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Larraine F. (phillyartlovesbooks) - Reviews

1 to 20 of 60 - Page:
The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence
Author: Edith Wharton
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 6/28/2005


Edith Wharton is a wonderful writer. I recommend this one highly.


Alice's Adventure in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Review Date: 3/13/2006


This is a two volume set in a slipcase from the 70's. No ISBN.


All Souls' Rising
All Souls' Rising
Author: Madison Smartt Bell
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.8/5 Stars.
 4
Review Date: 2/4/2005


Very well written - not an easy read but well worth the say it makes your brain work!


Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs, Bk 6)
Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs, Bk 6)
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 70
Review Date: 7/4/2017


Continuing in my "catch up" mode, I just finished this book which was really really engrossing and very interesting. Maisie sees a man commit suicide on the street by setting off an explosion. Her intuition tells her she is about to do something, when he sets off the explosion. She is thrown back and suffers a concussion. Not long after she is contacted by Scotland Yard after they receive a letter threatening to kill a large number of people and mentioning her name. Soon MI-5 is involved although a member introduces himself as Military Intelligence Section 5. The time is December 1931 and January 1932. The letter writer is a WWI veteran. The economic times are grim, and many people are out of work. The government has awarded pensions to some veterans, but many others are literally scraping by. There are hospitals still full of veterans who are mentally unable to be on their own.

There is also a sub story involving Maisie's employee, Billy and his wife, Doreen. In a later book, I read about her having a mental breakdown after the death of her little girl. However, the later books talked about her slowly regaining her sanity. In this book she is at the height of her depression, screaming at her two boys not to touch the gifts for their sister that are under the tree, not giving the boys the love and attention she needs as well as not keeping herself and her home clean and presentable. When she cuts herself with a knife, Billy calls the doctor who sends an ambulance to pick her up and take her to a mental institution. Unfortunately, their methods are old fashioned and even dangerous. Billy is concerned. Maisie intervenes and uses her contacts to get her into a more up to date hospital.

As always, this is a lot more complicated than it seems from the outside. It's really excellent. I've read nearly everyone in the series now. Some are better than others. This is one of the better ones in my opinion.


Anonymous Rex: A Detective Story
Anonymous Rex: A Detective Story
Author: Eric Garcia
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 24
Review Date: 4/1/2006
Helpful Score: 1


Very funny and quirky. The jacket calls it a "cult classic." Think of Dashiel Hammett as a dinosaur! The author imagines a society that includes dinosaurs which are not extinct. They actually became part of the human population by developing various guises. Of course humans don't know a person is actually a dino, but fello dinos know because of the smell. Really different and fun.


Baltasar and Blimunda (Memorial do Convento)
Review Date: 2/4/2005
Helpful Score: 1


This one will work your brain but it\'s really excellent reading.


Bastard out of Carolina
Bastard out of Carolina
Author: Dorothy Allison
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 363
Review Date: 2/4/2005
Helpful Score: 1


What a remarkable book this really is. Wonderful reading!


Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book With Test Kitchen Tips
Review Date: 2/4/2005


Good book for beginning cook-would make a great gift


Blindsighted  (Grant County, Bk 1)
Blindsighted (Grant County, Bk 1)
Author: Karin Slaughter
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 367
Review Date: 1/20/2006


This is kind of gory but well-written. Three stars


Bookmarks: A Guide to Research and Writing (2nd Edition)
Review Date: 2/24/2007


This is an excellent book for high school and college students for writing papers. It explains the different types of documentation that is especially important for college students as well as how to prevent plagiarism, web resources and the like. I used this in more than one college class and was glad to have it.


Burning Angel (Dave Robicheaux, Bk 8)
Burning Angel (Dave Robicheaux, Bk 8)
Author: James Lee Burke
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 92
Review Date: 2/4/2005


James Lee Burke\'s books are full of twists and turns and surprises. This one is no exception. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.


Busman's Honeymoon (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 13)
Busman's Honeymoon (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 13)
Author: Dorothy L. Sayers
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 39
Review Date: 6/6/2006
Helpful Score: 1


very witty although the language is a little dated - a terrific insight into Britain in the 30's too


A Cab Called Reliable : A Novel
A Cab Called Reliable : A Novel
Author: Patti Kim
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 3
Review Date: 2/4/2005


wonderful


A Casualty of War (Bess Crawford, Bk 9)
A Casualty of War (Bess Crawford, Bk 9)
Author: Charles Todd
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 16
Review Date: 5/15/2018


Charles Todd is the pseudonym for an American mother/son writing team. Together they produce books that are rich in historical detail and written very much in the British manner.

The war is nearing an end, but drags on until the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month per the armistice agreement. Bess is reassigned and is waiting for her transport when she meets a British army office, Captain Alan Travis. He lives in Barbados and is yearning to return. He also tells her that he met a distant cousin his own age in Paris & liked him very much. She sees him again, but this time he is angry, insisting that his cousin tried to kill him - not once but twice.

Then she sees him again when he is in a clinic where he is tied down day and night because the doctors are convinced that he is suffering from a delusion.

Bess becomes involved in trying to prove there is nothing wrong with him and steps into a morass of evil and murder that is, as always, both complex and fascinating.

I had a hard time putting this one down. The wounds of war are described here in detail: those wounds are not just physical nor are they limited to members of the military. More politicians should have to read these books and understand what they are doing to their citizens when they engage in fruitless wars.


The Complete Writer's Kit (Books Only)
The Complete Writer's Kit (Books Only)
Author: Scott Edelstein, Natalie Goldberg
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 3
Review Date: 2/29/2012


This came with cards which got damaged. I threw them away. So this includes the main book and the tiny book about getting published.


Corelli's Mandolin
Corelli's Mandolin
Author: Louis De Bernieres
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 175
Review Date: 2/4/2005


Very romantic but different from the film. Interesting story.


A Crime in the Neighborhood
A Crime in the Neighborhood
Author: Suzanne Berne
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 42
Review Date: 1/15/2005


This is an outstanding book and, I believe, a first novel for this writer. It is an example of how imagination can run wild and ruin an innocent person and also hurt the person who spread the rumor. It takes place during the Nixon years in Washington and reflects the paranoia of that administration.


Crossing to Safety (Great Reads)
Crossing to Safety (Great Reads)
Author: Wallace Stegner
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 23
Review Date: 4/10/2006


Stegner was one of the great American writers of the 20th century.


The English Patient
The English Patient
Author: Michael Ondaatje
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 348
Review Date: 2/4/2005


Ondaatje is an outstanding writer. This book will challenge you a little but it is worth your time.


The Essential Writer's Companion : A Concise Guide to Writing Effectively for School, Home, or Office
Review Date: 2/4/2005


Very concise and helpful


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