Epinions Recent Reviews for jaseroque

A charming tale, with shadows in the corners

Tue, 19 Mar 2002 16:22:32 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - At age 11 or 12, my mother checked The Borrowers out of our little English-language library. The story of little people, six inches tall, that lived in our walls and stole (excuse me, “borrowed” )odds and ends to furnish their own homes fueled my...

A positive case for atheism, an assault on faith

Wed, 13 Mar 2002 14:07:43 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - A few months ago, I was intrigued by a positive review in the Economist magazine of a book entitled “An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Atheism,” by Daniel Harbour. On my most recent order from Amazon.com, I picked it up. The book arrived over the...

A fascinating, challenging and troubling look at our dogs

Fri, 8 Feb 2002 21:10:02 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - Several years ago, I attended a wonderful animal behavior seminar by Ray Coppinger on the evolution and development of domestic dogs. He was outspoken and funny, goring sacred cows and presenting compelling hypotheses in a most satisfying manner. I am...

Outsmarting the Bridal Industry

Fri, 18 Jan 2002 13:22:26 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I am in the midst of planning a wedding. I want the wedding to be small, personal, tasteful, and to cost something less than the national debt. Turns out that it takes a great deal of creativity and planning to thwart the bridal industry, a giant...

A voice of reason in a sea of white and pink

Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:52:20 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I got engaged in January, 2001. After several weeks enjoying our new situation, I decided that it might be a good idea to start thinking about planning some sort of wedding! I didn’t want a big bash -- my fiancé and I are both understated, quiet...

The man behind All Creatures Great and Small

Fri, 11 Jan 2002 14:35:48 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I discovered All Creatures Great and Small as a teenager in the 80's, and I have read my copies so many times they are falling apart. I now have the first three books on tape, and I listen to James Herriot's wonderful stories almost every day while...

And the point is...?

Mon, 5 Nov 2001 14:40:08 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - As an avid fan of Cynthia Voigt, I picked up a number of her books in a used bookstore a few weeks ago. I read Tree by Leaf in less than a day, and it was a frustrating, tedious undertaking.

Brief Plot Summary

Tree...

Disability, through the eyes of a 15 year old girl

Mon, 5 Nov 2001 13:57:28 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I am a fan of Cynthia Voigt’s. I have read her Tillerman Family series several times through adolescence and beyond, and have always enjoyed her rich characterizations, realistic stories, and vivid description.

So, when I visited my favorite...

Natural history of man's best friend

Tue, 7 Aug 2001 23:00:43 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I attended a national animal behavior conference this summer. During a much needed break between seminars, I wandered over to the booksellers: a room full of representatives from different academic presses, hawking their wares to the conference crowd...

What came before Anne of Green Gables

Fri, 3 Aug 2001 00:34:37 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - Anne of Green Gables, the beloved orphan from Prince Edward Island, is not alone. In Akin to Anne, Montgomery pens two dozen stories about orphans like the irrepressible Anne Shirley.

The protagonists of these stories are all...

The women behind the trenches

Thu, 26 Jul 2001 17:04:56 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - Rilla of Ingleside is the wonderful account of a teenage girl coming of age during World War One. Rilla is also the eighth and last book of the Anne of Green Gables series, and the main character, Rilla Blythe, is Anne’s youngest...

Before the Piper Calls

Tue, 3 Jul 2001 19:20:37 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - Rainbow Valley is the seventh book in the delightful Anne of Green Gables series. It is quite different from the previous six books, because Anne is no longer a central character – in fact, she is quite peripheral, only appearing in person a few...

Bargains with God

Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:55:02 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - Over the past month I have been re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series, and have found it as delightful as ever. These books are almost magical in the way they transport the reader back into another time – the late 1800’s and early 1900’s,...

New bride in a little house full of hopes

Tue, 5 Jun 2001 15:03:45 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I have been re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series recently, as an adult. I am much delighted to discover that these books are just as fun and relaxing as they were when I was younger. I am also pleased to find depths to these books that I...

What do you do when half the town hates you?

Fri, 1 Jun 2001 13:25:46 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - Anne of Windy Poplars is one of my favorites of the Anne of Green Gables books, along with the first volume and the last one, Rilla of Ingleside.

Anne of Windy Poplars is the fourth in the series, and it involves...

The nature of true love

Thu, 31 May 2001 23:39:17 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I have been reading through my Anne of Green Gables series over the past few weeks, during a stressful time at work. I find these books to be tremendously soothing – they transport me to a different time and place, and the adventures are...

A 16 year old schoolteacher

Thu, 31 May 2001 19:47:36 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I have been reading through the Anne of Green Gables series these past few weeks, and am enjoying the rediscovery of these wonderful children’s classics. Anne of Avonlea is the second book in the series, and picks up where Anne of Green...

A Window onto childhood in a different time and place

Thu, 31 May 2001 14:26:25 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - One evening during an extremely stressful couple of weeks at work recently, I pulled Anne of Green Gables off the shelf and began to read it. I had not read this book since I’d been a teenager, and I found myself lost in and soothed by the past...

Murder in 12th century Wales

Tue, 24 Apr 2001 22:50:06 GMT
rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - A few weeks ago, I mentioned to a friend that I liked murder mysteries in medieval settings, like Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose. He immediately recommended the Brother Cadfael series, and even checked out the first book, A Morbid Taste for...

What is it like to be deaf?

Tue, 27 Mar 2001 15:39:16 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I was browsing my way through the psychology section of a used bookstore the other day, when I came across Seeing Voices by Oliver Sacks, who also wrote Awakening and The man who mistook his wife for a hat. Sacks is an absolutely...

Cow's Eye View

Fri, 16 Mar 2001 13:11:25 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I had been keeping my eye out for books by Temple Grandin for some time, when I came across Thinking in Pictures in a used bookstore. I snatched it up.

My curiosity about the author was two-fold. I am a behavioral biologist, and am...

Card is Coasting

Fri, 2 Mar 2001 00:50:25 GMT
rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I was eagerly looking forward to Orson Scott Card’s latest book, Shadow of the Hegemon. I’ve read almost all of Card’s books, so when a new one comes out I can hardly wait to read it. I would have purchased it as a Christmas present for my...

Behind the final curtain

Thu, 1 Feb 2001 13:43:30 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I picked up How We Die in a used bookstore a couple days ago. I am always on the lookout for insightful books that give me a glimpse into the breadth of human experience. Death is one of the only experiences every single human being will share...

Mesmerizing story with a shallow ending

Mon, 8 Jan 2001 17:08:12 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I went to see Cast Away in the theater on January 7, and came out moved and thoughtful. I found it a good movie, and I’m glad I saw it, but it was not as spectacular and profound as I think it could have been.

Most of this comes from...

Choices too stark, but thought provoking nevertheless

Fri, 5 Jan 2001 17:48:26 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jaseroque - I had been looking forward to the Family Man ever since I saw the trailers a few months ago. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect -- the premise was interesting, but what would they do with it?

I finally saw the movie on New Year’s Eve...