Customer Comments

One of the most important elements of this book is the picture it gives of witch hunts against female herbal healers by male doctors: " ... she was skilled in herbal remedies, which annoyed almost any physician with whom she came into contact." " ... the Withysham physician... was a pompous individual who had come to me complaining that Gladys was intruding on his work, by which he meant stealing his patients. The real root of the trouble was that her potions usually worked better than his. I was secretly convinced that some of his were lethal and that one of his unintentional victims... had died... probably speeded on her way by his regime of bleeding and purges." When the old herbalist, Gladys, is arrested for witchcraft, her accusers say: "... she was... pretending to be a physician, which is an art to be practiced only by men." There is also a strong feminist element, both in Ursula, who is definitely not meekly subservient to her husband, and her age 14 daughter, who eventually realizes on her own that the cold-eyed, manipulative older man who wants to wed and mold her, would do all he could to destroy her intelligence, independent thinking, and strength. "It wouldn't have occurred to him that to treat a young girl like a filly for sale might upset her or her guardians." Although the "detective story" does not get exciting until quite a way into the book, it DOES get gripping then. Ursula, her daughter Meg, and her husband Hugh are all believably intelligent, tender, compassionate, courageous, and strong people. The mystery story takes its intriguing time developing, and I really wanted to know what would happen. After reading several other historical novels about this era in England, I found this one lacking the much broader and deeper detail that was present in the others. Since the author, Fiona Buckley, lives in England, perhaps she is assuming a wider knowledge and belief base in her readers. For example, Buckley takes a completely unsympathetic viewpoint of Queen Mary of Scotland as conniving and power mad that has been attributed to her by her detractors, but I have read novels that present her from multi-faceted views, which are clearly much more realistic and definitely more interesting. The author also seems to know that her readers automatically know who Cecil is, which she barely explains, and he, too, is presented from a very narrow viewpoint. However, her descriptons of clothes, buildings, speech and social patterns, social classes, political and economic machinations, power struggles, Queen Elizabeth's dress and behavior, the casual execution of starving people who steal bread, the insanity of countries fighting over two very similar religions (Catholic and Anglican), as well as good-hearted people vs nasty villains are excellent.

What an appropriate title for a book that deals with "the third sex" -- hermaphrodites who are the one percent of people born with physical and hormonal characteristics of both male and female genders. "Middlesex" is a blend of racial, social, sexual, and family dynamics, as well as history, reproductive science, genetics, economics, politics, environment, and personal experience that is surprisingly non-egocentric and touching. Jeffrey Eugenides writes as though the main character, Calliope, is a fully aware and functioning person waiting to be born over several generations and observing everything that is going on, even as some cells in her/his mother. This fantasy actually lends credibility to the sequence of events that the author describes. There are stunning revelations about the intrusive bullying of medical "specialists" who want to control hermaphrodites' lives, through surgery, rather than allowing these people to make their own choices when they grow up. I found it difficult to plow through the extensive scientific and historical information early in the book, much of which is written as though it is common knowledge, but the parts that deal with Calliope's family, community, and sexuality are engrossing. I have a much broader view of human sexuality and the way we look at ourselves, each other, and the world after reading this story.

