http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/75977 en-US Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:55:21 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 28231707 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:55:21 -0700
author: Libba Bray
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/24/08
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review:

]]> 23371603 Sat, 31 May 2008 08:44:33 -0700
This story takes place in a boarding school during the Victorian era, and there is lots of sensuality and tension throughout the novel, as well as a focus on friendship, betrayal, and the supernatural. I rather enjoyed the whole book. This book is perfect for the road, and I confess I spent an afternoon lying on my futon in the afternoon sun with it playing in my apartment also. As the book went on, I wished I had it in print form so I could read the pages with glutton abandon, skipping the details to see what would happen, but I had to go at the pace of the fabulous British women, languid on the futon from pent up...well, best not to go into that here.

My only complaints are, the reader seemed to merge some of the girl's voices until two sounded quite similar by the end, who were easily distinguishable in the beginning. And, the supernatural component of the book is not terribly developed, although this was ok with me, as I enjoyed the storyline of the girls' friendship the most.]]>
author: Libba Bray
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/31/08
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I listened to this book on cd, having checked it out in print form and finding it interesting, yet not important enough to spend time with only it: the reader's British accent was a wonderful companion on my frequent commute from Albuquerque to Los Alamos.

This story takes place in a boarding school during the Victorian era, and there is lots of sensuality and tension throughout the novel, as well as a focus on friendship, betrayal, and the supernatural. I rather enjoyed the whole book. This book is perfect for the road, and I confess I spent an afternoon lying on my futon in the afternoon sun with it playing in my apartment also. As the book went on, I wished I had it in print form so I could read the pages with glutton abandon, skipping the details to see what would happen, but I had to go at the pace of the fabulous British women, languid on the futon from pent up...well, best not to go into that here.

My only complaints are, the reader seemed to merge some of the girl's voices until two sounded quite similar by the end, who were easily distinguishable in the beginning. And, the supernatural component of the book is not terribly developed, although this was ok with me, as I enjoyed the storyline of the girls' friendship the most.
]]> 23372559 Sat, 31 May 2008 08:43:40 -0700
The storyline moves quickly, and the writing is pretty good, however after Harry Potter, I found the references to Cheetos and other American junk food a bit jarring, like, too vivid and real for a fantasy escape. I suppose I wanted to enter a world a little more foreign than the US with the novel, and being an American reading Harry Potter allows me to do that whether Harry is at Hogwarts or London.

I thought the action sequences seemed too shallow, as in, I never felt the characters were in danger, and the whole event would end very quickly. Otherwise I liked the characters and the idea. I wish someone would write a book with Greek gods and demigods in the current era for adults.]]>
author: Rick Riordan
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 05/31/08
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Having finished Harry Potter and still not having much attention for adult novels, I chose this series, based on the premise that the Greek gods really exist on a Mount Olympus, and occasionally partake of human flesh and love to create demigods on earth.

The storyline moves quickly, and the writing is pretty good, however after Harry Potter, I found the references to Cheetos and other American junk food a bit jarring, like, too vivid and real for a fantasy escape. I suppose I wanted to enter a world a little more foreign than the US with the novel, and being an American reading Harry Potter allows me to do that whether Harry is at Hogwarts or London.

I thought the action sequences seemed too shallow, as in, I never felt the characters were in danger, and the whole event would end very quickly. Otherwise I liked the characters and the idea. I wish someone would write a book with Greek gods and demigods in the current era for adults.
]]> 23372287 Sat, 31 May 2008 08:15:07 -0700
The book is about a young girl named Jilly, who comes from a harsh family and childhood and enters the foster care system to befriend a girl named Donna. After the girls part ways, Donna invites Jilly to a mysterious club, where the punchline of the story begins.

I have no idea how this book relates to the Onion Girl, I guess it's a prequel, but I enjoyed the ideas and characters on their own, and found the writing fluid and easy.]]>
author: Charles de Lint
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/31/08
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I have a very short and demanding attention span, and this book was able to grab it. It was the first book by Charles de Lint I've read. I knew he mixes the urban environment with the supernatural and fairy tale world, but I didn't know what else to expect, and I thought this book was a good place to start because it's short.

The book is about a young girl named Jilly, who comes from a harsh family and childhood and enters the foster care system to befriend a girl named Donna. After the girls part ways, Donna invites Jilly to a mysterious club, where the punchline of the story begins.

