Two Book Reviews!

Hello all! I'm back from all of my graduate school interview wanderings. All in all, it was a tiring trip, and I still have one more interview on the 17th, but it was really nice to travel around the country a bit, meet some other people who actually knew what genetic counseling was, and see all the programs for myself. Here's the preference order so far:

1.) VCU
2.) UT Houston (a very close second!!)
3.) IUPUI
4.) UNC Greensboro
5.) Case Western

we'll see where Oklahoma fits in a little later.

Anyway, on a completely unrelated note, I try to post reviews of the books I've just finished reading because I like letting everyone know about good books, and I like putting my own thoughts on the book down on...paper? Cyberspace? Anyway! A little while ago, I finished Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott.

Generally, I liked this book. I've just decided that I like Anne Lamott. She's really cool, she has some great insights on faith and life in general, and she can relate to her audience almost constantly. But, I didn't like this book as much as Traveling Mercies, because it seemed like half the time in this book she was talking about how she hates Bush. Okay, I understand, I get it. Let's move on, Anne.



Over the trip, I finished up The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It's a historical fiction novel that revolves around Dinah, the daughter of Jacob mentioned in the Bible. In the Biblical account, Dinah is raped by a foreign prince, and for payback her brothers go and kill the entire city. This book is beautifully written. I especially enjoyed how the author took just a few verses from Genesis and wove them into a tale that was extremely engaging. This book delves into some Old Testament practices regarding womanhood and how mothers rejoiced in the births of their daughters, because then they had someone to share all of their own history with. However, the story definitely contradicts much of the Biblical account about this family. Dinah is not raped but in fact very much in love with the prince. Jacob was not mad when he discovered he had first married Leah instead of Rachel, but was secretly overjoyed and was actually playing a trick on Laban to get more stuff, etc. I really enjoyed this story and the author's take on how to view Biblical texts, even if that's probably not how things really went down for Dinah.

I'm out.