Review: Good Wives

 

Good Wives:

Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750

By Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

I didn’t finish this but I’m writing a review to say good things about what I did read. It was so very well researched and you could tell that a scholar knew her stuff and presented it winningly. She personalized history and dry dull fact in a charming way and made you really be interested in what was going on in the lives and minds of those women of long ago.

I quit reading (although I skimmed for the juicy bits) about halfway. It was simply not a subject that I had more than a passing interest in, sorry. But if you do, read this for sure! You won't be disappointed.

Review: What to Eat Now

What to Eat Now:

The Indispensable Guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters

By Marion Nestle

Wow. This is a lot of information. But all good and well-researched and sometimes horrifying to read but necessary to know.

Starting with Michael Pollan’s immortal words: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants,” she goes off and explains what is food and what is not and when it is not, what is it?  For every basic food group she explains how it’s grown or manufactured or created in a test tube. Then, what the major adulterants are and what are the risks of consuming them, and other important information. About the only information I didn’t find, but wanted to, was a mention of how the selective breeding of vegetables for “good looks after hard travel” came at the expense of nutrition and taste. It’s mentioned but not explained.

Review: Fire Must Burn

 

Just another in the series, as good as ever but not as deep as some.  Other than Iris’ issues, the author seems to be putting other complex emotions on the back burner and just writing a great mystery. Which should be enough….

But it isn’t.

 

Review: An Excellent Thing in a Woman

By Allison Montclair

Addicted!!!! In the best way.  But this is #7 and I only have one more.  (I sob)

Can’t go into details without revealing too much, like the reviewer on GoodReads that I just checked did. But let me just say that I HATED the discontinuity between the last book and this one. In the last book we were left hanging on a couple of issues, and in this one, she just resolves them in a sentence or two and gets on with things. 

So after a brief moment of rage, I got into the plot and loved this one as much as usual. But I don’t feel like the whole “Sally” thing is getting fair play, nor do I fee
l like I understood fully what it took for Gwen to move on with her life. I just wish the transition had the deserved air time—she built up this whole complex emotional thing...and just dropped it.

 And I still like it. Darn.

 

Review: Stupid Stupid Stupid

Stupid Stupid Stupid: Even more tales of adventure, travel and life

By George Mahood

When you do as many wild and crazy things as George Mahood does, you can simply publish your daily diary and make a story of everyday life. Not that I don’t expect he needed to do a lot of editing, rearranging, and cleanup to turn it into a readable tale. But he did, and I enjoyed it.

Like pretty much everything of his that I’ve read, it’s not earth-shattering or deep or even hilarious. But it’s fun.