Challenged to read Daisy Miller
933989
I only read this as it was one of the books assigned to my daughter to read over the summer.  It was a short book and she challenged me to read it. It was quite different than my usual selection of light romance books, but I did manage to finish it. There were quite a few descriptive words that are no longer used everyday which caused me to highlight the word and look it up on google- this got annoying at times.  I enjoyed how he described the countryside however and it was interesting to read about society norms in this time period. It's so different from the "anything goes" society we have today.  All that being said, would I have selected this book had it not been an assignment for my daughter? No I wouldn't have, but am I glad I read it? Yes, because we can discuss the book together, and we both learned from it. This was actually my first "historical" book and all in all it wasn't bad.
3215150
I enjoyed reading this so much I couldn't believe I'd finished.  I think I'll see if Daisy's War is another part of this story.
3208687
London 1822

Miss Daisy Longreach has just accepted Mr. John Brents request for her hand in marriage.  She and her widowed mother are living with her brother, Tobias, who is soon to be married himself.  John Brent does not have a fortune but feels he can care for and support Daisy and his three sisters as well.  Having just been in a fight where another man was killed he is recovering from his injuries.  It appears that this man had planned to abduct Daisy to steal and sell the family tiara.

Daisys cousin, Reuben, is a wealthy young man who has grown up with Daisy and knows her quite well.  He is convinced that John Brent is not the man for her.  Daisy feels as though she has made the right decision, however, she enjoys being with Reuben.  Both of them are just realizing that they have an attraction to each other.

Daisys aunt, Beatrice, has come to visit with her daughter, Elspeth.  Beatrice is an opinionated woman who irritates everyone.  She is always eavesdropping on conversations and being just a royal pain.  She treats poor Elspeth very badly by putting her down and not allowing her to dress nicely.  Daisy decides to take matters in her own hands and convinces her brother, Tobias, to supply the funds to get some new dresses for Elspeth.

But behind the scenes, danger lurks and it appears that Aunt Beatrice is right in the middle of it.  What could be going on, who could be hurt and why?

I admit that this was a very difficult book for me to read.  I felt as though I had walked into the middle of a movie and even reread most of the book to try and piece all of the characters together.  I have enjoyed this author in the past but, I just cannot say that I enjoyed this novel.
4459732
Walker's book is a challenging read, in many aspects of 'challenge.' Walker's book follows the intertwinings of a particular family throughout all of known (and unknown) history. Through this device, Walker proposes her own alternate mythology of origin, a state of grace where humans and animals lived in peace until the formation of race and gender caused a fall into arrogance and violence. We see characters of all genders, orientations, and ethnic backgrounds struggling with survival and the difficulty of relationships. This presents the first sort of challenge: it is difficult to read stories of rape, torture, enslavement, and degradation, especially as a white male person of some privilege. But the powerful pull of Walker's writing kept me reading instead of the easy fix of putting down the book and walking away. The plainly ideological bent of the book is what presents the flip side of the challenge: Walker's insistence on her agenda is so forceful at times that it overwhelms her prose and threatens the narrative, which would again make it easy to put the book down and walk away. (Hence the three-star review rather than something higher). I would still recommend this book, difficult as it is in many ways, as a portrayal of the difficulty of human relationships when they are based on hierarchy, greed, and fear - particularly if you're one of the folks on the top side of the heap for now.
605801
I have read this, Beekeepers Apprentice, Monstrous Regiment and each one I so want to enjoy them. I should like the series as I like Sherlock, the time period, complex plots, rich detail- but no. About half way through I find myself forcing myself to finish. Though she does a great job with endings which is why I get inspired to try another of her books. I don't know if she needs a firmer editor, to cut out being too cute by half or just a better sense of pacing, but I end each novel with a sense of time wasted.
2007348
This book was definitely a challenge...that is, it was a challenge to finish it. Let me start by saying that I am a fan of the Kay Scarpetta series, both the older books and the newer ones. I have defended the last few books in the series and really did like them. I glanced here at Amazon and saw that the overall rating for the book was up from her previous books and was looking forward to reading Book of the Dead. I knew nothing of the authors political views, her personal life or her sexual orientation. All I knew was that I admired the characters she had created, enjoyed reading the forensic detail, and liked the interactions between the characters. I grieved with Kay when Benton died, and during the books when she thought he really was dead.

