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July 21
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
Timequake (Paperback)
by Kurt Vonnegut
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my rating:
   
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read in July, 2008
Sarah said:
""wake up! for God's sake, wake up! free will! free will!"
ah, kurt vonnegut, you're lovely. deedly-deedly-deedly. i didn't think i liked this book until about halfway through, when i finally accepted the fact that it was part fiction...more
"wake up! for God's sake, wake up! free will! free will!"
ah, kurt vonnegut, you're lovely. deedly-deedly-deedly. i didn't think i liked this book until about halfway through, when i finally accepted the fact that it was part fiction/part autobiography/part who-knows-what, and then i fell in love. i especially loved the woman who laughs whenever a healthy person unexpectedly falls (as one who consistantly laughs when others are in pain, i understand).
i also loved the part when he talked about how his wife has a fax machine, and a computer, and a phone that can do all sorts of fancy things, while he still uses a typewriter and has to walk to the post office. then he talked about all of the people he ran into on his way to the post office, and all of the things he learned -- and points out that people are made to wander around and connect with each other. lovely!...less
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July 20
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
Elusive Mrs. Pollifax (Mass Market Paperback)
by Dorothy Gilman
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my rating:
   
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Sarah said:
"oh mrs. pollifax! how i love you and your wild leaps into danger. you entreat me with knowledge of bulgaria and its secret police (who knew? not me!). dorothy gilman is brilliant for this reason: her little similar-plotted mysteries include so much...more
oh mrs. pollifax! how i love you and your wild leaps into danger. you entreat me with knowledge of bulgaria and its secret police (who knew? not me!). dorothy gilman is brilliant for this reason: her little similar-plotted mysteries include so much learning about the food, atmosphere, clothing, and a bit of history of a foreign country. what more could one want? plus she splashes in little bits of brilliance: the ideas of trusting strangers, making connections, and cosmic laughter....less
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
Up a Road Slowly (Paperback)
by Irene Hunt
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my rating:
   
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Sarah said:
"I liked this book, though I'm a bit ashamed to admit it. I don't really have any clue how it ended up being a Newberry winner (which is the reason I picked it up, having no idea what it was about), because I don't think it's a particularly powerful ...more
I liked this book, though I'm a bit ashamed to admit it. I don't really have any clue how it ended up being a Newberry winner (which is the reason I picked it up, having no idea what it was about), because I don't think it's a particularly powerful story line. Nor is it that well-written. In fact, the author is a little too annoyingly over-aware -- it is clear that she is writing the book as her grown-up self, but when she's talking about her younger self she doesn't quite have the art that some authors have of slipping into a childlike voice.
Nevertheless, I said I liked the book, and I did, for all that it reminded me of the common coming-of-age Anne of Green Gables story. The characters were endearing, and stories like these always make me wish I had a difficult childhood and then grew through my weaknesses and came to love those who cared for me. But I also should note that I couldn't take some offensive comments (no excuse, 1968), such as that a woman isn't complete until she has a husband. Blagh.
Hmmm, this review is really negative. It still was good though....less
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax (Mass Market Paperback)
by Dorothy Gilman
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my rating:
   
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Sarah said:
"i love these little mysteries. there's nothing like a good camping trip and some easy reads to renew my love for books after a month's lapse. i got to learn all about istanbul, and turkey, and communist/western conflict -- all while mrs. pollifax s...more
i love these little mysteries. there's nothing like a good camping trip and some easy reads to renew my love for books after a month's lapse. i got to learn all about istanbul, and turkey, and communist/western conflict -- all while mrs. pollifax saved lives....less
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July 01
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Sarah
is currently reading:
Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel (Paperback)
by Jonathan Safran Foer
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
   
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June 23
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
The Brothers K (Paperback)
by David James Duncan
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my rating:
   
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read in June, 2008
Sarah said:
"wow. beauty. i'm in love with the whole darn chase family, with all of their wisdom and faults and hilarity and pain. seriously -- how one can wrap up so many lovely ideas of God and humanity and baseball and family and war and peace and religion ...more
wow. beauty. i'm in love with the whole darn chase family, with all of their wisdom and faults and hilarity and pain. seriously -- how one can wrap up so many lovely ideas of God and humanity and baseball and family and war and peace and religion into such an engaging story is beyond me. brilliant. one review put it best: "it is a love letter to everything that's great about living."...less
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June 02
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
Never Let Me Go (Paperback)
by Kazuo Ishiguro
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my rating:
   
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read in June, 2008
Sarah said:
"I really enjoyed this book, especially the mystery of never quite understanding the full story until the end, but knowing that something bigger was going on. The author did a tremendous job at creating a duality of emotions -- most of the book is wr...more
I really enjoyed this book, especially the mystery of never quite understanding the full story until the end, but knowing that something bigger was going on. The author did a tremendous job at creating a duality of emotions -- most of the book is written in memory form, and so somehow you're both present in the memory and feeling those emotions, and at the same time you're outside of them and everything is twinged with that sense of sadness that looking back brings. An interesting theory / plot line to top it off....less
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May 22
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
The Blind Assassin (Paperback)
by Margaret Atwood
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my rating:
   
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Sarah said:
"A good read. The characters in this book,especially the narrator, are so passive that it made me sad. But that also made them more realistic. Though perhaps after finishing the book and realizing what a testament it is, the reader comes away with ...more
A good read. The characters in this book,especially the narrator, are so passive that it made me sad. But that also made them more realistic. Though perhaps after finishing the book and realizing what a testament it is, the reader comes away with a different perspective of the narrator. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery of the novel, and the various forms by which the reader obtains information: through memories, newspaper clippings, and chapters of a novel-within-the-novel....less
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May 03
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Sarah
took the never-ending book quiz.
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April 05
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Sarah
gave
   
to:
Mr. Popper's Penguins (Paperback)
by Richard Atwater, Florence Atwater
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my rating:
   
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