http://beanbagtales.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-12-my-childhood.html

http://churchyear.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-12-of-15-no-cry-potty-training.html

About “not a good book/not well-written”, I don’t think I mind people saying that as long as they explain WHY they say it. You know, if they can say, “XYZ are my criteria for a ‘good book’ and this book fails because it doesn’t have ‘X’”. Then you know what they mean by it, and it’s a more helpful critique.

For instance, this makes me think of the book I liked least in this challenge, Dillard’s “Living by Fiction”, and though I might (if pressed) say I think it’s a bad book, I’d only want to say that while at the same time being clear that I think it’s a bad book because I think the philosophy of it bad. And that though this might be enough to make a “bad book” in my mind (I’m not sure it does, but let’s say so for the sake of example), I’d want to be clear that the writing was beautiful and lucid (i.e., I think it’s a bad point made well). I think there are very few books published that have no merits at all, and I’m more likely to take a reviewer’s negative remarks seriously if he or she is clear-headed enough to be able to see the book’s positive points too.

But I wouldn’t hold it against a reviewer that he or she calls a book a “bad book”, as long as that reviewer is clear about what that means. If he or she is able to explain it and has a clear definition of “bad” and “good”. . . I think it could still be a helpful review.

http://alwayschasingboys.blogspot.com/2010/04/ruined-by-reading.html

Children, Tribes and States by Barbara Ann Atwood: a great overview of tribal law, tribal courts, state courts and family law. It’s not entirely focused on the Indian Child Welfare Act, which is nice, and I love all the work she did gathering tribal cases to illustrate how traditional law interplays with more recently adopted Anglo law.

Cleaved by Julie Powell: this book got mediocre reviews when it came out and I can see why, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying it. Anyone who read Julie and Julia had to see that Julie was primed for some breakdowns. Her writing sometimes veered toward whining, but she also acknowledged that fact. It’s not a flattering book for her, but I like her writing voice. The book clearly meandered at the end, but again, I was ok with that. Plus, she has excellent taste in television (her love of Buffy is only displaced by Veronica Mars).

I’ve started both Epicure’s Lament and History of Love. I’ve also read umpteen law review articles, but no one wants to read about those!

I read The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories: http://www.newcenturyreading.com/2010/04/the-151515-projectday-12.html