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Review Date: 8/27/2009
This was a fantastic book. I love Anna Quindlen, and this was a different sort of story for her. I read it in a day because I could NOT put it down. She expertly and deftly describes the terror, the self-loathing, the disbelief in one's own self that leads a woman to stay in an abusive relationship. She also accurately describes what it is like to finally leave. I recommend this book to anyone and would put it on a reading list for adolescent girls as well!
Review Date: 5/19/2009
Helpful Score: 4
If you've ever encountered someone like the man in this book, you will get chills up and down your spine! The things this poor woman endured in order to preserve her relationship and the courage she showed in order to finally get out of it is amazing. Powerful message!
Review Date: 12/15/2010
Helpful Score: 1
I cannot say enough about this book - it is raw, well-written and effectively one of the best books I have read in a long time. The facts that it's Palahniuk's first work, and that it began as a short story are surprising and make it all the more enjoyable! If you've seen the movie, do not doubt for a second that this book far surpasses what the directors were trying to portray on-screen! It's amazing and wonderful and I will most absolutely hang on to my copy and read it again.
Review Date: 5/27/2009
Helpful Score: 1
If you didn't read this in high school or college, read it now! For me, this story is the life of a farmer who is born poor and, until the very end, desires so much more of his life and for his family - including his wife, who is long-suffering and regal in her misery. It is a story of heartache and triumph, of slight and might - and in the end, it is the story of any place, time or people. I suppose you could call that timeless, although it doesn't quite fit here. Well-written and full of wisdom hidden in the struggles the farmer faces, I would recommend this book to anyone, young or old.
Review Date: 6/12/2009
Helpful Score: 3
This is a fantastic book - a book not just about slavery, but about the lives of people, black and white, and the concessions they make in their lives to suit the times, the ways of the South, and the little bit of world that they know. I have not read a book that resounds with such clarity as this work about the lives of slaves, black and white slave owners, and the people who just simply know that things should change but seem powerless to initiate it. A sometimes dark and sad tome, but always interesting and written in such a way as to jump from present to past to future seamlessly. I loved it and recommend it to anyone who wants a good read. I also recommend it for anyone who has any doubt that prejudism was and still is a cyclical legacy, passed on from generation to generation, even among those who were the most oppressed.
Review Date: 8/27/2009
Helpful Score: 1
Jodi Picoult does it again. Touching on subjects that are difficult from any side, Jodi Picoult takes on school shootings - from all perspectives. And does a great job, too. I read some reviews that were angry at her for "taking a shooter's side" but I didn't get the impression at all that this was her take on the issue - I did understand that she was trying to answer the one question everyone asks when such a tragedy occurs: WHY? I loved it, it was difficult at times to read about children being killed, but at the same time it was very eye-opening to realize that this is what is happening at our children's schools and social situations, and I really recommend it to anyone who has school age children or has been bullied or even just likes a good read. A+
Review Date: 6/4/2009
Helpful Score: 1
I began reading this to my 2-year-old preschool group years ago, and it was always their favorite. Not only is it great to begin associating children with "sight words" but it is also a great book for children who are asserting their independence and hear that dreaded "No"! The ending is sweet and satisfying, and the illustrations are funny and depict a curious, devilish little boy who is exploring, and shaking up, the world around him. My little boy loved this book when he was small and my little girl loves it too. I recommend it for all parents! Even the smallest toddler will have it memorized before they recognize the sight words!
Review Date: 6/20/2009
Oh, what can I say about this book? I am so glad that I finally read this after all these years. Those that only saw the movie are missing out if they think that is all there is to this story. Told from the viewpoint of "Big Chief", this book incites internal riot, satisfaction, melancholy, anger, laughter, disbelief, understanding and finally, peace. I loved it, will never forget it and am so happy that I finally read it.
Review Date: 8/1/2009
Helpful Score: 1
It took me a little while to start enjoying this book, but when it happened, it happened well! Not Morrison's usual novel that immediately engages you with the ability to idientify with her characters, this book starts out with a dark image of murder and transitions to disturbing history of a town that really isn't. It brings up many interesting subjects about seclusion, moral compass and to whose or by what should you set yours, political freedoms that are tied to morality and so much more. Very good, in the end, if you can get over the expectations of Morrison's other works. I liked it and it is an important work, so therefore I recommend it.
Review Date: 6/8/2009
This is one of the most touching and beautiful stories I have read in a very long time! The connection between the women, then bees and the heartache that life brings all are brought together with such beauty and in such an achingly painful way that anyone who has gone through any sort of pain at all in life will identify. I recommend this to people from pre-teen to 99! It is a story of loss, of hope, and of learning that anger is not strength, but that turning loss, pain and anger into a love and understanding that can be sent back into the world is the true strength that lies in every woman's heart. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Review Date: 5/16/2009
Helpful Score: 1
Although long, this book is fabulous! I love King's narrative voice in many of his novels, but the ever-changing of the characters' points of view in this novel and King's way of developing and evolving them is brilliant at the very least. Let's not forget, too, that the plot is fascinating and well, let's just say, frightening because it's plausible with the exception of "the Walkin' Dude". This is a must-read - I have read it again and again over the years, and I still love it!!!
Review Date: 8/11/2009
Helpful Score: 3
This book is one of the best I've ever read - 4 times. It is hard at first to pick up a book about rabbits. Rabbits? Well, I can assure you, this book is about so much more than just rabbits. It is a very well-crafted story of striking out into the unknown because staying would be worse, and carving your niche into the world with people (or rabbits) you can count on by your side. It is about society, politics, fear, love and control. It is about all of these things and more, and yes, it is also about rabbits. If there is only one book you pick up that you are unsure of, make it this one. I guarantee you will find it as amazing as I did!
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