Tara Road (Oprah's Book Club)
by Maeve Binchypublished
July 18th 2000
(first published 1998)
by Dell
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binding
Mass Market Paperback, 656 pages
isbn
0440235596
(isbn13: 9780440235590)
description
Oprah Book Club® Selection, September 1999: Against all odds, two newlyweds manage to buy the house of their dreams. In 1982, property specul...more
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| The Next Best Boo...: Top 5 All Time - No Classics Allowed | 81 | 235 | 17 hours, 28 min ago | |
| I can't stand her! | 4 | 33 | 10/14/2008 08:47PM |
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avg 3.73
Read in April, 2000
The reason I like this book is very complicated, but you'll love it. This is definitely a chick lit book about a woman who lives in Dublin, runs a Bed & Breakfast with her lazy husband. She is real busy working all the time, taking care of her kids. Come to find out, her husband is having an affair with her best friend.
Now for the reason I liked this book. I read it and it was ok. My mother had given me a hard cover copy. I had a best friend who was a big time athlete and not much of...more
Now for the reason I liked this book. I read it and it was ok. My mother had given me a hard cover copy. I had a best friend who was a big time athlete and not much of...more
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Read in May, 2000
My mom and sister and I refer to this as the "smell the milk" book. Sometimes you open the fridge and wonder what that horrible smell is, and you open the milk bottle and nearly pass out. But it's so bad someone else HAS to experience it to, so you ask whoever's nearby to smell the milk, too.
I picked this book up in a grocery store in Shannon, Ireland. I was hoping for a fun, light read during my vacation. It *was* fun and sort of light, but not in the way I expected.
I've ...more
I picked this book up in a grocery store in Shannon, Ireland. I was hoping for a fun, light read during my vacation. It *was* fun and sort of light, but not in the way I expected.
I've ...more
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Read in January, 2000
Binchy is one of my favorite authors and I think this is my favorite of her books. Great for a vacation read. She always wraps her stories up in nice little bows at the end, which may not generally be what would happen in reality, but I think that's why I like it - she's good at reminding people that things always work out in the end. Also, she has really strong female characters, or ones who start out weak but find strength, usually through other great women characters, which is always someth...more
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My favorite Maeve Binchy story.
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Read in January, 2000
I also love this book.
Binchy wrote the character so well.
And though I already forgot -maybe Danny- the name of the good looking guy who was not a good husband at the end, I still remember how beautifully Binchy wrote the changing in his character.
Well, maybe not changing. Maybe it's more like the showing of his true self.
This story touched my young heart :p
I guess the movie The Holiday (starring Cameron Diaz, Jude Law etc) kinda inspired by this movie. I mean, the changing place situa...more
Binchy wrote the character so well.
And though I already forgot -maybe Danny- the name of the good looking guy who was not a good husband at the end, I still remember how beautifully Binchy wrote the changing in his character.
Well, maybe not changing. Maybe it's more like the showing of his true self.
This story touched my young heart :p
I guess the movie The Holiday (starring Cameron Diaz, Jude Law etc) kinda inspired by this movie. I mean, the changing place situa...more
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Read in July, 2001
recommended to Jeanie by:
Emmy
Easy, light-hearted, Summer read. Kinda reminded me of the TV show Desperate Housewives. It's the story of women and their relationships (good & bad) with each other, the men in their lives, and the facade of the "Cinderella life" or "Keeping up with the Joneses."
This author also wrote Circle of Friends which was also a movie. Her books are consistent and good. They dive deep into the minds of women and what they're really thinking & what they really want or t...more
This author also wrote Circle of Friends which was also a movie. Her books are consistent and good. They dive deep into the minds of women and what they're really thinking & what they really want or t...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
A woman who wants a spicey page turner!
I could not put this book down!!! Literally! It is exciting from the start and twists into a disgustingly yummy tale :)
I especially like tha author's style of writing and creative mind. Everything description was so colorful and vivid in my mind almost like watching a movie :) It is more of a "soap opera" book in my way of thinking, and not so much intellectual.
I learned that the cliche "men are pigs" can be true and this book certainly fuels that notion. LOL!
I especially like tha author's style of writing and creative mind. Everything description was so colorful and vivid in my mind almost like watching a movie :) It is more of a "soap opera" book in my way of thinking, and not so much intellectual.
I learned that the cliche "men are pigs" can be true and this book certainly fuels that notion. LOL!
