Tara

This was an interesting book. Written in the form of a diary, the story follows the lives of 100 women who volunteer to become wives to warriors and chiefs of a Native American tribe. The characters are very compelling and well developed, and I thought reading the story in the form of a diary made it more interesting. The history of the US government's relations with the Native Americans is used as the backdrop for this story, which also makes for a fascinating narrative. I enjoyed this book, and might reread it in the future.

I have this on my currently-reading list, but I've been reading it since I bought it about 4 months ago. I pick it up and put it down. It's not that the life of Marie Antoinette isn't fascinating to me, it is, but I just get distracted.

The book begins with Marie's birth in Austria and follows her path to France, where she marries the then Dauphin Louis Auguste, and lives in Versailles with then King Louis 14. I'm still a little foggy as to the history of the French royalty, so I don't know much about the history of Louis 14, Louis 15, but this books does give a good look at Louis 16 and his relationship with Marie Antoinette from the day they met to the day he assumed the crown (upon the death of Louis 14).

I have always had the opinion that Marie Antoinette had a raw deal by being saddled with saying “let them eat cake”. According to this book, she did not actually say that, it was not her statement, but she did overspend and abuse her allowance, leaving a lot of debt for the French Royal accountants (as did other members of Court including King Louis 16).

This is a fascinating book and I think Marie lived a very interesting life. I don't think I would want to be married at 14 and living in a foreign country trying to fit into their rules and ideas, while also trying to uphold my country's interests. There was a tremendous amount of pressure from both the French as well as the Austrians, and I think her immaturity and lack of proper preparation, along with the pressure her mother loaded onto her, helped lead to her downfall, which is unfortunate. Her story is a good read, and so far I've enjoyed this book. I'm sure I'll pick it up and put it down several more times before finishing it, but each time I pick it up, I get sucked right back into her life.

When I first read the synopsis of this book I thought it was going to be really interesting but once I read it, and finished it, I felt like I was reading a hack job copy of The Lovely Bones. I really can't bring myself to recommend this book to anyone, but please read it and form your own opinion.

I recently took this off my shelf and thumbed through it cause I wasn't quite sure why I held onto it after college. I later remembered. I really enjoyed this book and learning about slavery in the Caribbean. I took a Slavery in the Americas class my last year of college and this book was part of the literature for that class. We had a guest speaker come in who was from Jamaica and was a Black History teacher at UW and he was the one who directed the lecture on slavery in the Caribbean. I don't remember the lecture and I'm sure I don't have my class notes anymore, but I do remember that it was a great class and I always looked forward to going (even though it was at 8am). The professor who actually taught the class recently won an award for this particular class curriculum; I went to a small college in the Pacific Northwest so it was a big enough deal that the school sent out special invites to all of the alumni to come to a special dinner being thrown in his honor. The year I took the class, it was experimental.

I decided to read this book after one of the men in my book club told me about it. I thought the plot was extremely fascinating so I figured it was worth a read. I wasn't disappointed.

Blindess is about the sudden white-blindness a city descends into and the madness and inhumanity that follows. Only one person out of the hundreds can see, the wife of a doctor. The doctor is also one of the victims of the sudeen white blindness. It's a white blindness because the victims see nothing but white light when they go blind (as opposed to sudden blackness or darkness). There is no explanation for the sudden onset of this blindness and there appears to be no cure. One minute, you can see and the next, you can't.

The story focuses on the wife who can see, the doctor, another husband/wife couple, a young woman who wears dark glasses, an old man with an eye patch, a little boy and a dog who befriends the “seeing” wife. In the early days of the blindness, the government locks away all of the victims, hoping that the “epidemic” can be contained. Blind victims are sent to the empty mental hospital and kept there with little food, water and clean bedding. The Government has placed soldiers, with orders to kill, around the perimeter of the hospital, and those soldiers follow orders closely.

As the hospital fills with the blind, a society of terror and torture develops, when a handful of blind internees decides to horde the meager food rations and make the other blind internees pay for small portions. First the payments are made with valuables the internees brought with them, then, the payments are made with the women. The small group of men demand that the women serve as payment for the meager food supplies. The doctor's wife, devises a plan to stop the atrocities the other women in the building suffer at the hands of these men (monsters more like) and sneaks in with a group of women from another ward. She quickly kills the leader and fighting ensues, with several more men dying while the women escape the brutality of rape and humiliation. Then, the fighting goes outside, where all is still. The Government has finally fallen to the same fate as its citizens, it has gone blind.

