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66th out of 301 books
—
274 voters
Land of a Hundred Wonders
by
Lesley Kagen (Goodreads Author)
From the national bestselling author of Whistling in the Dark comes another funny, poignant, unforgettable story.
The summer Gibby McGraw catches her big break, the cicadas are humming, and it?s so warm even the frogs are sweating. Brain damaged after a tragic car accident that took both her parents, Gibby is now NQR (Not Quite Right), a real challenge for a fledgling news...more
The summer Gibby McGraw catches her big break, the cicadas are humming, and it?s so warm even the frogs are sweating. Brain damaged after a tragic car accident that took both her parents, Gibby is now NQR (Not Quite Right), a real challenge for a fledgling news...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
July 29th 2008
by NAL Trade
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Sep 20, 2008
Sandi
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Sandi by:
Borders Buy One, Get One Half Off
Shelves:
2008
I admit it, "Land of a Hundred Wonders" is probably only worth four stars. But, I gave it five stars because it made me cry. I had tears streaming down my checks and it wasn't from any cheap, cheesy manipulation. I rarely cry over books, but this one got me.
I'm not going to write a synopsis of this book, the back cover and the blurbs here and on Amazon sum up the story pretty well. What I am going to say is that this book is really well written. I heard Gibby's voice in my head, not my voice rea...more
I'm not going to write a synopsis of this book, the back cover and the blurbs here and on Amazon sum up the story pretty well. What I am going to say is that this book is really well written. I heard Gibby's voice in my head, not my voice rea...more
Maybe I was looking for more, but I really couldn't get into or finish this book. . .
I rarely give up on a book, but I couldn't wait any longer for something to happen.
I know that Gibby was NQR and felt like the author wasn't willing to write an involved story line in order to have the reader get the sense that Gibby needed things to be simple.
I rarely give up on a book, but I couldn't wait any longer for something to happen.
I know that Gibby was NQR and felt like the author wasn't willing to write an involved story line in order to have the reader get the sense that Gibby needed things to be simple.
2 likes · like · see review
A feel good book. I loved the colloquialisms ("Like in some of those Bible stories. Ya know how you got to ponder them some to figure out what the hell the Lord is really trying to tell you? Like when He uses that word 'smote' and you're not exactly sure what He means by that, but you get a sense that he's madder than a sprayed roach?") and malapropisms ("Miracles really are in the eyes of the beholden." And "Hope springs internal.) The writing was a delight!
A light-hearted romp! NQR (Not Quite Right) Gibby, self-appointed editor-in-chief and the sole reporter of her one-woman newspaper is hot on the trail of a murder mystery. Gibby aims to solve the murder in order to cease the cloud pacing of her poor dead mama (or really wow the wings off her by winning the weekly Appleville Scrabble tournament.) Gibby is a charmer. Her pluck, determination, and tendency to be just slightly off (with comments such as dead as a store nail) and none too shy (she in...more
1 like · like · see review
I want to give this book 3.5 stars. It's one of those instances where the lack of half-stars on Goodreads aggravates me.
Land of a Hundred Wonders is a story told by Gibson (known to everyone as Gibby or Gib), a 20-year-old who was in a terrible car accident that left her with some brain damage. She knows she's Not Quite Right (NQR), but she's doing her best to get her memories and mental faculties back up and running again. She puts out her own weekly paper, aspiring investigative reporter that...more
Land of a Hundred Wonders is a story told by Gibson (known to everyone as Gibby or Gib), a 20-year-old who was in a terrible car accident that left her with some brain damage. She knows she's Not Quite Right (NQR), but she's doing her best to get her memories and mental faculties back up and running again. She puts out her own weekly paper, aspiring investigative reporter that...more
I found it interesting to read a book from the point of view of someone that is, as Gibby describes herself, Not Quite Right. Of course it isn’t always realistic but I think that is part of why I read books and why I have a hard time reading non-fiction. I like it when it couldn’t really happen. I got a kick out of Gibby and her inability to understand expressions like “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” or “Now the shoe is on the other foot.” This book is a murder mystery set in blazi...more
Ms Kagen presents us with the unique voice of Gibby McGraw, a young woman whose brain got scrambled in a car accident that took the lives of her parents. With childlike innocence, Gibby keeps lists of "Most Important Things to do" and attempts to solve the mystery of who killed Buster Malloy all while trying to recover the memories from before the accident. The small town in Kentucky is populated with all kinds of eccentrics and Gibby seems to interact with all of them. It certainly was entertai...more
Set in 1973, Gibby MaGraw has lost her parents to an automobile crash that she survived. But she did suffer brain damage that has left her NQR (Not Quite Right). This makes being a newspaper reporter pretty challenging.