An expansive vision of Chinese history and one of the world's early feminists. One caveat about this edition: the print is rather small, and I had to get stronger reading glasses in order to read it, but it was worth it. The story begins with the Empress recalling and describing her own birth process, with birth images that are the most unique I've ever heard before, clearly conveyed without ever saying "birth" and making me feel like I was being born. The story ends with her still being aware and conscious during and after her death, so that she is both experiencing and observing. The little known Empress Wu was China's "first and only female emperor, who emerged in the 7th Century during the great Tang Dynasty." Her reign was significant, but as with many important women in history, she has been vilified and denied after her death. Author Sa has done extensive research, including drawing from the several books that Empress Wu wrote, and has given an in-depth, mind-opening picture of Empress Wu and her culture. Although Wu had great power, she was in important ways still a slave -- she gave birth to several children, but wasn't allowed to nurse or raise any of them, so they barely had any relationship with her. "In all of China, I had no other master but myself; I had become my own jailor, and I was my own prisoner." Her entire career as royalty required her to wear elaborate headpieces weighing as much as 24 lbs, so she was in constant pain, plus extreme make-up and costumes. One of her innovations was to simplify her clothes and those of the ladies around her, but she never gave up the head weights and make-up. Another innovation was that she opened her government to requests and information from the general population outside the walls of the royal compound; although she ordered the killing of anyone who might be considered a possible enemy, she cared more about the people than any other emperor up until then. Under her rule, trade via the rivers and between towns increased greatly... "... gone were the intransigent segregaton and the fatal lack of social mobility," and "A people's energy was now more important than their aesthetic learning..." The amount of hateful infighting and casual killing, even among family members, was shocking. Every time anyone disagreed with anyone in power, including Empress Wu, got murdered. When someone was killed like this, their whole families were murdered, too, and this happened to Wu's family after her death. Even her lovers were killed by her enemies when she was much older. One stunning living condition was that 10,000 young single women had to live together in special quarters, where they are never allowed to have children and homosexuality is their only sexual outlet, with their only hope for improving their lives is to be selected by a male emperor to have babies with. Wu herself he experiences incest with her brother and has both female and male lovers. There were also separate similar quarters for 10,000 young men. Women and men were "prisoner(s) of the forced inactivity of the imperial court." Everyone had dramatic names such as Heavenlight (the Empress), Little Phoenix, Delicate Concubine, Harmony, Purity, Splendor, Prosperity, Simplicity, Gentleness, & Little Treasure; and sets of years were called the Eras of Eternal Magnificence, Lowered Arms and Joined Hands, and so on. Even 600 years ago, the Chinese were so heavily populated that a procession had thousands of people and went on for miles. Some more favorite lines: "Our ... quest for a spiritual essence denied the warmth of the senses and the shims of the heart." "Every religion was a blade that allowed its faithful to carve up the lie that is life." "The Court started to imitate my warrior-nun style." "I had in my hand an invisible sword that sliced through every illusion." "The mannerist poets disappeared from court: their superficial moaning was replaced by powerful verses with simple rhythms full of vibrant emotion." In an interesting parallel to the Jesus story, an emperor was considered "... worthy of being the one and only initiated person on Earth, ... the sublime sacrifice that the people made to the gods, ... the Savior of the World." "... I felt ashamed for living in artificial abundance within a fortified city. This Court bathing in its happiness was a miraculous island in an ocean of misery." Even though she was very old, when Wu accepted two new lovers, she increased her "ecstasy by night" and her "lucidity by day." Her "reawakening to life stimulated the rebirth of the empire. The years of famine and epidemics were forgotten. Grain stores were filled...; there were abundant meat, game, and fish ..." "I left it to the Court to adward me the pompous and ambiguous title of Divine Mother Sacred Emperor that interwove masculinity and femininity." "My sacred mission would be accomplished only if I inaugurated a new dynasty based on peace, compassion, and divine justice... This change of dynasty would see no bloodshed or violence." (She wins against the sexist males who want to push her out and regain male power after her husband dies.) "... my last mission on this lowly earth -- pacifying the murderous conflict between Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. My dynasty would recognize these three doctrines and three pillars of Chinese thought... the three religions had the same veins through which the one and only source of Wonderment flowed." "Why did anyone invent mirrors to glorify and assassinate women?" "The more I was surrounded, the more I was alone."

I read this book for the very reason that the author wrote it -- it is short, exciting, and easy to read. Although I wasn't attracted at all by the title or the subject matter, which sounded gross, I needed something quick to read. It turned out that I actually enjoyed a lot of it, especially the portrayal of the intelligent, creative thoughts and actions of the main characters. Thankfully, the story was NOT the constant "kick butt, over-the-top, blindingly fast... non-stop rampage of all out action from start to finish" that the author claims it is -- that would have been boring and exhausting. Aside from the melodramatic use of the word "Hell" for the location of the drama, my only objection is that the ending was too easy... clearly, there would still be trouble ahead for the heros.

This simple-minded book sounds like it was written for perhaps ages middle school to high school, although I know many students of those ages who would find it boring. It has no meaningful conflict, no deep issues, no great resolutions, no wonderful descriptions. If you believe the word "Babe" automatically refers to baby Jesus, you might like it. That it is a New York Times best seller amazes me, but perhaps this reflects people's longing for uncomplicated lives without any serious troubles, love without ever real arguing, and faith without questioning or thought. The author's attempt to convey local dialects is very difficult to read, and her frequent use of "he," when the identity of "he" is not apparent, caused me to have to go back and reread or read fairly far ahead to figure it out. After a while, I finally got that "he" was always the same man, but grammatically, this was very weak. The story itself, of the love between a pastor and his wife and their actions to create meaningful Christmas presents for each other, was touching (even though they NEVER got mad at each other about ANYTHING), and their restoration of old Nativity figures was believable, because they were based on some real ones that someone restored. There are a few sub-relationships that are also too perfect, but still sweet, and the sense of community is something we all want.

