http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/57926 en-US Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:05:45 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 28926476 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:05:45 -0700
Great idea - especially for people (ahem) who have trouble making decisions and hem and haw over the consequences of them. And there were some lovely bits within bits - Irina is a children's book writer and I really liked the descriptions of the books she writes. But mostly, it is the same story, with different men in it, twice. Irina goes to Christmas dinner at her parents twice, writes a children's book twice, goes thru many travails twice. Which made the book really boring.

I think, all in all, it just really needed a good editor who was ready to come out with shears and cut large sections away. But no one did. I finished it, but it was an uphill battle. Which is a shame since there wre very many lovely parts.

]]>
author: Lionel Shriver
name: alana
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 08/18/08
shelves:
review:
It must be hard to write the same story twice and put it in one book and get somebody to read the whole thing. But that's what the Post-Birthday World is. Irina faces a decision, makes a decision, and then the book follows her into a what-would-have happened down the paths of both decisions.

Great idea - especially for people (ahem) who have trouble making decisions and hem and haw over the consequences of them. And there were some lovely bits within bits - Irina is a children's book writer and I really liked the descriptions of the books she writes. But mostly, it is the same story, with different men in it, twice. Irina goes to Christmas dinner at her parents twice, writes a children's book twice, goes thru many travails twice. Which made the book really boring.

I think, all in all, it just really needed a good editor who was ready to come out with shears and cut large sections away. But no one did. I finished it, but it was an uphill battle. Which is a shame since there wre very many lovely parts.


]]> 30175702 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:42:31 -0700
author: Louise Fitzhugh
name: alana
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1964
rating: 4
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/14/08
shelves:
review:
I just re-read this as it seems lately I can only read books meant for 10 year olds. It was great. I tried, while I was reading, to figure out what during time period it was supposed to be taking place, since there were ink pots and delivery men on bicycles, and decided it was the same time period that 101 Dalmatians (the cartoon one, not the dumb movie one) took place during. I dont know what it was though. Also i don't like the picture of Harriet on the cover of this one, which is the one i bought at a library sale for 25 cents. She looks too manly and slovenly.
]]> 28926636 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:34:36 -0700
But I started it on plane ride back from said book swap, and it kept me amused the whole plane ride. There were a few times when I had to tilt the book towards me so the lecherous man sitting to my left couldn't see the racy parts (i blushed) but those were few and far between. Yes, it was predictable and light, but there's a mute blind woman, a doll museum, some ferocious dogs and it takes place in the foreign land that is Georgia (the state, not the country). Not your typical chick lit.]]>
author: Joshilyn Jackson
name: alana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/31/08
shelves:
review:
I won this book in a book swap, and I have to admit, I was skeptical. I mean, the main character's name is Nonny. Not promising.

But I started it on plane ride back from said book swap, and it kept me amused the whole plane ride. There were a few times when I had to tilt the book towards me so the lecherous man sitting to my left couldn't see the racy parts (i blushed) but those were few and far between. Yes, it was predictable and light, but there's a mute blind woman, a doll museum, some ferocious dogs and it takes place in the foreign land that is Georgia (the state, not the country). Not your typical chick lit.
]]> 28926359 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:29:12 -0700
author: Lisi Harrison
name: alana
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 07/31/08
shelves:
review:
This is my last Clique book. I swear. I went to grad school, for crying out loud. I should not be reading books for 12 year olds who like fashion. But what will happen to Claire and her boyfriend? I must read the next one to find out. Then I'll stop. Really I will.
]]> 28926195 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:27:43 -0700
author: Lisi Harrison
name: alana
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2005
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 07/31/08
shelves:
review:
And I read a third one. Kind of like when you eat a whole bag of chips and you can't stop until you get to the end and are almost done but there are only a few left, so what the heck, why not finish it off. If you asked me what happened in this one compared to what happened in the previous two, I would say spoiled Massie tries to retain her popularity. But how is this different from the others? Not a clue.
]]> 28926120 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:25:44 -0700
author: Lisi Harrison
name: alana
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 07/31/08
shelves:
review:
Did I really read a second book in this series? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Meh. The characters are ridiculous and spoiled but I couldn't put it down. Eroding my brain, book by book.
]]> 27997442 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:08:06 -0700
author: Lisi Harrison
name: alana
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/22/08
shelves:
review:
Sigh. I should be ashamed. But I love the tween books. They're like candy that doesn't make you fat.
]]> 27997211 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:07:02 -0700
The one flaw: Messud gets a little too close to being Ayn Rand-y (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?). Characters stand for Integrity or Exposition or whatever and it is a bit too transparent. But hey, i gave it four stars, so I'm not complaining!]]>
author: Claire Messud
name: alana
average rating: 2.89
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/22/08
shelves:
review:
I liked this much more than her other book, The Last Life. Maybe I had low expectations, but I thought this was engaging and interesting, and, unlike the Last Life, easy to follow.

