1 to 10 of 10
Review Date: 6/21/2009
I read this book in just a few days since it was so interesting. It was hard to put down. The stories are about family secrets related to the Holocaust and are very well written. They slowly develop and give you a little more information on each page. Highly recommended.
Review Date: 12/30/2008
Helpful Score: 3
I enjoyed this clever short detective story. The writing was excellent and I read this story more slowly than I would usually read so that I could better appreciate Chabon's style.
Review Date: 12/10/2008
Helpful Score: 1
This book is comprised of two short unrelated novels. The stories were interesting but what I really enjoyed was the author's use of language. The sentences are long and wordy so I was forced to read more slowly but that made the experience more enjoyable. I have ordered another one of her books because I like her writing style so much.
Review Date: 10/8/2008
Helpful Score: 2
It took me quite a while to get through this book. I enjoyed reading it but, at times, the plot seemed a bit convoluted. I liked the writing style and many images from the book have stayed with me after finishing it several months ago. I was interested by the social and political observations of the author as seen through the Arab and Israeli characters.
Review Date: 11/18/2008
This book is made up of stories from the different character's points of view. At the end, it all comes together. It's very moving and speaks to issues about family, religion, lost opportunities... I really enjoyed it.
Review Date: 1/26/2009
Helpful Score: 1
Moving memoir of a woman coming to terms with her past and where she wants to go in her future, in terms of her spirituality. She is Jewish and is slowly becoming more observant. She spends time with her mother in law and learns her recipes. The recipes are included in the book and the stories behind them make them even better. She really weighs the benefits of the changes she is making in her life, especially how it will effect her children and how she wants them to grow up and carry on traditions. I found her views on what it means to be a mother to be insightful and feeling.
Review Date: 4/27/2009
Helpful Score: 1
This was really an interesting book. I read it in a few days and kept picking it up again throughout the day and thinking about the characters. It's not for someone who wants to read a traditional story, as it has a few different storylines going on at the same time and the resolutions are not cut and dry. The writing was excellent though and at times I almost felt like I was in the desert oasis with the main character.
Review Date: 11/26/2008
Helpful Score: 1
This memoir isn't all about being raised IN a restaurant as I had originally thought, but actually about the author's family. More than anything, you can see how she loved them and was able to show how each was unique and interesting in his or her own way.
The writing is also humorous. The reader learns what it was like to be part of a family who has been in the restaurant business for many generations. Each chapter is about a different family member. I really enjoyed it.
The writing is also humorous. The reader learns what it was like to be part of a family who has been in the restaurant business for many generations. Each chapter is about a different family member. I really enjoyed it.
Review Date: 11/25/2008
Helpful Score: 2
This book gave me a glimpse into a world that I didn't know existed. In this memoir, the author allows the reader to feel what it is like to live as a woman and a Jew in Iran during the time of her childhood. Women were married very young, not allowed to make their own decisons and lived in the same house with their extended families.
The family relationships were also very interesting, both between the men and women and the women themselves. The author loves her family very much but is also trying to be her own person and live the life she wants. This causes a lot of conflict, both internally for her and in the relationships with her family.
The family relationships were also very interesting, both between the men and women and the women themselves. The author loves her family very much but is also trying to be her own person and live the life she wants. This causes a lot of conflict, both internally for her and in the relationships with her family.
Review Date: 1/5/2009
Helpful Score: 2
These are really excellent short stories. Not uplifting but very well written and they stay with you after you read them. The author is working on a novel now and I'm looking forward to its being published.
1 to 10 of 10
