Customer Comments

If I had seen this book on a bookstore display, I probably would never have picked it up because the cover art is so whimsical and fluffy looking. However, I read a review in the Washington Post and decided to download the ebook version. I enjoyed it so much, I bought the hardcover to keep. The story is wacky, and sometimes a bit complicated because of so many characters, but Stuart uses a technique of repeated some phrases throughout the book, like "sorrowful teapot for one," that is always linked to one particular character (the teapot is sad Rev. Septimus Drew's). That clever conceit keeps the story entertaining and helps develop each character. Very enjoyable read, and I recommend it all the time. Because of this book, I bought Stuart's first novel, "Matchmaker of Perigord." I enjoyed that, too, but not as much as "Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo" (which is the original title of Stuart's second novel and much better than the one we got in the US).

Those people who like to read books where they see themselves in the characters... I hope those people read this book. And I hope they see themselves. And then I hope they stop trying to find themselves in characters in books. This book is a comedy in the same way the movie American Beauty is a comedy. Both end with the characters happy. It is a beautiful, sad ending.

18th century historical fiction without the scandal, sensationalism, and costume of historical fiction so popular today. The story features a fanciful air-ship and two brothers who navigate religious tyranny. Adventure is more philosophical than exciting and the ending is a bit abrupt, but a very interesting read.

We will never have to buy another cookbook. Mark Bittman has written a cookbook that guides, not governs, your cooking. The recipes are concise and uncomplicated, with many, many variations. It's the variations, and the friendly, though professional, prose that make this book a winner. We haven't made a recipe yet that has been a flop, and we are not experienced cooks.

A beautiful story with an ending you know is coming, but still takes you by surprise. Pouncey weaves three wars into a story of remembrance, honor (though not patriotic as much as honoring our own humanity when humanity seems impossible), and dignity. There are wonderful references to classical music that spurred me to seek out specific recordings. The ending is perhaps a little too "ghost in the machine," but it doesn't diminish the book's charm.

Restaurant review results in roasted restauranteur. Okay, so not restauranteur. Chef. But he also owned the restaurant. And the reviewer responsible for the chef roasted himself in his own oven, with a copy of the review tape to the door of same oven, decides that maybe he has been too harsh and apologies to the widow. And that feels so good, he decides to apologize to everyone he has every cause pain or misery. And that goes so well, he is tapped to be Chief Apologist for a new organization within the United Nations. Sound a bit over-the-top? It is, but it is also mostly delightful. The apologies are deliciously themed (the author is a real life restaurant reviewer and knows his food), and the story moves along quite nicely. There is a good deal about the father/son relationship, as well as brotherly love. I adore stories with a male point of view and this one does it without too much testosterone or frat boy goofiness. The ending goes a bit awry... I think the author decided he needed to toss in more testosterone. But all in all, I think this is a very entertaining read. Looking forward to reading more from Raynor.

A story that transports the reader through time and awakens the magic that is reading. Two young men sent off for "re-education" during the Chinese Cultural Revolution find their education in strange places. Elegant and finely stitched narrative.

I stumbled on this book in the "aging" section at a chain bookstore. It really has nothing at all to do with aging. It has everything to do with death and sadness. It is never sentimental. It is a brutal, honest and beautiful look at grief and sadness. Perhaps too intense for young child, though fine for middle school and older. And perfect for the adult who would sooner swallow knives than pick up any of the sappy grief books that sell so well in the chain bookstore... the "chicken soup for the grieving soul" sort of books that have a silver lining behind every sadness.

I started out not enjoying this book, then decided it was quite interesting, but the last chapter ruined it all for me. The story of a young girl who has the gift of bringing people back from the dead is interspersed with the stories of others who are intimately linked to her life by virtue of living in a small town. Davis uses the ephemera of daily living... the police log, a long dead teacher's journal, nature almanac and horoscopes... to detail the events of one summer in a small New England town. She also pulls in all sorts of religious iconography to add to the mysticism. The climax is abrupt, especially after so slow a build up, but that didn't bother me as such an event would be abrupt in reality. What bothers me is the climax leads to a too quick ending that neatly ties up lives that would have been better left to the reader's imagination.

I am not a huge fan of coming-of-age stories (after To Kill A Mockingbird, why bother writing another!) but this one caught my attention because Rachel Carson has a role and my city, Pittsburgh, just named a bridge for her. Also, it takes place on the Washington coast, an area of the US I'm keen on visiting. The story is fast moving and very interesting (lots of marine biology delivered without lecture). A bit too metaphysical in places for my taste, but that is done sort of tongue in cheek and it is easy enough not to take it too seriously. You can't help but love Miles, the protagonist. He is so strangely familiar, perhaps because he is the angst in all of us when on the brink of adulthood. A fine debut novel and I hope the author makes a sophomore effort.

