Wonderfully written.....but its title should be "Too Little Too Late"!
351657
First this is the saddest story I have ever read. Even the movie "Titanic" wasn't this heart breaking. *SPOILERS* First we have Mattie, the wife, finding her husband Jake, a serial adulterer, is once again seeing someone else. This is not anything new to Mattie for all the 16 years she has been married to this good looking, suave, intelligent lawyer, he has cheated anytime he sees someone he wants while still having a great physical relationship with his wife. I guess he felt "entitled" because he had a bad childhood. (So get over it!!) Mattie is having some physical problems that she has ignored, but today everything hits the fan so to speak. She has a terrible accident and the day she is released from the hospital, Jake moves out to live with the latest "BIMBO love". Mattie all but gives him her blessing; she is starting a new life and happy of it. Finally she has a chance to be happy. But her best friend Lisa, a doctor, didn't like the sound of some of the physical problems her life long best friend is having. Following is the beginning of the end for Mattie. Jake feels he has to come home and "take care of his wife and child through this", but he assures his bimbo as soon as Mattie dies he'll be back. HEARTBREAKING!!! (I wonder if he was a presidential candidate. Kind of sounds familiar, right?) The bimbo even ruins a trip to Paris that Mattie has been wanting all her life. Well, as bad as I despised the husband and despise is probably not harsh enough to describe what I felt toward the character, I found I couldn't put the book down. Ms. Fielding can REALLY write a story. I gave this a 4.25 probably only because this is not the type of story I usually like, but I highly recommend this book. Thanks Sara for recommending this to me.
3602817
This book is so good, but I wish the audience wasn't limited by its title. This is a book I'd love my son to read, but the title makes it a hard sell :) It would be great to see it republished with a title relevant to all who want to study the word.
3484455
Very interesting, well written, and somewhat disturbing.
There were supposed to be 4 stars
188244
Loved the book....BUT, abrupt ending left me wanting more...needed either an epilogue or a preview to a sequel...SOMETHING!  I did not consider this a waste of time, but would have liked more.  Very interesting history and insight into the life and times of those who pioneered our great countries....but still, the ending needed more.
2871169
Though the writing is very good -- the human element and emotional descriptions are believable; the gore is not overwhelming; the decline of civilization feels bang on the dot; I was guided into caring about the main characters and kept turning pages to see what happened next, there are two key points missing -- consider this a bit of a Spoiler Alert: (1) What caused the Apocalypse?  Even a vague description would have helped other than a 'flash of light' that sunburned some people... and (2) If the Sun was somehow gone and the world plunged into darkness, there would be far more than snow and sleet.  The Earth would freeze entirely within a few days and this novel takes place over the space of several months with survivors slogging it out day after day amidst a dark winter.  They see Northern Lights, extreme Lights, in fact... okay, that would indicate the Sun still out there, somewhere, and they see stars, so it's not a nuclear winter with a dust cloud enshrouding the planet.  It's perpetual night -- WHY?  Did the Earth get knocked off its axis to the point that Europe is like Alaska in winter with months of unending darkness?  So, I give this 3 stars for excellent writing, but dock it 2 for not taking into account the necessary physics or explanations that would've helped my acceptance of the entire premise.  In short, I like your writing style very much, but I want more substance to the cause of the effects that made the entire story happen in the first place!  Thank you for an exciting read!
1981836
Lovely writing, but overly verbose, seemingly for the sake of making the book longer than it needed to be. And the ending! No plot spoiler here, but you will not learn the answer to the main theme/question/mystery of the entire book. Isn't that why we read mysteries? Aside from the pleasure of reading an intruiging tale, isn't half the fun learning the answer to the puzzle of whodunnit? If you're someone who doesn't need an answer to that, and don't mind being teased about getting closer to the answer of the main mystery, and then...nothing...except The End, then this book is for you! Though it is, as mentioned, very well written, I feel quite dissatisfied.
230438
I understand that another author's biography was more psychological and I understand that Frederick Brown wanted to examine Flaubert in a more social, historical context. I just wish Brown had come up with a slightly different title for his biography of my all-time favorite writer. Titling the biography *Flaubert* lent me to think the biography would be more psychological, rather than historical. Perhaps Brown should have considered something like *Flaubert and Normandy* or *Flaubert's Normandy.* The historical passages are well done, but I wonder if they could have been trimmed a bit. Though I have been trained in European history, I gritted my teeth while reading every word. I wonder if Brown thought to himself, "Now let me get through this so that we can get back to Flaubert's literary tribulations and relationships." Flaubert's literary struggles and relationships are the most fascinating part of this biography.

