http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/126763 en-US Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:54:16 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 5430226 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:54:16 -0700
author: George Orwell
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1949
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 07/16/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 5289734 Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:46:04 -0700
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 01/05
date added: 04/27/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 7543705 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:59:01 -0700
author: Norton Juster
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at: 06/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7543364 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:52:41 -0700
author: Kai Meyer
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 06/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7543298 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:51:36 -0700
author: Kai Meyer
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 05/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7543142 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:49:01 -0700
author: Stephen King
name: Joanie
average rating: 2.93
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 05/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7543098 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:48:19 -0700
author: Laurie R. King
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 05/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7542981 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:46:49 -0700
author: Lyn Smith
name: Joanie
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 07/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7542911 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:45:17 -0700
author: Stephen King
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 06/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5290079 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:13:52 -0700
Every Christian needs to get a hold of this book and read it through! It's helped me gain a deep understanding of how the forces of darkness try to undermine joy and truth. I'd especially recommend it to readers new to C.S. Lewis, as this is a good sample of his writing and a good place to start from when reading his work.

One of the great things about C.S. Lewis is that, having not been born into the church, he comes with a gritty, logical look into Christianity and how the world operates, having been deeply entrenched in it himself. He understands where people are coming from and brings to light a lot of the contradictions people tend to say about the church (and intellectuals for that matter).

Personally, I took away a number of lessons from the book, including some understanding about what it means to be charitable and caring towards my family and friends instead of doing things purely out of some spiritual pride (aka holier than thou philosophy) -- what an eye opener! In a good way though.

One of the best points he makes is that the "Father Below's" main goal is to keep your from thinking for yourself, to go along with the crowd and to do what "the smart, the pretty, the bold and the powerful" say you should do instead of being an individual. What a powerful (and relevant) statement for today's culture!
]]>
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:
It's great to read fiction that gives you a punch in a gut! It's not often a book will hold up a mirror to you and show you some things you'd rather not see. The Screwtape Letters was that book for me.

Every Christian needs to get a hold of this book and read it through! It's helped me gain a deep understanding of how the forces of darkness try to undermine joy and truth. I'd especially recommend it to readers new to C.S. Lewis, as this is a good sample of his writing and a good place to start from when reading his work.

One of the great things about C.S. Lewis is that, having not been born into the church, he comes with a gritty, logical look into Christianity and how the world operates, having been deeply entrenched in it himself. He understands where people are coming from and brings to light a lot of the contradictions people tend to say about the church (and intellectuals for that matter).

Personally, I took away a number of lessons from the book, including some understanding about what it means to be charitable and caring towards my family and friends instead of doing things purely out of some spiritual pride (aka holier than thou philosophy) -- what an eye opener! In a good way though.

One of the best points he makes is that the "Father Below's" main goal is to keep your from thinking for yourself, to go along with the crowd and to do what "the smart, the pretty, the bold and the powerful" say you should do instead of being an individual. What a powerful (and relevant) statement for today's culture!

]]> 7530578 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:09:24 -0700
author: Grace Lin
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 08/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7530507 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:08:23 -0700
author: Gail Carson Levine
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 08/07
date added: 10/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5292765 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 06:15:28 -0700
author: Ann M. Martin
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 01/99
date added: 09/23/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5708765 Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:26:15 -0700 ]]>
author: Stephen King
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 09/07
date added: 09/19/07
shelves:
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Amazing collection of King's shorts! The stories come alive with the subtle music and sfx - but the words themselves are the most powerful of all. I find myself thinking about the plots and characters long after the last page. If you want some good suspense and horror, pick this up and turn down the lights. My favorite story is so hard to pick out, but I think it was Quitters Inc.

]]> 6283705 Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:00:35 -0700
author: Greg Rucka
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 08/06
date added: 09/16/07
shelves:
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]]> 5290192 Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:06:06 -0700
King's just so great with all the sensory details that you get sucked in and have a hard time reminding yourself these are just characters. Heck I even got a strange pleasure from reading the "Book within a Book" (a la Hamlet) and the weird parallels that went along with it. King has this way of dropping these stark images into your head - and now everytime I hear the word Goddess, Idol, or Africa, I'm sure Annie will pop somewhere into it.

What I took away from the book is that in the end there's only so much you can compromise before you have to just bite down on it and do what you need to do. And ultimately the only person you need (and should) be writing for is yourself. I think I remember him mentioning this in his On Writing book and I couldn't agree more.

