false19156124true5698086read0true617661currently-reading32true617660to-read37false728963airplane-worthy-quickreads20false728962thought-provoking15false728955topreads11false728940over-rated
<![CDATA[L added 'The Glass Castle: A Memoir']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4962367
to: The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Paperback)byJeannette Walls bookshelves: topreads
I downloaded Half Broke Horses to my Kindle on a whim and was entranced by the story to the point of needing to download The Glass Castle immediately after completing HBH. Although I believe TGC was written first, I'd suggest reading HBH first.
HBH is the story of Jeannette Walls grandmother, who was born in rural Texas and lived through the Great Depression.
Loved this book! Have a stack of some to send to you.
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<![CDATA[L added 'Finding Nouf']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74215003
to: Finding Nouf (Hardcover)byZoë Ferraris bookshelves: airplane-worthy-quickreads
Finding Nouf is a murder mystery set in Saudia Arabia. Nouf, a wealthy, engaged 16 year old goes missing. Believing that Nouf has run off to the desert (a camel is missing), the family hires Nayir, a palestinian and friend of Nouf's brother, Othman, to find her. Nouf is found dead shortly thereafter but not of dehydration; she has drowned.
I bought this book at the DFW airport and my only complaint is that the sales clerk slid a "flat" Lou Dobbs into the book as my bookmark. That aside (Lou is now popping up around the house), the book was engaging and interesting. I really didn't know much about Muslim culture or Saudia Arabia prior to reading Finding Nouf and am fascinated.
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<![CDATA[L added 'The Condition']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72173525
to: The Condition (Hardcover)byJennifer Haigh
The Condition is the story of a family that spans approx. 25 or so years. Pauline, the matriarch, comes from "the Drew family" described as people who once had great wealth but over the course of years squandered it away (as Pauline squanders away her marriage). What remains is the family home on Cape Cod. While on Cape Cod, it becomes apparent that Pauline's daughter, Gwen, has a developmental disorder (Turner's Syndrome). This essentially wrecks her already fragile marriage. Over the remainder of the book, we learn of the other "conditions" suffered by Pauline, her ex-husband, and two sons. In the end, everyone is happy.
I read this book on a plane and at the end, too tired to drag it home to leave in the office kitchen for someone else to find, I gave it to the flight attendant. Maybe I'm tired of books set in Massachusetts and about rich people. Maybe it was the convention of Jennifer Haig to create new but somewhat the same names for every reference in her book (Gwen works in Pittsburgh at a museum that doesn't exist, founded by a family that doesn't exist, the boys go to schools that don't exist) that just gave the entire book a lack of credibility that I found cloy and annoying. There was also a bit of deus ex machina at times that just... well... ugh. And the names of the characters were also annoying (Penny Cherry? Seriously?).
On the positive note, it was a very quick read.
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