Sarah
I enjoyed this quiet, thoughtful book. O'Nan creates wonderful, real characters both flawed and sympathetic. Emily Alone follows a widow's life in Pittsburgh (sequel to Wish You Were Here, which I haven't read yet but put on my to-read list) and the pacing matches her existence. Instead of plodding along, this is a quiet but lovely read.
Amazing, yes, but simply tragic. I listened to it in the car, which may have been harder than reading it.
I listened to this, which worked out well. It's a nice story - not literary, not edge-of-your-seat exciting, but nice. I kept expecting something mysterious to happen, but this book is more about relationships than action. I would recommend it as a light listen for a road trip.
Not, as my mother initially thought, a funny and charming read. It is both of those at times, but it is also dark and, at times, graphic. Worth reading.
This is a juvenile (as in age group/reading level) book and it feels almost timeless. Although this is set during the Depression, there are themes to which contemporary youth can relate - abandonment, finding your place in a new town. Good literary kid read.
This is a fun and fast read. de Botton is a thoughtful philosopher with a gentle sense of humor and I've always enjoyed his books. Plus there are pictures :)
Quiet, occasionally funny, this is a lovely little story of an artist who spends a summer in the English countryside uncovering an old painting in a church.
Seriously awful. There were glimmers of hope, so I kept listening, but the main character is obnoxious and mean and there is almost no character development for anyone else. Ugh. Waste of time.
A nice distraction, fun, with some slightly ridiculous characters. But this is what I can handle in a time of existential dread.
I read this (#2) before reading the first in the series, but that turned out not to matter very much. Larsson doesn't give away much from the first book. I almost put it down after reading the first two pages, but once I got past that scene, I was completely caught up in the story. Fantastic.
I've always heard good things about Malcolm Gladwell but had never read any of his books. This was a great one to start with - intriguing and thought-provoking and the sort of book that has the potential to make the world a better place. I did feel threat some of the stories, while fascinating, lacked a tight relationship to the thesis.
I thought the “plot twist” simultaneously predictable and far-fetched. But I liked the “morgue mama” character and would read others in the series.
Maybe this is a book to read instead of listen to, but I found the multiple third person narrative alternately poetic and disconcerting.
Mind you, I thought this was amazing when I read it in high school, so that was 15 years ago. I think I would still give it 4 stars, though. And I've just re-read it for the fourth time :)
