http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/973879 en-US Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:05:44 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 30454665 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:05:44 -0700
author: John Healey
name: Suzka
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/18/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 29788394 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:46:16 -0700
author: David Kamp
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 08/10/08
shelves:
review:
I find myself going back to books about food quite often - more often than I even realize. This was an interesting review of how American food culture has come to be what it is now. Some of this I already knew - some of this I didn't. It's a quick read.
]]> 29784475 Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:37:11 -0700
To be fair, that ending was probably truer to life, though. It wasn't that I was looking for a Cinderella turnout. I just didn't find myself feeling anything but despondent and sad. It probably doesn't help that we've had the grayest and rainiest summer in something like the last four hundred years, but even on a sunny day, the emptiness of the island and the ravages of war and the irony of losing Pete after taking him for granted all that time would just not be particularly appealing. (And poor Pete. His death was in the cards from the gates, wasn't it? It kinda had to happen, but of all the people, I felt he deserved a happy life the most.) I get the whole unsung-beauty-of-the-tapestry-of-small-community bit, and I appreciate the image at the end of how those who have come before continue to be present in some way, but it wasn't enough to really love this book.

By the way, the moment I felt the worst for Alice was when the nurse wouldn't let her hold the baby before taking him away.

Sorry, Katherine Towler. If I ever write a novel, I will understand if it disappoints you. I really wanted to like this more. Maybe with a little time, I will realize that I enjoyed this more than I think I do now. ]]>
author: Katherine Towler
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at: 08/08
date added: 08/10/08
shelves: htl-book-club
review:
I feel bad for giving this book only two stars. It might merit a third, but in the world of everything I've ever read, I don't think I can legitimately go higher. It's not something that I would have picked up on my own, and in the first few pages, I was having trouble maintaining interest in the dreary picture painted. As I continued, however, I felt myself drawn to the characters and life on the island. So by the end, when ferry brought Alice back to the island AND THAT WAS IT I felt really let down.

To be fair, that ending was probably truer to life, though. It wasn't that I was looking for a Cinderella turnout. I just didn't find myself feeling anything but despondent and sad. It probably doesn't help that we've had the grayest and rainiest summer in something like the last four hundred years, but even on a sunny day, the emptiness of the island and the ravages of war and the irony of losing Pete after taking him for granted all that time would just not be particularly appealing. (And poor Pete. His death was in the cards from the gates, wasn't it? It kinda had to happen, but of all the people, I felt he deserved a happy life the most.) I get the whole unsung-beauty-of-the-tapestry-of-small-community bit, and I appreciate the image at the end of how those who have come before continue to be present in some way, but it wasn't enough to really love this book.

By the way, the moment I felt the worst for Alice was when the nurse wouldn't let her hold the baby before taking him away.

Sorry, Katherine Towler. If I ever write a novel, I will understand if it disappoints you. I really wanted to like this more. Maybe with a little time, I will realize that I enjoyed this more than I think I do now.
]]> 28496936 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:44:26 -0700
I was at a point to tackle some of the deeper-dwelling clutter around the house (which was why I was having the conversation with Library Patty to begin with.) This was a very quick read. The takeaway thought - how things either serve us or they stifle us - isn't so much breakthrough rocket science as much as it was part of a clearly-worded message which sharpened my determination to shed stuff.

I'm not finished with the deep-decluttering process (the boxes of childhood flotsam in the barn, etc.) but I have been more ruthless in moving things along than I would have, before reading this. I can't say that I am a shrieking devotee of Peter Walsh, but let's be honest...if he showed up to help finish the job, I wouldn't send him away!]]>
author: Peter Walsh
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 07/28/08
shelves:
review:
Though I'm not generally one to gush about (or, uh, read) an "as seen on tv" type of offering, this one came to my hands with a personal endorsement by Library Patty, who stikes me as another not particularly inclined to obey TV personalities. The author (Peter Walsh) has a show on TLC which I've skimmed through a few times. He seemed pretty straightforward and effective at what he does.

I was at a point to tackle some of the deeper-dwelling clutter around the house (which was why I was having the conversation with Library Patty to begin with.) This was a very quick read. The takeaway thought - how things either serve us or they stifle us - isn't so much breakthrough rocket science as much as it was part of a clearly-worded message which sharpened my determination to shed stuff.