I have no idea how this book relates to the Onion Girl, I guess it's a prequel, but I enjoyed the ideas and characters on their own, and found the writing fluid and easy.
]]> 18352348 Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:55:24 -0700
I don't recall Coelho's other books, but I found the central figure of the novel, Athena, compelling. Her focus on loving without worry about reciprocity seemed poignent. The traversal into Goddess religions was welcome to me, as I have not visited those since reading the Mists of Avalon.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting a short interesting book that is not perfectly written. ]]>
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 02/08
date added: 03/21/08
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Love and meaning, those are the themes at the heart of the book. The opening of this novel starts off slow at the intersection of a philosophical treatise, character sketch, and thriller.

I don't recall Coelho's other books, but I found the central figure of the novel, Athena, compelling. Her focus on loving without worry about reciprocity seemed poignent. The traversal into Goddess religions was welcome to me, as I have not visited those since reading the Mists of Avalon.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting a short interesting book that is not perfectly written.
]]> 12784758 Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:51:55 -0800
author: Robin McKinley
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 01/08
date added: 01/21/08
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I loved the Hero and the Crown and the Blue Sword. This novel has much in common with those books, but Sunshine's world, a place like ours populated with supernatural others, is more abstract. Maybe it's because I've been reading too much Harry Potter, but a few of McKinley's sentences and ideas are a bit unclear. Like those novels, this book stars a heroine (Sunshine) who is in the dark about her special talents. The book lost a little momentum because it was a hard to care about what was happening when the events were a bit vague, such as when Sunshine is looking for an enemy vampire, you have to take her word that she is exhausted because she is exploring in some kind of nether-mental-cyber plane that I didn't understand, unlike when Aerin from the Hero and the Crown battles a dragon, obviously the dragon is scorching her, which is easier to empathize with. Also, all magical people seem to end their sentences with, "Is it not?" very much like Luthe in the Hero and the Crown. But I enjoyed and wanted to keep reading the novel, and I do hope McKinley writes a sequel.
]]> 12784568 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:15:36 -0800
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 12784563 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:15:32 -0800
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 12784560 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:15:31 -0800
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 12784556 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:15:29 -0800
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 12784551 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:15:26 -0800
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 12784539 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:15:20 -0800
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 12784537 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:15:18 -0800
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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date added: 01/17/08
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]]> 5843357 Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:26:14 -0700
author: Donna Tartt
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 01/04
date added: 09/07/07
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I read this book during my obsession with Alexander the Great and the classics. The book is interesting and engaging, and if you feel like delving into the prep-school, New England upper-crust worlds of J.D. Salinger, Cruel Intentions, Dead Poet's Society, this book has a deeper more engrossing plot than books such as Old School, or Prep. The book takes place in an undergrad institution, not a high school, but for me it had a similar ambiance, without the annoying coming-of-age conflicts.
]]> 4653033 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:03:02 -0700
author: Evan Harris
name: Leslie
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/16/07
shelves:
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I really liked this book. It's weird. You start reading it, and you think, did she start this book at the beginning? But you keep with it, you wonder if it's meant in earnest or in jest, but by the end, you'll want to quit something. Maybe several things. And your life will probably be better for it.
]]> 2067386 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:34:58 -0700
author: Philip Roth
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 06/19/07
shelves:
review:
I listened to this book on cd, and I was disappointed. Philip Roth visits old territory here: yet another older man carrying out an affair with a younger woman. The protagonist is quite ordinary, indeed "everyman", so the normal plot elements of sex, aging, and health issues are simply less interesting, and do not carry the same punch as more dynamic leading men, such as Coleman Silks from the Human Stain and David Kepesh, from The Dying Animal.
]]> 2113739 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:34:43 -0700
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/19/07
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]]> 2113648 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:34:19 -0700
Ender is only 5 years old through most of the book. Although he's a prodigy, I thought we was a bit too young for me to identify with or find believable. The book is definitely worth reading though, because it is short and addresses some interesting questions on xenocide.

The follow-up books are not as good. Orson Scott Card is a Mormon, and anti-pre-marital sex comments pop up occassionally, which I guess is fair, since pre-marital sex occurs in many books, but which I find annoying.]]>
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1985
rating: 3
read at: 07/95
date added: 06/19/07
shelves:
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Many people love this book. I liked it, but it is not one of my favorites.

Ender is only 5 years old through most of the book. Although he's a prodigy, I thought we was a bit too young for me to identify with or find believable. The book is definitely worth reading though, because it is short and addresses some interesting questions on xenocide.

