Joanie’s Comments (group member since May 31, 2008)

Joanie’s comments from the The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List group.

I absolutely love this book, I've read it several times. Conroy's writing is so detailed and so lyrical I find myself reading his books slowly so I can catch every word. Some parts of the book are definitely brutal but it manages to be hopeful at the same time.

I liked this one much better than For One More Day-hopefully you'll enjoy it!

I love Jodi Picoult's book but this one was probably one of the most heart wrenching. I remember reading this book and sobbing and my husband kept telling me to stop reading it. He didn't understand why I'd want to keep reading something that was making me so upset! They're making a movie out of this but rumor has it they're changing the ending-ugh!

I feel like I need to re-read this book. I read it the month before my wedding 4 years ago and I liked it but didn't love it or get all emotional about it the way other people I know did. I keep having this feeling that I missed something in the book because I was so preoccupied by everything else when I read it. Maybe someday I'll re-read it.

I loved the concept of this book and although I did really like it, I was hoping for something different.

I've had this for a few years (it's my friend's book-I should probably see if she wants it back!) I'll have to start it.

I loved this book-it was so clever and fun. I've gotten a bit tired of some of her later books in the series, it's like she's beating a dead horse but I loved this one.

It's so good-frightening too. I read this and Cat's Eye back at the end of high school and loved them both. I was on a huge Atwood kick after that but haven't read anything by her in years. Funny how that happens.

I totally agree-Morrison is phenomenal!

Yes, she's supposed to stay and old maid and take care of her mother. The man she loves marries her sister so he can be near her (what a dumb plan!)

A great story about the longings people keep secret. I love the folky aspects of this book, the recipes and remedies really add to the story.

This book was so good, I absolutely loved it. I found myself thinking about the characters even when I wasn't reading the book.

Henry is time traveler, a chronodisplaced person, he travels around in his own lifetime. He meets Clare when she is a little girl and he is 33 years old. They meet from time to time until they finally meet in real time (where they are more like 8 years apart.) It's a tale of love and longing and being left behind. The way the author was able to tie it all together is truly amazing. Fantastic book!

This is the first book in the series, followed by Big Cherry Holler and Milk Glass Moon. I think there is one more that's related but I haven't read that one.

It took me a little bit to get into this book but then I was totally hooked. It's the story of Ave Maria, a single girl in a small town. The characters are fantastic, the story line is great. I loved the whole series which continues the story of Ave.

I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would after liking some of Quindlen's other books but all in all it was still good. Good message about looking deeper at a person before you judge them.

I'm not a Nicholas Sparks fan either but I was driving to New York (from MA) and grabbed the book on tape from the library. It was better than just your basic cheesey romance book, definitely more layered than that but it was so freakin sad it pissed me off. I was literally angry that anyone would write something so sad-it felt like cruel and unusual punishment to me!

Mitch Albom probably isn't the best writer in the world but he tells some good stories. This book had me sobbing- I was absolutely beside myself. I loved how this book came together.

I loved this book, it was so sad and so good. I have to disagree with you on the casting for the movie-I can't imagine anything more dreadful than that cast! Those women are all too young to play the sisters in the book and Dakota Fanning is too cutesy for what I pictured. Ughh!

It's been a long time for me too. This book is so good and so hopeful, especially since it starts out so, so sad.

I absolutely loved the first half of this book but then it lost some of it's appeal for me in the middle. I still ended up really liking it but I thought the begining with all the descriptions of how women were their own community was so wonderful, I was really sad when that part was over.

I loved Beloved but it's definitely a heavy, intense read. Morrison's writing can get a bit confusing at times (at least for me) and there were times when I had to go back and re-read a passage just to clear on what had happened.

Beloved is the story of a freed slave who had to make some pretty horrific choices in order to survive. One day a mysterious stranger shows up at her door and some of her past choices come back to haunt her.

So I just realized that the Alienist falls under U.S. books so it couldn't have been happening in London! Guess it was New York-like I said, it's been a long time!