1 to 10 of 10
Review Date: 5/30/2012
This book is a really nice, creative twist on chick lit. (And I don't mean "chick lit" in a condescending way--I mean "chick lit" in an escapist way. I read it today when I was stuck at the hospital for hours and it was perfect!) I can't help but think that a rom-com movie adaptation is on its way. It must be. This book would be a perfect romantic comedy. Some of it seems a tad ovewrought, and the ending is maybe too convenient, but these are the tropes of the genre, and I was readily and gladly sucked into them. This book is a heck of a lot of fun!
Review Date: 10/28/2010
This book was an emotional beartrap. I thought the characters were unnecessarily one-dimensional, and I thought the ending was ridiculously manipulative.
Review Date: 5/9/2012
Hart is an incredibly talented author, but these characters are so miserable that I had no patience for any of them. Get it together, jerks!
Review Date: 7/8/2011
Helpful Score: 2
I can't believe it took me this long to get on board and read this book. I was completely engrossed and couldn't put it down, so I read it in one day. It's a compelling story with original and authentic voices. All of the characters come alive in this book. I think reading this book, too, would have been a different experience had I not been living outside Atlanta for the past 2 and a half years, where race relations and traditions are deeply entrenched and deeply disturbing. The only quibble I have with this book is that it seemed to lack a complete resolution--but maybe that was the point.
Review Date: 6/2/2012
Helpful Score: 1
When I first picked up Divergent, I was pleasantly surprised to be absorbed into a really creative world. While I didn't love this one quite as much as the first, the twist at the end can't be beat. I got frustrated with the characters throughout the book--backing and forthing, not communicating, being frustrating and whiny--but then I had to remind myself that they're teenagers, not adults. And compared to the adults in the book, they're the ones with the brains and guts. So that's pretty awesome. Kids are flawed--but they also have the potential to make the world a better place than it is. That's a pretty great message to take away from a YA novel.
Lost in Shangri-la: The True Story of a Plane Crash into a Hidden World
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
34
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
34
Review Date: 9/26/2011
I was a little disappointed by the premise of this book. It was supposed to be an edge-of-the-seat adventure tale, but the natives were friendly and the rescues were successful. I don't know if it needed to be an entire book, but the research that went into it is admirable, and the characters were all very vivid. I was getting bored with it until the epilogue, and I fought back tears for the last 20 pages.
Review Date: 7/18/2011
I fell in love with this book. Not only was I able to learn more about a vibrant and intricate religious tradition--but I also got to hear these stories through the eyes of a strong and passionate woman. This retelling places women at the center of the epic. I was inspired by Panchaali--her fire and her determination and her loyalty and her pride--and enthralled by her complicated relationship with the men in her lifeher brother, her 5 husbands, the man she loves, secretly, more than any of them, and the god Vishnu, incarnated as Krishna. The depictions of love, war, loyalty, hate, pride, jealousy, hope, pain, gods, and human beingsin all their follyare captivating. This is the kind of work that all women should read--We are every bit the fighters and the heroes that the men in epic stories assert themselves as, as well as the glue that holds families and love together.
Review Date: 10/28/2008
Read "Hamlet" instead... it's better, AND shorter!
Review Date: 7/7/2011
It dragged a bit in places, but Wheeler is such an engaging and vivacious writer that I didn't even mind. Those who know me know that I hate the outdoors and extreme cold, but this book made me think that going to Antarctica sounds like a boatload of fun! (I don't think I'll actually go, but it's fun to daydream.) Interesting history of Antarctic exploration woven into the narrative of her experience (7 months total living in different areas of the continent). Homegirl did her research, too! It's very evident, but the writing or details are never dry. (Respect from this librarian.) A surprisingly delightful summer read--perfect for when I'm melting in 100-degree heat. Wheeler does an admirable job of communicating the spell and the mystique that Antarctica holds--both over those who have never been there and over those who have.
Review Date: 11/15/2010
Helpful Score: 1
It was about 400 pages too long, and I definitely could have done without the child pornography that dominated the first third of the book. However, the last half of the book was infinitely more satisfying than the first half.
1 to 10 of 10