The premise of this book was promising, but because there were three sets of sisters involved, one set dead, it sometimes became confusing. The best lines, spoken by a teenager: "Grownups keep too many secrets... They think we can't handle what's real. But guess what? We can't handle what's not." Rice is another modern author who writes choppy sentences, rather than tying them together smoothly with commas, as in, "And Carrie sat up. Put on her wet things. Walked out." instead of, " And Carrie sat up, put on her wet things, and walked out." Rice doesn't often use adverbs, either. I began to notice that she used the adjective "tight" over and over, when it should have been the adverb "tightly," and then I realized how boring it was to see the same word so often (perhaps she hasn't heard of synonyms, either?). She also just had to throw in the word "fucking" once as an adjective when it was totally unnecessary, very strange, and out of place. I thought the insight into shoplifting was sensitive, the interweaving of mathematical ideas into a sort of poetic expression of various aspects of life was intriguing, the respect for a young female math genius was inspiring, the depiction of a crippled man as very human was enlightening, and the warm description of the director of a home for unwed young mothers was touching. I also enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the old private school in Rhode Island, the weather, and the environment. But overall, the story was jumbled, rushed, and a typical phony romance story -- stupid, lustful teen sex once in a dangerous place supposedly means lifelong true love, and a man is going to divorce his wife because she finally reveals that another man is the father of their teenage daughter -- these are just melodramatic. Even the ending was exaggerated -- "... forevermore" -- and felt like she just didn't know when to quit. In fact, a lot of this story reflects the self-pitying suffering people create in their own lives, without any insight into this fact or into how to live without doing that to ourselves. There is an unrealistically mature teenage girl, a too perfect teenage boy, a snobby rich woman whom we never get to really know -- even though there are hints to why she is the way she is that make us want to know more -- and really very little character development. I wanted to cry and be moved by the reunions of various sisters, but everything was so rushed and predictable, that I was only slightly satisfied.

Forgettable -- I had heard of a couple of Nicholas Sparks's book titles as movies before I realized they were books first. I haven't seen the movies, but I was interested in the books since they were popular enough to be made into films. Sorry to say, when I saw "Dear John" at a used book sale, I didn't even remember that I had read it until I started reading it again. To me, the writing was not very good or engrossing; I just read it because it was something to do. The story contained a kind of unnecessary secrecy that perhaps is supposed to seem noble, but I didn't like or admire it. Maybe part of the strain I felt in this story and in the writing could be related to the fact that one of Sparks's children has the same name, Savannah, as his main female character. This book was better than a typical phony-sounding romance novel, but didn't do much for me.

I forgot to say in my review that I appreciate the way Larssen often describes in some detail what his main characters are wearing, because it helps visualize them and make them more real.

Stunning, complex, dramatic, stays with you- After reading the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I was eager to read the second and third. When I got this one, I didn't know it was the third, but I didn't notice. It just felt like it took up from where the first one ended. The complexity of the worlds of politics, crime, sexual abuse, psychology, medicine, police, institutions, economics, and all sorts of evil goings-on was difficult to keep up with, but I couldn't put the book down. I got a lot more information about Lisbeth Salander that was missing from the first book, and I liked the main characters just as much, plus some new ones who were great. The so-called passionate relationship between the main male reporter/writer and an almost masculine female athletic former cop turned security guard was unbelievable to me, and I liked Blomkvist's long-time married lover much more. The book contains descriptions of female warriors, whom Larssen seems to admire. He is actually the ultimate feminist, with good male characters, too. Mr. Larssen was an expert in dramatically tense scenes of potential violence; women with strong brains, bodies, and minds; and resolving situations in satisfying ways. This story has one of the best courtroom scenes I've ever read, and when the evildoers get caught in their lies, it goes just the way you want it to ... this would make a seriously good movie. My only objection is the choppy writing style, kind of like, "See Jane walk. But see John hop. Because he can. And she can. And they like it," instead of, "See Jane walk and John hop, because they can and they like it." In other words, too many chopped up sentences without the smooth transitions provided by commas. However, it was not troublesome enough for me to stop reading. Overall, this seems like an excellent translation from Swedish. The only thing I would add is a pronunciation guide for all the Swedish names, which I mostly had to just pass over in my mind, not knowing how to say them.

I had heard S.J. Perelman's name so often that I was interested to see how he wrote. Unfortunately, this book was so boring that I couldn't even read it, and it wasn't because of the topic, but because of the writing style, the contrived descriptions, and weak attempts at humor. I have seen other reviewers on Amazon say that they loved it and laughed out loud, and this is a reminder that everyone's experience with humor and writing is subjective. I didn't like it at all; you'll have to judge for yourself.

