I wouldn't have met Piti if it hadn't been for a chichigua. To translate chichigua as a kite does not do justice to these beautiful creations of...
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I can scarcely believe this is the author's first novel. It's beautifully written and totally engrossing. I am looking forward to other work by Debra Dean.
I never enjoyed time travel novels until I read Connie Willis. She uses time travel to flaunt her incredible ability to plot her complex stories leaving the reader exhausted and wildly entertained. And since Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat is one of my favorite books of all time, Willis' take on the era and the lovingly portrayed intersection of time travelers and Jerome's trio (plus dog) is a masterpiece. I have read this at least five times and intend to repeat as needed. As the classic recommendation of a book goes: I envy anyone reading this for the first time.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a charming book. Perhaps, after a brief glance at it, you suspect it's a little too charming, but instead of falling into the trap of simply glorifying life in a quaint English village, this book is full of many unpleasant characters, family problems and threats to the happiness of our protagonists. And the book achieves those protagonists' destiny through an altogether surprising series of events. Although it has almost nothing in common with the Miss Read books, I think this is one of those "if you liked that, you'll like this" comparisons. It's a great read, it's beautifully written, and, if you are over 60, gloriously reassuring that life still has infinite possibilities.
What a great read for those of us, who, like the protagonist, are recently laid-off newspaper journalists. His struggles on the professional and home fronts may be strange, convoluted and outright illegal, but they're also read-out-loud funny and all too believable.
This is the book I enjoyed reading most this year, the one I couldn't wait to pick up at lunch, on the bus, before bed. And from the comments of people I recommended it to, others felt the same. Anthony Doerr's writing is beautiful, equal to that in his "Memory Wall," and his tale of a year in Rome extremely moving. This is also the kind of book I found compelled to read bits of out loud to anyone nearby and when my husband read the book, he often read the same bits outloud to me and they were still wonderful.
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Virtually snowbound has commented on (5) products.
The Madonnas of Leningrad (P.S.) by Debra Dean
Virtually snowbound, January 18, 2012
I can scarcely believe this is the author's first novel. It's beautifully written and totally engrossing. I am looking forward to other work by Debra Dean.To Say Nothing of the Dog: Or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis
Virtually snowbound, September 6, 2011
I never enjoyed time travel novels until I read Connie Willis. She uses time travel to flaunt her incredible ability to plot her complex stories leaving the reader exhausted and wildly entertained. And since Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat is one of my favorite books of all time, Willis' take on the era and the lovingly portrayed intersection of time travelers and Jerome's trio (plus dog) is a masterpiece. I have read this at least five times and intend to repeat as needed. As the classic recommendation of a book goes: I envy anyone reading this for the first time.Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Virtually snowbound, September 2, 2011
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a charming book. Perhaps, after a brief glance at it, you suspect it's a little too charming, but instead of falling into the trap of simply glorifying life in a quaint English village, this book is full of many unpleasant characters, family problems and threats to the happiness of our protagonists. And the book achieves those protagonists' destiny through an altogether surprising series of events. Although it has almost nothing in common with the Miss Read books, I think this is one of those "if you liked that, you'll like this" comparisons. It's a great read, it's beautifully written, and, if you are over 60, gloriously reassuring that life still has infinite possibilities.The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
Virtually snowbound, September 1, 2011
What a great read for those of us, who, like the protagonist, are recently laid-off newspaper journalists. His struggles on the professional and home fronts may be strange, convoluted and outright illegal, but they're also read-out-loud funny and all too believable.Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr
Virtually snowbound, January 1, 2011
This is the book I enjoyed reading most this year, the one I couldn't wait to pick up at lunch, on the bus, before bed. And from the comments of people I recommended it to, others felt the same. Anthony Doerr's writing is beautiful, equal to that in his "Memory Wall," and his tale of a year in Rome extremely moving. This is also the kind of book I found compelled to read bits of out loud to anyone nearby and when my husband read the book, he often read the same bits outloud to me and they were still wonderful.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)