| |
|
Dear American Airlines: A Novel 25 reviews
Jonathan Miles
Houghton Mifflin Co, 2008
Thorns hoping to become the rose
+ Great Read
+ The perfect novel for your next plane trip
As a plot device the complaint letter looks improbable, but for this "rage against the dying of the coot to your left" the comic tone of Mr. Miles' construction lifts the story's pathos into the lyrical and the sublime - or something like that - and when in the end Bennie makes his flight the ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
A Patent Lie 14 reviews
Paul Goldstein
Doubleday, 2008
Patent law for the non-professional
+ Gripping, good explanations of patent law - but no Markman! - mostly unrealistic female characters
+ Very good read
"A Patent Lie" is an excellent read. A trial lawyer from Buffalo is brought to San Francisco on short notice to try a patent law case. The plot is well crafted, including many of the nuances peculiar to patent litigation, but without lapsing into legalese or dwelling on arcane legal procedure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club) 1272 reviews
Ken Follett
NAL Trade, 2007
So interesting
+ Wow, Oprah got this right, it's worth your time and that is saying something.
+ Fascinating but flawed
I came to this book because it was an Oprah Book Club selection and her choices have been hit or miss over the years for me. This one, a hit. I still can't get over how Follett manages to make the intricate details of building a cathedral interesting and not boring. Intermixing it with the ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Other 21 reviews
David Guterson
Knopf, 2008
Melancholy "madness"
+ Engaging at multiple levels, but not for everyone
+ Great Story and Detail
This is a really good book, by the author of the really good "Snow Falling on Cedars" and the not so good "Our Lady of the Forest" (well, at least I didn't enjoy that one). Middle-class Neil Countryman narrates the tale of his friendship with John William Barry, a young man to the manor born who ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
North River: A Novel41 reviews
Pete Hamill
Little, Brown and Company, 2007
Understanding another time
+ True To The Times
+ North River a joy from beginning to end
+ Really 4.5 -- Great Characters & So Relevant!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Secret Life of Bees1391 reviews
Sue Monk Kidd
Penguin (Non-Classics), 2003
What Will Hollywood Do To This Great Book?!?
+ Secret Life of Bees
+ Sweet But Dark
+ Sweet, readable story
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming33 reviews
Joshilyn Jackson
Grand Central Publishing, 2008
A moving, absorbing thriller hard to put down
+ Highly entertaining page turner
+ Great reading! Jackson is an excellent writer!
+ Review
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Change of Heart: A Novel177 reviews
Jodi Picoult
Atria, 2008
Oh my...
+ Amazing Book
Sometimes Jodi Picoult hits a homer, and other times just a single or double. Change of Heart is a grand slam, built around the impact of a death row inmate upon the lives of three unrelated people who are drawn into his story by the circumstances of their own lives. Shay Bourne has exhausted his ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Desperation Moon 25 reviews
Ken Douglas
Bootleg Press, 2003
Mucho Desperation in this Finely Tuned Thriller
+ Non-Stop Action
+ A New Fan
+ A Book I Could Not Put Down
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Art of Racing in the Rain223 reviews
Garth Stein
Harper, 2008
Exceptional and Unusual
+ Simply the best
+ Yip Yip Hurrah
+ Amazing book
+ Loved the book - but don't look at the cover!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Gathering (Man Booker Prize)125 reviews
Anne Enright
Grove Press, Black Cat, 2007
Graceful & Imaginative
+ All men are bookies ...
+ The image on the veil
I'm not surprised that this book won the Booker Prize. Enright has a superior command of the language. She creates fluid yet surprising prose, moving between real and imagined events, past and present with astounding grace and skill. This book is a surreal meditation on family--mother love, sister ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone4 reviews
Sasa Stanisic
Grove Press, 2008
awe
+ A child's perspective
+ One of my fav reads of the year
+ What a firecracker!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Mister Pip51 reviews
Lloyd Jones
Dial Press Trade Paperback, 2008
The Impact of To Kill a Mockingbird
+ Take Me Away -
+ Mr. Pip- a wonderful, enthralling novel
This book resonated with me like my first reading of "To Kill a Mockingbird". Llyod Jones paints a vivid picture of daily life on a small island in the Pacific. As trouble descends, the tension mounts. Each generation finds a different way of coping and the point of view of an adolescent girl adds ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Cellist of Sarajevo13 reviews
Steven Galloway
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
One of 2008's Best
+ Picked Up at the End
On May 27, 1992, twenty-two people died in a mortar attack in beseiged Sarajevo. They were waiting to buy bread. Vedran Smailovic, a cellist, appeared in the market and played Tomaso Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor for twenty-two days, commemorating this senseless, isolated, violence.
Using this ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Spook Country150 reviews
William Gibson
Berkley Trade, 2008
Conjures Reality
+ Brilliant, but not perfect
I've never read a book by this author that disappointed me. This latest work by him continues his increasingly evolved and highly distinctive style of writing. Some of the chapters in this book are a page, koan-like in their effect; some are much longer, approaching the length more familiar to ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
People of the Book: A Novel123 reviews
Geraldine Brooks
Viking Adult, 2008
A Pleasant Surprise
+ People of the Book
+ Great read...
+ Book for All People
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Last Summer (of You and Me)22 reviews
Ann Brashares
Riverhead Trade, 2008
The Last Summer (of you and me) is one of the best books of the summer!
+ Soak it up
+ Rewarding
This book is great. This story is perfect for reading by the beach or sitting outside on a cool summer evening. I loved this book! The Last Summer ( of you and me) is on my list for best books of summer. And even if summer is now over you can still enjoy the romance and the sister bonding. The ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Free Food for Millionaires52 reviews
Min Jin Lee
Grand Central Publishing, 2008
Free Food for Millionaires
+ Was it really 600 pages?
+ Delivers on it's promise to entertain
I was surprised to read the negative and indifferent reviews for this book, since I truly enjoyed reading it. Min Jin Lee did not create a literary masterpiece (who has time to decipher those nowadays anyway?), but the novel was well-written and with an interesting story to tell.
In this debut ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Tenderness of Wolves: A Novel43 reviews
Stef Penney
Simon & Schuster, 2008
Beautifully written, compelling story
+ Sorry to see it end.
+ Fields of Heaven
+ Loved it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Garden of Last Days: A Novel74 reviews
Andre Dubus III
W. W. Norton, 2008
Do not pay attention to the negative reviews and read this book!
I really enjoyed "House of Sand and Fog" and I enjoyed this book just as much. Dubus is an excellent writer with an ability to portray an array of vastly diverse characters while setting an amazing tempo.
His vivid descriptions within one terrifying night made me feel like I was there with these ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
