And When She Was Good: A Novel
by Laura Lippman
L.L. Delivers the Goods (6/29/2012)
What a great book! Laura Lippman is a wonderful story-teller and a real pro. She strikes a great balance between plot and character. Like any good mystery writer, she plants her clues well, so that we an be both satisfied and surprised.
This is a stand-alone tale with interesting and complex women at its heart. It was developed from some shorter works. I might quibble with how her "slip shows," in the way she fills in the back story. It is, nonetheless, a great read
The First Warm Evening of the Year: A Novel
by Jamie M. Saul
Vapid Lives (4/14/2012)
I did not enjoy this book at all, and only rated it a 3 because I realize that someone else might like it. To me, the book appears to be a cartoon without illustrations.The characters were self-centered and humorless. They lived in a privileged world where everyone is affluent and white, but they are loaded with self pity. None of them was fully drawn nor did they appear to have any true back story.
Half-Blood Blues: A Novel
by Esi Edugyan
Unique View, Wonderful Storytelling (2/4/2012)
What an outstanding book you have helped me discover! The subject of the book, jazz era musicians in Germany and Vichy France at the onset of WWII was one I had never considered before. Nor have I ever read anything before that gave me so much insight into the musical conversation that takes place in improvisation. I only want to know who will do the movie?
The Orphan Master's Son: A Novel
by Adam Johnson
Detailed grimness (10/27/2011)
How amazed I was to note the detail with which life in Korea was depicted in this novel! I was drawn to the book because we know so little about that unhappy place, but stayed with it because of Johnson's keen sensibilities. Whether or not life there is as he depicts it, he certainly presents a fully realized picture of life under tyranny.
The Leftovers: A Novel
by Tom Perrotta
To much telling, not enough showing (6/29/2011)
It can be no coincidence that this book appears on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I think it is meant to ponder the way we've coped with our losses in the intervening time. A worthy topic.
The problem is that Perotta rarely gives us the opportunity to stand beside the characters as they explore their new world. Instead, he jump cuts from on character to another as they recollect an event that took place outside our view. When he allows us to actually witness the action, it can be powerful. He just doesn't do it often enough.
The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World
by Laura J. Snyder
Dense and Fascinating (1/19/2011)
This biography of a friendship among four men at the birth of modern science is fully researched and well written. The author is skilled at conveying the breadth of curiosity and engagement with the world that her subjects had. Their cumulative impact on Twenty-First Century life is astounding. While hardly a "page-turner," this book held my interest throughout. I have been hunting down others to share this book.
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe
by Glynis Ridley
Great Subject, Academic Execution (1/4/2011)
I enjoyed this book very much for what it was--an academic historian's attempt to give readers insight into Eighteenth Century science. I do feel that since so little is known about Baret herself, the author might have taken more risks in making her come alive, even if the effort moved the book more into creative non-fiction. In any event, I found the tale exciting and inspiring.
The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors: A Novel
by Michele Young-Stone
On What Planet Do Others Live? (5/7/2010)
I am aware that some people love this book. i can't imagine why. I managed to finish the book only because I agreed to review it. The author may have some talent, but she has a lot of work to do.
The plot is complex, to the point of being contrived. Everything else about it is shallow. Characters are sketched without depth. There is little sense of place. Rather than offering descriptions or evoking the feel of a place or person or time, the author simply names a landmark, or a personality or a storm.
I suppose if Nancy Drew is your idea of a good book, have at it.
Additionally, I am deeply offended by the author's glancing references to the Terezin concentration camp, which feels more like a marketing ploy than a plot element.
Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy
by Melissa Milgrom
Coulda, Shoulda, ... (1/1/2010)
For the most part, this book felt like an unedited set of lists. It seemed she took the advice of one of her subjects, and put it all out without worrying about the story. The only really interesting section is her own attempts to preserve a squirrel. I have read any number of books about natural history, that have successfully conveyed the passion of museum people for their subjects, the shifting interest of the viewing public, and the odd connections between seemingly disparate ideas. This wasn't one of them.
Just what did the editors do in putting this book together?
Alice I Have Been
by Melanie Benjamin
A Contemporary Issue in Victorian Garb (10/12/2009)
Ms Benjamin is a fine storyteller with a great eye for the sort of detail that gives substance to imagined scenes. She has taken the difficult subject of child exploitation and placed it within the context of the creation of a much beloved piece of literature. In doing so, she allows us to consider the life-long impact of child abuse on even the most privileged among us.
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