5 Star Reviews

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

December 17, 2008

I love getting ARCs like this. It’s a gem. Really. I don’t know how you all will be able to wait until February to read it. I’m glad I don’t have to. The Help is told by three different narrators. One, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, is an educated white woman whose parents own and run a [...]

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We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver

December 8, 2008

We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver won the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction in 2005. And I completely agree that this book deserves awards. Eva’s son orchestrated a school massacre when he was fifteen years old. Eva, in letters to her husband, is working through Kevin’s childhood, seeking to understand what happened. [...]

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The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

November 14, 2008

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, is narrated by a dog, Enzo. With just that much information, I’m surprised that it took me this long to read it. I love puppies, and I loved this book! I’ve been languishing over this review, though, because it’s hard to put my admiration into [...]

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The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

October 14, 2008

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood was first published in 1985 and won the Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Fiction the same year. I read it for the Book Awards Challenge II and the Lit Flicks Challenge. Ofglen is currently serving as a handmaid (think biblically) in the Commander’s household in the state of Gilead. [...]

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To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

September 24, 2008

I love this book. I’m not alone in this adoration though. In fact, I think this book has pretty much been deemed the best book of the twentieth century. Scout, the narrator, and her older brother Jem are the children of Atticus Finch. Their mother died years ago, so they’ve been raised by Atticus and [...]

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Amsterdam, by Ian McEwan

September 23, 2008

Again, I was able to coordinate my reading with my travels. I read this book in between airport stops in Amsterdam. I love it when that happens. As it turns out though, Amsterdam primarily takes place in England. It starts out with two men, friends, at a funeral of their former lover. Clive is a [...]

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Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier

September 22, 2008

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Rebecca opens with the narrator describing this dream and the timorous life she is currently living. Then the narrative jumps to the past, to explain what happened. The narrator, the second Mrs. de Winter, is brought to her new husband’s English estate, Manderley. Her reign as [...]

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The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

September 15, 2008

* Originally reviewed on 9/27/07 on another of my blogs. * It was The Book Thief’s title and cover that made me pick it up, and it was the subject matter and award on the cover that made me buy it. It was the writing, though, that made me finish the almost-600 pages in just [...]

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