song, and probably still is ...

This is a great book for hiking. Lightweight but big words so you read it slowly. Unfortunately the suspense of the action leads you to rush through it which also means you miss what are, according the back jacket and I believe it, some excellent descriptive sections and impressionistic imagery. Instead what you get caught on is the weird, weird dialogue. Surely the women's manner of speaking especially is pure invention.

This collection of short stories, published in 2005, mixes the domestic with the magical, the ordinary with the surreal, etc. Often the premise of a story was more interesting to me than the execution. There are some very original ideas here--a pregnant border-crosser decides to carry the baby until she can give birth on American soil, so she ends up being pregnant for four years; a family traps and keeps salesmen in a pen for slaughter; female friends form a dangerous malice towards the mail-order bride of their male friend. However, the writing rarely stood out to me. At times, the stories bordered on whimsy or pretension, as the quirky premise was laid out and then kind of stagnated. I wanted more than just cute ideas! Still, I imagine some of these stories will stick with me--"Nadia," about the mail-order bride was chilling, and "Miracle," about a baby that comes out black but then turns white, was pretty affecting. Overall, though, I wanted more from the writing!

Sequel to The Wednesday Wars, this book has several levels of action throughout. Doug Swieteck (8th grade) and his family must move to a small town where his father has a new job. Adjusting to a new place, no friends, and a Saturday job for himself is a lot to handle. He stops in the library, open only on Saturdays, and is soon learning about art, as he protests that he doesn't like to draw. Add on his brother returning from Viet Nam, and his father continuing to be a jerk; but Doug is beginning to step into his own. Well-written, compelling story.