2026 #4 Eleanor of Aquitaine (Weir)

 

Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life by Alison Weir
My rating: 3.75 stars

My original interest in this book was to fill out some of my historical context surrounding troubadours, and to be sure, there are plenty of references to these poet-composers of southern France in relation to their poetic chronicles of Eleanor of Aquitaine. The quote from the Boston Globe on the covers says, "An alluringly candid portrait of this most public yet elusive of medieval women." To this, I say, "sort of." It isn't Weir's fault -- the records just aren't there (unsurprisingly -- "elusive" is correct). Weir makes do with a wonderful host of historical accounts and primary sources, but the net result is that a good proportion of the book is NOT about Eleanor of Aquitaine, but instead Henry II, and the various Kings (including first husband Louis VII), archbishops, dukes, etc. Once Henry dies in Weir's narrative, however, Eleanor gets more air time (and I think this likely aligns with the historical record as well). So, in a way, I think the book is a meta-reflection of the documentation upon which it rests.

That said, the real mark of a good history book is to get you interested in that which you didn't know you were interested! Weir achieves this in her thorough narrative of the personalities, unions, rivalries, etc that make up 12th-century France and England. There's enough about Eleanor that Weir's main point is illuminated: "[Eleanor of Aquitaine] came into her own at an age when most women were either dead or long in retirement, and ruled as capably as any man. She was no shrinking violet, but a tough, capable, and resourceful woman who travelled widely throughout the known world and was acquainted with most of the great figures of the age." (346). The details of that narrative are worth reading. This is a revision of the heretofore widely accepted tropes of Eleanor as "wicked queen" and "adultress."

It is generally a really great chronicle of the status of women in the medieval period, especially royal women who were seen as barter for various diplomatic transactions. The double standards abound when it comes to marital infidelity, and one has to chuckle at the charges of consanguinity leveled at both of Eleanor's marriages -- the charming handwritten genealogical tables at the back of the book come in handy.

One consistent issue I had is that Weir often describes various figures in a formula that seems to be: extol their prowess and strength, then debunk/contradict it with various accounts of their hubris and in some cases, real lack of humanity. This often takes place in the span of two short paragraphs. For example, in describing King John (as just one example), Weir tells us that he received a lot of bad press, but that recent studies show "he was a gifted administrator who showed a concern for justice...he showed real concern for his kingdom." She goes on to tell us that the "Exchequer, Chancery, and law courts began to function more effectively" and that he "took a more than ordinary interest in the welfare of his common subjects." (318-319). In the very next paragraph, however, we are offered a quote from a chronicler that he was "but a plunderer of his own people, trusting strangers rather than his subjects, wherefore he was eventually deserted by his own men and, in the end, little mourned." (319). This seems to be a regular narrative approach in describing all the main male figures of the historical narrative. I appreciate that these men very likely did have a rather incongruous set of qualities/vices, but the repeated structure in the narrative felt like pop-up instances of whiplash, rather than relating the understandable complexity.

I found myself wondering about some of the other women in the book--particularly Eleanor's daughter in law Berengaria (wife of Richard I), who seemed the most untainted by folly and foibles. This is, as I said, a strength of the book. Weir's research and gifts for writing draw you in to the medieval trials and tribulations of the various bloodlines of French and English royalty.

View all my reviews

Challenges on Storygraph (@rebcamuse):

2026 Reading Goals 4/60

#192030 Challenge: 1999

Tackle your Physical TBR 2026: no. 3

2026 #3 Alice Adams (Tarkington)

 

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars (3.5)

This is a book that is very much "of its time" as one might expect. It is also teaching me something about the Pulitzer prize in the 1920s. The book is rather innocuous from a 1920s standpoint, but certainly the racism doesn't land well for modern readers. The story isn't one that would hold a lot of interest in modern times, perhaps, but therein also lies its value. Alice Adams is an interesting character--caught between daughterly loyalty, youthful vanity and social aspirations, and the various slings and arrows of her circumstances as both a woman and a member of the Adams family. The book is as much about the family (and its dynamics) as it is Alice herself, and while she seems dated and petty in some instances, she's remarkably plucky and resilient. The same cannot be said of either of her parents, and her brother is definitely the most colorful character of the book.

