theseasoul's reviews
447 reviews

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

Well that was interesting. Who knew the history of the world’s most beloved fruit was so depressing, and its future so seemingly bleak? I’d be curious to learn about where the banana situation is at now, since this book was published back in 2007; but I’m guessing not a whole lot has changed. We’re still eating Cavendish bananas and they’re not yet being lab-grown. They haven’t gone extinct just yet. 

It was pretty sad to learn about all the human exploitation still going on in many banana plantations. Chemicals may keep the banana diseases from completely taking over the world, but the trade-off is it makes plantation workers sick and/or sterile. Wages are often awfully low. And as far as I know, this is still an issue. Paying the few extra dollars for organic/fair-trade bananas has always been worth it, and now I have even more reason to.

Ultimately a very fun microhistory. I wish bananas the best and I hope they can somehow hang in there for years to come. 

|| 3.5 ⭐️ ||

The dialogue was pretty cheesy and unrealistic, but the message of the story was solid enough. It briefly outlines the difference in roles between men and women as told in Genesis in a very age-appropriate way, and goes through a clear presentation of the gospel—surprisingly thorough for a book for young kids. There are reflection questions and extra Scripture references at the end of each little chapter, encouraging further discussion between parents and kids and a deeper understanding of the topic.

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

A great book that outlines some of the biggest questions about Christianity that believers dread being confronted with. It was organized very nicely, making it a good basic resource to remind us why we can be fully confident in what the Bible says and what we believe while sharing our faith with others. There weren’t many questions that I hadn’t previously been equipped to answer, but it’s very easy for me to forget some of the specifics and therefore books like this are always a helpful reminder. And it’s always good to be reminded that sharing our faith isn’t all about winning the argument, but ultimately about presenting the gospel and allowing the Lord to work in their hearts through that.

|| 3 ⭐️ ||

I enjoyed this about as much as I expected. Not the most riveting sci-fi plot, but contained plenty of C. S. Lewis’ classic biblical and philosophical undertones which certainly made me pause and think. I probably would’ve gotten more out of it had I slowed down and analyzed it just a bit more. 

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

This may be the most depressing memoir I’ve ever read. Reading about Jeannette’s deeply dysfunctional family, her alcoholic father who wasn’t willing to sacrifice a thing to provide for his family, and a mother who preferred her hobbies over taking proper care of her children was all heartbreaking. The neglect was unreal. It makes me angry to know there are so many broken families similar to this one in the world, many hiding behind a façade and pretending even to themselves that everything is fine and normal. It made me particularly angry that her parents constantly downplayed her reports of being molested several times, brushing everything off and saying she was “tough” enough to handle these “minor” instances. 

I liked the literary choice to not get deep into introspection at all. Jeannette just told things exactly as they were, and that was enough to communicate all the feelings behind each moment of her childhood.

|| 2 ⭐️ ||

The two stars are mostly for the illustrations, which are very well done. I felt that the story itself was a bit watered down—it would’ve been better had it been simplified to make it easier for kids to understand rather than watered down. Some important details were left out, like the fact that Jesus didn’t come to earth to be everybody’s nicest friend, comfort sad people and dance with the village people. He was also very bold in his opposition to sin, and the book doesn’t really mention that. It makes it sound like sin and darkness was something that simply afflicts people on earth, not something that originates from inside of them. The book redeems itself when the gospel is clearly explained at the end, taking sin nature properly into account. I only wish that had been woven throughout the story a little better. 

I read this for the Visual Theology reading challenge, which has several prompts for kids books—something I don’t read much of in this stage of life for obvious reasons! But it’s a good opportunity to hopefully find some good ones that I can store up for future children if I’m blessed with any.

|| 2.5 ⭐️ ||

This book expanded my vocabulary and made me laugh a few times—Carrot taking his job as a member of the Watch seriously as a new hire contrasted hilariously with his more seasoned colleagues who avoided actually enforcing the law at all costs—but I wasn’t really into the plot. I could tell Pratchett is a very skilled articulate writer, just not for me I guess. There was also a lot of unjustified swearing and some mildly vulgar comments. It felt like a drag and I’m happy to be moving on to other books.

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

Art theft and the recovery of priceless stolen pieces is such an interesting topic for many reasons. Dolnick is a remarkable storyteller, and nobody could tell the story in a more engaging way than he does. We are given the story of The Scream by Edvard Munch—plenty of detail regarding who Munch was, the stuff he painted, this specific painting itself, its incredible (as in dumb, shouldn’t have happened) theft in 1994, and everything that led up to its final recovery by Charley Hill a few months later. Woven throughout were some of the details of other art thefts throughout history, and I ate those side stories up as well. This was really splendid and I learned a lot about this side of art history.

|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||

What a page-turner… I was immediately drawn in by the unique dystopian concept. What if the preborn are protected, and children are protected until the age of 13, but then between the ages of 13 and 18 parents can choose to have their children unwound and and their bodies, limbs and organs used as “parts” for transplants for everyone else? That’s quite the concept, and I was intrigued all the way through. It made me think. Often dystopian fiction starts out with an interesting concept and then falls flat, but this wasn’t the case here. I’m looking forward to reading on in the series.