Finished this. Not marked higher because, as the label says, "I liked it" and that's it. This book, part of a series, is basically a collection of facts and trivia organized by topic. It makes for good reading when you just want to pick something up quick, drop it, then pick it up later. Yes, it also makes very good bathroom reading. And it does feature some interesting little facts. If you are into trivia, you need to give these books a look. ( )

"Although a little dated, this 13-volume set is the major scholarly encyclopaedia for mediaeval studies. Including more than 5,000 signed articles ranging in length from 100 to 10,000 words, the set is intended for all levels, from the high school student to the scholar. It contains a substantial introduction to medieval Irish literature (30 pages), as well as entries on Irish bardic literature and the Táin Bó Cúailnge."

The story should be compelling, but I found this memoir to be remarkably shallow. Nujood is barely literate and the memoir was actually written by the journalist Delphine Minoui. I'm not sure how much of the book is Minoui's and how much is Nujood's dictation. Certainly the author is consciously trying to sound like a ten-year-old girl, which is a main part of the problem.

The details that could really enrich this story are lacking. Nujood goes to ask for a divorce and is told this is unprecedented and it will be a difficult case. Then she has a hearing and -- presto! -- gets a divorce. What happened in between times? What efforts did her protectors make to get that divorce for her? It can't have been as easy as she makes it sound. Also, more details about Nujood's relationship with her family after the divorce would have been nice. She had, after all, had her father temporarily put into prison, and I would have liked some information on how the family dynamics changed. All the characters are cardboard as well. Almost all the women, except Shada, are beaten-down, severely depressed doormats. And the men, except the judges and the one journalist who assisted Nujood, are either evil (her husband) or selfish and/or lazy (her father, her oldest brother).

I can't escape the feeling that this girl is being used, and I wonder if she regrets this book's publication or will regret it in the future. Certainly it brought unwelcome notoriety to her family in a culture that prizes honor above everything.

This book would, I think, have been better off as a third-person biography of Nujood, perhaps set in the broader context of a study of child marriages in the Middle East. As it was it left me feeling rather uneasy. ( )

Oh JR Ward, you are so cracktastic, sucking me into a book I can see plot moves of a mile off, characters that are little more than cyphers, cliches scattered with abandon, but I can't put you down! Why is this???

Jim Heron has an accident, dies and is sent back to save the world by saving the souls of seven people. I mean, come on, God is bored and picks on Seven people and uses one to save them, to decide whether or not the human race is worth saving or should it all be wiped out and start again. Yeah, plot holes abound. But I liked the characters and was rooting for them to succeed.

By no manner or means is this high literature, this is a light fun read and I did enjoy it, but it's a bit like cheap chocolate, there's a strange taste left afterwards and you feel somehow uneasy afterwards. ( )

Più che un saggio è un insieme di pezzi di Romano (raggruppati in tre grossi capitoli e ordinati secondo la cronologia classica) comparsi sul Corriere della Sera, nella rubrica delle "Lettere al Corriere". Lettura scorrevole ed interessante. La forma, necessariamente episodica e con dettagli giornalistici (sono pezzi di un paio di pagine ciascuno) è sorprendente: una buona dimostrazione che non sempre è necessario scrivere decine di pagine per rendere evidente un concetto.