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Lauren T. (LaurenTW) - , - Reviews

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The Ambler Warning (Audio CD) (Abridged)
The Ambler Warning (Audio CD) (Abridged)
Author: Robert Ludlum, Scott Sowers (Narrator)
Book Type: Audio CD
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 23
Review Date: 4/16/2007
Helpful Score: 2


Intriguing, exciting and fast-paced --- true to the Ludlum style. Lots of twists and unexpected revelations. Had to sit in my garage and listen to the last of it on my car's CD player --- couldn't wait for the ending!


The Artistic Cat (Miniature Editions)
The Artistic Cat (Miniature Editions)
Author: Running Press
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
 7
Review Date: 6/11/2007
Helpful Score: 1


Delightful little book sure to please any cat and/or art lover. Perfect add-on gift or stocking-stuffer. Very nice quality images.


Bad Dirt Wyoming Stories 2
Bad Dirt Wyoming Stories 2
Author: Annie Prouix
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.8/5 Stars.
 6
Review Date: 5/7/2007
Helpful Score: 3


Great follow-up to Close Range -- Annie Proulx at her best. Once again we get to meet some quirky characters and some every day folks from the West, just living life the way they do...simply, honestly and with the strength and wiles necessary to survive in this rough part of the counrty.


Birds of Pennsylvania Field Guide, Second Edition
Birds of Pennsylvania Field Guide, Second Edition
Author: Stan Tekiela
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 8/4/2014


Gorgeous, full-page close - up photos. Includes comparisons and clarifications between lookalike birds, tidbits and facts, 117 common species and PA range map and a CD containing songs and calls of each bird. You can even look up birds by color group! Best bird book I have ever owned.


The Book For People Who Do Too Much
The Book For People Who Do Too Much
Author: Bradley Trevor Greive
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 30
Review Date: 3/5/2008


One of those cute self-help books that tell you really common sense things but which you never seem to get around to doing! Was a quick read. Great photos.


Charming Billy
Charming Billy
Author: Alice McDermott
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 178
Review Date: 6/10/2008
Helpful Score: 1


Excellent, excellent writing style. This author is amazing. Her attention to detail enables you to feel like you're right there with the characters with every head nod, facial expression, clearing of the throat...you get the idea. I couldn't stop reading this, anxious to see how Billy's life unfolded and how it affected all those he met along the way. Get it --- read it!


The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories (Hardscrabble Books)
Review Date: 7/6/2012


This was a delightful read which did not take more than a couple of lazy afternoons. I did get distracted by reading the lengthy intorduction, so suggest that in this edition, you skip that part written by Sarah Way Sherman. Otherwise, it was such a lovely book with colorful characters, thoughtful narrative and beautiful imagery. You can almost hear the native Maine dialect come thru the pages as you read about the author's involvement in the little coastal community.


Crossing to Safety
Crossing to Safety
Author: Wallace Stegner
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 18
Review Date: 3/30/2013
Helpful Score: 1


I could not stand being away from this book even for a few hours. I had read an excerpt from this book years ago, loved the author and put this book on my wishlist. Now that I have read the whole book, I am so glad I did. This author shares every gesture, facial expression, spoken word and behavior in the most actual and genuine way I have ever experienced while reading any book, past or present. I can't wait to "wishlist" more of his novels. I highly recommend you read this!


Elsewhere
Elsewhere
Author: Richard Russo
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 15
Review Date: 11/29/2016


I love Richard Russo's novels. I thought it might be nice to delve into HIS life for a different viewpoint and exploration into the life of an author. He has really done a fine job of writing about himself without seeming like he's writing about himself. Now I understand how he so easily develops his novel characters. This book is a joy to read: enlightening, entertaining, bittersweet and full of family issues that are dealt with realistically and not without guilt. Definitely recommend this book -- it's a quick read and hard to put down.


Eventide (Plainsong, Bk 2)
Eventide (Plainsong, Bk 2)
Author: Kent Haruf
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 79
Review Date: 9/16/2007
Helpful Score: 2


Well, I thought it couldn't get any better than Plainsong, but here it is! I could not put this book down until I was done reading about the continuation of Victoria and the McPerhon brothers. This is an outstanding book by an author I've added to my favorites. I am hoping and praying for a sequel. These characters just have to be getting on with their lives somewhere, and I want to read about it!


