ralovesbooks's reviews
1431 reviews

Would recommend: Probably not, but almost everyone I know has already read this one anyway

This was my first John Grisham novel, and it was an interesting experience in that I really wanted to know what happened in the end, but I was so bored on the way there. I felt like there was so much superfluous action and character development; I just wanted them to get on with it already. I'm just glad I didn't read this before I was called to jury duty because I would have been paranoid.

Would recommend: Maybe

I liked this book well enough. The background stories behind the book in question, the Sarajevo haggadah, were interesting to read, and I enjoyed seeing the links get fleshed out. I was annoyed, however, that I began to know more than the main character, and then the ending ruined it for me. I thought it came out of nowhere, and it didn't add much value to the overall plotline. There are strong themes here, but the execution seemed clumsy. I'm disappointed because I really liked March, which is by Geraldine Brooks as well.

Would recommend: No

Such a disappointment after A Girl Named Zippy! I loved the essays about the author's mom so much --- how she figured out how to go to college, get a driver's license, get a master's degree, get a teaching job --- but all of the other stuff was just filler to me. If the whole thing had been about the mother, I think I would have loved it, but everything else dragged. It took me way too long to finish this one.

Would recommend: Probably not

I liked Graceling, the first book from this author and this series (although Fire is a prequel, so it's a little confusing with chronology), until the ending, where the pacing went all crazy. In this companion, I thought the pacing was much better, but the characters didn't resonate with me. The plot twisted and turned so much that I felt like I was watching some kind of medieval-fantasy soap opera; it felt really contrived. Maybe I just miss Katsa, the main character from Graceling, but Fire was not as interesting a heroine to me. Sure, it's a page-turner, and entertaining enough, but I didn't find it compelling.

Would recommend: Maybe

I expected this account of the author's grief over her husband's sudden death to be really wrenching, but she was more displaced and clinical than weeping and keening. In a way, it was startling, but also mildly comforting, because I could relate to her pragmatic confrontation with the facts: she read scientific studies, examined the autopsy report, etc. That's not to say that the narrative is cold or unfeeling; it's more that the author demonstrates how disoriented grief rendered her -- the "magical thinking" in the title.

Throughout the book, she repeats certain lines that resonated with her ("You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends."), and I think this device could be irritating to some, but for me, it illustrated the wavelike properties of grief and illustrated how she was revisiting the same types of thoughts as she processed everything.

Overall, I think this book was very thought-provoking, but not necessarily earth-shattering. I wouldn't recommend reading it immediately after a loss, but then, as this author contends, there is no time after a death that does not seem immediate.

Would recommend: Maybe, as a novelty

I love David Sedaris's other books, so this holiday one was a relative disappointment. Sure, the first piece about being a Christmas elf is very entertaining, and each piece has its zinger lines, but on the whole, I found it disjointed and disorienting.

Would recommend: Probably not

The good things about this book included the elaborate detail, focused description, and character development. I appreciated the author's effort to flesh out the characters and make them deep and round, but unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one. Everything it had in frills and flourishes it lacked in plot. I found the middle section dull and the ending wholly unsatisfying. Sigh. I really wanted to like this one. I'll still give the movie a try, though.

Would recommend: Yes, but only to someone who is really interested

I know, could I be any more wishy-washy? I think someone who is very invested in the history of The New Yorker would enjoy this book; it's incredibly well-researched, and knowing the background story makes the current magazine make a lot of sense. But for those who prefer a less, ah, dense telling, this book is not for you, and that's okay. There are a lot of books out there chronicling people's experiences with this publication, so I don't think it's a big deal.

I loved reading about the beginning stages of the magazine, but the last quarter of the book was rough for me. The entire book is pretty dense (it would take me a very long time to read just one page, and I could only go for ten pages at a time without feeling a strain), so that's a struggle, but the ending part was about the turmoil in changing editors. Dealing with the difficult of the text itself along with difficult content was a little much for me.

Overall, though, it was enjoyable, informative, and engaging for me. But, then, I am a big nerd.

Would recommend: Probably, for Spanish-literature types

Unsurprisingly, this book was VERY Spanish. Every section has its own heightened, magical realism moment, so it's not for the literal-minded. It's more like a fable or a fairy tale, and I found it entertaining. The ending completely threw me, and I had to reread every few pages in the last chapter, but other than that, it was an enjoyable read.

Would recommend: Yes, but not, you know, EMPHATICALLY

I enjoyed the majority of this book. The beginning and the end were limp and clumsy for me, but the larger middle section, like where the plot was, was lovely. So, maybe I liked 70% percent of it. I disliked some of the author's language conventions of breaking the fourth wall, but it's a YA book, so I concede that some aspects might have to be more explicit for the audience, but it wasn't to my taste. Overall, it was a pleasant read, but it's not a top recommendation for me.