Tag Archives: book reviews

A Year of Reading, Part VII: The Real Real

Posted on March 4, 2023 by polloplayer

One of the most gratifying aspects of non-fiction is that, in a few hundred pages or so, you can rather suddenly and efficiently have a grasp of something previously completely unknown to you. You think, how did I get this … Continue reading →

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2021 Reading Re-Cap: The Top 10

Posted on March 5, 2022 by polloplayer

I tried to choose a favorite but every day it changes so I just listed them alphabetically by author. You should read them all! Half of a Yellow Sun: A Novel By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Published 2008 Kindle, 562 pages … Continue reading →

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2021 Reading Re-Cap: Just a bit more real…

Posted on February 26, 2022 by polloplayer

I think we’ve established that reading-wise, I’m more of an ethereal girl than a material girl. Hey, the heart wants what it wants. But if I’m forced to read non-fiction, at least it should be good non-fiction. Here are eight … Continue reading →

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2021 Reading Re-Cap: As Real as it gets.

Posted on February 18, 2022 by polloplayer

Ah, reality. You know I try hard to avoid it but here and there I convince myself to read a non-fiction book. Here are the first half of my year’s non-fiction reads. Some of them actually make the real world … Continue reading →

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2021 Reading Re-Cap: Keeping It Unreal.

Posted on February 12, 2022 by polloplayer

Ah, fiction, my favorite refuge. I cocooned myself away in it repeatedly during a 2021 that bore an alarming resemblance to the 2020 we all wanted to forget. I know people who read only non-fiction, who scorn the very sight … Continue reading →

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2021 Reading Re-Cap: Making the Best of an Unreal World

Posted on February 5, 2022 by polloplayer

We went from “two weeks to flatten the curve” to two years of hiding behind our doors and masks. Regardless of your pov on that long, strange, trip we can probably all agree that things have felt somewhat…unreal. Reading fiction … Continue reading →

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2021 Reading Re-Cap: Pretty Good for Middling

Posted on January 29, 2022 by polloplayer

Not every book can be a favorite. After all, there are a lot of books in this world. Looking back over last year’s fiction reads, though, even the middling ones had their merits: Demelza: A Novel of Cornwall, 1788-1790 By … Continue reading →

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2021 Reading Re-cap: the 7 books I couldn’t love.

Posted on January 22, 2022 by polloplayer

No one will be more surprised than me that in a reading year filled with classics, best-sellers and prize winners, I managed to scorn seven of them. Clearly the fault is my own, so it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read … Continue reading →

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2020 Reading Re-Cap: The Top Ten

Posted on February 27, 2021 by polloplayer

If you look back at 2020 as a total loss, you just didn’t spend enough time reading. For me, at least, books were the saving grace of a year of living fearfully. Books were a refuge and an escape, so … Continue reading →

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2020 Reading Re-Cap: The Realm of the Real

Posted on February 20, 2021 by polloplayer

It’s hard to know what to call non-fiction anymore, given that everything seems to be written with a slant in some direction. Maybe that’s why it’s just easier for me to reach for a novel. But ultimately, the “real” world … Continue reading →

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