I'm not finished with the deep-decluttering process (the boxes of childhood flotsam in the barn, etc.) but I have been more ruthless in moving things along than I would have, before reading this. I can't say that I am a shrieking devotee of Peter Walsh, but let's be honest...if he showed up to help finish the job, I wouldn't send him away!
]]> 28494375 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:19:43 -0700
I stumbled upon Sophie Kinsella by chance a year or two ago when I was looking for something mindless at our library. I've read most, but not all, of what she's written. They're the fair food of reading - cotton candy, deep-fried Oreos, blooming onions...you can have a few tasty bites at really wide intervals and enjoy it. A steady diet, however, would be too much.]]>
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/28/08
shelves:
review:
Okay, so in the context of All Books I've Ever Read, this really gets maybe one star. But in the context of Ridiculously Predictable British Chick-lit Romance-y Types Which One Reads Straight Through in Fourteen Minutes, this gets, let's say, four stars.

I stumbled upon Sophie Kinsella by chance a year or two ago when I was looking for something mindless at our library. I've read most, but not all, of what she's written. They're the fair food of reading - cotton candy, deep-fried Oreos, blooming onions...you can have a few tasty bites at really wide intervals and enjoy it. A steady diet, however, would be too much.
]]> 28491865 Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:46:48 -0700
And yet I did. The day before book club (when I still thought I was going), I paged through the second half randomly to see whether I could pull together enough of the story line to not just sit there like a lump. I very rarely do this -- and within about a minute, I found myself shutting the book so as not to ruin it for myself.

I should have only read for about an hour last night; instead, I couldn't stop until I had finished it at nearly 2 am. More than anything, it's a great story (one that weaves in and out of itself.) I can't say that it taught enormous life lessons (well, okay, the "don't lose your love" bit was fairly strong by the end.) It's got some beautiful language. It's translated from Spanish - I'd be very curious to know how the original language resonates. Sadly, my "Me gustan los dulces" and "Quisiero dos tacos con carnitas para llevar" level of Spanish is not going to carry me through nearly 500 pages of rich storytelling.

I have to admit that more than once I lost track of the myriad characters, but it doesn't seem that I really suffered for it. The idea of a Cemetary of Forgotten Books is intriguing. This and a few other settings had a wonderfully underworld-ish Phantom of the Opera vibe. (One of the sweetest moments at the end is when Fermin and Daniel returned to the creepy end-of-the-road Santa Lucia hospice, as promised. You know they're gonna do it, so I'm not spoiling anything.) And as intruiging as anything is how the author includes a street map of Barcelona for anyone to retrace the various settings of the story. I'm a total sucker for such a thing. I might even give this 4 1/2 stars, if I could. ]]>
author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
name: Suzka
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/28/08
shelves: htl-book-club
review:
So...I nearly gave up on this book, more from circumstance than anything else. I was only about halfway through it by the day of our book club meeting. A last minute schedule meant that I couldn't even make it to the meeting. And with having our three little monkeys underfoot with all exhuberant summertime energy, I just didn't have the mental space to feel compelled to finish it.

And yet I did. The day before book club (when I still thought I was going), I paged through the second half randomly to see whether I could pull together enough of the story line to not just sit there like a lump. I very rarely do this -- and within about a minute, I found myself shutting the book so as not to ruin it for myself.

I should have only read for about an hour last night; instead, I couldn't stop until I had finished it at nearly 2 am. More than anything, it's a great story (one that weaves in and out of itself.) I can't say that it taught enormous life lessons (well, okay, the "don't lose your love" bit was fairly strong by the end.) It's got some beautiful language. It's translated from Spanish - I'd be very curious to know how the original language resonates. Sadly, my "Me gustan los dulces" and "Quisiero dos tacos con carnitas para llevar" level of Spanish is not going to carry me through nearly 500 pages of rich storytelling.

