The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars
My first zombie apocalypse themed book and likely my last. I read it because of the great reviews but was disappointed by the revolting blood, gore and plethora of "F" words. I gave it 3 instead of 2 stars because despite my prudish tastes I found it very well written with believable characters, a few of whom I actually cared about, and it was overall an entertaining read with a bleakly hopeful ending.


View all my reviews

My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

1.5 stars
Why you should not read this book:
1. Depiction of American patriots as immature and uninformed
2. Underlying innuendos of American Revolution being a pointless war
3. Colorless characters. As one reviewer said,“They were not loved and lost to me, just there and lost, or not…”
4. Unrealistic dialogue
5. Use of language and cursing inappropriate to time period (and inappropriate read for/to middle school and younger age kids.)
6. Story is just a series of disjointed events with no emotion
7. The ending is abrupt and poorly done. it left a feeling of, “and that’s it?”
8. It is a short book that dragged.
9. Poor writing
10. Audio version is just awful . . . narrator has unpleasant voice and speaks slooowly with looong pauses between events.

Not totally a lame book as it does give some important insights regarding the resulting devastations that war brings to communities and families. However an implication easily drawn from the story is that the American Revolution was a sad and unnecessary event. Seriously. Near the end of the book the family doesn't really care who wins . . . they just want the war to be over. It really bothers me this is on many 4th-9th grade required/recommended reading lists, not only because of the points listed above but because there are better books on the subject for children and young adults.


View all my reviews

Later the Same Day by Grace Paley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a small book of poignant short stories populated with independent strong women and their relationships. Her writing style is precise. She uses few words in a clever and effective way. She does not use conventional punctuation, which drove me crazy at first, but once I caught on to her style I found it fitting. Her characters are uniquely believable, the dialogues wonderful, and the subjects addressed important.
She is disdainfully humorous and there are some great one liners.

Here is a quote from GR reader Sarah Hilary that nicely sums up my feelings about Grace Paley (her complete review found here http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/GracePaleyTheCollectedStories.htm):

"Skim-read Paley’s stories and you may end up trying to convince yourself she’s at fault for being too political, or for giving us only glimpses of her characters, or for flaunting the rules of story-telling. But if you’re prepared to meet the author midway, to revel in her mischievous sense of purpose, to take a dive face-first into real lives that may not be explained or described in any traditional manner – grab this collection. Chances are your brain will thank you for the spring-clean."

Grace Paley (1922-2007), a postmodernist writer, taught creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

I actually liked her writing so much I purchased the posthumous 1994 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction, The Collected Stories.
Highly recommend.

View all my reviews

The Book Of Mormon: Another Testament Of Jesus Christ by Joseph Smith Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read this book cover to cover 4 times, and keep rereading and pondering it. The Old Testament and New Testament of the Holy Bible tesify of the divinity and earthly mission of Jesus Christ. This is another testament of Jesus Christ which tells of his visit to the peoples on the American Continent following his Crucifixion and Resurrection.

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” -Joseph Smith

Isaiah described it, a “marvelous work and a wonder.” (Isa. 29:13–14.)

It is a treasure in my life.


View all my reviews

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've read 5 of Trigiani's other books and enjoyed them immensely...was a bit disappointed wit this. Largely biographical (her family), this was too drawn out and would have benefited by a ruthless editing of a more objective person. There were ideas, and characters, and actions that did not move the story forward or enrich the act of reading in any way. Too many wasted words (470 pages) making the plot line seem secondary to the telling, i.e. too much telling and not enough showing. At least 150 pages too long. It was sweet and sad and somewhat predictable and I missed the humor found in her other books.
I listened to audio version and felt her choice, halfway into the novel, to divide the audio narration between Sciorra and herself was a mistake. Sciorra was a much better audio narrator. One of the problems was the difference in pronunciation of the same names, places & events between the 2 of them. It was confusing to an audio reader that may not have been a problem with the print version. Clean GP read.


View all my reviews

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well crafted and convincing characters with believable dialogue. Kept me guessing to the end and then pondering the moral dilemma after completion. This is Agatha Christie's best-selling murder mystery novel and I can understand why.

View all my reviews

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

1.5 stars
too, too much…
too slow getting into story…200 pages of back story--waay too slow
too many characters
too many characters who were tossed aside
too many dark, disturbing scenes
too many grotesque, revolting, sadistic sex crimes
too many didactic political ramblings
too many lame red herrings
too many mundane details
too many useless, boring scenes
too much violence
too much porn
too explicit
too many email passages/conversations
too many references to American pop culture
too many coffee stops
too many butt plugs
too many useless, meaningless, boring scenes
too much foul language
too much flat cliche-ridden prose
too, too many words
The author’s original title (in Sweden) was MEN WHO HATE WOMEN. I'm not kidding, that was the title. Would you have read it with that title? I wouldn't have, no matter the popular ratings...
I originally gave this 2 stars, but changed rating because there is
TOO MUCH BAD AFTERTASTE.

View all my reviews