This is not a book you love but it is a book you should read
587628
Trieste is a difficult book to read, it is history that is haunting and disturbing.  Woven through the facts is Haya's narrative, which gets lost at times, but resurfaces frequently enough to keep the story moving.  You can not read this book without being emotionally devastated by the 9,000 names listed - page after page of names - no commas between them - just page after page of names of the Jews who were killed in Trieste during the war.  It is not a book you love, or really even like, but once you start it, it is not a book you can stop reading until you are finished.
3192807
This is a book that you can't exclaime that you love it and its the best book ever. This is a book that guides you through the happenings of the story calmly and purposly, right through to the end. It is a very clever book. Thoughtprovoking. Heartfelt. People need to read this. Yes, it's heartbreakingly sad but it is something that adds to you life and leaves it presence in you forever. If you know someone who has suffered loss, this is a good book for them too. It will make you cry but help you as well. When you read it think of two questions. What is the real monster? And who is the monster there to cure?
A. M.U.S.T. R.E.A.D.
3331338
This book is so good, I almost  don't want you to read it.  It deserves more than being designated as your next beach read. This isn't the story for your Wednesday night book club analysis. It's the book your college professor made you read in hopes that you'd walk away from it a little bit wiser about the world.  It's a comic book hero's background story with a moral that countless other writers, musicians, artists, and philosophers have been trying to impart to you since time immemorial- if there are higher beings out there, the only thing humanity has going for it is love and kindness, and even the gods have trouble deciding whether those things are enough. This book may be too good for the world the way it is, but it's stories like this that help make us better. I can't wait to see what happens next.
2656121
i have no right in my mind but you got to read this it can take a person and make there insides thrive. i think that you will injoy this book. as they say don't judge a book by it's cover. try to read other books i review. this book is n for children, but i will review kid books to.
3242368
Even though I read the book through, it is not my kind of book, nor can I recommend it.  I will , however, give commendation to the author for her thought processes.  The detail included in the story was very interesting indeed.
4429083
This is not your typical book but I liked it. It's about Submission and Authority and about viewing your own heart.
3851955
This is not a romance.  It's not a book about love, or love and loss.  It's a book about life.  It's about how we respond to the trials and challenges life throws our way, and the light and life that people can bring to our lives.  To understand this book is to have experienced challenges in your life.  To appreciate this book is to have found the light after or because of those challenges.  This is not for the faint of heart.  It is for someone who wants to face the challenge, bear the burden and find the light.  Well done, Ms. Fisher.  You have weaved another story that will forever be part of me.
2611465
This book is not some innocent read. Potentially, it challenges the reader to take a serious look at his or her life - stop clinging to things they don't really want and start working for better things.

Surely, most people probably find safety in the status quo, but this is not a book for them. Instead, this is a book for people who actually wants change. And what a great book it is !

-Simon
3959410
Nothing about this book or the author is average. This is not a cookie cutter book following the same beaten to death story line. You know you want something different. And this is it!! It's so different you almost don't want to love it. It makes you pause, it makes you think. It's so unconventional. And it's utterly brilliant. Grab it, but it now, read it immediately. You won't regret it.
4386349
This book is a journey for sure and is not one that is warm and fuzzy, but it does have enough good to overcome the bad.  If you are not up for a hard-knock life kind of story, this would not be the book for you.

The story of Breaking Twig is about a girl named Becky who has a very hard relationship with her mother. The book starts with Becky (Twig) being a pre-teen in the south and goes up to her 20's.  There are a LOT of twists and turns to this story, which I liked. Just when I thought I knew where it was going it took a turn.  As you see the evolving relationship between Twig and the people around her, primarily her mother and stepfather, you can see how children of abuse find ways to cope.  I was really touched by the way she managed to understand her mother and why she was the way she was.  There are a lot of feelings that go into how you feel about her mother.  I don't want to give away the twist and turns of the story, so I will not go deeper into it so not to spoil it.  But if you read through to the end, you will really see a full evolution of her mother to understand her and why she is the way she is. By no means justifying, but understanding how she became the way she is.

