false 3 1 1 true 6112657 read 0 true 685119 currently-reading 0 true 685118 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24426084 Krystal's review of The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

This is rather cosmic, because I was reading Pillars of the Earth in January as well...and I felt the same way about the gratuitous rape scenes....in fact, I knew as soon as that awful guy appeared on the page (can't remember his name and don't care to), that a rape was on the way.....SO I SKIPPED FORWARD AS MANY PAGES AS NECESSARY and continued reading. It was something like closing my eyes during a movie scene.

I basically got through the book without subjecting myself to any rapes, but also the graphic descriptions of torture, battles, etc.

I guess some would say that I didn't really read the book, since I skipped all blood and gore and rape, but there was enough left to have a fairly entertaining read. It does make me wonder about the author as well...he really seemed to get into those awful scenes.


]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24416373 Krystal's review of Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott

It seems to me that she responded to the group of people who were kind and accepting of her when she was so very very down....and these people happened to be Christians.....so she joined in with them because they believed that they were kind and accepting because of their church.

It's unlikely that the same warm welcome and subsequent embrace of a belief system would have occurred if she had come across dozens or even hundreds of other churches. It was a matter of the right group of people at the right time.

Anne Lamott will never fit into any stereotypes anyway, but

I always felt that she fell in love with the people and included the belief system as part of the love affair.


]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24423225 to: Around the Bloc, My Life in Moscow, Beijing and Havana by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
First a comment on the author--she's uncompromisingly honest, amazingly courageous (or foolish?) and a good writer. Her adventures and misadventures behind the iron current, the bamboo curtain, and the coconut current (I made that up, I don't know what they call it in Cuba) are sometimes chilling, sometimes hilarious, and always interesting.

Her central question: was the revolution worth it? did the freeing women from foot binding, for example in China, balance out the great loss of life during the cultural revolution? There are no black and white answers here, but a refreshingly candid look at the daily lives of ordinary Russians, Chinese and Cubanos.

This book made me grateful for my life and my privileges, and ashamed of my petty complaints.

As the US dollar tanks, and we as a people are forced to look at our wastefulness while concurrently, the economies of Russia and China are emerging as major forces on the world scene, this book will give insights into cultural patterns and beliefs which may help us make sense of what is happening both here and around the bloc. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4642899 Julia's review of Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen

I didn't think I would like it, but I did...it was surprising. ]]>