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librarydosebykristy's reviews
1731 reviews
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
4.0
I loved this book a lot more when i started it then when I finished it. It's a beautiful book, well-written and evocative of a time. But it depicts such a miserable existence that it's hard to get too excited about it. This is a good one to read if you're looking for a reason NEVER to get married.
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt
4.0
I've been reading many YA books these days and, while I've enjoyed a good many of them, few have really inspired me. A Brief Chapter in my Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt changed that pattern, and left me feeling truly happy and fulfilled...I would even go so far as to say that it filled me with a kind of peace. It's a simple story about a Simone, teenage girl whose life is interrupted when she is given the opportunity to meet the woman who gave her up for adoption, 16 years earlier. As a liberal, avowed atheist, Simone is surprised to learn that her mother came from an orthodox Jewish family. The two meet and forge a quick bond, prompting Simone to re-examine what she thought she knew about herself, her family, and the idea of a spiritual life.
Reinhardt managed to write a truly feel good story without being preachy or sentimental, and she writes Simone's voice with such a familiar, warm quality. I wanted the story to go on and on.
Reinhardt managed to write a truly feel good story without being preachy or sentimental, and she writes Simone's voice with such a familiar, warm quality. I wanted the story to go on and on.
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
3.0
I think I will shoot myself in the foot before I read another Phllip Roth book. He's so dark and hateful--but not in a good way. I've read plenty of dark, twisted novels, but there's something about Phillip Roth that really gets me: He hates women, for one thing. Also, he's just a big hater.
ugh.
ugh.
King Dork by Frank Portman
3.0
I liked this book a lot at first. The story is, in many ways, charming. But by the end, i concluded that the frequent amount of blow jobs and other sexual activities portrayed as happening among high school kids was entirely unrealistic. At least among the high school kids I knew.
It's a damn shame, too, because this book was very funny and I started out really liking it. But every girl he encounters can't wait to give him a blow job, and I dont know, wishful thinking on the part of the author perhaps?
Still, there are good things about this book.
It's a damn shame, too, because this book was very funny and I started out really liking it. But every girl he encounters can't wait to give him a blow job, and I dont know, wishful thinking on the part of the author perhaps?
Still, there are good things about this book.
Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman
2.0
I started reading this book as part of my desire to read about motherhood. ugh, bad choice. It's not that Waldman is saying anything wrong--she's just so unbelievably irritating and smug while saying it that it ruins her point. She's like your crazy, annoying aunt who pushes you in a corner every Christmas and tells you waaaayyy too much information about her personal life. I think the only reason Ayelet was able to publish this book had to do with the controversy over her New York Times article where she said she loved her husband more than her children. Again, i didn't have any issue with her point, it's just that you have to wade through so much whining and unnecessary detail to get to it. She could have summed up this entire book with one well-constructed paragraph.
Waldman is married to Michael Chabon, one of my favorite writers, and I'm hoping she hasn't ruined him for me!
Waldman is married to Michael Chabon, one of my favorite writers, and I'm hoping she hasn't ruined him for me!
Tales of the Madmen Underground by John Barnes
3.0
Not a bad book...but i gave it up. I was interested in the characters and I did want to know what happened to them...but the author was taking too long to tell the story and I just really wanted to move on to the next book in my pile, you know?
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson
3.0
I browsed this book, rather than read it from start to finish. It was entertaining, elegantly written, but not profound or even very interesting. Jackson spent too much time poking fun at her own mothering skills and the crazy chaos of family life. It turned very predictable about a third in--which is why I decided to skim!
Still, she is a lovely writer and some of the stories were funny.
Still, she is a lovely writer and some of the stories were funny.
The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
2.0
Well, I read about 100 pages and gave up. O'Nan was trying for a unique narrative, told from the point of view of a dead teenager, but i just couldn't get into his rhythm. Alas.