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Review Date: 6/28/2007
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
"I've got to say, I was disappointed. In fact, this brings the lifetime total of books that I've simply lost interest in and not finished to about 10. The early chapters were promising (funny and eventful), but about halfway through it just seemed to run out of steam. I liked the basic premise, but about halfway through, simply got bored. Wonder Boys (by the same author) was a much more compelling read for me."
Review Date: 3/29/2010
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
"The title promises much more than it is.
I really did not enjoy this book. I reached the end and went "that's it?" It didn't even work as a narrative of failure.
Each time it would go towards a promise of humor, it would back off. Each time it went towards a promise of pathos, it failed. The characters the author seemed to feel most clever were really quite bland.
There were a few nice descriptions of New England, old and new, but I think this would have made a much better short story than a novel. A man gets repeatedly blamed for something he didn't intentionally do until he finally takes the blame for it even though he clearly didn't do it.
Yeah, I just don't get it."
I really did not enjoy this book. I reached the end and went "that's it?" It didn't even work as a narrative of failure.
Each time it would go towards a promise of humor, it would back off. Each time it went towards a promise of pathos, it failed. The characters the author seemed to feel most clever were really quite bland.
There were a few nice descriptions of New England, old and new, but I think this would have made a much better short story than a novel. A man gets repeatedly blamed for something he didn't intentionally do until he finally takes the blame for it even though he clearly didn't do it.
Yeah, I just don't get it."
Review Date: 3/6/2012
"Great collection of true sailing stories from a broad spectrum. I really enjoyed the writings of Joshua Slocum, the first solo circumnavigator, writing about fixing up a decrepit old boat. He was remarkably funny. Other favorites included a woman sailing in a single-handed cross Atlantic race and having a close encounter with an ice berg and the sorry tale of a man who's crew decamped for home in San Francisco Bay - that one struck close to home for me."
Review Date: 9/7/2008
"Really. I was supposed to read this book for my book club and got to page 168 and just decided to skip it. Margaret Atwood writes beautifully, she is a gorgeous wordsmith, but the story? Ack. I'd rather spit up a hairball.
I really wanted to like this book but instead it has wound up on the very short list of books throughout my life that I simply couldn't finish.
Oh yeah, and if anyone wants my copy, don't say I didn't warn you."
I really wanted to like this book but instead it has wound up on the very short list of books throughout my life that I simply couldn't finish.
Oh yeah, and if anyone wants my copy, don't say I didn't warn you."
Review Date: 10/11/2006
"A good read with a strong heroine. Seems to be well-researched to convincingly describe arson."
Review Date: 7/17/2011
"Wonderful story. A lovely tale of a young boy and his great grandmother, who lives in a magical old house along with the ghosts of her various ancestors."
Review Date: 3/9/2006
"Beautiful evocation of summer on the coast of Maine. Made me homesick."
Review Date: 10/22/2010
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
"Very enjoyable, with a nice twist. Kind of anachronistic, but its a fantasy, so why not?"
Review Date: 3/14/2006
"Loved reading about Montreal as well as the process of forensic anthropology. Kathy Reichs is great at exposition - I can't stand it when authors have their characters overexplain or do it unrealistically and she avoids it in a subject which requires lots of explanation."
Review Date: 5/21/2010
"I can't really review because I wasn't able to finish it. It simply didn't draw me in, and I couldn't get past the first few chapters. Really boring. I'd repost so that someone else could try to read it, but unfortunately, it came in really poor condition so can't be."
Review Date: 1/8/2007
"A tragic story covering the end of an era in China."
The Full Cupboard of Life (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Bk 5)
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
224
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
224
Review Date: 2/9/2006
"Beautiful book, makes me long for a slower, more thoughtfully paced life. Brings modern day Africa to life."
Review Date: 1/13/2010
"A fun read for the beautiful descriptions of the middle east. So-so adventure plot, with twists that were kind of far-fetched, but entertaining. Not as good as the Moonspinners."
Review Date: 2/28/2007
"Ghosts I Have Been was one of my favorite books as a child. The heroine, due to lack of money and decent parenting, has only herself to rely on. I found this sort of independence by necessity a very unusual and comforting trait in a book character."
Review Date: 11/2/2008
"Disappointing. I read this one because I adore Pilgrim's Inn and had just read The Bird in the Tree and wanted to find how it all worked out.
If you're a hard core religious type, you may like this. Otherwise, you may find it preachy and off-putting.
Like in all her books, the author spends a great deal of time describing the beauty of the gardens, woods and children. However, unlike her others, this one has little to no plot to hold it up.
Not a very satisfying end to the series."
If you're a hard core religious type, you may like this. Otherwise, you may find it preachy and off-putting.
Like in all her books, the author spends a great deal of time describing the beauty of the gardens, woods and children. However, unlike her others, this one has little to no plot to hold it up.
Not a very satisfying end to the series."
Review Date: 10/9/2006
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
"Pirates! What more do I need to say? Am I the only woman who wants to be a pirate? Escapism at its best."
Review Date: 2/15/2006
"Seriously creepy book. Kept me awake at night."
Review Date: 3/30/2006
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
"I am the one person in America who didn't like this book. Don't let it dissuade you. You'll like it, everyone else did. I did like the tiger."
Review Date: 12/10/2010
"A wonderful story about family, forgiveness, and how childhood damage can span a lifetime.
One of the things I enjoy about Madeleine L'Engle's books is her habit of reusing characters. It makes them seem even more like real people, to run into the same character in another book at another point in their life. Her interconnected webs of characters are like real life.
I also enjoy how she can write about religion intelligently without being preachy or moralistic. Her characters (and by extension, her) come across as intelligent and thoughtful."
One of the things I enjoy about Madeleine L'Engle's books is her habit of reusing characters. It makes them seem even more like real people, to run into the same character in another book at another point in their life. Her interconnected webs of characters are like real life.
I also enjoy how she can write about religion intelligently without being preachy or moralistic. Her characters (and by extension, her) come across as intelligent and thoughtful."
Review Date: 3/10/2010
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
"Wonderful descriptions of small town (island) Maine and the difficult life of the modern day lobster fisherman. Written with humor and love for the locale.
Covers one bad lobster season, while telling background stories. Also nice from a feminist perspective, as the author is a woman in a traditionally and still male dominated profession. She acknowledges this, while not seeming to be phased by it or feel excluded.
Enjoyable, quick read."
Covers one bad lobster season, while telling background stories. Also nice from a feminist perspective, as the author is a woman in a traditionally and still male dominated profession. She acknowledges this, while not seeming to be phased by it or feel excluded.
Enjoyable, quick read."
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