Book Review: A Mathematician's Lament

 “The first thing to understand is that mathematics is an art. The difference between math and the other arts, such as music and painting, is that our culture does not recognize it as such.”
There is an astonishing amount of power and truth packed into this 140-page book. If, like me, you feared and resented math in school because it made you feel stupid, perhaps you will understand why Lockhart’s lament almost had me crying by the end of the second chapter. Crying for “what if?” What if I had had even one math teacher in school who had loved mathematics as an art and taught it as such? What if even one of my teachers had given me time to explore the beauty of patterns and have ideas about them? What if, sometime in my twelve years of school, even one teacher had believed, “Being a mathematician is not so much about being clever . . . it’s about being aesthetically sensitive and having refined and exquisite taste”?   

Book Review: Team Burger Shed by Tavin Dillard

Team Burger Shed by Tavin Dillard made my reserved and faintly aloof husband snort and then laugh out loud. And I wasn’t even reading it to him. In fact, he was sitting on the couch reading his own book while the kids and I were talking about Tavin Dillard’s latest antics in the chapter I had been reading. I reached for my phone and turned on the audiobook to play a section for my boys. Before I knew it, I was laughing at my husband, because he could not resist laughing at Tavin. I don’t know what else to say… this book makes my daughter roll her eyes, me groan, my boys fall over themselves laughing, and even drew my otherwise reticent husband into the fun. I have concluded that this is a quintessential boy-humor book that is fun for the whole family. Even if half of the fun is just laughing at those who think it is hilarious. 
 
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/team-burger-shed-by-tavin-dillard

Book Review: Bellwether by Connie Willis

I decided to listen to Connie Willis’s Bellwether while my seventeen-year-old and I were doing a renovation in my library. He loves science and is starting to love Connie Willis’s writing. This novella was especially fun for us to listen to together. Chaos theory, trends, group behavior patterns, and human nature are all part of the dynamic human experience. And it is fun to poke at the synchronicity and see what falls out. 
Sandra Foster is a scientist at HiTek corporation and studies fads. Specifically, she is working on the science of how and why trends or fads get started, what disrupts them, and possibly, how they can be manufactured by those who wish to nudge culture for good or for profit. Sandra is smart, likable, and very funny. Her snarky comments about ridiculous people and things give me a vent to my own frustrations about the ridiculousness of so many things in our modern culture. 
Bennett O’Reilly is a chaos theorist who studies group behavior at the same research facility. When Flip, the disinterested, lazy, and entitled office “helper,” delivers a package to Sandra which is meant for a different department, Sandra decides to circumvent the chaos of dealing with Flip and delivers it herself. This delivery sets a chain of events into motion that leads to romance, intrigue, and a fun story about interdepartmental collaboration and problem solving.  
Standard Connie Willis, no character is wasted and no storyline is inconsequential. And, remember, this is about scientific research into human psychology and chaos theory. 
This short, clean, quirky, and fun novella would be a good fit for mature teens and adults who just want to chuckle on a lazy afternoon.
I have reviewed many other Connie Willis books, you can find those reviews here.

Book Review: The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs

"Huck is terrified when he first sees the stegosaurus. He goes as quickly as he can to Chief Whitewater to tell him there is a monster someone needs to kill. Of course, the chief doesn’t believe him. So, the next time Huck goes to the spring to wash clothes, he takes his grandfather’s gun with him. 
Before Huck can shoot the dinosaur, he learns that George is friendly, and he also learns that the two children, Joey and Joan, already know George. Huck goes to the resort to swim with them, and they go fishing with Huck. They take George with them and introduce him to picnics. He likes the food and loves Indian wrestling, which Huck teaches them all. It’s great fun for George because he wins every time." 
 