The follow-up books are not as good. Orson Scott Card is a Mormon, and anti-pre-marital sex comments pop up occassionally, which I guess is fair, since pre-marital sex occurs in many books, but which I find annoying.
]]> 1033367 Sat, 05 May 2007 09:52:36 -0700
author: Mark Haddon
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/05/07
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This story is a mystery told from the perspective of a boy with autism. There are also math puzzles in the text of the story, and british cursing.
]]> 1037653 Fri, 04 May 2007 15:06:54 -0700
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 01/02
date added: 05/04/07
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Another book that got me through grad school. The little hobbits toil away, just like graduate students. But then after their mission is accomplished, the book goes on and on.
]]> 1036309 Fri, 04 May 2007 13:37:04 -0700
author: Jenny McPhee
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.08
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 11/04
date added: 05/04/07
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I liked this book because it has a character interested in quantum mechanics, and an odd-ball romance. The writing plods along a bit, but it is definitely worth reading. Start with No Ordinary Matter by this author first. Her writing is very endearing and everyday.
]]> 1036235 Fri, 04 May 2007 13:35:21 -0700
author: Jenny McPhee
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 01/05
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
review:
I love this author, and this is her best book. The novel is about two sisters, their goals, and how they achieve them. Recommended for people who savor coincidence, making plans, and the little details of life.
]]> 1034234 Fri, 04 May 2007 11:52:03 -0700 by, with a slight limp like the intriguing character in the book. Murakami takes you into the details of a city, and one man's observations. This novel is less plot-driven than those involving the sheep.]]>
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 02/01
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
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This is my favorite Murakami book. The narrative passes
by, with a slight limp like the intriguing character in the book. Murakami takes you into the details of a city, and one man's observations. This novel is less plot-driven than those involving the sheep.
]]> 1033281 Fri, 04 May 2007 11:11:27 -0700
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1925
rating: 5
read at: 08/00
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
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The writing in this is tight! This book is great for savoring words and sentences, mulling over what you long for, hosting themed parties, and contemplating becoming a superficial person who sips martinis. I read this book in high school, and I reread it when I was studying for my physics qualifier in grad school.
]]> 1030187 Fri, 04 May 2007 09:24:41 -0700
author: Tom Robbins
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 12/96
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
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This book is told in the second person. There are some memorable quotes and scenes, but I don't remember the main points of the plot.
]]> 1030107 Fri, 04 May 2007 09:22:00 -0700
author: David Sedaris
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 08/05
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
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What a f*ckin' weirdo! Geesus, this book is odd. There are two great essays, the one about being an elf at Macy's, and Dinah, the Christmas whore. But the short fiction is weird and disturbing.
]]> 1030054 Fri, 04 May 2007 09:19:43 -0700
author: David Sedaris
name: Leslie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 06/05
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
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I listened to this book read by David Sedaris on CD. Mr. Sedaris got me through my Ph.D. dissertation and other personal hardships. The book is hilarious, and I think a great book on audio. I'd drive around and when I reached my location, feel like I was interrupting a conversation with a good friend, although I would always wonder, am I interesting enough to be friends with David Sedaris?
]]> 1029717 Fri, 04 May 2007 09:08:58 -0700 I went to a massage therapist once, who believed that to change oneself, one could attempt change through the body, mind, or spirit. Can sex lead to true intimacy and change? The Sufi poet Rumi says, everytime a man and woman engage in sex, a child is created, even if normal conception does not take place. The child created between the two characters in the Dying Animal makes them form part of their identity based on their relationship, and pulls them together for this reason.]]>
author: Philip Roth
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 01/06
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
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This slim volume is the last in the trilogy about David Kepesh, from The Professor of Desire and the Breast. I read the Breast, and I did not like it. This book, however, is fabulous. The story, with its themes of sex and mortality, has stuck with me. David Kepesh is older here, and begins his usual yearly affair with a hispanic woman. Normally rather detached, he becomes obsessed with her.
I went to a massage therapist once, who believed that to change oneself, one could attempt change through the body, mind, or spirit. Can sex lead to true intimacy and change? The Sufi poet Rumi says, everytime a man and woman engage in sex, a child is created, even if normal conception does not take place. The child created between the two characters in the Dying Animal makes them form part of their identity based on their relationship, and pulls them together for this reason.
]]> 1029181 Fri, 04 May 2007 08:31:08 -0700
I read this book at a moderate pace: it's an interesting story, so you are motivated to read, but it is also quite complex, so it is not a fast read. The story focuses on a classics professor, Coleman, who is the victim of a scandal at his college. The book has a lot of insight on how we as people establish identity, and the issue of to what extent we can choose our identity.]]>
author: Philip Roth
name: Leslie
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 06/04
date added: 05/04/07
shelves:
review:
This was the first Philip Roth book I read, and it is incredible.

I read this book at a moderate pace: it's an interesting story, so you are motivated to read, but it is also quite complex, so it is not a fast read. The story focuses on a classics professor, Coleman, who is the victim of a scandal at his college. The book has a lot of insight on how we as people establish identity, and the issue of to what extent we can choose our identity.
]]>