The doctor's wife leads the group out of the hospital and manages to get them safely to the home her and her husband shared before being sent to the hospital for quarantine. She figures out ways to feed the blind group with her, all while crying into the matted fur of the dog, who met up with them as they walked the streets. Then, one day, things begin to change. Slowly, people begin to regain their sight. The sight comes on as unexpectedly as the blindness and the whole time, the doctor's wife has been the only person to witness the descent and subsequent ascent of humanity.

This book is written without names and without quotation marks. That was one thing that irritated me. I had a time figuring out who was talking as there were no quotations to show that a person was talking and when numerous characters talked, their speeches ran together and it was easy to get lost in who was talking. Other than that minor grammatical nuisance, I found this story very enjoyable and chilling. It was an excellent “what if” type of story, examining what people would become if they lost “way” and by losing the way, were given the freedom to do whatever they wanted. It showed how illness and the unexplained, can lead to fear, loathing and rash judgments by those in power. It also showed how truly powerful love is and possibly, that through blindness can we truly see who our allies and enemies are. There is a sequel to this book and I'm looking forward to reading it. It is called “Seeing” and picks up 4 years after society has regained its eyesight. This is not the kind of book that should be read quickly, but rather slowly so it can truly be absorbed. It is a good book and I really enjoyed it.

Loved, loved, loved this book! I just don't even know if there is anything else I can say about it other than I LOVED IT!

The difficulties that Greg Mortenson had to go through to get schools built in remoter areas of Pakistan were so fascinating and yet so heartbreaking. Greg is definitely a man with a heart too big for his body, too big for the planet.

Three Cups of Tea covers the 10 years that Greg Mortenson worked to raise money to build schools in areas near K2. The story follows his work in Pakistan as well as in Montana, as he sought out donors for financing and eventually ended up creating the Central Asia Institute, dedicated to building schools for the children of Pakistan, and later Afghanistan.

This is an engaging story and very heartwarming. Ultimately, the message is that children everywhere deserve to be educated, and education is the best weapon against ignorance, prejudice and intolerance.

I read this book after reading Secret Life of Bees. I was so disappointed. I did find the main character compelling and her fascination with the monk was also interesting, but I just couldn't really get into the story. I had to drag myself through it just to get it done. I think, had I read this book before reading The Secret Life of Bees, I wouldn't have been so disappointed. My only advice would be if you are going to read Susan Monk Kidd, read this book first THEN read The Secret Life of Bees.

My bookclub picked this book for our April meeting. I never read The Great Gatsby in high school, so I was looking forward to reading a book that is considered a classic. I didn't really know what Gatsby was about, but I did know that it had been made into a movie with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. I didn't really know what the movie was about either, having never seen it.

I think this is a book that I just didn't “get”. I really feel I need to read it again as I have no idea how Gatsby ended up dead. I didn't skip any sentences or pages, and I read every word on each page, but I definitely know I missed when and how Gatsby ended up dead.

I didn't like any of the characters, including the narrator. I think I do need to reread this book before writing anymore of a review. I will say I liked that it was a short book.

I started this book in the spring but had to put it down. I am a fan of Joyce Carol Oates and usually enjoy her work. This book spoke to me on many levels, as my mother became a widow in July 2010 and it was a sudden, unexpected event. That is why I had to put this book down and place it on my “To reread in the (near) future” shelf. The pain over the loss of my father came back over me as I read about Ms. Oates' days spent at the hospital and how the world seemed to crash around her when she found out her husband was gone. I plan on returning to this book and finishing it, but right now may not be the right time.

I found this book very fascinating. For some reason, I have never read J.M. Barrie's original Peter Pan. I've seen movie adaptations of the book, but never actually sat down to read it. This book is a very dark Peter Pan, deadlier and definitely more adult. I am not usually a squeamish person when I read graphic scenes, but there were a few times when my skin crawled (there is one scene where the head Reverend explains how he will go about exorcising the demons he believes lives in Peter and his Devils aka Lost Boys). Brom mixes other legends into this story, which created an interesting history for the characters. I've always been fascinated with faeries, witches, pixies, trolls and elves and you'll find them in this story. This Peter is both playful and mischevious, as well as has a very dark side that reveals a murderous appetite. That was different. This is definitely not Disney's Peter Pan nor is it anywhere close to the playful stage versions I've seen. This is not a bedtime story type of book either, this book deserves a mature audience. I think if you're familiar with the basic story of Peter Pan (the boy who never grew up) and have a tiny idea of what Avalon is, you'd probably find this book interesting and possibly enjoyable.

