just a great, human story
346500
deeply developed characters.  just a great, human story.
4147656
A wonderful tale, a deep consideration of the tragedy it is to be human and why we need/desire/love art. What makes great books great: I cared about and suffered with the characters and wanted to know what would happen next.
836651
I am going into the weekend with a lack of sleep thanks to this great book.  I am not Catholic, and probably not really religious anymore but I loved this book and Sam's mother.  I have read many books about complexity, our human experience, and religion.  Few books can pull it together into a story, but Dugoni does it here.  It is a book about righteousness, spiritual symbols..... no, no wait; it is just a good story.  As a good story, it kept me wanting to read it and then disappointed that I was coming to the last pages of the book.  But, it is not over because, as a great tale, it is the story of all of us who have been broken by life and tried to piece it together as to what this all means.  The great divide between religious and non-religious ways of finding meaning is bridged as only can be done by a great author with imagination and exceptional writing skills.
2675210
This was just a great, great book, telling a wonderful story with excellent writing and humor. I liked it so much that I paced myself when reading it - I could have read it a lot faster, but I didn't want it to end.

It is the story of the author and her husband, their 4 biological children, and the additional 5 children they came to adopt - the first from Bulgaria, the rest from Ethiopia, but it is much more, too.  There is the day-to-day life of the family, the story of each adoption, stories about each of the children, as well as the stories of the backgrounds of each adopted child, travels to help them see their histories, and even the successful search for the birth mother of one of the adoptees.

There is a lot of laughter, a bit of heartache, but most of all the stories are heart-warming.  I ended up falling a little in love with Jesse, Lee, Lily and Helen especially.  Lee is the biological son who volunteers at the orphanage in Ethiopia for the summer, AND the one who talks his parents into adopting the last 2 children.  They were 2 brothers, the eldest was getting too old to be adopted, and Lee fell in love with him and his younger brother Yosef, and couldn't bear the idea that they would be left in the orphanage until they aged out.  The adoption probably wasn't the wisest one because they already had an adoptive son approximatly Daniel's age, which is not supposed to be wise, and I'd say it did cause some problems down the road, but nothing this incredible family couldn't overcome.  I was completely impressed by Lee's huge heart...his parents should be very proud.

Of course the parents have a LOT to be proud of - not least of which is their own selves, but also the awards, trophies, etc., and most of all the love that is so obvious in this family.

I am stingy with my stars, and rarely give 5, but this book more than deserved it!  I would love to see a sequel or a movie (it would make a great movie if done right), and, well - if the sequel was started on right away, the kids would still be relatively young.  I am so glad I was able to spend time with this very special family, and I highly recommend this book!
2832162
So much humanity in this story, mostly the sweet side of humanity. Terrific story and fun even while plot is developing. Really good characterization
2839286
I was truly drawn into this book.  The authors have managed to craft a very human story, not a "bash Sarah, tell-all."

Don't get me wrong, there's plenty not to admire about the Palins in this book.  Anyone who has followed her bewildering rise to fame will not be surprised by how petty, vindictive, and immature their  behaviors are.  The big surprise, IMO, is how easily people fell into the Palin world of persecution and drama.

Bailey comes across as a normal, nice guy who simply stopped thinking, stopped questioning, stopped looking at the world through eyes other than Palin's.  He demonstrates the real power of Palin's victim meme. No slight was too small for attention and retribution, and there was no such thing as "overkill."

Troopergate gets the bulk of the treatment here.  There are a couple of things that don't get covered I would have liked to have had some insight on--the creation of the Yahoo accounts in particular, and the situation in Emmonak.

The emails are all his own, from his personal Yahoo account.  They demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that Palin lied during her Troopergate testimony.  It'd be nice to see some charges filed regarding that.  It was an egregious ethics violation and shows how little understanding she has regarding good government.  In Sarah's mind, "good government" is her.  Bad government is any challenge to her.  There is no middle ground.

Palin is not the villain in this tale.  She's too unaware of what she's doing to be considered "villainous."  She has no clue she's harming *people*; everyone else is just an extra in the drama of her life. People enter and exit her life like actors on a stage. That the have a life beyond her stage is not considered.  It's like she's truly fourteen, and cannot see beyond herself/family.  I really pitied her more than anything.  She's like a spoiled child who needs a new toy every day or feels like no one loves her.  I find it hard to believe she's my age.

Bailey is properly contrite.  He does a great job of looking at his actions with hindsight, but is as bewildered as the rest of us as to how it really got that far.
2600914
Without going into all of the details of the mystery of autism, let me say that this is a truly wonderful, personal narration of a guy named Christopher, with many clever and witty diversions, and yet still a story of heart-rending compassion. Some small bits are a tad tedious, but that's a small price to pay for Mr. Haddon's personal experience and humorously wise tale of a child in pain, striving (almost valiantly) to become one of us... although maybe that's not the smartest of desires.  Give yourself a treat and read this as soon as you can.
514223
Wonderful story of the human spirit with all it's flaws and goodness. A contemporary look at people in a small town, just living their lives, the best they can. It is about life. Loved it!
4517782
Very hard to put this story down for any length of time. Thought-provoking with excellent character development. Such a genuine, utterly human story. Can't wait to read the next two books in the series.
1305379
This story starts out as an incredible tragedy and you wonder how you can get through such a depressing story, however the book is not depressing at all.  The story unfolds (and without giving too much away) is a great tale of human strength, struggle and interaction.  The characters are quirky and vivid, but I believe this makes them more real.  It also wraps up nicely without being predictable.  A very enjoyable story!
1274058
This is the story of 83-year-old "Eddie Maintenance", his tragic death, and the events that follow right afterwards.  Before his death, which happens at the beginning of the story, you get a brief glimpse of his life and personality.  After his death, Eddie is taken to heaven where he meets five people.  From each of these three people he learns what type of impact he had on their lives, and visa versa, and a lesson is learned to help him to more understand his life and find meaning "in it all".  In most of these lives, he finds he has had an impact more than he had imagined.