Very good read. I think this is meant to be a young adult book and it would be quite appropriate as such. There are adult situations, but nothing graphic. The story of the four young people, two long dead, two dead in spirit, is fascinating. The dead inhabit the living because the living just don't seem to have use for their bodies anymore. Where the living go is vague, but it is an intriguing thought that someone could loan out their body. And the idea that there could be a spirit at my elbow, using me as an unknowing host, though not inhabiting my body, just clinging to me as a way to.... be.... Well, I rather like the idea. Heaven and God are part of this novel, but it isn't moralistic. And the fundamentalist parents of one character are stereotyped, but not overly so. In fact, I found that the fundamentalism angle of the story isn't really all that important. The religious parents act pretty much the way many parents, religious and otherwise, act when the marriage is falling apart and neither remembers how to communicate with the other.

Really enjoyed this book, though it is a rather convoluted read. I wasn't really sure where the story was going until I was a third of the way through, which makes it all the more enjoyable. I like a book that doesn't follow the tried and true, but isn't so weird (ie. House of Leaves) that I just can't stay with it. There are so many intricacies that I know I missed the first read, so I will go back at some point and read this again.

No surprises in this story... the telling has lots of twists but the turns are seen well in advance. A beautiful telling, nonetheless. Language so magical one forgives the predictable. Indian history, folklore and drama. I am not such a fool to take this fictional account as gospel, however I was motivated to go looking for more information about events and figures. The one foreshadowing I cannot forgive involves a "walkman" and its use as a tool of destruction. Too mundane a plot my dear Mr. Rushdie!

Family dramas don't usually appeal to me, but this one is an exception. Takes place in Coventry, England, during WWII. The storytelling is superb. Joyce manages to make all the members in this odd family quite believable, but never quite endearing. Sort of like my own family.

Delightful read! A good deal of dry art history, mixed with astonishing 17th religious history (at least it was astonishing to me), stirred with charming British humour. There is a scene towards the end of the novel involving a car towing a trailer circling St. James Park that is just so absurd it begs for a setting of its own, performed on stage. A real Bruegel was stolen from a museum in Paris when I was reading this fictional account of the very same artist's work. Made me remember I was reading something relating to Munch when The Scream was stolen. Perhaps I should alert art authorities when I read novels relating to Masters.

We saw the preview for the Stardust movie before The Order of the Phoenix and I commented that I had not read this particular book. I grabbed it out of the bookcase where we keep our special books, and I am so glad I did. This is a fairy tale, but oh so much more interesting and believable than other adult fairy tales I've read. Every sentence is a joy to read. The setting is so vivid it plays in front of my eyes as I read. And the ending... the best ending I've read in forever. This ranks right up there with Jos? Saramago's All the Names as an all-time favorite read. And I never thought anything would get close to that story. (My edition is the hard to find Spike hardcover, which, if you can find, is a great addition to any library)

Wow. This is not at all what I expected when I opened the book and read the first paragraph about a sister in bed with her father?s son. This is about family, but not in a ?family saga? sort of way. It is a historic novel, but not ?sweeping? in the long-winded fashion of so many historic novels. The text is brief, but each word is precise. This is a translation from original Dutch, so perhaps the tightness of the prose is a product of the translation, though I don?t think so. I think this the author?s intention. She tells a story blending the now, the near past, and the long past, without wasting a single word. I am reminded of Ocean Sea by Alessandro Baricco. Amazing.

This story of a young woman searching for self, as well as the self of others, is intriguing, though the narrator is more than a bit too self-conscious. Her constant longing for the twin that died just got old, and really didn't serve the story. The story within the story, of a reclusive writer who finally decides to "tell the truth," is well written, though, with lots of nice little twists and plenty of gorgeous scene setting. Truly a book meant for those who love to read and love to read about those who love to read. My opinion of this book dropped dramatically because of one of the most pathetic endings I've ever encountered in an otherwise great read. It is suited to a television program ending where all the characters' lives are brought up to date and every loose end neatly tied. I despise that sort of contrived ending.

A romance/suspense novel disguised as a "literary mystery" (according to the back cover). Nothing very suspenseful about it, and the writing is only so-so. The descriptions of France's Dordogne region are intriguing enough to keep the reader's interest, however if mystery is the intent, the book is a failure. It is the same story told a million times over. The author tried every trick of twisting the story to lay suspicion elsewhere, but it never works. Turgid language like, "...white nights, in which, although his body was numbed by the desire to sleep, his inner eye stared dry and lidless at a moving jumble of worries, the detritus of the day-to-day living thrown onto the conveyor belt of his mind", make this novel less than literary. I should have known better. I don't like mysteries and I certainly have no interest in orchids and the minutia of orchid hunters, but at least I didn't pay for this book. It is an Advance Reader Copy (ARC). I'll leave it somewhere and perhaps someone who enjoys flowers (there is a lurid image of a lady slipper on the cover) might pick it up and actually enjoy the botany details.

Every time someone says "if only women ran the world," I'll suggest they read this series. Not that the world wouldn't be better run if women were in charge, but if that's the plan there is a hell of a lot of prep work to be done. Only industry that women dominate is agriculture, and what the hell good is that if there is no one to transport it? Or run the power plants? How many female coal miners do you know? The series doesn't preach, though. It is entertaining as all get out. I am mainly a literary fiction reader, but have found a few treasures in the graphic novel genre (Rabbi's Cat, Sandman series, Deogratias, A Tale of Rwanda, to name a few). This is another gem for my collection.