A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power
by Paul Fischer
Shrimp among whales (12/16/2014)
I have long been fascinated by North Korea. The suppression that has occurred to millions of people, the manipulation by the government and the alternate universe created by those in power is hard for me to wrap my head around (in the same manner as trying to understand how justification of a man "owning" a human being has been incomprehensible for me), so I keep reading about it to get some idea of how to understand it. This was a superb work of literature. Not only did Fischer describe the separate and combined stories of the capture and captivity of Shin and Choi, but he told it in the context of their lives before the kidnappings, the manner in which the North Korean government manipulated its citizens and Kim Jong Il's fascination with movies and movie making. He never lost site of the title of his book and told the story from the perspective of how all of life in North Korea was "produced" for a planned outcome. The book is compelling; the storytelling well-paced. When background is needed to understand an aspect of the stories of Shin and Choi it is given - at just the right time. Excellent story telling.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story
by Barbara Leaming
New information about the Kennedys (11/14/2014)
Having been 10 years old when John Kennedy was shot, he and his family have lived within my imagination and as part of my life. I have read a number of volumes about the Kennedys as individuals, conspiracy theories, fiction. This was certainly a new twist. I have known people with PTSD, but had never thought of how likely it might be that Jacqueline Kennedy might have suffered from that. The facts all fit. One thing that struck me, that I never thought of before, and was certainly not stated outright, was that John Kennedy suffered from a mental affliction. Based on his relationships with women other than his wife, I wondered, when reading this book, if John wasn't a sex addict. The description of his assignations appeared to be uncontrollable, and completely uncaring about the impact of his actions on his wife. Like the description of Jacqueline's PTSD, it seemed to fit. I found the book a fascinating study of people I have always found fascinating.
Juliet's Nurse
by Lois Leveen
Juliet's Nurse explores life beyond Romeo and Juliet (7/22/2014)
This is a book to savor. Leveen gives nuance and depth of understanding to Shakespeare's setting of Romeo and Juliet in a way that the play itself could never give you. Angelica's perspective on the relationships she had with Juliet and the Cappelleti family, as well as the loves and losses of her own life is so well-drawn. Leveen suggests a back-story that gives deeper meaning to the story we know so well. Perfectly pitched, I can't think of anything that was missed or could have improved this story.
Doing Harm
by Kelly Parsons
Not what I expected (11/1/2013)
The opening sentence and first third of the book led me to believe that I was reading a very different book than what it turned out to be. I found the book to be engaging, the writing good, the story compelling. As opposed to many thrillers I have read, this one did not overuse contrivances to set up the plot. The technical medical language that was used helped to set up the story, rather than to bog it down. I would give it a 4.5 if such grading was available. I thought the ending was a little too convenient and instead of telling me how it would play out, I would have liked to have had the epilogue provide more detail.
The Edge of Normal
by Carla Norton
Gripping page-turner (7/17/2013)
Just because my life was so hectic at the time - it took me a long time to read this book. I couldn't wait to sit down with it each time I had the chance and found the story compelling, the movement forward consistent and the telling of each party's part to bring the story to a consistent whole workable. However, I found the resolution both predictable and unbelievable. Until the denouement, I would have rated the book a 5. The book had to have a resolution. I just wish I could have felt that it was one that made sense given the characters' respective roles and baggage.
Crime of Privilege
by Walter Walker
Torn from the headlines? (4/21/2013)
At first I thought this story was going to be nothing more than a fictionalized version of the problems that plague the Kennedy family and was disappointed. As I read further, I found that the story became far more complicated and deep. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and looked forward to returning to the book each day. In retrospect, however, I felt that much of the construction of the story was contrived to propel it forward, rather than following naturally from the movement of the story line. All in all in was interesting reading with an underlying public plot line to make it all the more compelling.