The title sounds like it is an anti-modern woman book, but it is actually more interesting than I expected. Even if you don't agree that a wife should turn over complete control of the money to her husband, which Laura Doyle, who is actually a feminist, claims will make the marriage happy, you will appreciate hearing again some often-heard advice, such as: You can let problems be minor inconveniences or major traumas that fire up marital conflict; it is up to you. Say what you want calmly, with the belief that you deserve it, and without whining or demanding. Allow your husband to have his needs met, too. Don't ask permission of your husband to do what you need to do for yourself; self-care is essential, and if you neglect it, you will not be able to give as much to your marriage. If you find yourself impatient, angry, and bored with your husband, check to see if you have been ignoring your own needs and if you are judging him too harshly. Respect your husband and expect the best from him; don't put him down and doubt him. Let him make some mistakes without judging, and remember that you make mistakes too. Such attitudes bring peace, joy, relief, and passion. Don't try to control everything in the relationship and in the house; relax, let go, and trust. Vulnerabilty replaces nagging; Trust replaces control; Respect replaces disrespect; Gratitude replaces complaining; Faith replaces doubt; Passion and love replace distance and coldness. I have seen a lot of the punishing, demeaning, demanding, insulting, whining, angry fights between couples who started out saying they loved each other, and I can see that the author has, too. It really seems to me that many of her ideas are worth trying; it is certainly better than saying you can't do anything and continuing to suffer and either divorce or live on in marital misery. You might say, well, the man should change too, but we can change only ourselves; in doing so, we open space for others to change into more of their better selves, too. This book also contains guidelines for surrendered women discussion/growth groups, which I think could be valuable.

This book is exactly what I have been wanting -- I have taken some drawing classes and am quite good at it, but I don't draw much at home, and I have been wanting to get back to it. The variety of fun and interesting exercises is wonderful, it is easy to focus on and do them, and I'm so happy to be doing art again. Thank you, Carla Sonheim!

With strong females and some good men, as well as evil ones; this moving reality tale, "Prayers for Sale," is a sometimes gut-wrenching book about the reality of life in the freezing mountains of Colorado, in 1936 during the Great Depression, where gold mining of three kinds destroy the environment and pollute the water, and men sometimes die at work. It sounds so cold there, it is hard to believe anyone would want to stay, but Hennie Comfort, the 86-year-old woman who relates the stories of the town, has lived there most of her life and doesn't want to leave. She befriends a young newcomer, whom the author calls "the girl" over and over, when she should have used her name, Nit or Mrs. Spindle, or young woman, or female pronouns, although she uses Hennie's name frequently. Nit is a married teenager who has already had a stillborn baby and is pregnant -- hardly a "girl." However, some of the tales were delightful, and they were all informative about the family, work, and town lives of the people who are there because it is the only work they can get. Overall, this story made me glad I live somewhere much warmer and less polluted -- the only thing I long for is the bonding of quilting among the women that brings them together, even when there are some who don't get along well otherwise. Hennie has a refreshingly open-minded view of "hookers," understanding that they only do it because they would starve and/or be homeless otherwise, and she doesn't judge them the way most people do. The old woman says that when she prays, the answers she get are often the opposite of what they would be if she and god traded places. She tells of the prohibition era, where "... you could get liquor legal for medicinal purposes... Middle Swan... being the sickest incorporated town in Colorado." The women know how to use herbs for healing and Nit does not trust doctors, for they don't know much, which was probably even more true then than it is now. One of the outcomes of the story was predictable, but it would have been disappointing if it had ended differently; another outcome was unpredictable, and it got a little annoying to have it referred to and have to wait so long to see how it turned out, although it was believeable when it finally came. At the back of the book, there is a section from Dallas's book, "Whiter Than Snow," about the same community. I found it better written and more intriguing than this one, and look forward to reading it.

This is a stunning feminist novel, even though I have not seen or heard that word once in any reviews or discussions. I was actually resistant to reading the book, because it annoys me when people refer to men as men and women as girls, and the "girl" in this story, Lisbeth Salander, is actually a 24-year-old woman who only looks much younger. So I was surprised that Stieg Larsson was actually extremely pro-woman, and realistically so... that is, he doesn't idealize women, and his women have their flaws, and some are downright cranky and hateful... but the statistics about the abuse of women by men that begin each section of the book are the hint to the deeply felt message underlying this story. Larsson supports the respect for and protection of women without ever moralizing or lecturing. There is one of the most satisfying revenge scenes I have ever heard of, and I liked how Blomkvist and Salander both used thoughts of lessons they had learned, he in the military and she with a guardian, to help them deal successfully with intense situations, not panic, make the right choices, and survive. I enjoyed the pulse-pounding drama of some of the crime-story parts, and was amazed at the extensive knowledge of the corporate, rich family, sociological, psychological, vast computer systems, guilty secrets, and less rigid sexual satisfaction and relationship worlds. Lisbeth Salander is in many ways no more important to the story than her temporary partner in research, reporter/writer Mikael Blomkvist, and her dragon tattoo is pretty much irrelevant, but Larsson's insight into her mind, behavior, and intelligence is wonderful. I did find the ending something of a let-down, not in what happens, but in the writing style, but was still left wanting to know more about Lisbeth, what she does next, and how exciting the next story will be -- although Mikael fills up the story as much or even more than she does, she is the far more interesting character, so much so, that the book is titled for her.

