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  & 9 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Description: Poetic, gripping and complex, but somehow still lighthearted and joyful--this book is not toPoetic, gripping and complex, but somehow still lighthearted and joyful--this book is not to be missed....

2008-02-27

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: now reading

Author: Michael Gruber

2007-06-08

  & 9 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Marisha Pessl

Tags: school literary coming_of_age academia intelligentsia

Description: Erudite, amusing book on a teenager's unusual upbringing and relationship with her evenErudite, amusing book on a teenager's unusual upbringing and relationship with her even more unusual father. The novel starts out weird, gets mildly more easy to identify with, and by the end, is riveting. Highly recommended, but may not appeal to all. -EEB...

2007-06-08

  & 2 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Julian Barnes

Tags: british england historical crime race britain justice punishment authors edwardian figures historical_

Description: The developing story of George, a young man growing up destined to be an outsider in EnglishThe developing story of George, a young man growing up destined to be an outsider in English society, and Arthur, a doctor whose fantasies start to pay the bills. To say more would be to give it away; all in all, a struggle for identity all around. Excellent. High recommendations. -EEB...

2007-03-12

  & 1 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: liked

Author: Tracy Chevalier

Tags: women history art religion france historical catholic protestant ancestors genealogy

Description: In this, her first novel, Chevalier strikes a significantly more preternatural chord than herIn this, her first novel, Chevalier strikes a significantly more preternatural chord than her subsequent ventures in a dual-voiced narrative about a woman and her ancestors. The result is a decidedly rougher novel with less oil-painted historical ambiance and, perhaps, less grace as well. Those who find a bit of fanciful otherworldliness a welcome addition to another historical novel may enjoy The Virgin Blue more than some of Chevalier's more successful work. Others may see why the later novels are the more lauded. --EEB...

2006-09-04

  & 5 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: now reading

Author: Jennifer Egan

Description: Currently reading

2006-09-02

  & 2 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Alice Hoffman

Tags: supernatural death coming_of_age teenage academia ghost boarding_school class_issues social_structure

Description: This, the first novel I'd read by Alice Hoffman, proved to be a strange marriage of a realistThis, the first novel I'd read by Alice Hoffman, proved to be a strange marriage of a realist venture into small-town life and a gothic ghost tale. The conflicts in its pages run the gamut between the Haddan boarding school and the town of Haddan, the life with one man or the life with another, and the fine line teenagers walk when they are choosing between self and represented self.

Although the ending is, like the rest of the tome, odd, this book gets my high recommendations....

2006-09-02

  & 3 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: I recommend

Author: Michel Faber

Tags: women british england victorian 19th_century prostitutes

Description: The first of a trifecta of historical novels about English prostitutes that I review, The CrimsonThe first of a trifecta of historical novels about English prostitutes that I review, The Crimson Petal and the White is probably also the most entertaining. Written in somewhat ironic fashion, the book is a little long-winded (and just long) but highly recommended in its subject. The whole sordid sub-genre can become grim and tiresome after awhile and I suggest only reading one at a time...if it must be one, let it be this one. Interesting vignettes include some of a cathouse and some on a 19th-century perfumery. Recommended. --Erin E. Betters...

2006-07-09

  & 4 users

• Current

Type: fiction

Status: disliked

Author: Johanna Lindsey

Tags: history fiction romance england historical

Description: What a surprise...I picked this up thinking it was straight historical fiction lit, but itWhat a surprise...I picked this up thinking it was straight historical fiction lit, but it turns out to be squarely plopped in the romance genre. Not my thing, but it wasn't as bad as I always believed romances to be. Though silly and trite, the characters were interesting and it could've gone somewhere. Not recommended by me, but if you like romance, this could be a good one to check out. --Erin E. Betters...

2006-07-09

  & 3 users

• Current

Type: fiction fiction

Status: neutral neutral

Authors: Emma Donoghue Emma Donoghue

Tags: british 18th historical, England, Century, prostitute, women history british england historical 18th_Century prostitute

Description: The third of a trifecta of historical novels about English prostitutes which I will review,The third of a trifecta of historical novels about English prostitutes which I will review, Slammerkin is perhaps the most self-aware and perhaps the one I enjoyed the least. As with The Dress Lodger, Slammerkin doesn't lie about the harsh realities of life in its time period; whereas The Crimson Petal and the White shows upper-class life at its most lighthearted, Slammerkin dwells on the bleakness of the lower and middle classes, with rare glimpses of the aristocracy. For me, this was too dour without reward. Those not hoping for the occasional lighthearted breath of air will not find it here. Although I can't criticize this as a novel, it's not what I was looking for. --Erin E. Betters...

2006-07-09