added Screwtape Letters

added Cross Country and Children of Men reviews

Thanks, Lyn! I don't mind at all. Thanks for looking at my reviews.

Petra - I like the way you have this organized. I think I am going to copy it, if you don't mind.

2 & 1 Star Books:
Cross Country: cheesy, cheesy Detective story. A few humerous lines but not much more than that. 1*

Fortune's Daughter by Alice Hoffman. I give it 2 stars, at best.
This was the longest pregnancy in literary history. The younger main character needed therapy and/or strength to get rid of her loser boyfriend and the older main character was in need of a lot of therapy. There was a lot of meandering into the past without any resolutions in the present.
Not my cup of tea, I suppose. I just wanted to shake both characters a few times.

3 Star Books:

Eclipse: An interesting continuation of the Bella/Edward story.
I liked how the relationships matured in this book. There's still the annoying and entertaining teenage angst and insecurity but it's being tempered by some steps towards maturity in places.
I particularly enjoyed the scene with Edward, Jacob and Bella in the tent on the top of the mountain. That was entertaining.
A fun book.

Things Fall Apart: I found the first half of this book to be slow and the story doesn't move along much at all. The main character, Okonkwo, bullies his way through his family and is a respected member of the Clan.
The second half of the book focuses on Okonkwo's Clan, their culture, customs and beliefs, the coming of the Missionaries, the clash of the two cultures and belief systems. The story becomes quite fascinating. Okonkwo still plays a large role but the focus is now on the Clan; not him.
The book is powerfully written (the second half, at least) and the beginning of the destruction of the Culture is shown.
As the cultures blend and become one, this book could be a reminder of what once was and how a way of Life was lost.
If I were to rate the halves seperately, the first half would rate 2*, while the second half would rate 4*. Therefore, the whole book gets 3*.

The Children of Men: I thought I'd like this book more than I did. The story is one of a dystopean society in the not-so-distant future. The premise is bleak with the thought that the human race has lost the ability to procreate. People are resigned and depressed. The world is in a hopeless state.
I think because of this situation, I found the dissident group of "radicals" somewhat unbelievable in that their demands were irrelevant in the context of the novel. Their demands would have naturally occur within a few years. Why risk life and freedom?
I also found that the story dragged a bit. There's so much description of crumbling churches, deserted villages and lots of character development that the story slows down to a crawl at times. The main character, Theo, is so emotionally distanced from the outside world and its people that it seems somewhat unbelievable that he would become attached to a person.
That all said, I enjoyed the book for what it was and the premise leaves one thinking of what would happen in society if this situation were to occur.

5 & 4 Star Books:

Fallen: I really enjoyed this "fleshing out" of the Cain & Abel story and liked the characters and how they were portrayed. The writing form (telling the story backwards) works really well for this theme in that it brings many questions to mind that cannot be answered without knowing the history, which is told in future chapters.
A thought-provoking story and well-written. 4*

The Screwtape Letters: This humerous book can be read on many different levels. The book contains letters from Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood. It's filled with human wisdom and philosophy and it's interpretation will be different for all readers. This is a book that one can read over and again and always find something new. 4*