false 16 358 329 true 5926448 read 0 true 2120845 currently-reading 29 true 2120844 to-read 18 false 2122819 lit 11 false 2122829 children-s-lit 5 false 2122788 cookbooks 3 false 2122818 pulp 3 false 2137885 favorites 1 false 7271272 pop-economics http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74972123 to: Empire Falls (Paperback) by Richard Russo
bookshelves: lit
Great book. Richard Russo is great at evoking a mood of a place. His characters are compelling and vividly drawn.

I couldn't put this book down and I look forward to reading another book by Mr. Russo.

The one flaw, which probably makes this closer to a 4.5 for me, is the sequence of events at the very end. It works, and it seems plausible. But, I think still it was a bit too facile, almost as though the author decided that the book was long enough, so he had to bring it to an end.

Logically the real-life events of the closing chapters are dramatic, and it makes sense to tell them quickly. But there's a big contrast to the earlier section of the book where we spend a lot of time getting to know the characters, and it seems as though the plot advances by one chapter a day, sometimes slower. There are also a few ends that were left untied--hinted at conspiracies that are never resolved. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69824165 to: Last Night in Twisted River (Hardcover) by John Irving
Not Mr. Irving's best work. At times it was plodding. But I still love John Irving's use of language, and the plot was compelling. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77066022 to: Beat the Reaper: A Novel (Hardcover) by Josh Bazell
Excellent plotting but shallow unconvincing characters. Actually, the plotting was not convincing either, but it was entertaining. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77065952 to: Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash (Paperback) by Susan Strasser
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77064963 The Lacuna: A Novel (Hardcover) by Barbara Kingsolver
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75850931 The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Hardcover) by Mohsin Hamid
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]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75850906 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Hardcover) by Mary Ann Shaffer
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]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75850718 The Invisible Mountain (Hardcover) by Carolina De Robertis
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]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74977623 Housekeeping (Paperback) by Marilynne Robinson
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74977584 The Transit of Venus (Paperback) by Shirley Hazzard
bookshelves: to-read
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