Carrie Dils

The author, a native Australian, spends some time in India exploring all the country has to offer in terms of culture and religion. She's a self-proclaimed atheist, but gives the “good college try” to Hinduism, Buddhism, some downright strange-isms, and even Christianity. Even though her explorations into faith are serious, she manages to tell the story with a light hand that make the book simultaneously informative and entertaining. Most importantly, it made me laugh. :)

Beautiful story centered on the background of ugly human history.

While the book doesn't spare you (at all) from the horrors of Auschwitz, the story in the forefront is one of strength, the goodness of (some) humanity, and love. There's also an interesting juxtaposition of Laly's strength of will + losing faith versus Gita's strength in faith + losing hope.

I listened to the audio version narrated by Richard Armitage and he did an amazing job of capturing the characters, accents, and emotions.

This would be a great beach book. Fun characters an delightful story-telling. I listened to the audiobook which I would HIGHLY recommend as narrator Katherine Kellgren did a fantastic job.

I picked up this book reluctantly in a second-hand bookstore in Ojai, CA. I say reluctantly because I wasn't in the mood for a memoir or non-fiction. But I was on a Steinbeck bender.

I'm so glad I did pick it up. This has skyrocketed into my Top 10 list. I don't know if it's because I'm on a cross-America roadtrip of my own, or because I wished Charley was my travel buddy, or because Steinbeck just writes in a way that resonates so strongly, with humor and honest assessment.

I loved it. I already look forward to reading it again.

I loved the writing, pace, and wonderful character development of this novel. I was so prepared to be disappointed at the end (based on how things were shaping up), but loose strings were tied up and Kia was someone to be respected and admired all along.

I listened to the audio version of the book and really enjoyed the reader's performance.

I was randomly browsing through library books and came upon this one. It's a great page-turner if you're in the mood for a little murder mystery...

I listened to the audio performance by Julia Whelan and it was excellent.

This was a delight to read! Be sure to check out the corresponding playlist on Spotify!

SPOILER ALERT

This was an entertaining page-turner, but ultimately there was nothing redeeming about the book's ending. The characters got closure on tragic life-altering events, but as a reader, I didn't get any satisfaction. Meh.

Wow. This was such a heavy read. It's beautifully written – I'm glad the author found her voice and the strength to tell her story.

I appreciate her wrestling with the complex questions of who's responsible and where does causality begin? I also found it interesting to consider how those questions can be answered in different ways, especially when a courtroom is involved.

I'd recommend the book, but it covers very sensitive topics (child abuse, molestation, murder) that might trigger some folks. Read it only if you're in a good frame of mind to start with.

Felt like I should have enjoyed this more since it's a classic, but I didn't.

I'm still not sure what I think of the book. It was thought-provoking and certainly interesting to imagine a world where the power dynamic is in women's favor. As with any good novel, there was a twist at the end, but it left me a little confused.

I really enjoyed Start with Why. This book had some good nuggets in it but overall I didn't find it helpful. It's definitely geared toward a team environment (although it includes instruction for the solo worker). I can actually see co-workers going through these exercises together unless someone made them do it.

This book was not up to Krakauer's usual standard. He over-glorified Tillman; I think a book featuring Tillman along with a few other bios of ‘regular folk' serving during the gulf war would have been more well-rounded and interesting.

A hallmark of a great story is that you're fully engrossed in it. I was pulled out of the story multiple times by poor editing and weird, crammed-in details that didn't serve any purpose (IMHO).

Addictive little series! Reminding me of The Uglies/Pretties/Specials series but better.

Absolutely loved this. It's a quick read, cleverly written and witty. The characters fall a little too-obviously into their villainous or loveable categories and I guessed the ending long before I got there, but I didn't care. Enjoyed it all the way through.

This is quintessential Highsmith. Who's guilty? Who's innocent? Whose murder are you happy occurred and who do you feel sympathy for?

A bizarre justice comes around and you wonder how so much tension can mount when emotions seem to run even keel.

This book had tremendous potential, but was ultimately dull and overladen with detail. It read like a history book and was a little too granular in detail. Kurlansky started out strong in the introduction; he would have done well to pepper in stories of his travels and a little humor throughout the rest of the novel, too.

Wilcox's humor is definitely subtle and off-beat, but it's a variety I enjoy. More than the storyline, I enjoyed the characters and Wilcox's writing style. I am not breaking my neck to get to the bookstore, but would definitely read this author again if I happened across another of his books.

Wonderful and imaginative story that managed to evoke all the senses. This would be a great book club read as there are many layers and themes that are ripe for discussion.

Thanks to Lara and Shannon for recommending!

Nothing terribly actionable about this book (other than to pay attention to the little things), but it was incredibly interesting.

I first thought this was an allegorical read and then realized it's more philosophical. Some bits of wisdom from the Koran, some from the Bible, and other bits of wisdom from the author in the form of the “old king” and the “alchemist.”

Life is about the pursuit of dreams. In the pursuit of dreams, you achieve many, seemingly-unrelated milestones. Those milestones are all stopping points (meaning, places you could stop and say “This is an achievement in and of itself. I'll stay here.”). But if you use those milestones as lily pads to jump closer to your dream, you realize a couple of things:

* You would never experience the milestones (treasures) of the journey if you never took the journey. The milestones, in and of themselves, are beautiful treasures.
* The further you push, the more treasure you realize.
* The treasure was there all along, but you don't recognize it without taking the journey.

In closing, don't skip the prologue. So much is changed by perspective...

I really enjoyed the original trilogy. This just didn't do anything for me. I'm not sure I would have known just from the writing that it was a different author, but the book felt different from the first three. The story line took way too long to build and ultimately wasn't as interesting. I like you Lisbeth, but don't think I'll be reading any further.

The book was intriguing, but ultimately was too complicated to deal with... The plethora of subtitles, Latin sidebars, and sideways text was a little too much. Not to mention the book was physically heavy and clumsy (even in paperback) to the point of being uncomfortable to support in my supine position (I do most of my reading on the way to sleep).

The musician Poe put out a CD called Haunted that takes it's inspiration from the book. It was interesting to listen to the CD after reading a bit of the book.

In the end, I'll keep the CD, but the book will remain unfinished.