http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/657931 en-US Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:16:44 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 29061908 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:16:44 -0700
author: Lesley Kagen
name: Lynn
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/16/08
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]]> 28380655 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:16:08 -0700
author: Karen White
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/16/08
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Being from North Carolina, I thought I'd enjoy a story that took place in my sister Carolina state. However, this book was heavy on the sailing and ocean and becomes a little redundant.
]]> 27797966 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:12:20 -0700
author: Jennifer McMahon
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 08/16/08
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A bunny suit and a kidnapping and a history of secrets and lies.
]]> 27140085 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:17:16 -0700
author: Laura Kasischke
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.16
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/18/08
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Fool me once, shame on your...fool me twice, shame on me. I, again, picked up this book because the movie trailer seemed so intriguing. Jumping right into the midst of a school shooting, the story then jumps back and forth between young high school Diana and thirty something mother Diana. The passages are sometimes confusing and seem to be stream of consciousness, which I wasn't paying close enough attention to. I'm sure there is a really great book somewhere in here and maybe I was rushing through it too much, trying to figure out more information and resolution with the school shooting. But I'm not quite sure I understand the ending...let's hope the movie does a better job explaining!
]]> 24617076 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:30:49 -0700
author: Jeffrey Eugenides
name: Lynn
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2002
rating: 2
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/14/08
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]]> 24031040 Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:20:17 -0700
author: Nancy Pickard
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/14/08
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]]> 23731023 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:40:49 -0700
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/10/08
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If you don't cry during the last 50 pages of this book, you have no soul. This is the ultimate example of chick lit - a story that exemplifies the unbreakable bond that soul sisters Kate and Tully share over a 30 year span. Their friendship begins with tragedy and follows their relationship through jealousy, success, and family. The ending may be a bit too predictable and there are some questionable actions on the part of Tully, some of which I just truly did not feel was true to her character. But the power of the story overcomes the ups and downs and is truly a beautiful tale of a friendship that endures it all.
]]> 22933685 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:29:53 -0700
author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/08/08
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It's been a long time since Patricia Cornwell has been able to capture the ease and mystery that made her early books so successful, and "The Book of the Dead" seems to be a step towards the success of the past. Throughout its many chapters, the narrarator takes the time to switch focus from one character to the next, often slowly revealing how their stories intertwine and encroach upon each other. My issue with Cornwell's most recent Scarpetta books has been the need to drag out the presence of peripheal characters. Only in her latter books have we seen the antagonists drift from one story to the next, most notably with the societal reject Jean-Baptiste and in this case with the psychological terrorist (yet tv psychologist) Dr. Self. I myself prefer the days of the old when Scarpetta, Marino, Benton and Lucy neatly solved and closed each case before appearing in another title. And here, the ending is a bit too vague and felt like Cornwell ran out of steam. "The Book of the Dead" certainly doesn't triumph like the books of her past ("Body Farm," "From Potter's Field," etc), but I see glimpses of the old Cornwell and the stories I love resurfacing with every new title.
]]> 19256336 Fri, 02 May 2008 07:59:12 -0700
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Lynn
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/02/08
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]]> 15709560 Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:06:14 -0700
author: Audrey Niffenegger
name: Lynn
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/09/08
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Word to the wise...do not read the end of this book while riding on a very public bus in Chicago! I had to hold back the tears in what I suprisingly found as one of the most poignant stories I've ever read. I'm not usually one for love stories or science fiction, but this book has elements of both. But the overriding story of Henry and Clare (despite all of the outside forces) is beautiful and so well written. The author switches between Henry and Clare's points of views while the two lovers navigate their relationship between different times and places (much of it taking place in lovely Chicago). It is absolutely a beautiful read and patient in its plot. I can't wait for the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
]]> 16943347 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:50:41 -0700
author: Matthew Smith
name: Lynn
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 03/08
date added: 04/01/08
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I hardly ever read non-fiction books, but after watching Oliver Stone's "JFK" for the second time in my life and listening to the director's commentary, I wanted to find out where the facts really were in the movie. The book gets very detailed and I feel like I should read it a second time to understand all of the facts from the four "conspiracies" that comprise the book. The author highlights four high profile events that he claims were constructed to ruin the Kennedy's reputation and hinder their ability to get elected to the White House. Those four events are Marilyn Monroe's "suicide," JFK's assassination, RFK's assasination, and Teddy Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick incident. Who knows if all his claims are correct, but there is overwhelming evidence that pieces of information were withheld or hidden from the American public. If you believe everything the government tells you, then you won't like this book. For everyone else, it is quite eye-opening.