The one flaw: Messud gets a little too close to being Ayn Rand-y (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?). Characters stand for Integrity or Exposition or whatever and it is a bit too transparent. But hey, i gave it four stars, so I'm not complaining!
]]> 25441151 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:06:36 -0700
author: Ian McEwan
name: alana
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/25/08
shelves:
review:
So I was totally going to give this book 3 stars, and then the last few pages made me bump it up to 4. Which makes me feel kinda cheap, like a figure skating judge who gives a 8.7 instead of a 7.7 when some figure skater lands a double lutz at the end of the routine even tho the rest of the routine has been meh. But McEwan's double lutz here was pretty powreful and surprising. Not a book to be read to put you in a good mood though.
]]> 22319690 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:22:12 -0700
The problem is that Lamb wants to tell us about everything. Like the father in Sicily who is a teeny tiny part of the story or the librarian who also isn't really relevant. I guess you could say that makes the story deeper, but really, it just makes it longer.

It's about twins, one who is a bit off his rocker, one who isn't. I won't go into more because it would take me days to even mention half of the stuff that happens. Let's just say there are ups, there are downs, and it all comes together in the end. ]]>
author: Wally Lamb
name: alana
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/13/08
shelves:
review:
I guess, on balance, this was a good book. It was as long as the Bible and Moby Dick put together though. I read half of it, and then threw it across the room, frustrated that I still had so much to go. Then I read a few other books, picked this one up again, and finished it.

The problem is that Lamb wants to tell us about everything. Like the father in Sicily who is a teeny tiny part of the story or the librarian who also isn't really relevant. I guess you could say that makes the story deeper, but really, it just makes it longer.

It's about twins, one who is a bit off his rocker, one who isn't. I won't go into more because it would take me days to even mention half of the stuff that happens. Let's just say there are ups, there are downs, and it all comes together in the end.
]]> 10157509 Fri, 30 May 2008 11:25:13 -0700
author: Hisham Matar
name: alana
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/30/08
shelves:
review:
At first I thought this was like lots of other books I have read -- small boy/girl is confused when father in Arab country is arrested and detained by authorities. But I think it was a little bit better.
]]> 23315712 Fri, 30 May 2008 11:23:34 -0700
author: Tobias Wolff
name: alana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/30/08
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review:

]]> 23315614 Fri, 30 May 2008 11:22:53 -0700
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: alana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1925
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/30/08
shelves:
review:
I just re read this over Memorial Day and it confirmed my suspicions that if I had a time machine, I would definitely live in the 20s.
]]> 21791491 Wed, 07 May 2008 11:22:48 -0700

]]>
author: Philippa Gregory
name: alana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 05/07/08
shelves:
review:
Ah, Philippa Gregory. You lured me in with The Other Boleyn Girl, which I knew was kind of trashy, but still couldn't put it down. TOBG was like eating cupcakes while watching SVU re-runs. Paradise. The Constant Princess, however, was like eating Doritos while watching Grey's Anatomy. I really wanted to like it, but really, it just made me want to barf. The problem, dear Philippa, is that just as Henry VIII liked his ladies, you seem to love italics. You write whole pages in italics, which in my opinion are best used by teenaged girls IMing with their friends. Or maybe that's CAPS. But I digress. When you write whole passages in italics, you are just inviting me to skim or skip them entirely. Especially when they're written by a character who sounds like a teenage girl even when she's old. And then when you're not writing in italics, you're jumping around to different people's perspectives, although its hard to tell them apart because everyone just seems to think about sex all the time. Or moralize about Arabs. I can't believe I read this whole book.



