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perfect_leaves's reviews
452 reviews
Song of Songs: A Novel of the Queen of Sheba by Marc Graham
1.0
I DNFed this title at 19%.
Reasons:
- Over-sexualization of female characters. (A man beheads most of the people in the camp, but he makes one "funny" sound and the woman laughs coquettishly and is in love with him. An 11-year-old describes her older sister as having full lips and the "curves of womanhood". Apparently, none of the men are capable of looking at women without noticing their breasts, hips, scent, etc.)
- Sexual violence against female characters that does not advance the plot (including a child r*pe).
- General violence that also isn't well explained. (Why did that guy behead everyone?)
- Long, descriptive passages that make it hard to follow the plot. (Okay, the description certainly helps bring the setting to mind, but there are often several pages of description for a few lines of dialogue/action).
- It's not clear why we should invest ourselves into the characters. (To be fair, I might not have given it enough time.)
If you choose to read it, beware there are vivid descriptions of r*pe, war violence and death.
Reasons:
- Over-sexualization of female characters. (A man beheads most of the people in the camp, but he makes one "funny" sound and the woman laughs coquettishly and is in love with him. An 11-year-old describes her older sister as having full lips and the "curves of womanhood". Apparently, none of the men are capable of looking at women without noticing their breasts, hips, scent, etc.)
- Sexual violence against female characters that does not advance the plot (including a child r*pe).
- General violence that also isn't well explained. (Why did that guy behead everyone?)
- Long, descriptive passages that make it hard to follow the plot. (Okay, the description certainly helps bring the setting to mind, but there are often several pages of description for a few lines of dialogue/action).
- It's not clear why we should invest ourselves into the characters. (To be fair, I might not have given it enough time.)
If you choose to read it, beware there are vivid descriptions of r*pe, war violence and death.
Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead: Recipes and Recollections from a Syrian Pioneer by Habeeb Salloum
I've been slowly working my way through the recipes in the book and although I haven't finished all of them, I'm confident enough in them to give the book a high rating. The recipes are generally clear and the ingredients are easy to find (most of them are probably in your kitchen right now). After a while, you'll notice a lot of the recipes are similar; I imagine this is due to the fact that the family could pretty only eat what they were able to grow on the farm or buy and store for a long time. I like to think of the recipes as customizable. Once I know what they taste like (by following the exact instructions), I use them as a basis for further inspiration. My main suggestion is to reduce the salt in the recipes. Without refrigeration, salt helps keep things from spoiling. Now that we have refrigerators, there's no need to eat fistfuls of salt.
In addition to the recipes themselves, Salloum provides background about his family and about the foods he's selected to feature. Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead was incredibly informative, and I'd like to purchase a (digital) copy someday so I can more easily find what I'm looking for.
In addition to the recipes themselves, Salloum provides background about his family and about the foods he's selected to feature. Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead was incredibly informative, and I'd like to purchase a (digital) copy someday so I can more easily find what I'm looking for.