In the Shadow of the Banyan: A Novel
by Vaddey Ratner
Superb book (9/5/2012)
As I read this book, I thought of the questions I would ask if I were reading it for my book club - such as how being under the Banyan Tree is a metaphor for the protection of one's family. or how do repressive governments think they are improving the lot of the people they are governing? The book is written with such sensitivity, such love of family, such horror of repression, it was hard to put it down. Hope my book club DOES select it, so I have an excuse to read it again.
A Hundred Flowers: A Novel
by Gail Tsukiyama
The Gentleness of A Hundred Flowers (7/28/2012)
I so loved "The Samurai's Garden", that I always want to read everything that Tsukiyama writes. Unfortunately, I have never found a book of hers to rival my favorite. Her writing, her characters, her character development are always lovely. There is a peacefulness and gentleness in the way she approaches her characters and her subject that is just soothing. Although I loved the writing, I did not find myself as captivated by this story as I was by "The Samurai's Garden". Although, it still had it's twist of plot - as did "Samurai's Garden", which is Tsykiyama's hallmark.
The Good Father: A Novel
by Noah Hawley
The Good Father is a great read (12/19/2011)
This book was so well paced, well researched, and well written that I will read ANYTHING that Hawley ever writes again. There was absolutely no filler. The book was absolutely taut. Everything that was written was necessary to the plot development. It was so satisfying a read, that I was willing to overlook any flaws. What a treat this was.
The Night Circus: A Novel
by Erin Morgenstern
A rare find! (7/23/2011)
I hated for this book to end. It was one of those delicious stories that you hate to put down to eat or sleep and look unhappily at how few pages are left as you near the end. This is an excellent first effort, which hopefully, will be the beginning of a wonderful career for Erin Morganstern. The themes of love, conflict and the ability to rise above challenges are well-developed and interestingly presented. I’m sure this is one book In which I will need to inscribe my name to assure that it is returned to me after it is repeatedly lent out.
A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life
by John Kralik
Thank You - for a pleasant surprise (4/17/2011)
As a lawyer myself, who has struggled through the challenges of the financial meltdown, and watched family, friends and clients, do the same, I assumed I would relate to what Judge Kralik had to say, based on the description of the book. I wasn't expecting a book that was so hard to put down. It was more than a memoir and more than an inspirational book. I am convinced that we all have to struggle in order to appreciate the goodness in our lives - and Kralik truly got to the heart of that philosophy. I found him even-handed about his analysis of himself and others and approached his challenges with an attitude of this is what I did, not, this is what YOU should do. But even in that, he inspires. I found the statement of ideals for running his law firm to be consistent with the way he ran his life and wrote his thank yous. The book was an extremely pleasant surprise.
The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai: A Novel
by Ruiyan Xu
Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai (10/12/2010)
This book starts out painfully slowly, but is so worth staying with. The title hints at the basic premise of the book - a man sustains brain damage and suffers from the inability to speak in Chinese; he can only communicate in the language of his childhood, English. He can no longer speak to his wife, only his American doctor. But it really discusses communication on many different levels. It was a complex and lovely book that I fear might be an overlooked. A loss for those who miss it.
After the Fall
by Kylie Ladd
After the Fall (6/26/2010)
After the Fall is a story of marriage and infidelity told in the separate voices of the participants and their closest friends. It is billed as “page turner” and I would agree that it is, as each character only has one to six pages to tell their perspective, before we move to another point of view.
Although I have not lived this story, I felt great empathy, having been on the fringe of the same emotions as some of these characters. The impulses and the responses, all rang true from beginning to end. Although there were few surprises, the behavior of each character being predictable, it did not make the book any less enjoyable.
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
by Kelly O'Connor McNees
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott (6/12/2010)
I have two real loves when it comes to my reading of late – I love historical fiction or fiction set in history and I love stories that bring me back to Victorian-style romances a la Jane Austen.
I thought that Kelly O’Connor McNees first novel The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott rang true for both of my loves – this involved real characters in the setting of their time, but a fictionalization of the story, and it was a love story that followed Jane Austen’s formula. I couldn’t wait to get back to it every time I put it down.