I have to admit that more than once I lost track of the myriad characters, but it doesn't seem that I really suffered for it. The idea of a Cemetary of Forgotten Books is intriguing. This and a few other settings had a wonderfully underworld-ish Phantom of the Opera vibe. (One of the sweetest moments at the end is when Fermin and Daniel returned to the creepy end-of-the-road Santa Lucia hospice, as promised. You know they're gonna do it, so I'm not spoiling anything.) And as intruiging as anything is how the author includes a street map of Barcelona for anyone to retrace the various settings of the story. I'm a total sucker for such a thing. I might even give this 4 1/2 stars, if I could.
]]> 24782939 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:32:25 -0700
"I wandered about the city revisiting places [Erica] had taken me to, whether because I thought I might see her or because I thought I might see something of us, I am not now certain. A few of these places - such as the gallery in Chelsea we had visited on the night of our first date - I proved unable to find; they had vanished as though they had never existed. Others, like the spot in Central Park where we had gone on our picnic, were easy to locate but seemed to have altered. Perhaps this was the effect of a change in season; perhaps also it was in the city's nature to be inconstant." (p.164-5)

This is what fascinates me (and makes me a little sad with nostalgia) - the way that moments in time belong exactly where they happened, and often nowhere else. You really can't go back, can you?]]>
author: Mohsin Hamid
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/18/08
shelves: htl-book-club
review:
I finished this last night, and I am still unsure how I ultimately feel about it. It is told completely through the narration of Chavez, the main character, who is fairly charming. Though I found his story interesting, I don't know how much I ended knowing about him. The passage which struck me most, however, has so much more to do with the many times I've moved from place to utterly different place in my life than anything else:

"I wandered about the city revisiting places [Erica] had taken me to, whether because I thought I might see her or because I thought I might see something of us, I am not now certain. A few of these places - such as the gallery in Chelsea we had visited on the night of our first date - I proved unable to find; they had vanished as though they had never existed. Others, like the spot in Central Park where we had gone on our picnic, were easy to locate but seemed to have altered. Perhaps this was the effect of a change in season; perhaps also it was in the city's nature to be inconstant." (p.164-5)

This is what fascinates me (and makes me a little sad with nostalgia) - the way that moments in time belong exactly where they happened, and often nowhere else. You really can't go back, can you?
]]> 24221272 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:50:24 -0700
author: Haven Kimmel
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 22864533 Sat, 24 May 2008 06:48:59 -0700
author: Peter Carey
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 05/24/08
shelves: started-to-read--then-ditched
review:

]]> 22864502 Sat, 24 May 2008 06:48:02 -0700
author: Robert Alexander
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/24/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 22864488 Sat, 24 May 2008 06:47:43 -0700
author: Robert Alexander
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/24/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19191896 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:43:14 -0700
It makes me CRAZY to think of how many times a day that some marketing effort, in some form, crosses our path (and worse, that of our children.) This book makes a strong case for a parents (and extended family members and caregivers...) to become aware of (and work to counteract) the billions of dollars being spent to hijack the opinions and tastes and choices of our children. Read this to learn about the psychologists hired by corporations to identify the developmental vulnerabilities of whichever young demographic they're targeting for a specific product. That alone chills my blood. You can do better when you know better. Man, this gets me riled up!

]]>
author: Susan Linn
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 06/04
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
If I sound like an old-timey gospel hour preacher on this topic, it's because I am:

It makes me CRAZY to think of how many times a day that some marketing effort, in some form, crosses our path (and worse, that of our children.) This book makes a strong case for a parents (and extended family members and caregivers...) to become aware of (and work to counteract) the billions of dollars being spent to hijack the opinions and tastes and choices of our children. Read this to learn about the psychologists hired by corporations to identify the developmental vulnerabilities of whichever young demographic they're targeting for a specific product. That alone chills my blood. You can do better when you know better. Man, this gets me riled up!


]]> 17220010 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:36:12 -0700
Two things kept me going to the end, though...the Britishisms (opening up a packet of crisps is SO much more interesting than ripping into the potato chips) and the fact that I read it on a vacation, when weak brain candy was what I wanted. I don't generally look for writing that's gone so horribly argy-bargy (thanks to Jagdev for that saying!!)]]>
author: Katie Fforde
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at: 02/08
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
Okay, so I'm a COMPLETE sucker for British chick-lit. Like many such stories, the plot of this one was predictable and formulaic. This one, however, was particularly poorly written and edited. (For example, it was at times difficult to follow the dialogue; it segued choppily from one scene to the next in places; references to popular culture - like Trinny and Susannah - lost their charm through overuse...)