My gripes aside, this biography is densely (in the best sense of the word) and beautifully written. Flaubert's best and not so great moments are limned gorgeously. The most touching aspect of the man is how good he was to his niece Caroline and how she honored his memory. I wished I had been Willa Cather when she encountered Caroline to talk about "les ouevres de mon oncle."
4781493
I have to admit that I was waiting anxiously for this book. As an avid reader of Lainey's blog, I'm a big fan of her witty, honest and take-no-prisoners writing. Plus I love her tips on Feng Shui, so I was biased to like it...unfortunately, I'm not sure I did. The book is part biography, part homage to her mother, part a compilation of lesson-teaching parables (a sort of Aesop's fables, as told by Lainey's mother, the Squawking Chicken), part an exploration of her Chinese culture, part thesis on what it means to be an immigrant and "other" in a Western culture, but it's not "fully" any of those things. When I found myself at the end of the book, I had to look back to make sure I hadn't skipped any chapters or that my kindle hadn't jumped ahead. She has great ideas, great stories to tell, great insights, but it seems like she never fully develops any. The book feels unfinished, rushed....or three different books, condense into one short one.

One thing that cannot be faulted is the writing, she has an amazing command of the language, and is a wonderfully descriptive writer that takes you right into the action and  emotion with her, although she perhaps alienates a lot her readers by using copious - unnecessary - swear words.

Perhaps it's condensed because Elaine's not being 100% honest with us. She leaves out a lot of important details and stories out. Her relationship with her dad, who seems like the person who stuck by her all those years, is glossed over. A lot of pages are given to the relationships that were wrong, but almost none to the relationship that went RIGHT (perhaps because her mother had nothing to do with the ones that went right?), like the one with her current husband. I agree with another reviewer that states she felt uncomfortable with the book. There's a lot of emotional abuse that Lui has had to endure from her mother, even if she honestly doesn't see it as abuse, but rather "tough love". I felt for her as a little child, and I feel for her as an adult.

I won't pass judgement on her. She clearly loves her mother, above all. And all that she does (and is) is because of her love. But, the question remains, has Lainey come so far in her life because of her mother's influence, or in spite of it?
939084
Anything written by David Halberstam is going to be exceptionally well-researched and written, and this is no exception.

The flaw with this book is there's not enough of it. I knew that it was a short book, but I ended up wanting a lot more about the inner workings of a firehouse. While there was some of that, it was more a elegy to each of the 12 firefighters from this house that died on 9/11 - and Halberstam never pretended it was anything else, so it's to his credit it left me wanting more.

Since his subjects had all died, it's a testament to his reporting skills that he makes them all come alive in just 200 pages for 12 men. A reader does get to know each of them in different ways - they might come across a little too perfect at times, but that's the nature of the subject and not surprising for a book barely a year after 9/11.