The book itself is rather humorous, something I didn't particularly expect, and Tarkington writes rather dryly of his characters, seeming to stand back with a smirk at their various foibles. The style (and book in general) reminded me very much of Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, published two decades prior, although Alice is ultimately far more like-able and much more a "heroine."

Alice's courtship with Arthur Russell was one of the more entertaining aspects of the novel, and cheers to Tarkington for writing her as a woman of wit, whose repartee with Russell shows her true stuff. The book is a slow read, and some of the details bordered on tedium (particularly in the early chapters), but it is fascinating to see the book as a reflection of social mores of the time as well as how family dynamics can balance between love and social obligations.

View all my reviews

Challenges on Storygraph (@rebcamuse):

2026 Reading Goals: 3/60

#192030 Challenge: 1921

2026 #2 Ungrading (Blum, ed.)

 

Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) by Susan D. Blum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another excellent tome in the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education series from West Virginia University Press, Blum's Ungrading is probably one of the most often cited sources on the topic. The essays in the book provide "solutions in the plural" as Blum puts it, recognizing that capacity and agency will vary across faculty and different contexts, and that ultimately "Ungrading" can mean a lot of different things. Jessie Stommel's "How to Ungrade" offers a fairly extreme form of ungrading (no grades until the course grade, only feedback), while others provide more moderated approaches. Always as entertaining as he is erudite, John Warner gives us "Wile E. Coyote, The Hero of Ungrading" milking an extended metaphor in service of understanding the challenges of ungrading (for both learner and teacher/facilitator). I appreciated Marcus Shultz-Bergin's reflections, "Grade Anarchy in the Philosophy Classroom" which reminds us that we should be prepared for (some) things to perhaps not work as well as we thought they might. In other words --- stay humble. Celebrate your victories, learn from your mistakes. For those interested in a diving in a bit more deeply to pedagogical theory, Christopher Riesbeck's "Critique-Driven Learning and Assessment" gives good information about how to mix the quantitative and the narrative when it comes to assessment.

The mix of approaches and perspectives is generally an asset, although I found some of the essays less relevant and/or robust. As a whole, however, a very worthy read and a great place to start if you want to know about alternative grading.

View all my reviews

Challenges on Storygraph (@rebcamuse):

2026 Reading Goals: 2/60

Tackle Your Physical TBR 2/18

2026 #1 Intermezzo (Rooney)

 

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75

I started this book in August and then I put it down. Peter and Ivan did not immediately catch my interest, so I moved on to other things. But I returned, and I'm glad I did. I don't love the "no dialogue-styled-as-dialogue" aspect, although I appreciated it more when I was invested in a moment that was more meaningful to me. I enjoyed the last quarter of the book the most, wherein the five main characters start to come together. We spend a lot of time in the heads of Peter and Ivan, and I started to grow tired of the both of them, but the cool move here is that Rooney shows us (eventually) how they start to grow tired of themselves. That's what made the book for me. I'm glad I read it.

Challenges on Storygraph (@rebcamuse):

2026 Reading Goals: 1/60

Tackle Your Physical TBR 1/18

#192030 Challenge: 2024

Litsy #WickedWords 2026 (January):

Pawn

Knight

Rook

2025 #58 Undoing the Grade (Stommel)

Undoing the Grade: Why We Grade, and How to Stop by Jesse Stommel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jesse Stommel is (and has been) one of the most important voices in "ungrading" as a practice. His insights shared on social media, various blogs, and in previous publications have done much to foster the important dialogue(s) that have multiplied over the last decade or so. There's a lot in this tiny volume that is great for excerpting, but the manifesto-like tone and compilation of previous writings (which is more of what it is rather than a book) frustrated me occasionally, especially as someone who is not new to these topics.