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/the-shy-stegosaurus-of-indian-springs

Book Review: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

In the middle of the 21st century, historian Ned Henry has a severe case of “time-lag.” Exhausted from fruitless time-travel jumps to Coventry Cathedral in various times before the WWII bombing and fire, Ned has not been able to satisfy his boss, and find the hideous but elusive “Bishop’s bird stump.” 
Lady Shrapnel is on a mission to have every detail perfect for the Cathedral reconstruction and dedication, and she doesn’t seem to care whatsoever how exhausted her team is, just so long as they finish the cathedral in time. “God is in the details,” she retorts when anyone suggests anything less than a perfect restoration. 
This hilarious and delightful story is shelved in “science-fiction” because of the time travel aspect, but in every other way is a romantic comedy in the style of The Importance of Being Earnest or anything from Jeeves and Wooster. And, in case that wasn’t enough fun, Connie Willis also has her main characters constantly referencing and quoting mystery authors like Agatha Christie, G. K. Chesterton, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 
 
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/to-say-nothing-of-the-dog

Book Review: Wolf Hollow (CAUTION - NOT FOR LITTLE EARS)

In the last few years, I have heard the great American classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, frequently being recommended for middle-grade readers. I staunchly disagree with the general practice of recommending that tough book to readers below eleventh grade. Could there be a particular child for whom it is a good fit? Maybe. But, it is my opinion that that essential work of American fiction was written for adults and should be considered worthy of waiting for. Even if a middle-grade reader could handle the darkness, I wonder if they could really grasp the fullness of the story and its power at such a young age. 
Some have mentioned that Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk would be a better fit for a younger crowd looking for a story set in small-town America about a misunderstood social outcast. I was curious, so I read it this weekend. I see why some think that way. I see the appeal of this story. I see how easily it could be fairly compared to Mockingbird. I agree this could be a good substitute for Mockingbird if there were a reason to wrestle with these themes. I ask, however, if something else might be better for a young reader and better overall?
I do not, however, like Wolf Hollow even a fraction as much as I love To Kill a Mockingbird. And I am a little unsettled about why that is. In this story, the protagonist might be more likable than Scout. The maligned outcast is more sympathetic than Boo Radley. And the parents are more attentive than Atticus. The writing is excellent. The story is interesting. And the way Americans treated Germans during WWII is good for us to grapple with. 
I think that what mars the story for me is that the burdens on the protagonist are inappropriate for the target age of the readers. Annabelle adopts some troubling behavior that is unnecessary and designed only to further the plot. And some of the events of the story are almost as graphic and disturbing as Mockingbird. Read more: https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/wolf-hollow-by-lauren-wolk

Book Review: Good Luck Duck

"When the Ferris wheel seems to be running again, Timothy and the duck get stuck at the top. 'Up above, the duck on the seat whispered excited little whispers to Timothy. He liked it far above the noise of all the crowd. He was glad to be away from all that noise. He flapped his wings and whispered. He quirked and jerked his stubby tail. He was proud to be so high.'
Throughout Timothy’s adventure, several people think the duck has brought them luck. In the end, Timothy is lucky to have a pet, and the duck is lucky to have found a quiet home." 
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-picture-book-reviews/good-luck-duck 

Book Review: Virginia Hall, an Extraordinary Woman

Whether they loved her or hated her, everyone who knew her considered her an amazing and memorable woman. Klaus Barbie, the infamous Butcher of Lyon became obsessed with finding the “Limping Lady of Lyon.” He had posters made and offered a huge reward for information leading to the arrest of “The Enemy’s Most Dangerous Spy.”
 
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/virginia-hall-an-extraordinary-woman 

Book Review: The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek

"What child wouldn’t love to discover a living dinosaur in the backyard? What if that dinosaur could talk? That’s what happens to Joey and Joan Brown, freckled, red-headed twelve-year-old twins. On the first few pages of the story, we are made aware of the family Problem." 
 
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/the-shy-stegosaurus-of-cricket-creek 

Book Review: Snow Treasure

Part of the plan to sneak the gold out right under the noses of the Nazis involves teams of Riswyk children each carrying 75 pounds of gold on their sleds down to a fjord where the crew of a fishing boat waits to load the gold for transportation to America.     
The plan works seamlessly. Until the snow starts to melt before they have transported half the gold. And until the Nazi Commandant decides the lazy, impudent children need to go back to school. And until the children realize they have been discovered by one Nazi soldier who has been spying on them.
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-book-reviews/snow-treasure