If I could, I would give this book 4 1/2 stars. This book is by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife. However, I enjoyed this book much more than The Time Traveler's Wife. It is the story of a woman who dies too young, and mysteriously leaves her London Flat to her twin nieces, provided that they stay there for 1 year and their parents are not allowed to step into the flat. From there, the tale weaves into the realms of the paranormal when the twins believe their aunt is haunting the flat. Very enjoyable book with some unexpected plot twists. ]]>
bookshelves: books-by-my-favorite-authors, books-that-make-me-ignore-the-kids, omg-good-historical-fiction-books
This is one of the best books that I have read in 2009. The story takes place in Berlin in the period from 1922 through 1932 and involves a mystery as to whether a woman in an asylum is the Czarina Anastasia or a fraud perpetuated for profit. As people connected to the mysterious woman begin to die, an Inspector is determined to solve the mystery. With the backdrop of the story being Berlin and the rise of Hitler, the story has many interesting weaves between the competing politics of Stalin, Hitler and the Revolution and the role that the mystery woman would play if she was in fact the Czarina or a fraud. My review just doesn't do justice to this book and its many plot twists that caused me literally to ignore the kids for the last few chapters. ]]>
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bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: worthy-non-fiction
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book - it is hefty at 550+ pages. There seem to be many books out about the demise of the financial sector last year. What makes this book different is that it is practically a minute-by-minute behind the scenes look at the meetings with the Wall Street CEOs, Treasury and the Fed. It was fascinating to feel like a fly on the wall while the efforts were being made to save Lehman - or to convince Congress of the severity of the situation and the need for TARP. My husband thought I was nuts for reading this book into the wee hours of the night - it was just that good. ]]>
I was just skimming through some of my shelves and found myself very confused as to why, at the time I read the book, I rated it a certain way. For example, immediately after reading Dan Brown's latest, I rated it higher than I feel about it now, so I changed my rating.
Do you ever re-rate your books? ]]>
bookshelves: omg-good-historical-fiction-books
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Prior to reading this book, I knew nothing about the founding of the Mormon church other than the name of the initial prophet and the early polygamy of the church. The author does an amazing job of taking the topic of polygamy and weaving a historical fiction tale involving the start of polygamy with the current status of polygamy in a sect of the LDS called the Firsts. The historical tale is told through various newspaper "articles", wikipedia, excerpts from books at the time. Because of the variety of his sources, including footnotes, I wasn't sure until the end whether or not those excerpts were real or fiction (turns out it was fiction). Overall a great book. ]]>
Sherri aka SDMomChef
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 235 |
| correct: | 150 (63.8%) |
| skipped: | 612 |
| best streak: | 6 |
| questions added: | 0 |
by Dan Brown
I did enjoy the story .... BUT it definitely is not in the same excitement scheme as Angels & Demons.
My two biggest complaints - it felt too much like National Treasure in writing and yet at the same time VERY preachy on religious beliefs. ]]>