For a book about a firehouse, without the overwhelming influence of 9/11, Dennis Smith's "Report from Engine Co. 82" is a good place to turn. "Firehouse," however, still humanizes some of the men lost on 9/11, and for that it's very valuable.
1275512
It was an awesome book-couldn't put it down-so touching. Just one negative-I don't think the title of the book did it justice-it made it sound like a porn movie- the heroine wasn't a vixen-she was a sweet compassionate person.  So get past the title-it is a wonderful story!
3877775
I love the author, I love Emma, and I love Jane Austen! I would have loved to give this five stars. For sure there are some lovely, and some funny parts too, in McCall Smith's version. And so well-written: thus I can't give it just one star. Buuuut... he ultimately failed in bringing the story to have an equivalent effect in today's world. My husband read aloud Jane Austen to me, my elderly aunt and my mom during a summer in South America--a very fond memory for me of my early marriage. Jane Austen offers a delightful, intelligent, pleasant reading for the family living room. As I read this one, all I could think was, no, this version doesn't work the same way... too many intimate, sexual or politically-correct themes here. That is too bad. I know my review reflects my own personal experience with Jane Austen, but that is the beauty of customer reviews. They can't help being subjective. I wish McCall Smith would re-do it!
2602579
It is a wonderful book, well written, very raw and authentic, with lots of dramatic scenarios of what it's like to be a pathological gambler who paid a huge price for her addiction....but personally I was looking to read more about the deep, complex, conflicting, crazy emotions she experienced as a gambler. Her experience recovering seemed so linear and smooth, with no relapses. Just seemed lacking in emotional depth and complexity. I also would have liked to read more general facts about gambling addiction and the gambling industry, just to provide some background.
2202612
I have mixed feelings about this book, I already enjoyed it so much, it was enlightening and with a lot of historical information that you have to process very slowly and, maybe you have to go back sometimes just to reinforce all the knowledge you're getting with this book. It should definitively be a must and a reference book for librarians, students of librarianship and people related with book industry. I'm convinced every librarian around the globe must have this book in his/her personal library

However I said I have mixed feelings and this is because although in the title never mention anything about "universal" history of writing, sometimes (especially from chapter 6 to the end of the book) I feel it was just about the history of writing in Europe and specially in France, with a few exceptions talking about Germany, England and the United States. The author never mention the case of Mexico and I think it's a huge mistake not to include a country where we had the first press in all the continent, even before the United States.

And what about the ebook? Although the last part talks about of the development of machines and their impact to writing culture, it never really talks about the most important development for writing records since Gutenberg's press. The book was first published in 1988, of course we can talk about the boom of the ebook in the 2007 but in fact ebooks have been around 70s.

It deserves another revision in order to solve this two big missing points of a great, great history.
2690409
Author T.C. Barnes' style is impeccable, the characters in this novel (including the villain) live and breathe, and the plot - the hunt for a serial killer before he kills again - is faultless.
What then is my problem: too much of a good thing ... the scenery descriptions and contemplative thoughts about recession and poverty are excellent, but NOT when the sheriff is about to come face to face with the killer. While the detailed descriptions of how an autopsy is conducted are interesting, once is enough - either Brooklyn or NC, but not both. The same is true for other details, there are just too many of them, no matter how well written and otherwise interesting they may be. I found myself skimming although I consider that an insult to the author. I apologize and would really recommend a top rate professional edit. The book is good enough to deserve it and the author is a true wordsmith of the highest order.
1489564
There is much to love in this book, not the least of which is Gregory's gorgeous use of language and fine character development. There is a strong sense of time and place, with a firm grounding in history without it sounding like a senior thesis!

I do think it could have been quite a bit shorter. There were huge sections that simply reiterated what we already knew or sounded more like "padding" (I suppose it has to be 500+ pages to warrant a $16 price tag).

Like many other readers, I was annoyed with the protagonist for allowing himself to become so besotted by his love (I would have felt the same if his love had been a woman). Then again, I'm not a particularly sentimental type and if my lover had treated me that way, I would have been "outta there." But I'm a 20th century woman and I can't expect a servant in the 1600s to act the same way!

The homosexual content didn't bother me in the least. In fact, I'm amazed to see even a few people writting here saying that they had a problem with it, particularly since none of them mentioned having a problem with the murders, the injustice, or the war that takes 4,000 lives.

I do think I'll read the sequel, although I think I liked John the father better than the son. The woman who is introduced late in the book, Hester, seems like she'll make an interesting addition to the plot later on!
3998054
You better read this...it's already on its way and we are not going to be happy with the ending. It is almost too late!
2299680
Okay, this is my first time reading this author, and I will say it won't be my last, but only because I loved the writing style in this book.  The problem is with the ending, but that seems to be an epidemic problem in all the novels I read lately.  Perhaps they are just getting too big, and too hurried for that royalty check to awe readers like that HAVE to when they first start out.  The killer is just not set up good enough, not really a reason, no real proof, just guess work.  This book could have been great, but it was just good.