This type of story can easily become preachy... but I never thought that it had.  While I didn't really find much insight (there was a little) from this story, I would imagine that there are people out there that could learn something of their own lives from this story.  I can imagine why many people would feel touched reading a story such as this.  However, to cover all the bases, more than five people would need to be met and then this book would become rather repetitive, long, boring, and preachy.  Five people was a good way to hit many of the bases and keep the story interesting.

Despite the search for some self-realization, this is actually an excellent story.  I love character stories, and you find a fantastic character while exploring the life of Eddie.  He is easy to identify with and like.  The depiction of Heaven is imaginative and interesting.

Recommended, sure!!  You might find things in here that I didn't, and plus, it is a great story.
2714922
I really enjoyed this book, it is written in a way that relaxes the eyes. It makes for rich reading, a joy to take in and ponder, a story full of human drama.

The characters are real, and we can identify with them easily. It is astounding how Ms. Nunez can paint so deeply the world of a male, telling the tale from Oufoula's point of view. He is a flawed man, and the reader has many questions about him. Also, the tragic figure of Marguerite. Her story is real. Her turmoil is tangible, and I can sympathize with her. I would have liked to hear more about Nerida, the wife of Oufoula, and of her world a little more. She comes off as a little more hollow than the other two. The premise of the book--passion v. love--is weak because of the lack of impact from Nerida. There is a little imbalance. As a result, the plight of Oufoula tilts toward Marguerite. Does he love his wife or merely tolerate her? She hardly says a word.

The plot is simple, there is not a lot of action...no scenes from the floor of the UN, where Oufoula delivers impassioned speeches. All that is fine. His account of his work suffices. We can see how his past brought about his present situaton. I liked the passages about his experiences in Africa.

The dialogue is well-done, and specifically that which occurs between the man and his lover. It defines who they are, each one alone, and their intimate relationship together. It serves to show the many holes in Oufoula's life, but I don't think this is a "all men are dogs" typical grrrrl book.

I like the references to "Faust" and "Things Fall Apart", both of which I read. The passion between the two lovers recalled for me the passion between Robert and Francesca in "The Bridges of Madison County". Still, I wished Marguerite maintained a sharp edge over the years to challenge Oufoula to honesty.

I recommend this book highly.
2225141
The author makes herself vulnerable and raw and tells a very human story in a very human way. Her writing is touching and the story, while not unique, is hers alone. I highly recommend it.
691365
I was offered a free copy of this book in audio format from the author and narrator in exchange for an honest review.

The few humans still alive dwell in the little place of Sanctuary, under the rule and organization of the Core, with robots as assistants and peacekeepers. Heyoo, or unit 413s98-itr8, is in the repair bay to solve an issue with his program, when some humans suddenly irrupt there and give him a mysterious package just before teletransporting him to an unknown location. There is just a problem, and it is that the humans got the wrong unit. The future of mankind will depend on Heyoo and his special package.

I can say with no doubts that this has been one of the best and most endearing books I have listened to this year. Units like Heyoo are allowed to live just 15 years, to prevent them from evolving and caring, which is what happens to Heyoo in this story. He starts the journey completely lost and without understanding much, but he will live to witness great changes, to wonder about things and to question the world where he has come from. We will learn to see the world from the naive eyes of Heyoo, and finding hope in his transformation and how far he has come.

Sometimes we come across very complicated and sophisticated plots and details in science-fiction, and then we stumble upon a gem like this one, so simple in appearance, but so strong, funny, beautiful and full of hope.

The book is narrated by Rob Dirks himself, and he did a neat job at it. One could think that just because the narration was not done by a professional narrator, that the quality would suffer, but not in this case. I enjoyed the narration and the characters' impersonation.

As I have said, this has been one of the best books I have listened to this year, and I will recommend it not only to sci-fi enthusiasts, but to anyone who enjoys a good story with great and well developed characters.
1013651
Great story! Touched a lot on the humanity we all share, both
The good and not so good parts of all humans. Details were very appropriate and gave great character to the story.
2659633
And is great reading. For all of us. And I will enjoy the story many more times to read over again
395564
Without a doubt, one of the best science fiction stories I have had the pleasure of reading.  Sci-fi-wise, it presents how things could be in a potential future, and how even then, there is the never-ending story of man's inhumanity to fellow man.  On the other hand, there are included as well, people who know and cherish caring relationships with loved ones.  A variety of different, yet strong characters are presented, along with their unique strengths and weaknesses, all of which are magnified in the story being told.  Although not in every case, I particularly enjoyed many of the dialogs that were presented between various characters.  It is easy to relate to all of them because in the story, you can see where each one is coming from and how they want their own dreams and goals to be fulfulled.  The characters and story, is well told, and presented in a way that makes it difficult to put the book down.