I don't know if it is because the book is not in American English, or if it is because the author is from a different educational class, but there were at least 175 words in this book that I did not know, such as ziggurat, revenant, velutinous, and ichor. This detracted from the reading for me. It just seemed like he was trying too hard to be poetic or profound, but failed because of this. The lack of commas where they should be, creating run on sentences, occur often enough to be annoying to me. The most interesting part to me was the way sudden memories would intrude into the narrator's mind in the middle of another train of thought, the way that remembered images do, and the detail with which they are described. Not much to this book; not very moving emotionally. Very self-absorbed, and a lot of alcoholism.

One of the best dog stories, with one of the memorable and moving endings, that I've ever read. Combining scientific knowledge with an animal-lover's insight, the author takes us inside both his own mind and that of the dog, Merle's. You will know without a doubt that your feeling that dogs and humans communicate deeply and instinctively with each other, with the natural ability to feel similar emotions, is absolutely correct. I particularly like that the male author expresses such depth of emotion about his dog, because I come from a family in which it is considered unmanly and sneer-worthy to love dogs (and other animals). I think of many of the significant parts of this book, and it strengthens me against their scorn. Mr. Kerasote said he was looking for a wife, who turned out to be a friend instead. I imagined shouting, "I'll marry you!" I would love to be close to men like this. This is one of the very few books that I have bought new in many years; it is so worth it.

I had a hard time keeping track of who the characters were without frequent reminders, of which there were too few; I never knew that Henry was the diary-writer's brother until I read it here; through the book, I thought he was her husband. I went back and reread the beginning,and she never says he is her brother that I could see. There were more than 30 un-translated words, without even a glossary, such as sansculotte, zenara, apsara, and chibootra, which I found annoying. Context was not enough. I was amazed that the English women's lives were ruled by fashion dictates -- they are frequently giving away their gowns because they are suddenly out of style; a great deal of detail is given to the description of what they submit to wearing, such as sleeves that are so tight they can hardly lift their arms. There is a brief description of the extreme double standard, wherein English men can have children with Indian women, but English women cannot even have male Indian friends. I liked when the writer's sister becomes "primitive," loving animals and not caring what she wears. There are a couple of very short, but very intense and stimulating, sexual descriptions, which are especially stunning considering the repression of the people of England of the time. A few times, Moore reverses comments in thought-provoking ways, such as, "... blessed singleness, or is it single blessedness?" which I enjoyed, but there was too little of this. The book had frequent quotes from something Indian, perhaps a song or a poem -- she never says -- that sometimes seem relevant to the context, but mostly not, such as, "Himalaya and his queen are like chakori birds at dawn -- starved for moonbeams" after a line about someone shooting quail. Although some of the people in this book seemed to love India because of the colors, land, trees, and animals, I could not imagine wanting to live somewhere as described above, with the misery, both in the people and in the environment of abuse of people and animals, misery, killing, hunger, overcrowding, unbearable heat, huge and swarming insects, tyranny, ego-centrism, selfishness, poverty, wealth, stink, polluted water, slime, maggots,illness, death -- they're written about dispassionately, except once some people cry. There seems to be an assumption that the reader knows more about the story-line underlying the diary and doesn't give enough information. Because of my English background, I was actually rather involved in this book, and even though it lacked so much, I still got something worthwhile from it, especially seeing the extensive research done to produce it.

I was intrigued by the title, which had almost nothing to do with the book, except it was mentioned once as the name of a pub. It was rather difficult to get into the story, which felt jagged and abrupt, with too many characters to keep track of, especially when the author used pronouns when she should be helping the reader keep track by saying their names more often. Perhaps it is because it is written in British English that I found the style rather un-flowing, and some of the extraneous details were boring and unnecessary. However, eventually there was a point to what seemed unrelated; I liked the way the train of thoughts wandered in the characters' heads while they were trying to deal with their cases; that is so realistic. I ended up being glad that I read the whole book, figured out who everyone was, and really enjoyed Grimes' portrayal of children, with her insight into how they think, feel, and act, and her adults interacting with them in sometimes delightful ways. Grimes' references to poetry and historical authors were interesting, although I didn't recognize them all. I can't imagine anyone spending up to $38 on this book, but I found myself happily visualizing the series of the Jury books as a PBS British detective TV show, even though it's the only one I've read.

