Bluestalking: And the winner is ...

Meum cerebrum nocet

Graduate student (library studies), wife, mother, book reader and reviewer, amateur photographer and eternal pessimist. Welcome to my world, where two poles are better than no poles at all.

Prex Precis

All photographs and original writing on this website are the property of the blog owner, i.e., Lisa Guidarini. Please do not use content, copy photos, etc., without prior permission. But feel free to link to anything you wish. - Thank you

Why the alternate spelling of Bluestocking?

Bluestocking: a woman having literary or intellectual interests. I know the spelling is alternate, but it's because the standard spelling is already taken several times over. Now you know!

My Other Blogs

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Interviews with Bloggers

Currently Reading

Just Finished

Thomas Merton: Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton on the Vocation of Writing
Just too darn heavy. More formal, less info addressing the subject than I hoped. (**)
Melanie Gideon: The Slippery Year
She writes well, but the book doesn't really address the subject matter. Frustrating. (**)
Kevin Roose: The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University
A.J. Jacobs does this theme so much better. This book would make a better article/essay than a book. Too, too long and drawn out, but well-written. (***)
Kwei Quartey: Wife of the Gods: A Novel
Wonderful, wonderful! First in a series of detective stories set in Ghana. Atmospheric, gorgeous. (*****)
Andy Andrews: The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective.
Read for Amazon review. Two words: Vom. It. (*)
Evie Wyld: After the Fire, a Still Small Voice: A Novel
Gorgeous. Lyrical, atmospheric writing. Brilliant portrayal of PTSD and the horrors of war. (*****)
Sam Savage: The Cry of the Sloth
Self delusion has never been written so well. At least not that I've encountered. Andrew Whittaker is divorced, broke, and the self-styled editor of a journal called Soap. His life unravels until there's literally nothing left. (*****)
Jeannette Walls: Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel (True Life)
The story of Walls' grandmother, a huge personality and strong matriarch. The reader can see where Jeannette got her talent and persistence. (****)
Hakan Nesser: Mind's Eye: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery (Inspector Van Veeteren Mysteries)
Excellent, edge of your seat mystery with grumpy, seasoned inspector. (****)
Kathleen Norris: Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
Encouraging, deeply thought out read about depression, the creative life, and digging oneself out of the pit of despair. A bit repetitive, but a good read. (****)
Allison Hoover Bartlett: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession
Excellent, excellent! Insightful story about what turns a collector into a thief. (*****)
Hal Niedzviecki: The Peep Diaries: How We're Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors
Eye-popping. If you thought Big Brother was watching, you were right. But it's worse than you thought. (*****)
Ian McEwan: Amsterdam: A Novel
If you lopped off the last chapter or two it would be a pretty good book. Are we sure this was written by Ian McEwan? (**)
Sarah Waters: The Little Stranger
Yummers ... Love the gothic atmosphere. (****)
Francine Prose: Goldengrove: A Novel
Aherm. Well, let's begin this thing. The prose (pun not intended) is very good. Not great, but good. The story is a bit old and tired. The characters are well drawn, though also a bit stock. One child in a family dies, and their world crashes around them. It's been done better. (***)
Filip Florian: Little Fingers
I guess the word is ponderous. It starts out wonderfully, but then becomes so obscure it's difficult figuring out which end is up. A shame, as this author is decidedly talented. He has the ability. He just needs to realize he's not Garcia Marquez. (**)
Barbara Bradley Hagerty: Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality
Only gets stars because the writing style was quite good. The content, however, annoyed me to no end. (**)
Frans de Waal: Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved (Princeton Science Library)
Great stuff, plenty to think about. A very dense book, filled with questions and hypotheses re: innate morality, if it exists for humans and our closest ancestors, the apes. Too much to absorb in one read. (*****)
Alain De Botton: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
I'll save you the read, "Every job is made up of all sorts of little jobs you hardly ever think about, from the guy who designs the buildings to the dudes who make the toilets." There you go. (**)
Carolyn Wall: Sweeping Up Glass
And all-consuming read, complex without ever losing the tension. My only complaint, the action packed into the end of the book, and the somewhat improbability of the denouement. A writer to keep an eye on. (****)
Brian Williams: Tunnels (Tunnels Books)
My boys love this series! And I love seeing them addicted to any books. I enjoyed much of this novel. Yes, it has its iffy moments, but overall I think it's imaginative and well-written. (***)
Nick Laird: Glover's Mistake
About a generally good person who does a series of borderline bad things, acting out his low self-esteem in reaction to jealousy. Hard to put down. (****)
Howard Jacobson: The Act of Love: A Novel
One of the most despicable narrators you'll ever come across. A horrible, manipulative man, brilliantly drawn. (*****)
Julie Metz: Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal
After her husband's death, a woman finds out about the extent of his infidelities - so many it's hard to believe he had so much time on his hands, actually. (***)
Peter Manseau: Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World's Holy Dead
Educational and fun! Very intelligent, literate exploration of religious relics and what they mean to the faithful. (****)
Katherine Russell Rich: Dreaming in Hindi
Publication date July 2009: More a textbook on linguistics than a true memoir. It was tough not putting it aside. Could have been 100 pp. shorter. Review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2DEKYHFB735FW/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm (***)
Kate Morton: The Forgotten Garden: A Novel
Engrossing inter-generational tale that owes much to Burnett's a Secret Garden. Lots of twists and turns; hard to put down. (****)
Sofie Laguna: One Foot Wrong
Publication Date August 2009: A young girl held captive by her fundamentalist Christian parents slides into insanity. (****)