<p>Chef&#8217;s Table. Produced by David Gelb, Andrew Fried, et al. Boardwalk Pictures, City Room Creative, FINCH, 2015. Genre: docuseries (cooking&#8230;and so much more) Summary:The promoters and producers would have you believe that every episode of Chef&#8217;s Table profiles one of the world&#8217;s leading chefs for 45-55 minutes accompanied with pleasurably slow, sensuous, sumptuous shots of&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2017/01/05/chefs-tab

<p>Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Vintage Books, 2013. Print. Genre: memoir (specifically, one of those young-woman-in-crisis-goes-a&#8217;-traveling memoirs) Summary: This book is Eat, Pray, Love meets A Walk in the Woods. Despite a mostly impoverished, sometimes rough childhood, Cheryl grew up generally loved by everyone but herself. Soon after&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/12/14/wild-by-chery

<p>Bérubé, Michael. The Secret Life of Stories: From Don Quixote to Potter, How Understanding Intellectual Disability Transforms the Way We Read. New York: NYUP, 2016. Print. Summary: Regardless of whether a book features a disabled person, says Bérubé, all literature on the whole is haunted with intellectual disability in some way. At times, disability sparks or corrupts motives,&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/05/11/the-secret-life-of-stories-

<p>Magoon, Kekla. How It Went Down. New York: Henry Holt, 2014. Print. Genre: YA (Rashomon) Summary: The tragic shooting of a young black man rips apart an inner city neighborhood. The white man responsible for the killing walks free. Sound familiar? Sadly, this tragic scenario expends gallons of newspaper ink and hours of news coverage&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/04/22/how-it-went-down-by-kekla-magoon/">Continue reading <span class="screen-

<p>Dumas, Alexander. The Three Musketeers. 1844. Trans. Lowell Blair. New York: Bantam, 2004. Print. Genre: fiction (classic literary romance) Summary: Young firebrand d&#8217;Artagnan leaves his country home penniless. He has only a horse and a note from his father egging a favor of a friend to please make his son a Musketeer. Hot-headed d&#8217;Artagnan loses&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/04/06/three-musketeers-by-alexander-dumas/">Continue

<p>White, T. H. The Goshawk. 1951. Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audio, 2015. CD. Genre: nonfiction/nature memoir Summary: White chronicles his misadventures and many mishaps in an attempt to tame a goshawk. He knows only what he has learned from old books. Nonetheless, he is driven by his love of the medieval and ancient cultures who reserved the&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/03/23/the-goshawk-by-t-h-white/">Continue reading <span class="screen-rea

<p>Bridgeford, Andrew. 1066: The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry. London: Harper Perennial, 2004. Print. Genre: nonfiction; Medieval history Summary: Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, a 70-meter embroidered tapestry was commissioned to record the event. At a glance, the tapestry seems to celebrate William the Conqueror&#8217;s victory; however, Bridgeford takes a much&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/03/16/1066-by-andrew-bri

<p>Doidge, Norman. The Brain&#8217;s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity. New York: Viking, 2015. Print. Genre: Nonfiction (although don&#8217;t be surprised if you often think you&#8217;re reading scifi!) Summary: Imagination heals chronic pain. Meditation reverses blindness. Walking stops the onset of Parkinson&#8217;s. Red LED lights heal arthritis or physical disabilities caused&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="htt

<p>Murray, Paul. Skippy Dies. London: Penguin, 2010. Print. Genre: literary fiction (for adults) (I argue: YA contemporary) Summary: Howard (the coward) returns to teach at his alma mater, Seabrook College. Howard never achieved the fame and fortune that is expected of Seabrook graduates. Instead, he muddles through his life and relationships burdened with the secrets&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/01/27/skippy-dies-by-paul-murray/">Continue re

<p>Wein, Elizabeth. Code Name Verity. New York: Hyperion, 2012. Print. Genre: YA historical fiction Summary: World War II historical fiction of the most gripping kind! Either the protagonist, Julie (AKA &#8220;Verity&#8221;) spills her guts about her spying exploits or her Gestapo torturers will&#8230;well, spill her guts for her! Critique: This book is an epistolary thriller (thought&hellip; <a class="more-link" href="https://jynnemason.com/2016/01/20/code-name-verity-by-eli