]]> 19648747 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:31:51 -0700
author: Philippa Gregory
name: alana
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/07/08
shelves:
review:
I am a little embarrassed to give this book four stars because it is a bit trashy, but can historical fiction really be trashy? Well, yes. But still, I couldn't put it down. And it was quite historically accurate, so a good refresher course on those crazy Tudors. Now I want to know more, and might be forced to read other trashy historical fiction about the Tudors. Alas. In conclusion, living in the 1500s probably wasn't very fun. Although they did have cool clothes.
]]> 19113070 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:35:17 -0700
author: Graham Greene
name: alana
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1951
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/31/08
shelves:
review:
I thought this book was really anti-religious until I read a review that said it was the last of his four Catholic books. Shows what I know. I still think it's anti-religious though. Doesn't portray Catholicism in a very positive light.
]]> 17959918 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:14:44 -0700
author: Diana Wynne Jones
name: alana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 03/17/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 13983485 Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:38:25 -0800
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: alana
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 01/29/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 11666557 Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:57:53 -0800
author: Kim Edwards
name: alana
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 01/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 11666540 Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:57:45 -0800
author: Jennifer Kaufman
name: alana
average rating: 3.12
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 01/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 11035208 Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:28:23 -0800
author: Ariel Gore
name: alana
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 12/26/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 10710473 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:23:07 -0800
author: Cormac McCarthy
name: alana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 12/19/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 10157487 Sat, 08 Dec 2007 18:41:11 -0800
author: Vendela Vida
name: alana
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 12/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 10157480 Sat, 08 Dec 2007 18:40:52 -0800
author: Lois Lowry
name: alana
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 12/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9319792 Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:49:49 -0800
author: Philip Pullman
name: alana
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 11/19/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9319790 Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:49:47 -0800
author: Philip Pullman
name: alana
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 11/19/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2226473 Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:49:41 -0800
author: Philip Pullman
name: alana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 12/07
date added: 11/19/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9319563 Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:43:56 -0800
author: Jon Krakauer
name: alana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 11/19/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9319562 Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:43:54 -0800
author: Jon Krakauer
name: alana
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 11/19/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9319560 Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:43:49 -0800
author: Tom Wolfe
name: alana
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 11/19/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9316160 Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:38:04 -0800
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: alana
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 11/19/07
shelves:
review:
This is my favorite Jeeves book - any book in which a banjolele plays a major role in the plot is all right by me.
]]> 9294370 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:02:38 -0800
author: Darin Strauss
name: alana
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2001
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 11/18/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9294363 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:02:17 -0800
author: Francisco Goldman
name: alana
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 11/18/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9294349 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:01:52 -0800
author: Richard Yates
name: alana
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at: 12/07
date added: 11/18/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 8519537 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:01:36 -0800
author: Ayn Rand
name: alana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1943
rating: 3
read at: 11/07
date added: 11/18/07
shelves:
review:
Ah, mankind. You are mentioned in so many impassioned monologues in this book, your ears must be burning. I get why the Fountainhead is one of those books that everyone should read - interesting ideas about individualism and society and such - but really, who edited this thing? No one, is my hunch. Interesting plot about an architect who only follows what he thinks is right, but I suspect if I met Howard Roark on the street, I'd want to punch him in the face. And why are all the heroes in this book dashing, beautiful, and flawless, and all the bad guys fat and ugly? But if you haven't read it, you should. Just skim the monologues about mankind.
]]> 7628267 Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:01:30 -0700
author: Jeannette Walls
name: alana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/13/07
shelves:
review:
A really sad memoir - not sad because people die or she ends unhappy, but sad because her parents are seriously messed up and it just breaks your heart when they screw over their children again and again. Pretty interesting how she succeeded despite them. Kind of like Running with Scissors, except without the gay sex.
]]> 7629027 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:19:35 -0700
author: Ann Patchett
name: alana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7629023 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:19:31 -0700
author: Audrey Niffenegger
name: alana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628738 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:12:40 -0700
author: Ian McEwan
name: alana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628724 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:12:12 -0700
author: Lionel Shriver
name: alana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628437 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:08:19 -0700
author: Jonathan Safran Foer
name: alana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 05/06
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628448 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:07:58 -0700
author: Dave Eggers
name: alana
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 02/05
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628462 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:06:42 -0700
author: Wallace Stegner
name: alana
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 11/06
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628507 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:06:15 -0700
author: Dave Eggers
name: alana
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 03/08
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628423 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:03:54 -0700
author: Robert Penn Warren
name: alana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628422 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:03:51 -0700
author: Richard Russo
name: alana
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628421 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:03:47 -0700
author: Michael Chabon
name: alana
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628406 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:03:26 -0700
author: John Irving
name: alana
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1978
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628382 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:02:53 -0700
author: Tracy Kidder
name: alana
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628378 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:02:47 -0700
author: David Sedaris
name: alana
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628256 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:00:13 -0700
author: Karen Joy Fowler
name: alana
average rating: 2.63
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628242 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:59:49 -0700
author: T.C. Boyle
name: alana
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1994
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628218 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:59:14 -0700
author: T.C. Boyle
name: alana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 7628090 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:59:00 -0700
author: T.C. Boyle
name: alana
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/12/07
shelves:
review:
I wasn't too jazzed about the plot, but it's an interesting window into what it is like to be deaf. I like his short stories more - in T.C. Boyle's books, there are always some truly evil characters and he devotes a lot of time to them. In the last few of his books that I've read, there are two sides going up against one another, and the end result is never pretty.
]]> 7109088 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:44:32 -0700
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: alana
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 10/07
date added: 10/01/07
shelves:
review:
Super depressing but a really interesting story. A good window into what's being going on in Afghanistan for the past few decades. I liked it more than the Kite Runner.
]]> 6802992 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:15:39 -0700
author: E.L. Konigsburg
name: alana
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1967
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 09/25/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 6802892 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:13:10 -0700
author: Claire Messud
name: alana
av