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msmichaela's Reviews (546)
Like Kate, the protagonist of this excellent first novel, I fell head first into the pages in front of me. In a summer vacation on a New England island that bears more than a passing resemblance to Martha's Vineyard, Kate pores through a lifetime of journals left to her by a recently deceased friend and fellow young-ish mother. She ends up pondering big questions about the way we present ourselves -- to ourselves and to one another. I found the novel to be captivating, surprising and deeply thought provoking (not least because I've been interested in the same questions about journal writing ever since I wrote my undergrad thesis on that topic). Perhaps even better: The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. proved an excellent diversion from a lousy summer cold.
I'm so impressed by what Ann Patchett can do as a writer. She makes you care about characters who at first seem inscrutable, and whose interests have very little in common with your own.... at the same time that she's stringing out the threads of a complex and ultimately very satisfying plot. Impressive.
Intense, absorbing and perhaps the reason I haven't slept well for several nights. Perrotta's writing goes down easily, and his plot, while at first a little outlandish, really drew me in. He creates a completely plausible range of reactions to the "rapture." Really well done.
Beautifully written memoir about Wood's early life in a Maine mill town. I found it fascinating -- an evocative look at a way of life that just doesn't exist anymore. Not sure it would appeal if you're not already at least a little interested in 1950s company towns.... but even in that case I suspect Wood's warmth and eye for a telling detail would win you over.
Good god but this was bleak. Protagonist is a 20-year-old sex offender in an unnamed state (Florida) and, really, that should have been enough to warn me off this book. But I loved Banks' RULE OF THE BONE and AFFLICTION. I don't think LOST MEMORY OF SKIN measures up to either -- and not just because of my squeamishness about the subject matter. There's an extended dream sequence involving the settlement of the Americas as a metaphor for the garden of good and evil and the loss of a character's innocence and... boy did I not buy that.
A good palate cleanser after two very grim novels, but not something I'll come back to or go out of my way to recommend.
I lost a fair amount of sleep to this thriller. Not a genre I usually read, but, man -- Gillian Flynn is GOOD. Well written, tightly plotted and totally creepy.
Gorgeous sentences and an intricate plot. This is the kind of novel whose readers benefit from long stretches of uninterrupted time to absorb it all. I don't have that.
A cookbook/memoir that made me tear up, as well as supplying fantastic recipes that cause my six-year-old to beg me to make them again. I bow before Jenny Rosenstrach's way with words -- not to mention her saute pan.