While the title and cover design of this book suggests advertising for a primarily adult, female demographic, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is more than a chick-flick read. Rhoda Janzen has a hilarious sense of humor and, some great stories, but most importantly for the college student reader, she takes a look at who her parents are and what her life growing up was like.
Her mom thinks farting in public is normal, her father insists on calling her [Rhoda] over to the computer every time he gets an email with funny pictures in it, and the stories of her childhood, while completely unique to Rhoda and the Mennonite culture, feel oddly familiar. For every college student who has gone home for the holidays and thought “How did I live here for eighteen years?” this book is for you.
Stats: This book is just over 200 pages and quite easy to read (no Nabokov here).
Rating: An easy read for even the busiest college student.
I appreciate the conciseness of the post. Despite not having read the book, I think you pretty well summarized it and I feel like I can make a good judgement on whether I'd want to read it. I'm curious, though, since you do mention that the book is relatable while still being unique, how does that play out? I get the feeling most of it is that universal feeling of being embarrassed by family, but then what are some of the more unique aspects of Mennonite culture that are addressed with that?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the style of this blog as well as the content. Easy to read with not a lot of fluff. Straight to the point.
ReplyDeleteA small thing I noticed at the end - you provided a rating but no real rating scale...that might be fun. Maybe a 1-10 or some meaningful or funny variation of that, letting us know just how successful (or not) a book was to you, based solely on your completely bias scale. Would the blog stand out from other reviews as well.
Oh, sort of like a rotten tomatoes type situation.
I agree with Will about making the rating system a little clearer/more unique.
ReplyDeleteAnd I liked that you start by addressing the cover. The cover definitely doesn't endear me to the book, and not a lot of covers do. I'm really curious about what other books show up on this blog!
I love the blog subject! I work at Village Books and I love it, but people are CONSTANTLY recommending books to me, or being appalled that I haven't read such and such yet, and it's just like... I'M BUSY! Now, maybe I'll know which books I have time for!
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with your commentators so far! The concise details are great, and the cover adds interest. It might be good, as you go along, to include a little bit more about yourself as a reader, even tidbits of childhood reads, or going back to re-read childhood favorites.
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ReplyDeleteI second Brenda's comment on adding more about yourself. Personally, I'd like to hear more about contemporary short-reads but that's me.
ReplyDeleteYou chose a really good topic for your blog. I'm sure you'll be posting good stuff.