While out looking for her next big story she stumbles upon the dead body of the next governor of Kentucky, Buster Malloy. She figures if she can solve the murder and write a fantastic news article she will show everyone including her mother in heaven that she is on the road to bec...more
While out looking for her next big story she stumbles upon the dead body of the next governor of Kentucky, Buster Malloy. She figures if she can solve the murder and write a fantastic news article she will show everyone including her mother in heaven that she is on the road to bec...more
This second book by Leslie Kagen is a treat! It is chock full of characters that surround, Gibby, a young woman who has suffered a brain injury in a car accident. She is trying to get back to being Quite Right or QR through being an investigative reporter. She is a special person who is a sweet good friend identifying situations (positive & negative) around her as best she can. She has trouble with language because of the brain injury and some hilarious interpretations ensue. I loved that th...more
I found this book in the dollar bin at Borders and picked it up with no real expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. The story is about a young woman, Gibby, who is NQR (not quite right) after being in a car accident that killed her parents. She lives with her Grandpa in the backwoods of Kentucky and struggles to remember events in her life. When she finds the next governor of Kentucky murdered on the beach she sets out to solve the mystery of his death herself, so she can become QR (quite rig...more
I had a little more trouble getting into this than Lesley Kagen's first book, Whistling in the Dark. That being said, the central characters, Gibby, Grampa and Clever and Billy, are so charming they soon won me over and by the end I was reluctant to leave their company.
I wonder if this book was edited because it was plot-less and pointless with stereotypical characters. I don't enjoy reading books about characters without brains unless they actually accomplish something and are actually funny like Forest Gump, a true Southern icon. A story about a brain-damaged reporter solving a crime should be gripping and heartfelt but from the beginning to end it was a bunch of peddling around. I heard Lesley Kagen's debut "Whistling in the Dark" had both these things alth...more
I love books like this, that are full of characters brimming with goodness and love. The protagonist has short-term memory loss/brain damage from a car crash that left her an orphan. She lives with her Grampa in small town Kentucky in 1973, where she helps him run his diner and self-publishes a newspaper. She finds a dead body and wants to investigate the mystery to break the story, and all kinds of nasty characters (and golden ones) come out of the woodwork. I think this is the first book I've...more
I loved the theme of the main character, Gibby, wanting to prove to her deceased mother, that she could become QR (quite right) instead of NQR (not quite right), by solving a murder case in the small town in which she lives.
Brain damaged after a tragic accident that killed both her mother and her father, Gibby has trouble remembering and focusing. While hard at first to follow her train of thought, the story gears up as little by little people, most notably the unbeknownst to her, love of her li...more
Brain damaged after a tragic accident that killed both her mother and her father, Gibby has trouble remembering and focusing. While hard at first to follow her train of thought, the story gears up as little by little people, most notably the unbeknownst to her, love of her li...more
Unique story with even more one-of-a-kind characters. A truly original protagonist who refers to herself as NQR, (not quite right). As a result of a horrendous car crash, she is left with developmental problems that she is clever enough to realize. She strives to become and prove herself to be QR someday. Part drama, part love story, part mystery. A delightful summer/beach read that will leave you truly satisfied at the end.
This is the second of Lesley Kagen's books for me and they've both pleas...more
This is the second of Lesley Kagen's books for me and they've both pleas...more
Very disappointing! I am NQR after reading it and trying to keep all the characters and their relationships straight.