Stommel makes a convincing case for "why" we shouldn't grade, for the most part, but the "how to stop" part could be a bit more robust in terms of nuance and detail. That said, there are some really important take-aways, even for those who might not want to adopt a complete "ungrading" approach. Stommel writes, "My goal in eschewing grades has been to more honestly engage student work rather than simply evaluate it" (2). This is a key factor and should be an overarching pedagogical objective for anyone looking into alternative assessments (I use the term in acknowledgement of its problematic aspects). There are also some really wonderful pithy quotes: "Grades are the bureaucratic ouroboros of education" (11) sums up the raison d'etre for Stommel's work, in that it isn't just about grading/not grading/ungrading, etc..., but looking at the larger structural failings of education. "Ungrading" (broadly interpreted) is one way to fight back, and it can be done without necessarily jeopardizing one's gainful employment, especially if it is grounded in sound pedagogy and includes student dialogue and buy-in. That's not to say everyone will have the academic freedom to do so, but as more and more educators make "plus 1" changes (to borrow from Behling and Tobin's Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education), the tide may eventually turn.

 
Stommel's indictment of relegating "pedagogy" to the LMS is spot-on, although I'd push back a bit at his disdain for rubrics. I appreciate and agree with his criticism of "overly mechanistic" rubrics that are more focused on "efficiency in evaluation" (29), but I gently part company with him when he says: "...when rubrics are given in advance to students, they are likely to close down possibility by encouraging students to work toward a prescribed notion of excellence." (30). While I can see that, I would offer that the right rubric can be an excellent tool for transparency of expectations (especially if those expectations are cultivated through dialogue with the students, as Stommel advocates). With LMS incorporating AI more frequently to assist with things like making rubrics, I fear rubrics are being defined, especially for new faculty, as mechanistic tools for evaluation rather than realizing a fuller potential that they could have as a pedagogical implement for engagement and transparency.

 
In "How to Ungrade" Stommel says, "If you're a teacher and you hate grading, stop doing so much of it." (68). He helpfully differentiates the conversation from one about "efficiency" (a word I'd like to see removed from pedagogical spaces, at least until we regain some balance as far as AI is concerned). I think there's a lot of joy to be had from engaging with student work, and this might shift the conversation a bit: rather than aiming for "less grading" it might be about spending that energy cultivating relationships and I think Stommel makes a strong and impassioned case for doing just that . Overworked and underpaid teachers are (rightfully so) often leaning into "easier said than done" because they are exhausted. So, I'd encourage those who are new to the ideas of people like Paulo Freire and bell hooks to use Stommel's book as a starting point for inspiration, and try out some of the concrete examples for alternative assessment in Chapter 8.

View all my reviews

2025 #57 Failing Our Future (Eyler)

 

Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students, and What We Can Do about It by Joshua R. Eyler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great primer for those uninitiated to the idea of alternative grading, or those who need a baseline rationale. Beautifully researched and convincingly argued, Eyler demonstrates, on multiple levels, the actual harm of grading as a system, without resorting to heavy-handed rhetoric or sanctimonious finger-wagging. Eyler's audience should be parents, educators, and administrators, and there is wisdom here for both K-12 and higher ed. For the purposes of this particular book, his grouping of several alternative grading models under "Standards Based Grading" (SBG) makes sense, but it means that this is not the book if you are looking for nuanced explanations of the differences between, for example, SBG and Specifications (or "Specs") Grading. For that I recommend Grading for Growth by David Clark and Robert Talbert -- a book Eyler cites. Some of the stats and case studies make for tough reading, so consider this a content warning as he does briefly mention suicides at particular institutions (hopefully that doesn't shock anyone working for more than a few years in higher ed). Eyler covers a lot of ground in terms of providing both background and practical advice, and the rich bibliography is a fruitful place for further exploration.

View all my reviews

2025 #56 Signs Preceding the End of the World (Herrera)

 

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A timely read, the book offers a "hero's journey" of Makina, a Mexican woman sent by her mother to find her brother on the 'other side', while also carrying a "package" for a certain Mr. Aitch. While something is always lost in translation, I think Lisa Dillman worked hard (at least according to the Translator's Note) to pick up on the craft of Herrera's writing. The style reminded me of both Italo Calvino and José Saramago, the former of whom I love, and the latter I'm still trying...

Pay attention to the beginning as it is what helps situate this Campbellian monomyth. There's a lot of subtlety in the book, and certain moments almost seem like meta-narrative: "Using in one tongue the word for a thing in the other makes the attributes of both resound: if you say Give me fire when they say Give me a light, what is not to be learned about fire, light and the act of giving? It's not another way of saying things: these are new things." (67-68).

Yes, it is a book about migration, but also more metaphorical border crossings.

View all my reviews