I would discuss the plot here, if there was anything to discuss. It was so disjointed that it just made no sense. I was 2/3 of the way through the book before it could even hold my interest. Then, some of the scientific detail was too detailed, even for a Scarpetta book. (how much about an electron microscope do we need to know?) She continues to massacre her characters. Marino is just beyond belief. She shifts from present to past tense without warning and often in the same conversation.

The purpose of this book seemed to be to for the author to state her political views. As I said earlier, I didn't know her views before, but after reading this book, I don't think there is anything about her politics that the reader will not know. She hates the Iraq war, believes that George Bush is evil, that the people of Iraq are doomed, that the rest of the world hates Americans, she hates the FBI, is against the Patriot Act and is paranoid to the point she might need therapy. One might think she wrote a book of fiction, so these are not her views, but they are according to what the author says in multiple interviews. She doesn't just casually mention her views in the book, she hammers them into the reader's head.

This book opens and Scarpetta and her followers (Marino, Lucy and Rose) have moved to Charleston, South Carolina. We get no explanation as to why for a long time (I thought they were all doing well at the Academy) We finally learn that they moved because of Hurricane Wilma. I'm surprised the author didn't blame the hurricane on our government or Bush as well. I find her paranoia and hatred of the Patriot Act amusing, since computer genius Lucy thinks nothing of hacking into anyone's computer files, breaking in and placing camera's and microphones in peoples houses and monitoring them, even if it is someone she has known for twenty years. She says that's OK because it is for the greater good. This character is so paranoid that she will allow no record of her or her medical files to be stored electronically. She goes to the doctor under an alias and carries her files around with her.

I tried to like this book, really I did. In fact, I can't believe that I feel this way about a Patricia Cornwell book. It wasn't a matter of whether I agreed or disagreed with her politics, it was just that I don't like anyone's political views rammed down my throat, especially when I have paid money for the book and didn't know I was getting a political manifesto.

If you are reading Amazon reviews to decide whether or not you want to buy the book, be careful. It seems that the author has asked her fans to go to Amazon and post a favorable review to counter what she believes is a conspiracy against her. For more information, see: [...]. There are now many 5 star reviews from 1 time reviewers who have answered her plea.
2605778
What a wonderful story -- and almost impossible to read!  The font is uncomfortably small, and the typeset is Times Roman but seems thin & pale.  Such an enchanting autobiography would be better served if it did not require a struggle to read.  I would have happily paid for the upgrade and ease of enjoying Maureen's tales of joy and woe.
3761794
BITTER IN THE MOUTH is also a bit acrid as a read. The protagonist, Linda Hammerick, is a synasthete and it makes it hard for her to communicate normally. The author, Monique Truong, shares that struggle by writing a significant part of the book in the way Linda hears (and says) things. An example:

"I turned off my Walkman, took off my headphones, and Virginia Dared myself to ask him, 'What'sgrahamcracker so funnycucumber, Leoparsnip?'"

You can imagine how distracting to read that format becomes. While I understand the author is trying to let us viscerally comprehend the frustration of living with synthesthesia, I don't read to feel frustration. I can empathize without being "flooded with incomings," the term used by Linda to describe the distractions of her condition.

Linda deserves our empathy. In addition to being a synasthete, she is adopted by the Hammericks and doesn't know anything about her history because it is one of the many family secrets. She knows she is Asian, but no other details. So--here's this Asian adoptee synasthete in a family filled with secrets growing up in the not-very-metropolitan Boiling Springs, North Carolina. And then she gets raped.

That happens pretty early in the book and in Linda's life, so I don't feel like it's a big spoiler. The brightest spot in her life is her great-uncle Baby Harper, who loves her unconditionally and teaches her to dance. Their relationship is the brightest spot of the book, as well, and one can not help loving his character.