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I really like this book! Though it was a little sad at times how people treated Gibby, the main character, I found this book to be a bit funny. She might be a little brain damaged,a little slow, and not quite remember everything, but she is certainly not stupid. This book touched on just about everything... family, relationships, secrets, miracles, abuse, love and race just to name a few. I got a little teary eyed in two spots on this book, and I think that any book that can spark emotion from i...more
20 year-old Gibby has been living with her grandfather since her parents were killed in a car accident while she suffered from brain damage. She loves writing articles about people and happenings around Cray Ridge for Gibby's Gazette. One day she comes upon the dead body of next governor of Kentucky. With photos and her notebook, she wants to solve the case and make her dead mother happy. Determined, she wants to go from being NQR (not quite right) to QR (quite right). She assists her friends an...more
Having just finished Kagen's first book--Whistling in the Dark, I struggled a bit to get into this book and wasn't sure I liked it but I stayed with it and ended up really wanting to see how it ended, then was sorry it was done. Gibby is almost 21, writes her own weekly paper and struggles to get "Quite Right" since the accident that killed her parents and left her NQR (or "Not Quite Right") as her Grandpa Charlie calls it. Gibby found the body of a local politician and wants to solve the myster...more
"I'm knocked up," she says.
"I know how you favor those knock-knock jokes as much as Grampa," I say, swiping off eraser crumbs. "So I'm real sorry, but I don't have time to be honing my sense of humor right now. It's vital I get this story done."
"Being knocked up don't have nuthin' to do with a joke. It ain't funny."
"Well, what does it have to do with then?" I ask, fussy. Besides feeling like a full-out failure when I don't understand what something means, I fear Mama's gonna wear her pacing...more
"I know how you favor those knock-knock jokes as much as Grampa," I say, swiping off eraser crumbs. "So I'm real sorry, but I don't have time to be honing my sense of humor right now. It's vital I get this story done."
"Being knocked up don't have nuthin' to do with a joke. It ain't funny."
"Well, what does it have to do with then?" I ask, fussy. Besides feeling like a full-out failure when I don't understand what something means, I fear Mama's gonna wear her pacing...more
Nov 13, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
trt-gold-star-award-winner,
trt-posted-reviews
Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com
Though she survived the wreckage that took her parents lives one rainy summer night, that near-fatal car accident left Gibby McGraw N(ot).Q(uite).R(ight).
While she spends her mornings working at Grandpa Charlie's Top o'the Morning Diner, her afternoons visiting the residents of Cray Ridge, Kentucky, running errands while Grandpa fishes, and gathering information to put in the stories she writes for Gibby's Gazette, Gibby also realizes everyone in town thinks s...more
Though she survived the wreckage that took her parents lives one rainy summer night, that near-fatal car accident left Gibby McGraw N(ot).Q(uite).R(ight).
While she spends her mornings working at Grandpa Charlie's Top o'the Morning Diner, her afternoons visiting the residents of Cray Ridge, Kentucky, running errands while Grandpa fishes, and gathering information to put in the stories she writes for Gibby's Gazette, Gibby also realizes everyone in town thinks s...more
Though she survived the wreckage that took her parents lives one rainy summer night, that near fatal car accident left Gibby McGraw N(ot).Q(uite).R(ight).
While she spends her mornings working at Grandpa Charlie's Top o'the Morning Diner, her afternoons visiting the residents of Cray Ridge, Kentucky, running errands while Grandpa fishes, and gathering information to put in the stories she writes for Gibby's Gazette, Gibby also realizes everyone in town thinks she's diminished. Heck, even Sheriff...more
While she spends her mornings working at Grandpa Charlie's Top o'the Morning Diner, her afternoons visiting the residents of Cray Ridge, Kentucky, running errands while Grandpa fishes, and gathering information to put in the stories she writes for Gibby's Gazette, Gibby also realizes everyone in town thinks she's diminished. Heck, even Sheriff...more
After an automobile accident that killed both of her parents and left her NQR (not quite right) Gibby McGraw goes to live with her grandfather, a gent who owns the local café and favors cowboy ways. Gibby aspires to be a reporter and even generates her own small newspaper, reporting on local happenings in the town of Cray Ridge Kentucky. After stumbling upon the body of Mr. Buster, the man who would be Governor, Gibby decided to withhold her discovery from the authorities and solve the crime her...more
The is an interesting read -- part murder mystery, but also a great character study. The narrator, Gibby, has suffered a traumatic brain injury in ca car crash. The accident not only killed her parents but resulted in her being "Not Quite Right," a state she is determined to change. Set in rural Kentucky in the 1970s, the story is peopled with a variety of quirky personalities including Billy Brown, a Vietnam vet who came back from the war a different person than he had been before; Gibby's best...more
On recommedation from my mom, I gave this book a whirl. While I thought the story line was okay, I got a little tired of the "back-woods" speak and I had a hard time getting involved in the story.
