55 Cách Để Kích Hoạt Tư Duy tải xuống LIT miễn phí

Slavko Markovic slavkomarkovic — A survey conducted by the wedding website The Knot in 2008 found that the average wedding cost about $28,000. With something like 2.3 million weddings in America each year, this amounts to an absurd amount of cash changing hands - $160 billion annually as of 2006 (when Mead was writing). Each year, more articles on the attendant craziness and "bridezilla" culture appear - brides who spend $5,000 on a Vera Wang wedding gown, who ask their bridesmaids to get botox, plastic surgery, or worse. And each year, the rate of divorce seems to go up. How did we get here? What prompts this sort of behavior and why is it culturally acceptable? In fact, in a world where women make as much as men and are as likely to keep working afterwards, where we enjoy the ability to live with our significant others before marriage, why get married at all? These are the questions that Rebecca Mead sets out to answer in One Perfect Day. And what she finds is very interesting to anyone who has been to a wedding or had thoughts of getting married herself. The story Mead puts together is one of a fairly secular public with no particular institutions to turn to for guidance in putting together a wedding - with the exception of the bridal industry. Where traditional practices have been rejected for disallowing the sort of personalization that those about to be married demand for their ceremonies, the "traditionalesque" has sprung up to replace it, replete with bits of ceremony stripped from other religions, or even from TV shows or films that sound good. Huge industries have sprung up to allow the bride to find exactly the right meringue, which is then sewn for her by four hundred Chinese laborers making $0.50 per hour, or to remind her that her invitations match her shoes. If family and culture dictate tradition, Mead says, traditionalesque is dictated by industry and driven by profit. Even the idea of a diamond engagement ring is a relatively new one, developed by the DeBeers company in 1938. So does this hollowing of tradition lead inevitably to the hollowing of a culturally significant turning point in a person's life? Not necessarily. Mead attends numerous weddings over the course of the book, some of which seem especially poignant (for example, a wedding by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas) and some of which seem perfunctory or disappointing (including a tiny wedding in a church in Hebron, WI). In a world with no set bodies to prescribe what is meaningful, meaning is where you make it. The one complaint I have about this book is that gay weddings and the question of "Why marry?" are addressed only in the epilogue. She does have some poignant things to say about the former (for example, addressing the way that every gay marriage seems like a triumph), but though she raises the latter, even asking a handful of brides, she never offers a good explanation. Perhaps, like the rest of a wedding, the reason must be created by the couple to suit themselves.

Clement Onyoli onyoli — Blundell does it again. A noirish novel set in 1950s New York city where a girl from Rhode Island can end up dancing at an exclusive lounge, but as the title suggests there are always strings attached. As with What I Saw and How I Lied (Blundell's prevous work and National Book Award Winner) my only problem with this novel is that even though it is a great read it isn't something I would have picked up as a teenager, its just too dark looking. Don't get me wrong its a great book built on layers that build up to an ending that took me by surprise.

Mary Rose rosevalenzuel13 — It was ok. First book in a series of five. The plot seemed to be all over the place and kind of hard to believe. The story is about a woman whose Twin sister was killed while in the Witness Protection program. case of Mistaken identity? hmmm. This would be a good rainy day afternoon read.

Stephen Mangion stephenmangion — A thin volume with contributions from well-known storytellers. Many stories you have heard before, others are fresh, including an original story from San Souci. Each tale is followed by a note from the storyteller on ways to tell the story effectively, as well as a brief blurb about the origin of the tale, with motifs when available. Trouble is, not many of these are really scary. This might be an additional purchase for libraries with great folktale collections, or for adults who are practicing storytellers, but children won't find this book super-appealing.

Peter Wood _oodoo_esign — Nice blend of native american history, humor and insight into present day life on a reservation.

Inês Caldas lightness — This book was funny. If you want a good laugh I highly recommend it. And it somehow realtes to teh way we still precieve things today.

L L l33965890 — The story was fascinating, well thought out, and full of action and intrigue. I literally could not put it down from start to finish.