I absolutely love this book and would recommend it to anyone who's a writer (or ever been a rabid fangirl) and isn't squemish. This isn't for the faint of stomach.]]>
author: Stephen King
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at: 09/07
date added: 09/12/07
shelves:
review:
As a fellow writer you can only imagine the kind of intense dread reading this caused. There's a lot of raw themes in here about why we write and just what keeps someone going even in the midst of such anguish and terror. I could not stop reading it and I was going nuts trying to figure out if he would live or die. I found myself fearing Annie too and thinking any minute he was gonna get chopped to bits.

King's just so great with all the sensory details that you get sucked in and have a hard time reminding yourself these are just characters. Heck I even got a strange pleasure from reading the "Book within a Book" (a la Hamlet) and the weird parallels that went along with it. King has this way of dropping these stark images into your head - and now everytime I hear the word Goddess, Idol, or Africa, I'm sure Annie will pop somewhere into it.

What I took away from the book is that in the end there's only so much you can compromise before you have to just bite down on it and do what you need to do. And ultimately the only person you need (and should) be writing for is yourself. I think I remember him mentioning this in his On Writing book and I couldn't agree more.

I absolutely love this book and would recommend it to anyone who's a writer (or ever been a rabid fangirl) and isn't squemish. This isn't for the faint of stomach.
]]> 5900671 Sun, 09 Sep 2007 11:50:14 -0700
author: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 09/09/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5900834 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:28:47 -0700
author: Laurie Halse Anderson
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 01/07
date added: 09/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5900719 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:26:28 -0700
author: Steve Rolston
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 07/06
date added: 09/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5430204 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:24:46 -0700
author: George Orwell
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1945
rating: 5
read at: 09/07
date added: 09/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5715026 Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:21:01 -0700
author: Joe R. Lansdale
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 05/02
date added: 09/05/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5053445 Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:54:24 -0700
More than me commenting on anything book-wise, as I'm sure there are other more competent reviewers then myself when it comes to majorly thick works such as this, so I won't try to sound haughty or whatever, I just want to say what I learned from it.

Everybody has a "dark tower" - and this has opened my eyes to see just what mine is all about. I think I do get too often caught up in the little trophy on the shelf or the sticker on the diploma or even the credit on the screen that I completely miss the best part of everything, which is the journey itself. I don't think I truly understood that until now. Also that knowing the future is a very dangerous thing and that it's best left alone. I think if we, like Roland, even had an inkling of all the things (both good and bad) that would happen to us, we would want to put a gun to our own brains.

I for one, want to (pun intended, for another thing I learned is that you need not to take life so seriously) be able to stop and smell the dusky pink roses of life, be they literal or simply metaphorical.

Through the story I submitted my own friends and family into the picture and just realized how lucky I am to have them and to have them alive, healthy and free. Sometimes I get too caught up in that feeling of "wanting adventure" without realizing the high price that comes with it. That you can't go back. You can only go forward.

I once went on my own journey and came back definitely changed for the better. I had to say some bitter goodbyes, but wasn't it worth it all just to feel the wind in my hair and the stars just out of my reach and to look into the softened eyes of someone who thought was high mighty and found out was just like me, just another traveler and full of life, love and problems, just like anyone else? Yes it was.

I really wish I could contact Stephen King and tell him how much I appreciated him writing this, capturing it all on paper - and maybe someday I will, even if it's just in the clearing at the end of the path. :)]]>
author: Stephen King
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 09/07
date added: 09/05/07
shelves:
review:
Never before have I ever felt as close to characters as the ones herein: to Jake, to Eddie, to Susannah, to Oy and even to Roland. This is probably the best series I have ever read. Say what you will about King (heck I said as much myself way back when, when I was too young to know any better about anything), but this is his Masterpiece - though I'm very apt to believe him that it's not truly his, as I have come to understand through my own writing.

More than me commenting on anything book-wise, as I'm sure there are other more competent reviewers then myself when it comes to majorly thick works such as this, so I won't try to sound haughty or whatever, I just want to say what I learned from it.

