The Love Letter: A Novel
by Cathleen Schine
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 197)
Read in January, 2007
There is nothing more satisfying than realizing that the book you have on hand is actually fun and engaging and you cannot stop reading. This is such book.
I picked this book, stylishly, in a used bookstore somewhere in Europe. I've always conjured up images of chic little me browsing smelly and musty but chic used bookstores with sunglasses chicly perched on my head picking up chic literary gems. However, upon flipping the first few pages at home, I was disappointed with this book and its ex...more
I picked this book, stylishly, in a used bookstore somewhere in Europe. I've always conjured up images of chic little me browsing smelly and musty but chic used bookstores with sunglasses chicly perched on my head picking up chic literary gems. However, upon flipping the first few pages at home, I was disappointed with this book and its ex...more
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Read in January, 2004
Ok, this book is perhaps a little cheesy, but it's also an entertaining read and actually has better writing than I thought it would have. The characters even mostly escaped being either stereotypes or ciphers, and their relationship developments while nothing overly exciting actually surprised me. At least seeing them bounce around each other as the letter changes hands, and reading the different ways they all take the letter them into themselves and assume it's about them or meant for them, wa...more
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Read in February, 2008
Although I wouldn't recommend this book, what attracted me to it was the love letter itself. It has to be right up there with the best love letters ever written, but the plot goes down from there. I cannot imagine a forty year old woman having a relationship with a twenty year old college student. It really bothered me that these two get together and neither of them authored the letter, but it was the reading of the letter that brought on their affair. It just seems wrong to me, for when I am 45...more
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Read in January, 1997
It's been about 10 years, so about all I remember about this book is that I really enjoyed it. More specifically, it's the only book to ever make me miss my stop while reading on the bus. And I think that happened at least twice. I also remember embarrassing myself by laughing a couple times while reading it on the bus. It was the second of three books I've read by Schine. I really need to get to the others. Sadly, I loaned this one out years ago and never got it back. Otherwise, I'd probably re...more
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Read in March, 2008
I can't tell you how many times I've read this book (I tend to re-read it just before Valentine's Day every year)! The premise is a 40 something woman who owns a bookstore finding an anonymous love letter and how it changes everything about her within one summer. Not only is it a love story -- you have to listen to how Schine describes things! It's almost tangible -- but this book inspires me to do something I only dream about: Open my own bookstore. In a word, THE LOVE LETTER is delicious.
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Read in January, 1999
recommends it for:
anyone who loves a good romance
This book is yummy! I love, love, love the intoxicating prose and the heady descriptions of illicit infatuations. It is worth reading simply for all of the bookstore scenes, but I guarantee you will never look at an orange the way again. And who knew shoelaces could be so romantic? Be prepared -the good stuff doesn't start till midway through the book. :)
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Read in January, 2005
recommended to Monica by:
Abby Frucht
It's a little bit of a guilty pleasure only because it was turned into a terrible, terrible film with Kate Capshaw and Tom Selleck (myself, I would have cast Jim-from-the-Office in the role of Johnny, but he was probably a fetus when the movie was in production).
So forget the movie if you saw it and read this book for a charming contemporary love story.
So forget the movie if you saw it and read this book for a charming contemporary love story.
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Read in November, 2007
A fun, light summer read. Fun movie too, Miss Scattergoods is quite the lark!
Rereading -- Miss Scattergoods is appearing in a NYTimes weekend magazine serial about a murder. She sounds very Miss Marple-ish to me which is Ironic since the same actress who now plays Miss Marple on PBS Mystery, played Miss Scattergoods in the film version of this book.
Rereading -- Miss Scattergoods is appearing in a NYTimes weekend magazine serial about a murder. She sounds very Miss Marple-ish to me which is Ironic since the same actress who now plays Miss Marple on PBS Mystery, played Miss Scattergoods in the film version of this book.
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Read in May, 1996
It doesn't get any more quirky or entertaining than this! Don't judge the book if you have only seen the movie. The book is funny, poignant and a great light read for the beach. Not my normal fare, but it is one of my all-time favorites.
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Read in September, 2007
I have no idea how I got this book. I think a previous resident of my apartment in Cairo left it there, and I picked it up and brought it home. It was OK as literary brain candy, but you don't need to take the time to read it.
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
sweet story lovers
This is a pleasant read about small town life and love, with a healthy library component. There's no reason not to read it, so pick it up!
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Just a cheesy little light read. Sometimes I abhor these kinds of books, but every once in a while, I end up liking them!
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And avoid the dreadful movie, which shares only the title. "The Horror! The Horror" Hollywood at its most stupid...
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.27 (135 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.23 (115 ratings) number of reviews: 19popular shelves
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"They ate and picked sand from their chicken in the pink light."
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