]]> 15709542 Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:24:02 -0800
author: Stewart O'Nan
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at: 02/08
date added: 03/03/08
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I bought this book after seeing a trailer for the upcoming movie, which is probably a terrible reason to buy a book. Unfortunately, the short 2 minute trailer was far more compelling than the book. Two parallel stories are being told in the novel: that of Glenn and Annie and their disintegrating marriage and that of Arthur Parkinson, a high school student suffering through his own family's dissolution. Though Arthur and Annie are tied together as former child and babysitter, I didn't feel the connection was strong enough to link the two together. They seemed like two separate stories instead of the intertwining one that the author has to stretch to create. At the height of the story, Glenn and Annie's daughter goes missing and the two are left reeling during the aftermath, while Arthur is left to pick up the pieces in his own family and figure out how to live his new life.
]]> 15717567 Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:38:34 -0800
author: Eric Clapton
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 02/18/08
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]]> 15584069 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 08:36:27 -0800
author: Lesley Kagen
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 02/08
date added: 02/17/08
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"Whistling in the Dark" is an absolutely charming tale of ten-year-old Sally O'Malley and her younger sister Troo (aka Little Trooper aka Margaret) during the summer of 1959 in Milwaukee. While the city is reeling from the loss of two young girls' murder and molestation, the O'Malley girls are faced with the recent death of their father, an ailing mother and no one to keep on eye on them during this dangerous time. As seen through the eyes of Salley, the reader is presented with a detailed and seemingly real look at the final months of the 1950s within a small community of "good eggs" and "bad eggs." Sally's perceptiveness and outlook is naive and suprisingly open minded for such a young girl, and I loved the combination of her innocence with the murder mystery developing alongside her. A terrific read!
]]> 14583206 Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:46:56 -0800
author: Joshilyn Jackson
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 02/08
date added: 02/16/08
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"Between, Georgia" is an absolutely delightful follow-up to Joshilyn Jackson's "Gods in Alabama." Though I rated the latter slightly higher, "Between" has all the great ingredients for a family drama in the south. Nonny Frett finds herself literally between two rival families in her small town - the Crabtrees whom she shares the same blood and the Fretts who raised her as their own. With plenty of white trash and southern quaintness to go around, reading this book brought back many great memories from my own childhood in a small Kansas town. The characters are well-developed and a suprising departure from any other book I've read - from a deaf and eventually blind mother who makes dolls to a soon-to-be ex-husband who doesn't understand love and trust, everyone in this read is refreshingly new and quirky.
]]> 12808482 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:27:12 -0800
author: Alice Sebold
name: Lynn
average rating: 2.52
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at: 02/08
date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 11388115 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:25:51 -0800
author: Laura Moriarty
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 01/08
date added: 01/17/08
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I loved Laura Moriarty's last book "The Center of Everything!" Her newest title has the same great smoothness and easy transition between present and past as the story of a Leigh Churchill and her daughter unravels. As the book opens, we find Kara Churchill reeling after a brief moment of neglect causes a fatal car accident, killing a high school classmate. Though the death causes the entire family pain, the tragedy allows Leigh to dissect the relationship with her daughter and how her own childhood has affected her role as a mother. The meat of the story is deep and emotional and portrays both the best and worst of women as mothers and daughters. In the end, there is no "ah-ha" moment; just the beginnings of a new relationship and a new way of looking at life.
]]> 10490577 Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:38:29 -0800
author: Melissa Bank
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at: 01/08
date added: 01/01/08
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While I like the short passages and the fluidity through the protagonist Sophie's life, I found the book unsatisfying. With tons of characters that become passerbys in Sophie's life, none of the situations or people seem meaningful in her search for her identity. And while I felt Sophie's yearning for a career that truly matched her character, there didn't seem to be any resolve at the end of the book. In the end, there wasn't enough evidence for me that Sophie had learned anything from the men in her life and her experiences.
]]> 10198307 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:52:43 -0800
author: Robert Morgan
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 12/07
date added: 12/09/07
shelves:
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]]> 9912267 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:57:33 -0800
author: Joshilyn Jackson
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 10/07
date added: 12/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9912256 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:57:02 -0800
author: Sandra Kring
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 09/07
date added: 12/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 9912205 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:56:34 -0800
author: Ann-Marie MacDonald
name: Lynn
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 12/03/07
shelves:
review:

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