This book is a scattered bunch of bits of stories of people's mostly empty lives. Written from several viewpoints that don't always make sense (sometimes unknown narrator, sometimes first person and known narrator), it jumps from one bit of a person's life to another, with very little about each one. I kept reading it because I hoped to learn something about North Dakota, and I did, a little, but not much; and I kept hoping it would get more interesting and complete, but it didn't. It is sort of like a photo album with a few notes under the photos, but no real story, other than that most of the characters continue to make bad choices, even when they know they are doing it. There is a lot of anger, fear, disgust, loss, fatigue, cold, resentment, and very little love, comfort, humor, support, warmth, or respect; just another story about mostly meaningless lives with very little resolution and no noticeably wise people. Disappointing, and makes me very glad to not live in that kind of community.

I saw Lisa Bloom on a TV debate about gun control; she was extremely rude, closed her eyes in order to avoid acknowledging any other viewpoint, kept interrupting her opponent, and then indignantly requested that her opponent not interrupt HER the one time that she did! Bloom was completely coy, close-minded, disrespectful, superior, and self-righteous, refusing to listen to the other side and trying to talk over her. She is proof that university degrees do not confer social intelligence. This book has some good points, but it has that same know-it-all attitude that is the essence of Bloom... which is that whatever she "knows" is the only right, and no other view is worth even considering. She is the one with swagger.

With that title, I thought this book might be funny and intriguing, but it was just another stupid "meet under highly stressful conditions, hate each other at first then fall in love in one day, reform the committed angry womanizer who will protect you for the rest of your life, gratuitous desperate rough sex pretending to be love" type of book that is typical of cheap romance novels. There were two very interesting minor characters, a man and a woman, and a much better story could have been built around them. The mystery/detective part was mildly interesting; the romance was totally unbelievable; the son and daughter of the two main characters liking each other was enjoyable, but the 11 year old girl talking like a toddler because of stress was ridiculous. The author refers to the womanizer as dark, with brown hands and black hair and eyes, so you wonder if he is actually brown, or just tan; she never says, and this could add interest to the story. This is a USA Today best-selling author with a Master's Degree who has taught English; she considers her writing "ability" a gift. Hard to believe. Even the poor grammatical syntactic editing were not well done -- not the worst, but not the best.

Exhausting, but great insight into deeply troubled characters who have been shaped by the Catholic Church and often poverty. The wonderful title has nothing to do with anything in the book, but I was determined to finish it, hoping that the connection would come and being entranced by the depth of insight into these deeply suffering and disturbed characters -- so much bitterness, anger, suffering, remorse, lack of forgiveness, violence, and occasional caring. I've never read better descriptions of a manipulative user and how people fall under his spell because of their own dreams ("this was Omar's power... in vying for his affection, each scrutinized the other, but never knew him" and "... hog-tying them with their own fears, hopes, and sins"). The author writes with deep awareness into the minds and behaviors of a hopeless alcoholic, slow-thinking people, the yearning for love even among the "lowliest" of the population, the insanity of the sexual prohibitions and other craziness in the Catholic church, the uselessness of mindless violence, and the emptiness of these people's lives. But aside from the main characters, the others in the story just sort of fade out, as guess as many people's lives do. The ending was a relief, but not satisfying, because too many questions were unanswered about characters I came to care about. And there were so many of them, that only a book this long could begin to help the reader remember who they were and make sense of them. Many of the sentences were long and mind-boggling, but represented the way people's minds can be overwhelmed with their thoughts. Some phrases I really liked were: The alcoholic finds himself "festering with so many of these amnesiac violations and humiliations.. like being stalked by his own maniacal twin." After a young woman succumbs to the sexual advances of a young priest, whom the Church considers mentally ill for giving in to his sexual urges, her mother speaks of "the vile one-sidedness of sex with the humiliation and suffering it caused a woman." About living in fear with secret thoughts or behaviors: "... this fragile duality: the devastating fear that everyone knew and the desperate need to believe that no one did."

Be prepared to have your heart wrenched when you read this incredibly believable story about a friendship between a white girl and a black girl in a small town in 1960s Alabama. Well-written and easy to read, it will renew your faith that all colors of people are worthwhile and can be devoted friends, and that race makes no distinction as to whether a person is hateful or loving, dishonest or honest, negative or positive, selfish or generous, ruled by fear or courageous... This little poem is from the book, and I think of it and reread it often: When you're feelin' like the sun's gone down on your head, I'll be there for you. And when the cold of life bleeds into your bones, I'll be there for you. Like evenin' comes and day comes, Like the shoes on your feet, I'll walk with you, I'll be there for you. Don't matter that my skin is brown, Don't matter that your eyes are green. Like these stones in my hand, I'll be there for you.