I didn't watch the first season of the Bachelor so I didn't really know anything about the author, Jen Scheft. She was the winner of the first Bachelor and was engaged to Andrew Firestone for a short period after the show ended, then she decided to leave him. After reading this book, I really liked her. I thought she was very honest and real about her dating experiences as well as her decision to leave Firestone and not pick a boyfriend when she did the first Bachelorette show. I've never watched that show either, but I think she followed her head and her heart and this book definitely shows it. It's a great read, especially since this society seems to put a stigma on single 30-something women. The author is single and over 30 and is completely okay with it, because she hasn't compromised herself just to be in a relationship. That's the big lesson here, don't completely give up 100% of your wants/desires/wishes/standards just to be in a relationship; be true to yourself. Granted this is something we should know and not need someone to tell us, but sometimes it's nice to be reminded.

I loved this book because it gave a different perspective to the Wicked Witch from L. Frank Baum's story. I was never a big fan of Dorothy, so reading the story from Elphaba's point of view was really a lot of fun. I do have to admit though, I enjoyed the musical SO much more than the book! I still really love the book and have read it numerous times.

If I could give this book millions of stars, I would. I loved it! I have always been a fan of Carol Burnett. I have memories of watching her as a young child and giggling a lot. This book is all Carol. Her humor is here. Her genius is here. She is here, in every page.

There were times when I laughed outloud and times when I got choked up. This book contains so many wonderful stories about Carol Burnett's career, her family, and her friends and they were all so enjoyable. I loved this book!

I recently reread this book, in February 2011 and wrote a new review. It's a lengthy review, but I learned a lot on the second reading, hence the length. I posted that review on my blog, so here's the link: http://left-handedright-brained.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-of-their-eyes-were-watching-god.html.

***I decided to remove the original review I posted for this book due to the new review I wrote in February 2011. The original review I posted for this book is no longer how I feel about the book and therefore wanted to move forward with the 2011 review. If you decide to visit my blog to read my review, thank you for reading it, I know it's long. I appreciate the time you've given to read my review.

Thank you, Tara Nelson
(December 2014)

Took a Shakespeare class one semester in college and walked away with his complete works. I have always been a fan of Shakespeare and the class only heightened my fandom. I played the part of The Fool in King Lear and had a blast! Once I was able to figure out the best way to read Shakespeare (punctuation to punctuation, not line to line), it all made sense!

I received an advanced e-galley of this book through the Penguin Books First to Read Program. I did not know anything about Michael Ross before receiving this book, but I found his story very fascinating. Martha Elliott spent 10 years corresponding and meeting with Michael to learn why, after receiving a reprieve from the Connecticutt State Supreme Court, why he would voluntarily choose to be put to death for his heinous crimes. Her research and investigation into the history about the murders, the trials and Michael himself was very thorough and eye opening. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys true crime novels and stories about the legal system, serial killers and/or the death penalty in the United States. The book will be released nationwide by Penguin Books in August. I did not receive any compensation for writing a review and the book was available for reading for a period of 41 days, after that I will no longer be able to access the e-galley.

The plot summary of this book interested me and so I picked it up. The inside jacket said that after tragedy strikes Jordan, Sarah a widow and mother of 2, takes him into her home to help him heal (that's a really condensed version). So, I thought that this “tragedy” was going to be a sudden death of his parents, like a car accident. Wow, was I way off.

Sarah is a widow with two sons, Nate and Danny. Nate is an active teeenager, who has been suspended from school for truancy, namely skipping class to sit by his father's grave. Danny is a “straight to the point” child in elementary school who is struggling through his remedial classes and trying to figure out why his best friend hates him. Sarah is a caterer who has managed to keep her family together in the aftermath of her husband's death.

One day, while running errands, Sarah comes upon her young neighbor, and Danny's former best friend, Jordan. He is leaving for school late so she offers him a ride. This ride to school puts the wheels in motion for a very disturbing story. In short: Jordan attempts suicide, Sarah takes him to the hospital, police become involved and it comes out that Jordan is the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of his father and “business associates”. The big question everyone has “did Courtney (Jordan's mother) also abuse him or was she completely unaware of the atrocities her husband and ‘associates' inflicted upon the young boy?”. The answer comes out over halfway through the book.

Child molestation is a topic that is at once horrifying, disgusting, saddening, sickening, heartbreaking and angering. We, as adults (and those who are parents) spend a lot of time telling kids about “Stranger Danger” and the difference between good touch and bad touch. My parents drilled all of that into me when I was a child, and thankfully I never experienced stranger danger or bad touch by an adult. This book takes the horror of pedophilia and puts it into the home of a prominent family in a close-knit neighborhood. The parents in the community are shocked and horrified that these neighbors, Courtney and Mark, would do something so terrible as abuse their son and allow “associates” to also abuse their son and VIDEOTAPE it! This book does a very good job of showing the aftermath of molestation for the victim (Jordan), concerned/confused neighbor (Sarah) and her protective, yet guilt ridden son (Nate).