Gibby McGraw is in a terrible car accident that kills both her parents and leaves her with some memory lapses. Now living with her Grandpa in small-town Cray Ridge, Kentucky, Gibby wants nothing than to be QR (Quite Right). The setting is 1973 and there is a definite racial divide in the town. It's also...more
Gibby McGraw is in a terrible car accident that kills both her parents and leaves her with some memory lapses. Now living with her Grandpa in small-town Cray Ridge, Kentucky, Gibby wants nothing than to be QR (Quite Right). The setting is 1973 and there is a definite racial divide in the town. It's also...more
Land of a Hundred Wonders took place in Kentucky in 1973 and had quite a bit of mystery, and I liked that. I related a lot to the main character Gibby having certain memory problems myself. I also like the way she was written when she talked or thought. When she would forget things people didn't keep repeating things to her over and over, which can get annoying if done wrong. The book kept the pace pretty steady too ... although I will say it comes very close to being a story with a stupidity pl...more
I loved Gib -- a brain damaged young girl from an accident that changed her life and that of others around her.... Set in early 70's this little book has small town issues, racial issues, those of dirty dealings (including the sherriff), a vietnam vet, a sweet grandfather, and it even has a slimy no good sex predator. What is so amazing is the way Gibs mind works and her sayings are a little off which causes many looks and leaves the reader with many smiles. Oh I would love to see this as a movi...more
Gibby survived an auto accident that claimed the lives of both of her parents. She survived, but she's NQR (not quite right) and now lives with her Grandpa. This book is filled with Southern charm and characters. Set in the 1970s, you get a peek into the way of the world there and then. This novel has a little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of humor. Gibby's inside view of a head injured patient was fascinating to me. It was an easy read, a nice story, and a great way to spend a few hours.
Sort of an odd story about a young woman who suffers a traumatic brain injury in the car accident which kills her parents. She then goes to live with her Grandpa and tries her hand at writing a weekly gazette for the town. Her unintended puns and short term memory loss are at times humorous and other times depressing because you know there are actual people with that problem. There's murder;sexual assualt (not graphic); mystery and a love story bringing up the tail end of the book. It's sort of...more
I really liked this book because it showed that there is hope, love and friendship for everyone despite or because of hardships. Nobody's life is perfect and the characters in this book have more than their share of problem's: Gib's brain damage, Billy's post traumatic stress disorder, Clever's emotional abandonment by her mother as well as raciscm, incest and the death of loved ones. Despite or because of their problems, Gib and her friends are able to draw closer and love.
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Lesley Kagen is a mother of two, an actress, former restaurateur, accomplished equestrian, celebrated public speaker, and an award winning, New York Times bestselling author of Whistling in the Dark, Land of a Hundred Wonders, Tomorrow River and Good Graces. Her novels have also been published in the Netherlands, China, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Russia. She lives in Wisconsin. Find readin...more
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“So might I suggest at your earliest convenience that you pay a visit to the Okins Funeral Salon to make arrangements?"
"Why'd I wanna do that?" she says so damn snippy.
"Because on my return visit you can count on my beatin' the ever-lovin' shit outta you with a rusty shovel. Twice.”
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More quotes…
"Why'd I wanna do that?" she says so damn snippy.
"Because on my return visit you can count on my beatin' the ever-lovin' shit outta you with a rusty shovel. Twice.”
Mar 17, 2010 06:15pm
Aug 03, 2010 04:26pm