Most of these stories were written at a time when cats were not loved, acknowledged as sentient beings, or appreciated. They think it is funny to tease, mock, abuse, and kill cats. There may have been something different later in the book, but I gave up after the first few, because they were so disheartening.

A book this huge (973pp) has to be gripping for people to keep reading it, and this one definitely is. A combination of facts of history, politics, religion, poor vs. rich, famine, storms, wars, assassinations, and deeply emotional human relationships and aspirations, it has one of the best love stories I have ever read, one that realistically handles all sorts of severe challenges and persists even into the couple's 50s, where the story ends. I love the way Follett honors women as equal to or better than men: "... Women could do most of the things that men did. Who was left in charge when the men were fighting wars or going on crusades? There were women carpenters, dyers, tanners, bakers, and brewers... The duties of an abbess, running a nunnery, were exactly the same as those of an abbot..." His women have great strength, love, intelligence, independence, skill, knowledge, and determination. Set in the Middle Ages, the pace is walking, riding in horse-drawn carts, or horseback riding, and the book is like that. Even though it spans several decades, it always feels present, in the moment, and gratifying to sink into. The overpoweringly nasty machinations of the Catholic rulers, Kings, Earls, and others who cause extreme suffering and death so that they can have more wealth and power is disgusting and disheartening, especially when you realize that it has always been this way. At the same time, there are good people at every level of the hierarchies, and this is a morality tale of this seemingly eternal struggle. Aside from explaining more than I can understand or picture about the impossibly high cathedrals that humans amazingly built without modern machines, I learned SO much about England's history, which is significant because so many early immigrants to America were English, including my grandfather. I really appreciated the way Follett reminded us of past events in the story that we might forget because the book is so long, which he did by putting summaries into the spoken memories of the characters. Some of what you want to know will happen you don't find out until the very end, and as time runs out, you wonder if it ever will. But somehow, Follett manages to get it all in. And because the story is so informative, vivid, complex, thoughtful, suspenseful, stressful, exciting, and inspiring, I was never attempted to peek. Even if you don't care about cathedrals, this massive historical epic is educational in one of the best possible ways. It does what novels do best: bring people, places, and events to vivid life. It is as though the souls of these characters have come over the oceans, over the centuries, to touch some part of my mind and spirit forever.

It is hard for me to imagine the lives of these women in Martha's Vineyard and New York City, because I have never been to either place. But it didn't matter; once I got into the story, I was hooked. I found myself saying, "No, no," when I saw them making what seemed like bad choices, but I had to accept what they did, much like real life. As Blume went deeper into the psyches of these characters, their choices made more sense, and I got to see that my reflexive negative reaction could keep me from seeing the many possibilities in life, in understanding and supporting both others and myself. We all make choices that seem right at the time, and we experience their consequences, whatever they may be, and accepting that is part of the value of reading this book. The men that attract the teenage Caitlin and Victoria (Vix) would be very unattractive to me, but then, perhaps the men that I like would be unattractive to them. It is always interesting and mind-opening to see inside other people's lives, perhaps especially when they are so different from mine. It makes sense that Judy Blume would become a writer for adults; in a way, the children and teens of her early books are growing up.

I wrote about this before, and now I have more to say: I was stunned by the deep insight into the minds of both men and women in this book, and I loved the way the author makes the current teen with her special power a very modern and realistic teenager. The way Hoffman explores the challenging relationships between grandmother, mother, daughter, and the men in their lives, is quite moving and sometimes sad, especially when it isn't expressed until the end of someone's life. These women all have exceptional and unique talents that they acquire upon their 13th birthdays, such as smelling a lie, seeing other people's dreams, and seeing how people will die. How they live with these in society is part of the challenge of their lives, as is figuring out how to use their powers for good. The book also explores the "unofficial history" vs the official history of the town, looking at the ways these women affect the community beyond just facts, including the history of the persecution of "witches," one of the women's ancestors being one who died as one. Set in New England where witch hunting was severe, this story is completely believable in that respect. Hoffman's descriptions of the environment are poetic and vivid, and you can almost feel the ghosts of persecuted "witches" in the air. Hoffman says that she was trying to make some sense out of how unpredictable life and death are, to write about magic in the real world -- the possible and the probable future. I thought it was wonderful, and it made me want to heal the female relationships in my family, as well as nurture and express my own unique insights and abilities.

