Court

I loved parts of this, such as the thrice embroidered overalls, the genuine child logic and dialogue, the giant box, the day when everything goes wrong while her husband is out of town...

I was shocked when I heard of the reception she received when she arrived at the hospital to deliver her third child. The woman asked her occupation, but when given the answer of ‘author' said that she would instead write ‘housewife'. Additionally, the woman inquired if the child was legitimate.

Even understanding the frustrations of a child going overboard with a role model and that this took place in ‘another time', I was offended and disappointed that her husband told the daughter's teacher that her childlessness was unwomanly.

It was also difficult as a modern reader to hear about her smoking while pregnant, again I understand the different time.

Some quotes I loved, however some were difficult to read.

Lovely concept, however due to being written in verse, it seemed a bit forced.

Read by the author.
I admire Gene Wilder for so much. He comes off as authentic, vulnerable, relatable, and yes humorous. He also has the ability to name drop without coming off as smug: Carol Channing, Mel Brooks, Richard Prior, Gilda Radner, Madeline Kahn, Stanislavski, etc.

2.5, the tone was off and I feel that she impropperly referenced Queen Mary.

Gorgeous art and masterful prose. This would have been a wonderful complementary read for my American history classes, regardless it was very enjoyable.

I don't know how I forgot to mark this wonderful volume. It's a little fuzzy, but I recall it endearingly, as it is centered on a veteran and there are opportunities for kindness amidst hard times.

Not sure what I was expecting 🤷🏻‍♀️

Very similar to its prequel ‘Going Postal', but humorous and enjoyable.

Slow pacing; characters that are difficult to like, relate to, understand; unnecessary gross/bathroom humor; and weak connections.

Also, at the end there is ‘The Necklace' short story by Guy de Maupassant. It is a poor reproduction as it trims the story down further, skipping things like the husband suggesting she wear flowers, that when he gives her money for the dress that he is giving up his own pleasure of shooting, that he fell asleep at the party OR the best yet, that he suggested that she write to her friend to gain more time, saying she had the broken clasp and was going to get it mended! This last skipped detail would strengthen the connection of the stories, and is just sloppy.

Additionally, only diamonds are mentioned to be in the necklace — and the story is commonly known by a secondary title: ‘The Diamond Necklace' — so why are there sapphires?

This feels so American to me. I wish I had read this in my childhood, it feels like it belongs in childhood, as if that is its primary setting.

Delicious. More flavor than substance, but in a satisfying way. I suppose that's a round about way of saying: cheesy, but I liked it.

Felt oddly young, it felt it would have been better as a visual story, but only marginally so.
I'm having a hard time figuring out why I was disappointed; was it the pacing, or perhaps it felt like a mixture of cliches or just too predictable? Was it the reader?

Or maybe just myself in that I expected more from something that had ‘Neil Gaiman' on it.

Listen to as part of an NPR collection, read by John Lithgow.

This was brought to my attention via Sloan Crosby's The Clasp, which also had a version of this short story at the end.

I believe that my view on this story is influenced by ‘The Clasp', but is still mixed.

Gorgeous language.

I will have to explore more Baldwin.

Strong message, writing could be improved.

I'm glad that David Hogg has graduated on time and is using his voice.

I originally read this in 2018 and then in 2024 I listened to LeVar read it.

I love Terry Pratchett, his humor and philosophy. This one plays out nicely and at the end the hero has a realization.

The talking horse is fantastic and of course the troll family dynamic is great.

Marvelous! Love that it was his own voice reading.

Some segments were novel and some familiar. Lovely phrases were repeated, but how could they not be.

I believe this sharpened what I already knew and that which I didn't know probably won't stick too much.

Interesting history of the British monarchy in more of their less than flattering times.

3rd grade teacher read this aloud in parts to the class. When I was young and learning about civil rights in grade school I was always curious – but nervous to ask about– about how people other than black people were treated in the US. This book does a good job addressing part of that question.

However, many of the kids were a bit confused and thought that the kids depicted were black/African American. The teacher did her best to try to explain that they were of Mexican/Latino heritage. As an adult I wish that this book had touched on some of the larger issues such as it being illegal in certain states to speak Spanish at school...until the 1990's in some areas. It is a good introduction to the topic and it might have more informative text in the back after the story.

Listened as an audiobook, and sometimes had to check that is wasn't on ‘shuffle'. It was interesting and I love her voice.

I loved the way she spoke of Michael Jackson, very humanizing.

I was perplexed at her relationship with her father. I was happy that she was at peace with it. She found humor in it, and a way to make it all about her 😉

. . .
The Ted Kennedy part was extremely odd.

Decent example of empathy

3.5

Very ‘western' feel to it.

Enjoyable. Not sure how much I have/will retain. It made me wish that there was a basic quiz every few chapters.