A quick, fluffy read about one of my favorite movies. I was expecting a bit more depth about how this movie signaled the "dawn of the modern woman" He made his point, but a little something that uses some resources besides the obvious (Betty Friedan and other movies) would have make it better.
And though this is minor, it was nonetheless annoying: subheads. Lots and lots of subheads. Sometimes there would be a paragraph and then another subhead. Learn to write a transition sentence!

While I was reading it, I really enjoyed it. And then I started thinking about it after I finished, and there were holes and annoyances all over the place. I love the concept--a scavenger hunt across Europe--but there were too many coincidences.

Such a delight! Flavia may be hard to believe for some, but my goodness, I've met kids like her before. A fun mystery (which I sort of predicted) and delightful characters.
My favorite parts were when she would rhapsodize about chemistry. It was enough to make even me, someone who hasn't thought about chemistry in over a decade, what to start experimenting.
Will be reading the rest of the series soon.

In random irony: this is the second book I read in a week that featured a bicycle nicknamed Gladys. Is there something I don't know about bicycle nicknames?

Such a fun little piece of history: Frances Willard learns to ride a bike. Lillie learns a lot about growing up. It could have been trite and cloying. Instead, Lillie is adorable--and this book features some of the best 19th century slang I've read in quite some time.

You all know that I'm all about books that connect ordinary people to big events in history. And yet, I wanted to throw this book across the room on multiple occasions. If this hadn't been a book club book (and I hadn't of skipped the last few choices), I never would have finished it.

The first chunk of the book is a typical, growing up post-WWII story. And then, they start contrasting the story of his first love (rich girl, poor boy) against the Cuban Missile Crisis. And things get weird. There are long sections about the missile crisis from JFK's perspective that just don't work.

Explosions (see the title) are a recurring theme: he's born a few weeks early because of a bomb. Right after he loses his virginity, he and his girl get blown up by a bomb left over from WWII. He never talks to the girl again until she happens to call him on the morning of September 11. Yep, you guessed--she delays him just long enough to save his life. And that's the end. Seriously?

But what confused me the most was this: it's supposed to be a young adult novel. And I can't for the life of me figure out why teens would want to read a book in which an old man remembers how he lost his virginity and keeps wandering off to lectures on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I'm changing my rating to one star. Ugghh.

A truly great read. Complicated family in close quarters for a week, mourning the loss of dear old dad. And while Judd may drive you up the wall on occasion, he just felt real. Messy, complicated and fabulous.

Supposedly, they are making a movie of this. And if the casting list on IMDB is right, this could be really fun.

Some essays were great fun, others were not. But part of this might be my own bias: he's a big Civil War re-enactor, and I get very tired of Civil War re-enacting stories.
Definitely worth reading if you run across it, but not worth seeking out