To me, the descriptions of the people and their homes,environments, lifestyles, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior -- from the unbelievably poor mountain people where the main character was born, to the town where she grew up, to the city where she travels -- are stunningly vivid and accurate, not unlike the sociological contrasts of today. I found myself caring deeply about nearly everyone in this book, and while the ending is rather heartbreaking, it is also touchingly believable. Wharton is expert at conveying the social norms by which people are pressured to live. Her stories provide insight into the late 1800s and early 1900s in New England, and therefore into the social norms that have influenced generations to come. Her integration of economic factors in her human relationship stories is realistic and honest. As with other works I have read by this author, I found the confusing use, misuse, and overuse of commas and semi-colons distracting. And it surprises me that someone with her deep social awareness refers so often to women as girls, and men as men. None of these drawbacks kept me from being engrossed in the story, though.

When I started reading this book, I thought the writing was almost poetic for a crime story, but it quickly deteriorated into a crime-filled romance novel where "true love" happens in a few weeks under highly unlikely conditions. True, it is suspenseful and hard to put down, even when you have a good idea about what is going to happen and the ending of the psychopath is fairly satisfying, but it was so disgusting, unbelievable, and full of hatred that I will never pick up another one of her books. For example, one of the key characters, a young woman hardened by years of sexual and physical abuse by her father, hates both him and her mother mercilessly. She hates her mother for being hardened by living with her abusive husband and there is never once any compassion for or awareness of this mother's pain. It is hard to believe that such a lovely young woman as this author appears in her jacket photo can be filled with such sickening images.

The story is somewhat sickening, with rather cruel punishment of the main characters coming together in an ironic way in the end. But this is a very interesting period piece set in the mountain villages of New England, perhaps in the late 1800s or early 1900s, Wharton's lifetime, and revealing the moral beliefs, harsh environment, and lives of the fairly poor... fatalistic lives in which they feel little choice. Even though I didn't exactly enjoy it, considering its bleakness at many levels, I couldn't put it down. It made me feel very grateful for my life, with so many freedoms and choices, and so much personal power compared to these characters. One thing that bothered me are the overuse, under-use, or misuse of commas and semi-colons, which are important to flow of the reading. I also saw that she used the still common but incorrect use of men and girls instead of men and women or boys and girls.

The story is somewhat sickening, with rather cruel punishment of the main characters coming together in an ironic way in the end. But this is a very interesting period piece set in the mountain villages of New England, perhaps in the late 1800s or early 1900s, Wharton's lifetime, and revealing the moral beliefs, harsh environment, and lives of the fairly poor... fatalistic lives in which they feel little choice. Even though I didn't exactly enjoy it, considering its bleakness at many levels, I couldn't put it down. It made me feel very grateful for my life, with so many freedoms and choices, and so much personal power compared to these characters.

I generally don't like science fiction, but I very much enjoyed this one. The characters, human, alien, and companion snakes, are believable, complex, and engaging; the complicated and hard to imagine science of the very far future seems as ordinary as catching a bus across town and relatively easy to understand; there are humor and affection threaded throughout the drama; and the story is interesting and exciting, with a very satisfying story line and ending. Plus, there are intelligent, thoughtful comments that raise the story from simple adventure to philosophical tale, such as, "When evaluating a sentient, you always have to get past appearance," and "Ignorance breeds hatred... education slays ignorance... knowledge is a more effective weapon than a gun." This book helps us view ourselves as aliens to beings from other worlds, which is quite illuminating. Highly recommended.

Alice Hoffman has some of the most intriguing ways of using words and presenting images that I have ever read. For example, "... how it would end, with snow and silence on a brilliant afternoon," and "... the truth... once again melting in Will's mouth... so that every word came out twisted in an odd, untrustworthy shape." Sometimes I keep going back and reading such phrases over and over, they are so gripping to me. The story takes place in current time, but goes back through several generations of the female side of the family, all the way back to when the first one was killed as a "witch," where each of the girls acquires a supernatural power on her 13th birthday, each one unique to that girl. In the story, there is only one girl born to each family, and for unexplained reasons, they apparently all keep the same matriarchal last name of Sparrow. This book has something of a thoughtful, dreamy quality, with interesting and vivid descriptions of the Boston area in both historical and present contexts, in environment, weather, buildings, people, flowers, and sky. Marie Claire magazine is quoted as saying, "Hoffman's ethereal tale of a family of women with supernatural gifts is a magical escape, grounded in the complex relationships between mothers and daughters." Forth Worth Star-Telegram says that Hoffman has "... a beautiful sense of sentence construction, an intriguing imagination, and the ability to create compelling, complex characters that readers care about." I can't say it any better.

Along with startlingly clear insight into and descriptions of family members, interactions, and dynamics, this story is like a huge punch in the gut about the possible unexpected traumas and agonies that will far outweigh the common daily irritations and disappointments that we so often mistakenly see as so important. It really puts one's values and focuses in perspective and helps us understand how people can keep on living when it seems like they can't. Value the present, love your family now; don't wait for it to be perfect, or you might miss your chance to love them while they are here.