Two things kept me going to the end, though...the Britishisms (opening up a packet of crisps is SO much more interesting than ripping into the potato chips) and the fact that I read it on a vacation, when weak brain candy was what I wanted. I don't generally look for writing that's gone so horribly argy-bargy (thanks to Jagdev for that saying!!)
]]> 17219660 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:41:26 -0700
author: T.C. Boyle
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 02/08
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
Very well written, both through imagery as well as sociological viewpoints driven home. The contrasting lives of the characters were very real to me from the beginning. Interesting juxtaposition between the animals and the humans in the story. It made me sad to know this story represents a that of so many...but I have to admit that it also brought relief that we no longer live in Los Angeles in the middle of it all. (The problem doesn't exist anymore if I'm not there, right?) Ending was abrupt, but probably what it should have been. (Well done, one of the characters! No further spoiling.) I need to re-read the last few pages - I finished it on the last leg of a long flight and don't think I read very carefully. Excellent book.
]]> 19197322 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:53:05 -0700
And who doesn't like when a best-selling title makes mention of the Urim and Thummim, eh?]]>
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at: 01/04
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
At first glance, this strikes as just a sweet story with simple characters. But as it continues (and with re-readings - I've done so twice since the initial read, which is something I rarely do), it becomes evident that the sweet story has a richness and universal appeal that has to be unwrapped in layers. I also love how, though the writing is crystal clear (in its translation), it also has the scent of origins in a culture other than my own.

And who doesn't like when a best-selling title makes mention of the Urim and Thummim, eh?
]]> 19199940 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:34:51 -0700
author: Simon Winchester
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 01/99
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
It's been years - I'm guessing that it was 1999 when I read this - but it was intriguing. How often do we think about how things like dictionaries, etc., have come into existence?
]]> 19195708 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:00:34 -0700
However, though it's maddening to consider the isolation and very strict parameters of their lives, it was interesting to consider the horror with which these characters might view the world in which we live. Of course, I'm NOT advocating foot binding or living out my days upstairs in the women's quarters! But it's interesting to consider how these strange (to us) customs might have served and protected women...and how bewildering our free-for-all society might be to those from another time. ]]>
author: Lisa See
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 01/07
date added: 04/01/08
shelves: htl-book-club
review:
I'd say it was a good story which kept my interest throughout. (It was, though, difficult to stick with the descriptions of how the foot binding was performed on girls the same age as my daughter.) Grateful am I not to have been born a woman in China!

However, though it's maddening to consider the isolation and very strict parameters of their lives, it was interesting to consider the horror with which these characters might view the world in which we live. Of course, I'm NOT advocating foot binding or living out my days upstairs in the women's quarters! But it's interesting to consider how these strange (to us) customs might have served and protected women...and how bewildering our free-for-all society might be to those from another time.
]]> 19194715 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:50:07 -0700
I've since come to adore the collections of Charles Phoenix. I love the whole Kodachrome scene, I love mid-century artifacts, and as soon as I get my time machine, I'm gonna stop on in! (All of this is hysterical, considering that we live in an 1840 farmhouse and have more feed stores close to our house than anything midcentury...or, for that matter, even stop signs.)]]>
author: Charles Phoenix
name: Suzka
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 01/03
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
When we were moving from Los Angeles, I went out to find a book of local photography to take with us. (It's a thing I do whenever I've moved.) Instead, however, I came across this collection. The photos, after all, are set in Southern California...and they're a whole lot more interesting than one more shot of the Hollywood sign or the big ballerina clown on that corner in Venice.

