I started reading this book for a group read, there are 31 chapters and the goal was one chapter per day ending on Halloween but I couldn't restrain myself and just had to keep reading. On first inspection the cover looks like a children's book but don't be mislead, the writing goes a lot deeper then you expect. The story is told from a dogs point of view which I thought at first was going to be really stupid and the majority of the characters come from "old" horror movies with some actual real characters thrown in. Some how it just all clicks together and you get a really good story!
Roger Zelazny is a very creative writer his style of writing is fun, witty and extremely entertaining. A great book for a Halloween read!
This book probably isn't the best choice if your interested in learning more about Pearl S. Buck's early life in China.First of all the author's style of writing is a bit annoying the putting of words into the character's mouth's instead of letting them think or speak for themselves was rather tiring. And to be honest I didn't care much for the character of "Willow" the fictional friend of Pearl Buck who narrates this story. Off and on through out the whole book her and the other characters just didn't seem believable enough for me. Also as other reviewers mentioned this story seems more about "Willow" with bits and pieces of Pearl S. Buck thrown in.
On the positive side the book does give some historical insights into China's struggle for Christianity and the atrocities of Mao Zedong's policies.
But I still came away feeling like the author could have done a better job.
I just absolutely love Zafon's style of writing and he really knows how to tell a great story. Unfortunately I didn't quite like The Angel's Game as well as I enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind. There was some strange elements added to the plot that were never fully explained and didn't seem to go any where and I kept waiting for an answer but never got one. And I just can't quite come to terms with the ending, Corelli returns David's love of his life Cristina to him in the form of a little girl that he's going to take care of until she's old enough to be his wife/lover? Some how that just seems so wrong.
But over all I did enjoy the story and look forward to reading the third book in this series The prisoner of Heaven to see how all three books tie in together.
Not a bad collection of short stories a little creepy but not scary. I can say I did enjoy reading this horror collection better then Stephen King's [b:Full Dark, No Stars|10639261|Full Dark, No Stars|Stephen King|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347374104s/10639261.jpg|11067830].
A very cute, lite read that will have you laughing and nodding your head in agreement with author Sara Nelson. A self described "readaholic" attempts to read 52 books one book per week for a year. She writes about her journey of self discovery on how she tries to stick to a predetermined list. After reading this book I feel good knowing that I'm not the only one who finds trying to stick to a reading list useless. :)
I also own the The Secret Language of Birthdays: Personology Profiles for Each Day of the Year this one goes into how compatible your relationships are. Both are fun to read.
I bought it during my astrology/tarot card phase it's a pretty cool book fun to look up friends and family's birthday's and compare personality profiles.
My personal belief is that some books wait for us to come along and discover them they lie quietly, patiently, waiting for years maybe for the correct moment in our lives to be found. This book is one of them for me. I'll admit if I was to have read this book say 20 years ago I probably would not have enjoyed it so much or been able to appreciate the philosophical deepness of it. This book felt like it had waited for me to pick it up at just the right moment. I don't think I have ever read a book that has touched me in such a personal way as this one has.
Madame Wu lives in two worlds one of the "old ways" and yet she is a very modern thinker of the new. When I first started reading this story I felt a little put off by Madame Wu and how she strived to be so perfect so in control of everything she did. For the first time ever I actually felt a little jealous over a fictional character. I have read a lot of books that made me feel many emotions but never envy. She had me stopping and thinking as to how I measured up as a wife and mother and maybe as a human being in general. As the story progresses we begin to see the real person that Madame Wu is she has reached the age of 40 and now she feels that she wants her time to do what she wants to do. She's done with bearing children and keeping her husband entertained and happy she's done her duty running a household and keeping everything in order and everyone satisfied. She wants a life of her own she wants to feel free to read books and to be herself and do the things she was never able to do.
And so begins her plan if I can make everybody happy in the family then they will all go off into their own worlds and leave me alone to be in mine. Madame Wu was torn with a tough decision as to what to do about her husband if she continued to have sex with him she could find herself pregnant past forty. She also knew that if she refused him he'd just go down to the local flower house and take care of it himself so she makes a drastic decision against her friends and family's opinions and decides on a concubine. Will just fix Mr. Wu up with a nice girl of my choosing and then after everything settles down I can start my life or at least that's how the plan was suppose to work out.
Slowly disaster after disaster arises and the family is thrown into chaos. She starts to study with Brother Andre a tutor she hired for her third son and he opens up her mind to a whole new way of thinking. Madame Wu comes to fully realize the complicated bonds between men and women are not so easily arranged and maybe in a way men and women are not so different, that we all need to feel love and be happy to achieve our highest potential.
With wit, humor and layer upon layer of thought provoking dialogue author Pearl S. Buck is able to transcend time between the past and the present. This story makes you look at the relationships between men and women with a whole new appreciation.
I decided to read this book because it kept appearing on my GR recommendations list and because I had never read a book about Hawaii before.For the most part I found it an enjoyable and enlightening read even though at times it did feel like it "dragged" on a bit. Rachel Kalama is sent to the Island of Moloka'i at age eight when she is discovered to have Leprosy, the novel covers 60 years of her life there as we watch her grow up and grow old until she is finally "paroled" and allowed to leave the island.
The novel offers a very interesting view of Hawaii in the 1890's the stigma of Leprosy and the hardships the residents of Kalaupapa endured as an isolated Leper colony. The author's style of writing is smooth an not weighed down with overly descriptive passages. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
A great story based on true events. I am acquainted with the area that they traveled and I am just blown away that they chose to walk 1,300 miles through that rough terrain. Even though I am not a believer in the Mormon faith I definitely admire the courage and strength of these early pioneer men and women.This was my first Sandra Dallas book and I totally enjoyed it she has the ability to make you feel a whole spectrum of emotions. I would say this book is probably not for everyone she brings up the polygamy that these people practiced and she does not show the church leaders in the best of light but considering this tale is about the converts of this religion and how the Mormon Missionaries convinced these people to under go this journey I really don't see how she could not touch upon the religious aspects to show why these people were willing to suffer as they did to get to Zion. I look forward to reading more from this author.
This is one of the best books I've ever read! I absolutely adored the characters they were sharp, witty and very likeable. There's tons of back story which I found myself wonderfully lost in. This book made me smile. Carlos Ruiz Zafon really knows how to tell a good story. I look forward to reading more from this author.
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This book was sickening! I'm not sure how to rate it. If your looking for shock value I would say it's 5 stars, I found it 1 star entertaining, so to be fair I'm going to give it a 3 and no I won't be watching the movie!
Its a beautifully written book with lots of poetic words built on surreal imagery. I love looking at surreal imagery but reading about it drains me and I'm not sure why. I thought I was going to love this book, I at least loved the idea it was built on, a sexually transmitted city (wow!) but too many flowery words just kept slowing me down and I had to take a break every couple of chapters.The actual story is dark and depressing the characters have desperate personalities and you don't really get to connect with them. The author drowns the reader in soo much vivid imagery and dream scenes that it's hard to stay concentrated on the actual story line, which by the way was not very strong. Almost all the chapters either start or end in a sexual encounter when the characters themselves figure out that this is how you are transported to the city even they do not seem to enthused about it. They start to treat it as something one has to do to get there and lets get this over with as quickly as possible. I can't say I totally disliked this book but I was glad when it was over with.
