Elizabeth Dean

All of the parents at my son's elementary school were encouraged to read this book over the summer. It was a good reminder of why positive discipline strategies are important & has motivated me to rethink some of my communication w/ Charlie. The advice that resonated most with me was that children need to feel like a necessary component of the family structure, not just objects to keep stimulated. I am going to work on that over the next few months. Things that were not great about the book: it's so dated! All the examples are from the 80s. It is too dreamy about the “good old days” of agricultural life with no evidence to back it up. And finally midway through the book I was convinced I was doing everything wrong & totally depressed. I wish the tone had not been so scolding. Overall though, I'm glad to have read it.

This was great! The series mysteries are getting more interesting and the characters' relationship is getting more melodramatic. Love it!

For a ripped-from-the-headlines page-turner, this book was thoughtful and well written. Fowler was motivated to write it after her son was arrested for sexting in a consensual relationship. She does a good job of “exposing” the risks of abuse within our legal system by politically motivated prosecutors pandering to the religious right. Go NC writer!

I was not into this and it did not pass the 50 page rule. There's nothing wrong with it, I am just not interested in this boy or this town.

I really love these characters. The mystery is not the most compelling, but it was better than the first. But I will keep reading about Russ & Clare for sure.

Nice writing about, well, nice people. If that makes the book sound kind of dull, it is, but it is also interesting in the way that a quiet, stretchy yoga practice is interesting. This woman seems to have had a lot of adventures at times in her life but I like how she focuses more on the less exciting daily routines. The dull daily struggles are really the important ones, anyway. The book has actually made me think about what I am looking for from my yoga practice and in my family relationships. I will try to keep in mind her phrase, “less perfect, more real.”

This book was a good continuation of the story. I don't really get what was so controversial about this book. It was classic Sookie! I love how Sookie processes how her morals have changed after becoming involved with the vamps & supes.

Perfect.

Every single one of these books drags at the beginning, but the storytelling always impresses me at the end. So each time I have to plan to read the next.

This was good. The ending really got me and made me want to read the next one.

I really can't tell if this book is good or horrible. Reading it felt like watching trashy television news. After a while I lost patience with the five year old narrator's voice & just wanted to know what happened. I did like the Ma character a lot. I do not recommend it for anyone under stress or in any vulnerable state.

This book is made up of two lovely, but brief, stories. I'd like to read something longer and more immersive by Yoshimoto.

This was a really interesting read. It truly is like revisiting Mad Men characters in book form - from the women's perspective. The ending was rushed and abrupt. I'm not sure what happened there. I think I'd like to try another of Jaffe's books.

Ahhh. Vampires with souls.

Bridge-centric! Great for bridge beginners and a nice YA story. Other than the bridge, it's pretty basic, so I would not recommend it unless you are a player or want to learn.

There is a lot of cupping of breasts in this book. The characters are ridiculously perfect/evil. But I enjoyed it.

Yeah. Five stars. Lovely and surprising.

There is nothing more romantic than old people who have been married a really long time. This book is about them. Some lose their spouses, some have affairs, some die. They are often in hell, as the main character observes. And then after all that, they move on. Olive is awesome. Well worth the read.

oh yeah. this is shaping up to be an excellent series. I LOVE the sexual/vampiric tension w her roommate/business partner/best friend Ivy. sounds ridiculous but it is really fascinating & complicated. can't wait to read more. my only gripe is that these start off slow & take ~ 150 PGA to get moving.

This is a great book and a great setup to what should be a quality trilogy. It's an improvement on The Stand, which Cronin has said directly inspired it. It's also a rehash of The Stand, with repeated archetypes and events (beyond just the viral apocalypse). I docked it a star because while I thought the ending was appropriate, it frustrated me because the whole ~800 pages are really just setup. Kind of like reading the Fellowship of the Ring then having to just wait an unknown amount of time for the rest of the story.

This was by far the worst of this series. There were some interesting developments, but mostly it seemed like filler. I'm not giving up on the Casts, though; I expect the next one to be better!

This was definitely worth all the hype.

Wonderful, insightful, witty, moving book. Perfect for a half-drunk beach read.

Excellent conceptualization, decent characters, but plotting/pacing was . . . meh. I will definitely read more, because it had all the right elements and overall it was a good read. Just took too long (because of mediocre pacing, I think) for this kind of book.

Excellent book. Harrowing and disturbing, but not mean-spirited. As usual, Shriver pulls of the feat of creating deeply unlikable yet sympathetic characters stuck in an impossible situation. And as usual, I reiterate, you should read something by her if you haven't.