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Read in May, 2008
OK maybe it was just my mood, but I was bored to tears ... I listened to more than half, all the while thinking "I have to stop this" but I continued hoping somehow I would even care ... I must have spent 7 hours or more listening! OMG.
I am so glad I stopped & couldn't care less what happened to thet characters. However, on a positive note, if one were really interested in Ireland, it's people and such, perhaps one could enjoy One Star's Worth here !
I am so glad I stopped & couldn't care less what happened to thet characters. However, on a positive note, if one were really interested in Ireland, it's people and such, perhaps one could enjoy One Star's Worth here !
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Read in October, 2007
I recently watched the movie "Tara Road", and realized that while I seemed to remember enough to say that it was pretty true to the book, I couldn't remember many details from the book at all, and felt it was time to read it. "Tara Road" is a weird mixture of a very depressing book (esp. the first half) and a perfect comfort book. But come to think of it, most of Maeve Binchy's books are that way. It's not my favourite MB, but probably in the top 5.
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Read in January, 2000
This was the first Maeve Binchy book that I read and is a particular favourite of mine. It is a light/heartwarming read!! I love how she writes about the characters and incorporates Ireland. After reading a few of her books I feel she literally "cuts&pastes" part of other stories but I forgive her for this because I enjoy her books.
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recommends it for:
Fans of intertwined storylines
I recently took another trip down Tara Road to re-visit the lives of two women, Ria and Marilyn, one from Ireland and one from America who trade houses and lives for one summer. I originally read this book about 9 years ago and wanted to see if I would enjoy the second reading as much as I had the first. Once again, I was captured by Binchy's tale of friendship, betrayal and revelation as well as her ability to capture moments and fill them with warmth and humor.....not to mention her deft talen...more
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Read in November, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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To be honest i cant really remember this book-i usually find that most 'chic lit' books meld into one another and its been a few years since i read this. That being said sometimes theres nothing more enjoyable than getting stuck into some mindless candy floss for the brain and some of my favourite books have been whats considered 'chic lit'. After all Pride and Prejudice had it been written in modern times would have been lumped into the 'Chic Lit' category and Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier was ...more
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Read in September, 2007
It seems to be taking forever for me to get through this book, but I am almost done with it. The thickness makes you think will I ever get done, but it starts picking up and you realize how far you've gotten. I keep leaving myself on cliffhangers...I'm itching to finish so I know how it ends. I've predicted some things as I was reading along the way. I picked up on that Rosemary quickly - what a COW! hahaha
Okay...I finished this today..I couldn't take it anymore! I'm annoyed w/ some of the ...more
Okay...I finished this today..I couldn't take it anymore! I'm annoyed w/ some of the ...more
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Read in July, 2007
This was my second book of Maeve Binchy's and I looked forward to meeting more of her characters and seeing more of her Ireland. One thing I forgot from the previous book, or was stronger with this book, was how anxiety-provoking her books can be. You meet her characters, you grow up with them, you become very attached to some of them but the whole time you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. There are little hints throughout the whole book that nothing is entirely as it seems and, when the t...more
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I have to say for a Binchey book this was my least favorite. I may have been biased from the beginning because it was an Oprah pick, and Oprah and I have not agreed on too many books in the past. However, the subtlety and older charm that exsist in her other books is lacking in Tara Road. By the lack of subtlety I guess I am saying it was a little too graphic for my tastes. In the past I have always appreciated Binchey's restraint (which I find difficult to find in modern authors). Overall,...more
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duh, it happens on a street named after me. Bought it at DI for $1 and then decided to actually read it and was pleasantly surprised. Maybe not a classic, but a nice story.
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Read in March, 2007
It was easy to read, but I don't get Binchy, all of her stories seem to go just too far for my tastes. I think if you've read several of her books, you see a very familiar pattern. I won't give up on them, but they all deal with exactly the same situations: affairs, miscarriages, unexpected pregnancies, inability to get pregnant, disregard for the teachings of the Catholic church. . . .Maybe if each book dealt with one of these issues, then it wouldn't be so obvious, but it seems like the fou...more
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I'd rather be thrown under a bus than have to read Tara Road again. I read it several years ago for a book club and was actually fascinated by the fact that I couldn't care less about any of the characters. The only way I got through it was by reading sections of Memoirs of a Geisha as a reward.
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I can't say I particularly loved this book. It wasn't one that I couldn't put down, but it wasn't horrible either.
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