Truong folds in arty elements to her foodstuff-filled book: stories of the Wright Brothers and Virginia Dare and their North Carolinian linkages. Sometimes the writing is beautiful, sometimes its overwrought and/or incomprehensible, sometimes it's a little of all of those things.

But the story itself is a bit too depressing and difficult to read on a number of levels for me to recommend it,.
262871
Somewhat disappointed.  This book is very hard to read because the main character is being channeled through a medium.  The sentences are frustrating to read, as they depict the spirits confused state and the mediums lack of intellect.  I couldn't get past the first few pages.  Maybe, as time goes by the sentence structure improves but couldn't get past the beginning.
1206778
This  is a hard read. While the author is a wonderful writer,  the main character is such a whiner and the dense reading is a challenge. It has an interesting ending.
3725288
Both my husband and I are having trouble really getting into the book.  While at spots interesting and written in a poetic manner, it is not welcoming and urging us to continue to read it.  Perhaps this is true because we do not have already enough background information to make it less difficult to read.  This despite the fact that I do have a general historical background that should make it easier.  Or it is because the style of the writer takes a lot of getting used to.  We hope to persist.
2719319
Cute, but I've read better. Tough staying with it; still struggling.
2826293
I am having trouble with the character Bianca.  On page 37 whe has near-black curls, Mediterranean skin and blue eyes and on page 66 she has red-blonde curls, freckles and hazel eyes.  I would think an author of this stature would have better proofreading.  It really distracted me from the story.
3904549
I am a voracious reader and a life long student of the history of the British Isles.  I was intrigued by these books from the enthusiasm of friends and relatives and I always love it when I see something that gets "non-readers" reading, (Same phenomenon with "Harry Potter.")  But,  I found I put off starting them as I wasn't sure about the "time travel" aspect that is essential to the framework of the series.  I'm not a fan of sci-fi or mystical type tales.  It has taken some effort to keep my interest in this first tome and I am not reading with my usual level of interest and speed. I've put it down a couple of times and read other books which is something I rarely do.  I am mid-way through and will finish it.  Unfortunately? I have purchased the entire series so hope I will be able to "muddle" through them all.  Maybe, I will become more interested?  There are a staggering number of pages to get through!

 My comments are likely to sound sacrilegious to the thousands of die-hard "Outlander" fans!  But I'm sure I have many favorites the "Outlander" fans would prefer not to read as well.
433420
I'm probably premature with this analysis....I've only read a couple of chapters at this time.  The problem is that is a large novel with very small print. Small enough, that even with my glasses, I have a difficult time reading it. The story may be outstanding, but it will take me more time than I would like to give, to finish the story. So sad.....
187239
I am a great fan of reading in general but I find this book to be stifling; I have not finished it yet although I have it for over a month and a half, but i'm not giving up yet. It almost requires note-taking and a list of characters next to the Kindle and, thank goodness, the author did include a cast of characters and family trees; I almost feel the need to print these as reading aides. The several chapters I did read have good stories but there is much effort involved in slogging through the reading.

If you enjoy a long slow dense read, then this book is just for you!
3995044
I love to read W.E.B. Griffin's series.  They are full of drama, suspense,  and mystery.  I also find some of the technical aspects very interesting  even though I sometimes find them difficult to follow.  The story lines  make up for that difficulty.  Being a registered nurse, I was reading this  story and came upon either the result of poor research or a printing error.  In the paper back, when the doctor is giving Canidy the sedative in the  black bag and information on how to administer the sedative, the dosage  printed is 300 cc.  There is not a syring for a human being large enough to  hold that much.  That is a littel more than the size of a pint of milk.  A  human cannot tolerate an injection  of more than the amount of a teaspoon  of liquid.  No way could a human take a 300 or 500 cc injection. The muscle  could not stand it.  I read and re-read this passage several time to make  sure I read it correctly.  I would miss any technical errors, but to this  RN, this statement was a brick in the face.  Otherwise, the book was quite  difficult to put down.