The facts that were presented were obviously the result of considerable research and I truly felt that I knew (and disliked) Bronson Alcott, Louisa’s father as well as Louisa May Alcott, by the time I was finished. And, although the feminist altitude of Louisa herself seems to be perceived through the lens of a woman of the 2000’s, Alcott’s writing allows for such a perception.
As ambiguously as McNees describes the relationship between Louisa and Joseph, there was an aspect I felt was gratuitous and unnecessary to the time and type of literature. But on the whole, it was wonderful to have the type of story, that made me fall in love with fiction to begin with, to relish. That it was about an author, whom I loved and read, made it all the more pleasurable.
The Swimming Pool
by Holly LeCraw
The Swimming Pool (3/2/2010)
I had a real problem with the contrivances used to move this plot forward. In part it was a moral issue - my own personal morals; in part the contrivances were just too convenient. On the whole, though, the twists made the reading interesting enough to keep me going to the end and I found I enjoyed the story more by the end than I thought I would. The author has an excellent command of language and description - my problem was with the story, not the writing.
The Things That Keep Us Here: A Novel
by Carla Buckley
Things that Keep us Here (11/30/2009)
This was a well-imagined book about what the world would look like if a pandemic hit. It was a realistic view of the community, country and world view in a crisis situation. The description of a 13-year-old girl's behavior in such a crisis was excellent. My greatest problem with the book was that I never felt emotionally connected to the main characters in the story. I also wonder if the surprise at the end, alluded to throughout the book was necessary as anything other than as a device to keep one moving forward through the story. It never worked to explain the relationship between the characters, since the explanation was realized until the end.
Burnt Shadows: A Novel
by Kamila Shamsie
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (5/3/2009)
Shamsie effectively kept a story line going through the book bringing the horror of the bombing of Nagasaki into juxtaposition with the modern day terrorist attacks. It was a unique perspective - and a unique book. The characters were well-developed, the story lines fully developed, so that no matter where in the world the story moved, it was logical and clear and did not seem to be mere device or manipulation. It was the kind of book that had so much going on, that it would easily bear re-reading - both for content and the quality of the writing.
Lima Nights
by Marie Arana
Lima Nights (12/12/2008)
Although I enjoyed this book, I thought it promised more than it delivered. The author had a canvass on which she could have developed her characters, their backgrounds, the motivations for their actions much more acutely than she did. It is a story of passion, but we never understand why Carlos has the passion he does. It is a story of loss, but we never understand why the characters are willing to lose as much as they do. It was well-written and an easy story in which to become absorbed, but it left me feeling that the author didn't want to explore a depth of her characters, which made it a good book, but not a great one.
Stuffed: An Insider's Look at Who's (Really) Making America Fat
by Hank Cardello & Doug Garr
Stuffed: Who's (Really) Making America Fat (11/11/2008)
"Stuffed" was well-written and researched, engaging and informative. Although I have been well aware of the manipulation of the public by the food industry, I had thought of it only in terms of advertising. Cardello makes it clear that advertising is only the tip of the iceberg. But I particularly appreciated the fact that he did not just indict the food industry. He discussed solutions that are in the market or in development as well as coming up with viable, logical solutions for the problems they had created which did not rely strictly on the consumer exercising greater self-discipline and address the bottom line for the participants in the industry.
Mozart's Sister
by Rita Charbonnier
Mozart's Sister by Rita Charbonnier (10/24/2007)
Mozart's Sister is an excellent portrayal of the frustrations of an extremely talented, artistic and intelligent woman, living at a time when women's contributions were ignored and only men's gifts were touted. As the sister of the prodigy, Wolfgang Mozart, Nannerl was cast in the shadows and allowed little other than a supporting role. Charbonnier has brought a character, given a minor role in history, to life. She shows the dysfunctional Mozart family in a manner different from other authors, who put Wolfgang in the limelight and mention Nannerl only in passing, and shows the true villainy of Leopold.
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