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• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Doris Lessing

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Tags: 7

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Description: An interesting book, an interesting idea, and interesting tale... but I will damn it with "faintAn interesting book, an interesting idea, and interesting tale... but I will damn it with "faint praise," as they say. Sometimes I get dishearted by the amount of merely okay books that I read, when I know that there are too many really good ones out there for me to read in a lifetime....

2008-08-24

 

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Alice Mcdermott

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Description: Just another popular fiction book... competent in writing, theme, content but that's notJust another popular fiction book... competent in writing, theme, content but that's not what made you start loving books as a child, now is it? No cohesive plot....

2007-12-10

 

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Garrison Keillor

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Tags: 7

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Description: Keillor tries a little too hard to be funny-- and it is funny, but it's spoiled by that.Keillor tries a little too hard to be funny-- and it is funny, but it's spoiled by that. A story of a man who it is easy to sympathize with, but hard to like. ...

2007-12-10

 

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Karen Stoltz

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Tags: 6

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Description: A small, happy work, one which could bridge the gap between two sisters-- one who read onlyA small, happy work, one which could bridge the gap between two sisters-- one who read only supermarket romances, and the other who reads only literature. Neither would be entirely 100% excited about the book, but they would both get through it. Some interesting anecdotes in this book, many just too... normal. ...

2007-12-10

  & 7 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Ha Jin

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Tags: 7

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Description: Waiting allows us a realistic glimpse into other lives. The reader because so caught up inWaiting allows us a realistic glimpse into other lives. The reader because so caught up in the character's lives that we feel both their pain and numbness. In the end, we too are left wondering "Why?" and that is where we see the connection with our own lives. We are always yearning towards something we don't have, berating ourselves for not yet having reached the place in life that we would like, yet we are most truely happy when we are not worrying. Can we forget all that? This book accurately portrays not just actions and inactions but the thoughts behind them. and this, it seems, takes up the bulk of our energy....

2007-12-10

  & 3 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Janet Fitch

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Tags: 8

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Description: I read this book as a teenager and remember liking it a lot. The protagonist is a dynamic character,I read this book as a teenager and remember liking it a lot. The protagonist is a dynamic character, stuff happens (has actual plot) , her tyrannical mother is portrayed realistically. Recommend ...

2007-11-18

  & 1 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Charles de Lint

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Tags: 3

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Description: Alice Hoffman is quoted on the front cover of this book. What does she say? "No one doesAlice Hoffman is quoted on the front cover of this book. What does she say? "No one does it better." Does what better? Pander sickeningly off his fan base and his own known name so that he can make more money? Well, yes, then no one does it better. This book is thoroughly unimaginative, even boring. There are no real interesting plot twists because you know how it is going to end... and it does end that way, rest assured. If you want to know what happens, find a plot synopsis online, it will waste a lot less time than actually reading the book yourself. A drag....

2007-11-18

 

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Type: fiction

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Author: Kim Stafford

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Tags: 1

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Description: This book is an absolute waste of time and money. It is pretty amazing that these kinds ofThis book is an absolute waste of time and money. It is pretty amazing that these kinds of books get published in the first place-- where the egocentric writer proceeds to tell you all about himself, loaded with lots of crap and nothing truly practical. Perhaps some might see inspiration, but others, like myself, see right through that to someone who is just writing to see himself read, the authorly equivalent of someone who talks to hear his own voice. Perhaps Stafford has a deep inner need to be validated, and thought writing this book would make that happen. I don't really know, but I do know that I do not like this book....

2007-11-18

  & 3 users

• Current

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Chitra Divakaruni

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Tags: 9

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Description: I read this book as a teenager. I remember loving the lyrical prose, the story itself, andI read this book as a teenager. I remember loving the lyrical prose, the story itself, and wishing the book would go on longer. ...

2007-11-18

 

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Type: fiction

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Status: —

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Author: Ursula Hegi

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Tags: 7

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Description: In order to propel herself out of her stifling childhood home, the protagonist, Julia, stockpilesIn order to propel herself out of her stifling childhood home, the protagonist, Julia, stockpiles the hurts of her life to fuel her leaving. It works, and even as an adult, Julia does not return. Finally, when she is pregnant, she confronts her family and her own memories-- finding that neither are truly what she thought they were. Julia finds that although she tried to severe connections with her past, it is still a part of her. As she comes to terms with this, she finds how hard it is to look at someone and see who they truly are. Often we see only our own connection to them. A moving story, worth a read, and yet the mechanism that Hegi uses to tie the story together-- the overarching metaphor of "salt dancers," is weak and almost superfluous. ...

2007-11-18