Expensive People
Expensive People
Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 3/9/2009


If you are yearning for more JCO from the early years, you will love reading the four she penned about her critiques of America -- American culture, American values, American dreams. This quartet begins with 'A Garden of Earthly Delights', continues with 'Expensive People', on to 'Them' and concludes with 'Wonderland'. In her own words, JCO states that "Expensive People, with its climactic episode of self-destructive violence, was perceived as an expression of the radical discontent, the despair, the bewilderment and outrage of a generation of young and idealistic Americans confronted by an America of their elders so steeped in political hypocrisy and cynicism as to seem virtually irremediable except by the most extreme means." Oates has an eye for minute details, nuances in her characters' expressions and actions, and develops her protagonist in such a way that I was actually rooting for him to succeed. Classic JCO!


Family First
Family First
Author: Dr. Phil McGraw
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 5/7/2007
Helpful Score: 1


The best Dr. Phil has to offer about raising children in this day and age where kids are bombarded from every side by bad influences. Very real scenarios outlined and practical, easy to apply advice given in an easy to follow plan. Very insightful and plain good old fashioned advice. Your kids will be better for it, and your family will reap the benefits.


Feels Like Far: A Rancher's Life on the Great Plains
Feels Like Far: A Rancher's Life on the Great Plains
Author: Linda M. Hasselstrom
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 7/18/2015


I was really looking forward to reading this book, as I loved the two books to which the author contributed as editor. However, the first half was spent mostly on bragging and self-praise and the needless killing of animals including a grotesque description of the drawn-out killing of a sick cow who suffered for hours through attempted and botched attempts at shooting it to death by the author in her youth. The parts of the book concerning the author's relationships, especially with a father succumbing to dementia were superb, well-written and thought-provoking. The author's style of writing and use of descriptive techniques is also excellent. I just can't get past the disappointing first half of the book enough to give it a better rating.


The God of Animals (Audio CD) (Unabridged)
The God of Animals (Audio CD) (Unabridged)
Author: Aryn Kyle, Lily Rabe (Narrator)
Book Type: Audio CD
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 15
Review Date: 4/16/2008
Helpful Score: 2


Extremely well-written and insightful. Unfortunately around horses, bad things happen, but the author does not dwell on these events -- they are part of what makes up the main characters and necessary to the story line. The narrator was excellent, the novel was amazing, and I highly recommend this. Anxiously awaiting more works by this author!


The Grass is Singing (P.S.)
The Grass is Singing (P.S.)
Author: Doris Lessing
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 5
Review Date: 7/2/2014
Helpful Score: 1


Outstandingly written novel. Riveting, deeply moving and so realistic you could reach out and touch the characters from your armchair. Lessing does a marvelously inventive job delving into the very soul of the matter at hand; twisting, soaring, diving, intertwining and exposing all that the soul does its best to keep hidden from each other and from themselves. You will pick this book up and not set it down again until finished, and you will want more.


Home Safe
Home Safe
Author: Elizabeth Berg
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 100
Review Date: 8/14/2010


Very good Berg novel and an easy read. Nice twists and turns!


In a Sunburned Country
In a Sunburned Country
Author: Bill Bryson
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 295
Review Date: 9/1/2014


I had read Bill Bryson's book "Down Under" and enjoyed it so very much with all his witticisms, history, travel info, blunders and adventures that I thought I'd read this other book about Australia. Imagine my surprise when "In a Sunburned Country" turned out to be an alternate name for "Down Under"!! Read it again just for a second round of enjoyment.


Late Nights on Air
Late Nights on Air
Author: Elizabeth Hay
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 5
Review Date: 10/18/2009
Helpful Score: 4


This book blew me away. The descriptive prose, the character development, the unexpected plot direction.... I would highly recommend this in a heartbeat. Hay's descriptions of northern Canada make you feel like you are right there seeing the caribou, bears, birds, tree lines, bodies of water and expansive tundra. Who would expect that a book that takes place in a radio station in the hinterlands could hold its readers so captive? The adventure into the wild tundra to follow the trail of an Arctic explorer of yesteryear is amazing and engrossing, and you will find yourself with no preconceived expectations about the transformation of the lives of the characters or their final life choices. This book has GOT to be made into a movie.


The Literary Cat: Quips, Quotes, and Observations (Miniature Edition)
Review Date: 6/11/2007
Helpful Score: 2


Lovely little sayings relating to cats. Witty and charming, a cute little book suitable as a stocking stuffer or a small thinking-of-you gift.


Making Peace in Your Stepfamily
Making Peace in Your Stepfamily
Author: Harold H. Bloomfield
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 5/5/2007
Helpful Score: 1


This is a valuable hands-on type of book -- the author reviews almost every type of scenario that comes up and gives practical advice on how to handle the situtaion. Included are how to handle discipline, money, rules, family meetings and tips on how to keep your marriage strong throughout the inevitable trials and tests of a blended family.


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