Everybody has a "dark tower" - and this has opened my eyes to see just what mine is all about. I think I do get too often caught up in the little trophy on the shelf or the sticker on the diploma or even the credit on the screen that I completely miss the best part of everything, which is the journey itself. I don't think I truly understood that until now. Also that knowing the future is a very dangerous thing and that it's best left alone. I think if we, like Roland, even had an inkling of all the things (both good and bad) that would happen to us, we would want to put a gun to our own brains.

I for one, want to (pun intended, for another thing I learned is that you need not to take life so seriously) be able to stop and smell the dusky pink roses of life, be they literal or simply metaphorical.

Through the story I submitted my own friends and family into the picture and just realized how lucky I am to have them and to have them alive, healthy and free. Sometimes I get too caught up in that feeling of "wanting adventure" without realizing the high price that comes with it. That you can't go back. You can only go forward.

I once went on my own journey and came back definitely changed for the better. I had to say some bitter goodbyes, but wasn't it worth it all just to feel the wind in my hair and the stars just out of my reach and to look into the softened eyes of someone who thought was high mighty and found out was just like me, just another traveler and full of life, love and problems, just like anyone else? Yes it was.

I really wish I could contact Stephen King and tell him how much I appreciated him writing this, capturing it all on paper - and maybe someday I will, even if it's just in the clearing at the end of the path. :)
]]> 5628732 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:56:11 -0700
author: Bruce Feiler
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 03/02
date added: 09/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5433901 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:13:39 -0700
author: Jonathan Stroud
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 09/07
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5433131 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:01:00 -0700
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1925
rating: 4
read at: 11/99
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5431710 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:37:46 -0700
author: Lynne Reid Banks
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 09/94
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5431658 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:37:00 -0700
author: Lynne Reid Banks
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 08/94
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5431584 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:35:44 -0700
author: Lynne Reid Banks
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 03/94
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5431461 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:33:58 -0700
author: Deborah Howe
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at: 03/92
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5430388 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:16:56 -0700
author: John Steinbeck
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at: 11/00
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5429947 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:10:57 -0700
author: Kathryn Wesley
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 05/01
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5429118 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:57:43 -0700
author: Robert Cohen
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 02/02
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5429072 Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:56:51 -0700
author: Tom Stoppard
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 11/03
date added: 08/31/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5369081 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:10:39 -0700
author: Mary Downing Hahn
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 07/94
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368953 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:09:35 -0700
author: Louis Sachar
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at: 01/92
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368848 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:07:14 -0700
author: Tadashi Ozawa
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 01/06
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368826 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:06:50 -0700
author: Mike Mattesi
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368726 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:06:26 -0700
author: Preston Blair
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.79
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 03/06
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368653 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:04:45 -0700
author: Sandro Corsaro
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 03/05
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368637 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:04:31 -0700
author: Glenn Kirkpatrick
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 04/05
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368593 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:03:39 -0700
author: Daniel Defoe
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.54
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 09/03
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368554 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:02:52 -0700
author: Charles Dickens
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1860
rating: 5
read at: 09/03
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5368148 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:57:45 -0700
author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
name: Joanie
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1978
rating: 5
read at: 05/04
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5367945 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:55:37 -0700
author: Olga Lengyel
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 10/04
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5367918 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:55:09 -0700
author: Miklos Nyiszli
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 12/04
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5367884 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:54:48 -0700
author: Primo Levi
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 11/04
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5344397 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:07:15 -0700
author: Bill Willingham
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 08/06
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5344255 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:05:17 -0700
author: Bill Willingham
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 07/06
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5282733 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:57:10 -0700
author: Rachel Roberts
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5343479 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:53:59 -0700
author: Gregory Maguire
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 09/06
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5343162 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:49:22 -0700
author: Kazu Kibuishi
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 05/06
date added: 08/30/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5308474 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:20:12 -0700
author: Shiro Amano
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 10/06
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5308470 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:19:47 -0700
author: Shiro Amano
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 06/06
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5308467 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:19:11 -0700
author: Shiro Amano
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 05/06
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5308440 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:18:47 -0700
author: Shiro Amano
name: Joanie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 05/06
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5308394 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:17:48 -0700
author: Clamp
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 09/05
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5308260 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:14:51 -0700
author: Bruce Hale
name: Joanie
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5307801 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:05:06 -0700
author: Bill Willingham
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 09/06
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5307745 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:03:41 -0700
author: Harold Whitaker
name: Joanie
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 08/06
date added: 08/29/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5307725 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:03:12 -0700