Katrina Kittle has written a book that is at once engaging and sad. I immediately liked Sarah, and felt for her every time she wished her husband was still around to help her address her sons' various issues, then she opens her home and her heart to this young boy who is badly damaged. Jordan is a good example of an abused child, he fears his father but loves and wants to protect his mother, although both of his parents are guilty of sexual abuse. Nate reminds me quite a bit of my cousins when they were teenagers: parents were a drag, a lot of peer pressure and testing of the boundaries that exist between being a child and being a man. When Nate finds out about the abuse Jordan suffered through he is immediately filled with guilt as Courtney, on several occassions, made passes at him as well as kissed him. He now feels a deep need and desire to protect Jordan from the parents who abused him, as well as work to earn his own mother's trust in him and prove that he will no longer be a disciplinary problem. Danny is a child who is not able to completely comprehend what has happened to Jordan, until he sees photos of the abuse inflicted on Jordan, then all he wants to do is protect Jordan and rebuild their friendship.

As part of my job, I sat in a trial on a child sexual assault case, and was deeply bothered by it. “Bothered” isn't even the right word, I cannot begin to express how it affected me, listening to the victim (a 13 year old girl) tell of the events of her assault as well as the testimony of a co-defendant. I didn't know this young victim, but I kept thinking “if only I could have saved her” and “I hope I can save the next child from experiencing this kind of nightmare” during the trial. Sarah did just that, she rescued Jordan and gave him a home and showed him what parent/child love is (respect, appreciation, discipline, concern...) and what it is not (sex). How do you save a child whose parents do to him/her what only two CONSENTING adults should do, but you don't even know and those parents live right next door to you? It's never too late to rescue just such a child, that's what the books shows.

The End We Start From by Megan Hunter is more than just an “end of world as we know it” story; it's a story about relationships and strength in an uncertain time. The narrator is a new mother, a nameless woman who manages to remain strong in a world that is chaotic and unstable. She must continue to move forward, with her infant, trying to find a place that is safe and dry.

The narrator uses initials when referring to people she meets along her journey. She loses people she knows, meets new people, builds new relationships, and appears to be more calm than she should be. This is a woman who knows that she must survive for her son, and she must continue to work her way through a world that is changing around her.

I enjoyed the way the author told this story. Ms. Hunter weaves an engaging story, sharing the Narrator's life with us, both in the present as well as the past. The narrator tells the story in a very matter of fact way, she doesn't sugar coat anything and she isn't flowery, she just tells the reader what happened to her as London experiences a major natural disaster. The way Ms. Hunter wrote the narrator, there were times when I felt awful for her, yet, there were other times when I said “You go, girl”, because she has a quiet strength. I enjoyed this story and would definitely read it again.

Reviewer's Note: I received an advanced e-galley of this book from the publisher through the NetGalley website. I did not receive any form of compensation in exchange for my review of this novel.

I was expecting to be really frightened by this book. After talking with my mother about her reactions to the book and the original movie (I believe it came out in the 50s or 60s), I was expecting this book to send chills down my spine and really freak me out. Either I have been desensitized by all of the crime/violence on TV or I just don't get freaked out easily. I thought this book was well written and the premise behind it was fascinating: a group of men move their families to a community where all of the women go through mysterious transformations from independent, career-minded women to sex-kitten housewives with the sole goal of serving their husbands. Okay, how do the wives get that way? Well, although I knew how they got that way, I didn't really feel that the book did a very good job of telling the reader. I've seen the remake with Nicole Kidman, Glen Close and Matthew Broderick and I knew that the goal of the director was not to remake the suspense filled original movie, but to give it a humorous edge. It did just that. The original film, IMHO, was more suspenseful than the book, but still not quite enough to send chills down my spine. This book is a quick read and easy to get through.

My advice: in all honesty, don't bother reading it, just watch the remake. It has some good laughs and is a much more enjoyable experience than reading the book.

I read this my freshman year of college and laughed my booty off! This was such a great example of how people can take political correctness too far. All of the familiar fairy tales, Little Red Riding Hood for example, are reworked and every possible politically correct phrase you can imagine is in this book. It's good for a laugh whenver you need to be reminded that being PC can be a drag!