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M.C. W. (merrytranslator) - Reviews

1 to 20 of 69 - Page:
The ABC's of Model Railroading
Review Date: 3/20/2011


my family built an awesome train set using this book and one other I have listed now. The info about scenery and layout was esp. helpful.


Addictive Thinking, Second Edition : Understanding Self-Deception
Review Date: 3/20/2011


Helpful! "Addictive thought is inherently sef-deceptive, yet offers a superfielcial logic that can be misleading to the addict as well a to the addict's family members."


The American Limerick Book
The American Limerick Book
Author: Hugh Oliver, Keith Macmillan
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 3/20/2011


Clever and risque limericks, state by state, and some for the whole U.S. Pretty much fun!


Atonement
Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 899
Review Date: 4/7/2009


I read this book for a bookclub 2 or 3 years ago and I still find myself thinking about it. It is a wonderful, complex story and a great read.


The Bean Trees
The Bean Trees
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 532
Review Date: 4/15/2009


I loved this book which I read years ago. The protagonist is a spunky young woman, who discovers all sorts of things about herself and the world when she leaves her home in Appalachia. There are descriptions and situations and people who still pop up in my memory after all these years.


Bee Season
Bee Season
Author: Myla Goldberg
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 340
Review Date: 5/18/2012


I really enjoyed this book about a young girl, her drive to be loved, and her strange family.


Best Dog Stories
Best Dog Stories
Author: Lesley O'Mara (Editor)
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 8
Review Date: 1/2/2009
Helpful Score: 2


A wonderful collection of stories by well-known authors including James Herriot, Rudyard Kipling, Albert Payson Terhune, O. Henry, Jack London, and Virginia Woolf, among others. I loved Terhune's dog stories as a pre-teen, and now (in my well... maturity) I have enjoyed reading them again! Our best friends, with all their antics and loyalty.


The Bestiary:  A Book of Beasts
The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts
Author: T.H. White
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 12/29/2008


This translation by T. H. White, author of the Arthurian legend, The Once and Future King, includes all sorts of facts and beliefs about all sorts of animals--real and imaginary. Bees, dolphins, dogs, camels, eagles, ducks, weasels, unicorns, hydra. It is both a reference work about natural history and a valuable resource showing how these beliefs have been reflected in literature over the ages. The format of one entry per animal makes it easy to pick up the book and spend a few enjoyable and stimulating minutes learning about, horses, for example, in an entry which includes the source of the name equi, the animal's temperament, the horses of Alexander the Great and Julius Ceaser, which color the ancients considered best, and information about the "love charm" with which foals are born....


Blackbird House
Blackbird House
Author: Alice Hoffman
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 140
Review Date: 6/6/2009


I enjoyed this book, which focuses on the lives of different people (mostly women) who lived in one New England house over a hundred years or so.


The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories
Review Date: 1/2/2009
Helpful Score: 3


A collection of stories, fables, fiction, drama by well-known authors (like Aesop, Dickens, Tolstoy, Shakespeare) about how to live. Sections on self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perserverence, honesty, loyalty, faith. 818 pp. This is not a book you'll read cover to cover, but any particular piece you read will reward you--and your children--well. Bennett collected these specifically to help children understand and develop character and my husband and I enjoyed reading these with our sons.


Brave Companions: Portraits in History
Brave Companions: Portraits in History
Author: David McCullough
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 31
Review Date: 3/20/2011


I enjoyed this. History wasn't like this in school!


Bread Givers
Bread Givers
Author: Anzia Yezierska
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 25
Review Date: 2/24/2009
Helpful Score: 1


As the granddaughter of Eastern European immigrants and the daughter of an intelligent woman with drive who broke away to get a college education in 1933, I found this story gave me a deeper understanding of both my mother and my roots. My family was not Jewish and did not live in New York, but there's so much here in the immigrants' struggle that transcends those details. In fact, there's plenty in Sara Smolinsky's refusal to bow to her father's demands and in her struggle to reconcile her dreams with her fears that transcends the even the immigrant experience and offers universal appeal.


Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
Author: Annie Proulx
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 112
Review Date: 2/21/2009
Helpful Score: 2


I read this because I love Annie Proulx's writing and because a local private school was going to teach it in English class which created a furor that made me curious. It is a beautiful story that spans the life of two men (in about 50 pages!!) I'm 60 and was surprised after reading it to find that I would not want to teach it in a high school English class, nor would I want an adolescent son or daughter to discuss it in a high school English class, not because of the homosexuality but because of the sexuality which is such an integral part of the story. In my opinion, the beauty of fiction is that it can be read and digested privately and there is plenty here to digest long after you finish the book. I highly recommend it.


Bruiser: A Novel
Bruiser: A Novel
Author: Ian Chorao
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4.5/5 Stars.
 3
Review Date: 7/18/2009


I don't know why this listing says The Book of Genesis is similar. It has NOTHING in common with Bruiser and is a SNAFU I don't know how to fix. Bruiser is a powerful story of a young boy's coming of age in an urban family that has problems of its own. The boy "Bruiser", who is not a tough fight-picking kid like the name might suggest, tells the story with a voice both sensitive and childlike. I found myself really liking him and caring about him as he and his young friend Darla escape the city and their unhappy homes in search of.... well.... you have to read it. I assure you, you'll be glad you met Bruiser and you won't forget him or his story. It's unschmaltzy innocence will stick with you.


CAE LA Noche Tropical (Biblioteca breve)
CAE LA Noche Tropical (Biblioteca breve)
Author: Manuel Puig
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 3/20/2011


Interesante pareja de viejitas, con sus recuerdos y sus impresiones del mundo actual (no siempre pesimistas).


Caramelo (Bestseller Internacional)
Caramelo (Bestseller Internacional)
Author: Sandra Cisneros
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 5/18/2012


This particular version of the book is in Spanish. I loved it!


The Chosen (Reuven Malther, Bk 1)
The Chosen (Reuven Malther, Bk 1)
Author: Chaim Potok
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 230
Review Date: 2/11/2012


I found this book really interesting, and touching.


A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 12/29/2008


This is a BOOK. The description the system offered seems to refer to an audio recording, but the ISBNs match. Pamela Kennedy has rewritten Dickens' timeless story of greed and regeneration in a way very accessible to children, especially when paired with Russ Flint's bright and colorful illustrations.


Confessions of Max Tivoli
Confessions of Max Tivoli
Author: Andrew Sean Greer
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 6/30/2009


I loved this book, set in San Francisco at the turn of the century. Max Tivoli is a character I won't soon forget. An amazingly inventive novel, very lyrical. I want to see the movie "Benjamin Button" which is based on this novel, but I can't believe it can match the book!


Cosmo's Aqua Kama Sutra : 25 Sex Positions for the Tub, Shower, Pool, and More
Review Date: 4/18/2009


This book has 25 positions for sex around water, illustrated with stylized drawings. Positions with names like Sea Horse, Beach Ball Booty, Hot Tub Hug, Rock His Boat, Sexy Sprinkler and Stairway to Heaven. By the Editors of Cosmopolitan, it's a fun book for couples to promote a little play.


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