Rachel Reads & Reviews

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  • Antique Books: Shirley Temple’s Heidi

    Well to continue from yesterday’s question on movie novelizations, I introduce the novelization of the Shirely Temple movie, Heidi. Obviously based on the original Heidi books, it is a decent retelling keeping the major plot points in utilizing language that 9-12 year olds would easily understand. The highlight of the book, of course, is the…

  • Antique Books: Work

    Little Women has been long held as one of Louisa May Alcott’s best works. Under the Lilacs and Eight Cousins being well-known seconds I believe, though don’t quote me on that. However, I picked up her novel, Work: A Story of Experience which was surprisingly not as preachy as the title implied. Okay, there is…

  • Antique Books: Anne Frank Remembered

    Okay this technically isn’t an antique book but I got it at a flea market so sematics. Anyway, hopefully most people know who Miep is, aka Hermine Geis, the woman who helped hide the Frank family in the Secret Annex is WW2. This memoir is told from Miep’s point of view, giving a wider outlook…

  • Antique Books: Dogs

    You think dogs will not be in heaven I tell you, they will be there long before any of us- Robert Louis Stevenson This photo book is a lovely collection of dog pictures from the turn of the century to the 1950s, courtesy of Catherine Johnson, one of the formost collectors of amateur dog photos.…

  • Antique Reads: An Old Sweetheart of Mine

    This poem by James Whitcomb Riley would be an ideal Valentine’s Gift. It’s rhymes are charming and is filled with nostalgia of the late 1800s as the narrator remisces over a nightcap of his first sweetheart in grade school. Plus it has a nie twist. Also just look at the illustrations with its sepia palette,…

  • Antique Reads: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

    Since my grandmother frequents flea markets, sometimes she’d buy me a book or something she’d thought interesting. Though it didn’t always align, one book I enjoyed was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos. Now I haven’t seen the movie full-through, just the iconic Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend song so I can’t compare the…

  • Nonfiction Dog Books

    Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever who Saved Him by Luis Carlos Montalvan shows the relationship between dog and man can help veterans after their tours with Tuesday giving the trust, openness and “normalcy” he craves as he deals with his ongoing PTSD. The Second Chance Dog by Jon Katz follows the…

  • Families in Graphic Novels

    Fun Home by Alison Bechdel Truthfully, I was going to look for the musical first but when I saw this in the library I figured I should see the source material, and wow. I didn’t have any idea what it was about other than it was an memoir of family dysfunction so it really threw…

  • Hello, Psycho

    No one goes to intentionally befriend a psycopath. The problem is once you see past their charisma and friendliness and start piecing together the gaps in their stories, they may be onto you and will do anything to shut you up. At least that’s how it is for these protagonists. We Were Never Here by…

  • Contemporary Romance 4 mini reviews

    The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon This is a fun contemporary romance that begins with female friendship, and what makes you faster friends with complete strangers than shared humilation. When Samiah finds out via twitter that the man she had been dating was catfishing her and two other women (while using her resturaunt reservation to…