Carla

Minus one star for the scene that felt emotionally manipulative. I feel that Todd's actions were completely out of character in this one scene, and that the action was forced in order to create the manipulative event.

A little too jokey for my taste, but this was balanced out by some excellent ghost stories.

The story was excellent, but the Kindle edition has several typos.

Read aloud to my husband. Yes, I did all of the voices. Happy Halloween!

Wow, that was fun. What a ride (pun intended, natch)!

Excellent starter book for a foster/adopted child's Lifebook work.

I learned three things from this adorable, amazing audiobook:

1. Christopher Guest's movies are improvised. No script, just character backstories. (!)

2. David Fincher, the director of Seven, directed the “Vogue” Madonna video.

3. Jane Lynch is as warm and sweet as I had hoped, and I want to have a cup of coffee with her. No, scratch that, I want to watch silly movies and talk all night with her. There, I said it. Let the restraining order commence.

Yes, it's twee, and frantic–and yet, oddly charming. Refreshingly LGBTQ-friendly, and it receives extra points from me for that.

Now this is how you write a YA Manic Pixie Dream Girl! This book cleansed my palate, and, frankly, cheered me up, after The Fault in Our Stars.

Smooth, clean narrative. Sherman tackles the possibly sticky subject of his own aunt's murder, and does so with aplomb.

Even though some actions recommended in this book would be considered boundary violations for a therapist, it was still refreshing to read a book about what I do (intensive in-home counseling).

As a therapist working with a young child who is violent, I was offended by one passage. The authors were expressing shock that a four-year-old was on a psychiatric hospital ward with twelve-year-olds. They had inquired, and learned that the small child was hospitalized after pulling a knife on her mother. A parenthetical aside was made to this effect: “Why wouldn't her mother just take the knife from her? Problem solved.” Such a statement shows no empathy for a family who is trying to manage a violent child, and echoes what parents are probably already hearing from teachers, social workers, and other “helping” professionals.

This is my least favorite Dr. Delaware novel, and I have to admit it's because I don't like Robin. There, I said it.

Deducted one star for the abrupt and unresolved ending, and for the obtuseness of the title (I am assuming it refers to hellfire...)

Reading this book, I kept thinking that her symptoms seemed to reflect bipolar disorder, perhaps complicated by BPD, rather than a depressive disorder. The chaos, the neediness, the need for others to prove their love, and, most telling, others' responses to her behavior spoke to me as BPD...which would allow explain other readers' irritation/revulsion.

One of my favorite books now. It's that enthralling and special and moving!

I am almost tempted to close it, reopen it at the beginning, and immediately re-read it. Almost...but I'd rather make my husband read it instead.

Refreshing to read a scientific review of what we believe and why.

This addition to the Giver series felt more heavy-handed and preachy than the other two; I felt uncomfortable rather than intrigued or entranced while reading it.

A startlingly, devastatingly good book.

This quote sums the entire horrifying book to me:

Almost four years had passed since Shirley [the real Sybil] first walked into Connie's [Dr. Wilbur] office as an upbeat graduate student with nagging but bearable emotional problems. Now, after hundreds of hours of therapy and countless pills, shots, and machine-induced convulsions, she was a thirty-five-year-old junkie who spent most of her time in bed and who, when she did get up, checked her mailbox for money from her father, or wandered the streets muttering to herself.

Maybe I'm too old to be reading these books, but the abundance of kissing and thinking about kissing, as opposed to Defending Good and Kicking Ass, turned me off somewhat. So sayeth the old fuddy-duddy.

Deducting stars for the seemingly unfinished ending.

Smashing British murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, in which relationships are complicated and everyone is a suspect.

Completed cover-to-cover with a client. Highly recommended–I especially love how it makes the emotion-body connection.

Repetitive, and contains an inexplicable chapter on serial killers.

It was so strange, listening to this book and knowing that this woman's actions were not far removed from me. For, you see, Margaret Beaufort is my 10 x great grandmother.