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<![CDATA[new comment from Nic]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75802112
Jackie's review of
The Four Seasons: A Novel of Vivaldi's Venice byLaurel Corona
Laurel is lovely. She did a salon at SDWI on the topic of writing history - how factual one has to be vs. where you can be creative. Really interesting.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Nic]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77439622
Will's review of
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History byJohn M. Barry
Okay... we must be having some psychic connection. I just watched a PBS special on this. "Secrets of the Dead" is the series and these virologists pieced together where they believe the outbreak started and how it spread. Absolutely fascinating that this virus killed more people than WWI.
I'd love hear more about the book and its focus.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Nic]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20588864
Will's review of
What Is the What byDave Eggers
This has been on my "to read" shelf since it first appeared in hardback. Let's see which of us gets to it first!
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<![CDATA[new comment from Nic]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74812315
Gio's review of
Mystic River byDennis Lehane
He "drops the latinates?" You sounds ready to study with Tom Spanbauer!
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<![CDATA[new comment from Nic]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73801380
Elliott's review of
The Colossus of New York byColson Whitehead
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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<![CDATA[Nic added 'The Book Thief']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73550265
The Book Thief (Hardcover)
byMarkus Zusak bookshelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Nic added 'A Gate at the Stairs']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/70040564
to: A Gate at the Stairs (Hardcover)byLorrie Moore
I have to give this book four stars because of the power of Moore's smart language. Her descriptions, her entertaining wordplay, her dialogue is always cause for celebration. It was interesting to see it sustained in longer form, though it could get a mite tedious. I think this is because Tassie spends abundant amounts of time alone in her head, observing instead of acting, pondering instead of committing, and she is a frustrating protagonist. Her passivity and naivete grated on me, but not enough to give up on the book. Sarah is active enough to carry an interesting story that touches on white guilt, guilt in general and the value of our connections with others. I found Moore's pessimistic view quite discouraging, though, especially after the hope she begins to foster in Tassie suffers a second blow late in the book. To be honest, I wanted to like this novel more than I did. Moore's language was transcendent, her story was not.
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<![CDATA[Nic added 'The Fiction Class']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72272662
to: The Fiction Class (Paperback)bySusan Breen
A sweet read about a fiction teacher wrestling with the impending death of her infirm mother in a New York City rest home. Having read a few novels set in writing classes, I conclude: a) it is difficult to have a story in which we always and only see the characters en masse, and b) that a classroom where something is successfully being taught is not a very interesting despite the instructor's personal insecurities. My favorite part of the book, aside from the fiesty mother and debonair love interest were the fiction exercises suggested at the end of each chapter which were simple and fun.
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