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rubya

rubya

Currently reading

Hearts Aflame
Johanna Lindsey
Outliers: The Story of Success By Malcolm Gladwell
Brown and Company- -Little
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert
John M. Gottman, Nan Silver
The Kite Runner: Graphic Novel
Khaled Hosseini, Fabio Celoni, Mirka Andolfo
The Mill on the Floss
George Eliot
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners (Oxford World's Classics)

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert, Margaret Mauldon, Malcolm Bowie, Mark Overstall I could not finish this book. I simply despised the main character.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books - Azar Nafisi Booooorrrrriiiiiinnng.

The Satanic Verses: A Novel

The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie I usually like magical realism! And this book had all this political drama behind it! Nonetheless, I couldn;t get into it. Figured I'd move on to books I'd actually enjoy rather than force myself through it.

The House of Mirth (Dover Thrift Editions)

The House of Mirth (Dover Thrift Editions) - Edith Wharton An abandoned read. Why must the woman always be the victim? Couldn't stand it; Couldn't finish it.

As a Driven Leaf

As a Driven Leaf - Milton Steinberg, Chaim Potok Hated it!

The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups

The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups - Ron Rosenbaum I read more than half of this book which pretty much counts as reading the whole thing...A little (a lot) repetitive.

Walden

Walden - Henry David Thoreau Yaawwwwn

Bath Tangle

Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer Yaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn. Irritating, prancing characters. Insipid dialogue.

The Book of the Courtier (Dover Value Editions)

The Book of the Courtier - Baldassare Castiglione, Leonard Eckstein Opdycke I had to read this for a graduate class. Some of it was interesting, but the Renaissance style of rhetoric is just so drawn out. It gets old fast. It's a great resource for teaching students about the values of the court system, though.

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life - Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander A little bit too kool-aid/landmarky for me.

Introducing Lacan: A Graphic Guide

Introducing Lacan: A Graphic Guide - Darian Leader, Judy Groves This book literally got me through grad school. After days and days of reading sentences of Lacan over and over in the hopes of understanding something, anything- even if it was wrong- this book came and created light out of darkness! Highly recommended to anyone studying Lacan!

Orlando: A Biography

Orlando - Virginia Woolf A brilliant, entertaining, disturbing text. One of my favorite examples of magical realism.

Introducing Derrida

Introducing Derrida (Introducing) - Jeff Collins, Bill Mayblin, Richard Appignanesi, Howard Selina Derrida may be brilliant, however, his writing is incomprehensible. This book helped me understand what the hell he was talking about. Now I get to throw Deconstruction around like a ridiculously good hand of poker.

Pale Fire (Everyman's Library Classics & Contemporary Classics)

Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov, Richard M. Rorty I vow to get back to this book and complete it!

The Warlord Wants Forever (The Immortals After Dark)

The Warlord Wants Forever (Immortals After Dark #1) - Kresley Cole, Simone Fomhar, Hagan Verret I really liked the concept behind the Immortals After Dark series, particularly since I'm looking for some good paranormals after The Black Dagger Brotherhood. This novella acts as an introduction to the series and it left me mildly disappointed. The story felt rushed and it felt like the author was trying to do a whole lot in a very short book. I feel like this book would have made a very good 300 pager, and I was a little annoyed at how crowded the plot was and how undeveloped the characters were. I mean, there's a reason fantasy fiction tends to be tremendously long in terms of page length and I think it's because the author must create a new world for the reader and introduce him/her to it. In reading this novella, I felt thrown into the universe of the novel and didn't get a good feel for the way things worked. The "romance" between Myst and Wroth confused me and didn't quite move me because I didn't have an opportunity to see who these characters were so I couldn't really care about them. As a taste of the series and an introduction to Cole's writing style (in some ways, very Wardian,) this novella does its job and I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into the first (real) book of the series. As a standalone novella, The Warlord Wants Forever is mediocre at best in my opinion.

Curly Girl: The Handbook

Curly Girl: The Handbook - Lorraine Massey, Michele Bender A cute little book that I read through in about an hour. This book has some revolutionary ideas regarding caring for curly hair.1. Never Use a Brush. Apparently, curly girls are to comb through their conditioned hair with their fingers and gently pry apart knots. A brush or comb is not to be used because it destroys the curl formation.2. Never Use Shampoo. The sulfates in normal shampoos damage and dry out curly hair, so curly girls are instructed to use sulfate-free "cleansers" not "sham-poo" on their hair.3. Let conditioner REMAIN in your hair. The book gives step by step instruction to cleaning your hair and, against all instincts, it instructs one to leave conditioner in one's hair and not wash it out. The book doesn't get into using leave in hair conditioners rather than just letting conditioner sit in one's hair, but apparently this makes all the difference.All of these steps and more are intended to make your hair curly beautifully. The book discusses and shows the 7 types of curly hair and even gives tips on trimming one's own hair.What I liked most about this book is that it doesn't seem like a plug for Massey's salon and services. Even though throughout the book, there are different testimonials of women telling about their experiences of their hair and how they have come to love, accept and treat their hair (usually with Lorraine's expertise,) never once does the author suggest a product in her product line. In fact, there is an entire chapter of "concoctions" that one can cheaply and easily make at home. The tone of the book is up-beat, positive, and genuine, which was empowering and comfortingOut of curiosity and the desire to have the gorgeous, glossy locks photographed throughout the book, I am going to try these tips and see what happens. Update 8/2/2011:I seriously can't believe it. I have been using some of the techniques in this book and my hair looks amazing!What works for me: I haven't brushed my hair since Friday and use my fingers to comb through my conditioned hair in the shower. My curls come out defined and gorgeous. I use a paper towel to dry my hair (no towels and no turbans!) and my hair looks great. I started off by trying to cleanse my scalp with a conditioner as the book suggests, but yesterday I cracked and used shampoo. I purchased some sulfate free shampoo (which also suds) and used that this morning and so far so good.What didn't work for me: Leaving conditioner in my hair. I tried this on Saturday and Sunday and it just felt gross and build-upy to me. I've switched over to rinsing most of it and leaving a tinsy bit of conditioner residue and then re-applying a leave in hair conditioner after the shower (to be fair, I switched over to a kerastase leave in which may also have contributed to my hair's improvement.) Also, I am not really a "gel" girl and I like mousse in my curls so I use that instead of the gel suggested in the book. No crunch, just soft, non poofy curls :-)My curls are soft, defined and shiny today. This book has totally changed my relationship to my hair. Love it!