I've since come to adore the collections of Charles Phoenix. I love the whole Kodachrome scene, I love mid-century artifacts, and as soon as I get my time machine, I'm gonna stop on in! (All of this is hysterical, considering that we live in an 1840 farmhouse and have more feed stores close to our house than anything midcentury...or, for that matter, even stop signs.)
]]> 19193745 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:37:40 -0700
author: Eric Schlosser
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 01/02
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
This is a book that passed from hand to hand among our friends like wildfire...many of us read it at the same time. It's not exclusively an indictment of the fast food industry, delicious though it is (the indictment, I mean, not the fast food.) It also speaks to the overall greed and short-sighted way in which business in this country views the people which make it function and consume the products. It's VERY readable, and gives a glimpse to what is festering under the rug.
]]> 19189997 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:03:07 -0700
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author: Jung Chang
name: Suzka
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 01/99
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
It's been nearly ten years since I've read this, but ever since, the feeling of how it transported me (to a remarkable degree) to those periods on Chinese history has really stuck with me. I've read quite a few books on China, but I believe this is my favorite.


]]> 19189117 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:48:13 -0700
author: Sloane Tanen
name: Suzka
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 03/07
date added: 04/01/08
shelves:
review:
Ah...this is the PERFECT confluence of three of my favorite things: pregnancy humor (particularly at moments when I am puking and miserable myself), clever little dioramas, and chickens. Sloane Tanen, by publishing this whole line of stuff (there are others), is doing what I would love to do if I could either clone myself or interrupt the space/time continuum!!
]]> 18539652 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:21:08 -0700
]]>
author: Rich Blake
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/31/08
shelves: my-other-book-club
review:
To be certain, the story is remarkable. But the writing was pretty choppy (particularly when putting it into the company of the last few books I've read, all of which have been beautifully composed.) If this hadn't been on this book club's list for March, I don't think I would have been drawn in by the jacket. Still, it was surely a most extraordinary experience for this man and particularly his family.


]]> 17779186 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:34:30 -0700
Nice cover illustration, too. ]]>
author: Diane Setterfield
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/24/08
shelves: htl-book-club
review:
Okay, so there were moments when I wondered how much creepier things would be getting (and I nearly ditched it altogether), but I'm glad I stuck it through. I ended up missing the story after I finished. I never found myself wishing I was one of the characters or living in any of the settings, but it was a really well-told story. The writing is excellent - if I'm not mistaken, this is the author's first novel. I also appreciated the way the less savory (i.e. major sibling dysfunction, etc.) elements were conveyed with full weight without having to drag sensational - but superfluous - details into it. It felt like a 19th century classic - it could easily fit in (which is not surprising, as references to Jane Eyre pop in and out of the story all throughout.) It's another one of those I-love-literacy reads, though not nearly as much so as The Book Thief. Back to The Book Thief!

Nice cover illustration, too.
]]> 17779203 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:14:19 -0700
Markus Zusak's writing style here is right up my alley. His imagery is rich, his word choice is clever, and he delivers delicious little ironies all throughout the whole tragic story. It's listed as juvenile fiction, but don't let that put you off, if that sort of thing puts you off. (If nothing else, your vocabulary of German quasi-profanity -- saumensch, saukerl, etc. -- will be expanded.) Read this book.

]]>
author: Markus Zusak
name: Suzka
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 01/07
date added: 03/14/08
shelves:
review:
Really, this may be one of my favorite reads of recent years...maybe ever! A love letter to literacy (super-cheesy to write that, I know, but it fits), it's charming and witty and sweet. Oh, it's also set in Germany during WW2, and few characters make it out alive, so it has a sad grit to it which makes it all that much more charming and witty and sweeter by contrast.

Markus Zusak's writing style here is right up my alley. His imagery is rich, his word choice is clever, and he delivers delicious little ironies all throughout the whole tragic story. It's listed as juvenile fiction, but don't let that put you off, if that sort of thing puts you off. (If nothing else, your vocabulary of German quasi-profanity -- saumensch, saukerl, etc. -- will be expanded.) Read this book.


]]> 17219914 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:29:52 -0800
author: Ernest J. Gaines
name: Suzka
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 02/08
date added: 03/07/08
shelves: htl-book-club
review:
Not a particularly cheery read, as it is about the impending execution of an innocent man who had the bad luck to be with the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time. This has the feel and quality of a classic (perhaps in the company of To Kill a Mockingbird.) I found myself most intererested in Jefferson - perception vs. reality concerning his intellect, how he might have been under different circumstances, his growth and development.
]]>