Elizabeth Dean
I loved reading this book. After discussing it with skeptical a skeptical friend, I have to admit that the activity driving the plot is unrealistic. But that doesn't matter to my review - what's compelling about this book is that it tells a unique story about the complicated feelings of love and hate between white families and their black domestic help in the midcentury South.
In case you haven't noticed, Lionel Shriver is my new favorite author. Unsentimental, at times abrupt, but ultimately kind, she writes with a rare precision and clarity about human emotions and connections. She reminds me so much of George Eliot in her ability to capture people's struggles with life choices - large and small. This book is about so much I can't seem to describe it: terminal cancer, marriage, parenting, disability, love, friendship, money. I guess it's about the costs of things and the value of a life. It's hard to read a book that's 450 pages about a husband taking care of his wife as she dies of aggressive cancer - it's gross and uncomfortable and depressing. Somehow this writer makes the subject bearable. She reminds us that we all have to participate in the decline and death of a loved one at least once in our lives - more than once, if we're lucky.
I can get behind the idea of this book, that romantic love is transformative and empowering, precisely because of the risks you face because of it. I admire Nehring's willingness to put this idea out there as a feminist argument. I think she's probably right. But I wish she had used other “evidence” besides classical literature. Examples from contemporary life. Interviews. Her own stories. I mean, I already respected Heloise and Simone de Beauvoir and Mary Shelley for their ability to be lovers and be independent and be brilliant thinkers. Surely there are others?
This book held my interest and wonder while reading it. For that reason, I want to give it more stars. Yet, it was a disappointment. I think all the rave reviews were uncalled for and that despite its interesting characters this is a very conventional novel with characters I didn't have much respect for. Bad combination.
This is the kind of book that slowly catches up to you and by the time you finish, leaves what you know will be a lasting impression. It's told in short story format, episodes in the lives of about 6 or so women and their common ancestor, a suffragist who starved herself in protest for the right to vote. I liked it because it explored women in many roles, and in those roles across the 20th century - scientist, activist, mother, wife, friend, daughter, etc . . . And no one role was more favored or more prominent than the other. Well, except perhaps daughter. It's (yet another) one I think would be enhanced by a discussion with my book club!
GREAT book about the “other” side of childhood fantasy and escapism. It explores what happens when self-absorbed bratty magicians graduate from college and experience the real worlds - the dull one that we Muggles live in and the horrifying magical one.
Despite how steeped the book is in references to Harry Potter, Narnia, The Secret History, and Catcher in the Rye, Grossman manages to tell a unique story.
Loved it. I now plan to reread both The Hunger Games and this soon. It is better than the first because you learn more about Panem, the districts, and the games. I was so blown away by the plot and pacing that I didn't stop to think much about the message or the characters, but I think those are pretty thought-provoking as well. Katniss is a great central character; she's sympathetic but has a certain coldness/brutality in her core that is hard to relate to. I have done some reading on the text and it turns out much of the trilogy is inspired by Greek mythology, particularly Theseus and the Minotaur. I love how this book seems almost real. I also love the central male character and how the traditional gender roles are reversed between him and Katniss. He is the one who is motivated by love. He is the nurturer who bakes bread. Katniss on the other hand is the hunter who just wants to provide for her family. The dystopia these books present is horrifying but really only about 1 degree off of the world we live in now. Fascinating.
This book was bound to suffer from high expectations. I almost gave it 2 stars but figured it was not fair. It was very well written and Niffenegger again very genuinely captures the intensity of very close relationships. The characters and their predicaments will probably stay with me for a long time. (need to finish this review later).
This book is by a Durham physician and writer who practices emergency medicine. What I liked best about this book was his explanation of how important sleep is and how difficult his personal sleep deprivation became for his family and for his performance in the ER. (But mostly, just his family.) Not only does he do something important by reminding us how sleep deprivation compromises our lives, but his depiction of his relationship with sleep almost seems like a monk's relationship with prayer or meditation. Outside of his work, sleep comes first. The single-minded pursuit of sleep leads to a spiritual awareness about the important of living in the present.
Oh my goodness. I loved this book and am so glad I gave it a second chance. My dear Mr. Norrell! He is kind of like the male version of Emma Woodhouse, if she were old and not pretty and never married Mr. Knightley. He is selfish and controlling but really he means well. Mostly. This is not a Harry Potter for grownups per se. It's more about the relationships between people than the drama of plot developments. And oh, the characters! Loved it. May be my favorite of the year so far.
This book does not contain very much useful information/guidance beyond common sense. I think it is intended for families who don't read that much. (Not heavy Goodreads users.) I did like looking over the lists of recommended books for each age group, but those kinds of lists can be found all over, so the book really isn't essential.