Maria’s Profile

497 ratings (4.11 avg)
114 reviews

add as a friend follow reviews send message | compare books

Maria’s Bookshelves

read ‎(500)

currently-reading ‎(0)

to-read ‎(10)

Stats | More…

rss
Maria's Recent Updates

Maria made a comment on Susan's review of A Good American "I'll read it anyway."
May 16, 2013 04:35pm · see review
Maria liked Cynthia's review of Telling the Bees: " Bees for Beginners This is a stunning book. It’s literary fiction that veers into murder mystery territory…and does both very well. Albert has lived next to Claire almost his entire life. They’ve lived in Orange County California from the time when... " Read more of this review »
May 16, 2013 04:34pm · see review
Maria made a comment on Cynthia's review of Telling the Bees "I love this review! Hi, Cyn!"
May 16, 2013 04:34pm · see review
Maria liked Carol's review of The Comfort of Strangers: " McEwan's prose is smoother than poetry. His reputation is well established and very well deserved. In THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS, he uses his excellent skills to provide an exquisite and painstaking picture of two people walking, slowly but inexorab... " Read more of this review »
May 16, 2013 04:32pm · see review
Maria made a comment on Barbara's review of Caleb's Crossing "Have a good experience with your book club. The semester's finally over tomorrow!"
May 16, 2013 03:52pm · see review
Maria liked Teresa's review of A Tale for the Time Being: " What a ride. This novel sucked me in and then spit me out, leaving me gasping as it did. I can't say this book is perfect. It's probably a bit flawed, as many novels are, but with the totality of it meaning so much more than any flaws might take a... " Read more of this review »
May 16, 2013 12:29pm · see review
Maria made a comment on Teresa's review of A Tale for the Time Being "This is a great review - thank you!"
May 16, 2013 12:29pm · see review
Maria made a comment on ·Karen·'s review of Mario und der Zauberer/Unordnung und frühes Leid "This sounds so familiar, although I'm reasonably sure I haven't read it. Good review, as usual."
May 16, 2013 12:22pm · see review
Maria liked Carol's review of Ordinary Grace: " Set in a small community in southern Minnesota in 1961, this is how the story begins: "All the dying that summer began with the death of a child, a boy with golden hair and thick glasses, killed on the railroad tracks outside New Bremen, Minnesota... " Read more of this review »
May 10, 2013 01:48pm · see review
Maria rated a book 2 of 5 stars Blessings by Anna Quindlen read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I found this on a free pile of books and thought the title vaguely intriguing. Free appeals, and I seemed to recall that I'd read Black and Blue once -- same author -- and liked it. This novel is soothing, yes it is, but it's a bit trite, and there i...more
Apr 29, 2013 01:14pm · see review

More of Maria's books…

“Why should you think that beauty, which is the most precious thing in the world, lies like a stone on the beach for the careless passer-by to pick up idly? Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul. And when he has made it, it is not given to all to know it. To recognize it you must repeat the adventure of the artist. It is a melody that he sings to you, and to hear it again in your own heart you want knowledge and sensitiveness and imagination.”
― W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence

51 people liked it

“Of course it's alright for librarians to smell of drink.”
― Barbara Pym

tags: librarians

75 people liked it

“Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.”
― T.S. Eliot

tags: editor, writing

186 people liked it

“In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, where something happened, and then there are all the other places.”
― Alice Munro, Too Much Happiness

31 people liked it