The only negative feedback I can give on the book is the ending in not having an epilogue to it.  I felt there were a lot of things that were left unsaid, and maybe the writer did that as a way of leaving the door open for a 2nd book to continue Twig's story.  If there is no book 2 coming, then I would be disappointed that we don't know how Twig's future turned out.  Overall it's worth the read and I do recommend it.
3140522
Think you don't like military books. Think again. This book is wonderful reading. I learned so much...not all of it made me happy with the terrible business of making war, but it was a rewarding and beautifully written and compelling book.
1180414
How can I put this to make you understand?  I'm just going to throw it out there because I need to get it out - this is not only a book that you need to read, it's a book that you should read,  a book that you have to read  - because it's relevant, because it's meaningful, because it's important. Is it hard?  Definitely. But there is reward from that difficulty. Not the reward of getting through the book. No. I'm talking about the reward of learning something, something that will mean something to you, something that you'll maybe want to help with or maybe not but at least now you'll know. And the more people who know - the more there are who can and will help. This book will not only change your heart, it just might change your life.
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4905658
I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started this book....  It is not like anything I have ever read before and it is not a genre that I usually read or enjoy....  It is not an action packed book by a long shot....  In fact it is a subtle story with strong characters and it really grew on me....  I love the author's writing voice....  I loved the characters....  I love the story even though it wasn't a big ah hah type story but more of a fiction biography of sorts....  I find myself thinking about these characters and missing this book even though it has been weeks since I finished reading it....  I loved the book, the mystery of it, the rich character development, and the story which simply tells India's struggles and reality....
2523364
A wonderful, (can be if you choose) life-changing, book that is not just for teachers.  Read it.  Read it again.
70463
Every now and then one of those special books comes along that simply takes the reader on a journey of human expression and compassion. This book not only filled me with joy and sadness, but it left an indelible mark upon my soul. Not everyone will enjoy this book. If you like books in which women are being stalked, raped, dismembered and murdered, this is not for you. If you like books with edge-of-the-seat suspense, this book is not for you. If you like books that keep you on a roller-coaster ride trying to discover who the villain is, then read something else. But if you are looking for a story that will connect you to the fundamental concepts and feelings all humans experience.... love, mystery, beauty, and loss, then you will enjoy this book.

The story is about Sam, an 80 year old man whose wife has died, and how he adjusts to life without her. Two of his daughters live in houses next to him, two of his sons are preachers, one son works for the government, and one son died at a young age. This story follows, with touching sensibility and poignancy, Sam's slow walk towards death. The White Dog is a stray that Sam eventually coaxes into his home and becomes his constant companion, but none of his family can see the dog at first, and they worry that their father is hallucinating. Eventually, after a long passage of time, they are able to see the dog, but none of them can touch it as it remains wholly devoted to their father.

Perhaps this is not a book for those who are twenty-something. Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I have experienced the passing of a generation, and watched my parents grow old and afflicted and die; one of cancer, one of pneumonia. I have watched aunts and uncles who I remembered going to ball games with when I was a child, or playing poker around the table, or singing along to the old Mitch Miller albums one-by-one succumb to the vagaries of age, illness, and disease until each body was in turn lowered into the ground. So maybe it just takes someone of my generation to truly appreciate the subtleties in this story; the pain that the elderly face not only when they lose a spouse that was an integral part of their lives for decades, but also the realization that they, too, are now facing death, as we all must.

This story was such a wonderful, touching departure from 90% of the books being published these days. There are no murders, no sex, no foul words, no tension, no villians, no bratty kids, no conflicts. The writing is beautiful and the phrasing is lyrical. Here is one passage from the book:

"On mornings when he awoke early he liked to sit and watch the sun rising from the fog cap that billowed nightly over the waters of the swamp. The sun would lift out of the spreading silk of the fog cap, and balance itself, impaled, in the tree tips of black gum and oak. Always there was a moment-a quick slip of time-when the sun broke free of the trees and bled from its yolk, spilling in red-orange rivers over the silk. It was, to him, the most awesome spectacle in the universe."

And another:

"He inhaled slowly, deliberately, letting the perfumes seep into his sense. Other people did not like August because it seemed always hot and still, but August was one of his favorite times. In August, the seams of the earth cracked with a ground cover of growing, like a full, ripe flower spreading itself to the sun's heat, and the fragrance of the earth sweetened the air. He opened his mouth and let the air slide across his tongue, and he could taste its honey."

I encourage anyone who simply wants to settle down and enjoy a wonderful story to read this book. You will not only come to love Sam, but you will also get to know him so well that you will mourn his loss as if it were your own.
2943979
While I recommend this book, it wasn't quite what it could have been.  I don't want to fault the writer, because she has heart and she has skill.  You probably know the plot from the other reviews.  Vivian, who we are told at book's end is based on a real person, is living her life in an iron lung as a result of polio.  We are drawn into her life and while Holly who is taking care of her is also sharply drawn, Vivian is the one we truly love and are sympathetic with.  If the book were wholly from her viewpoint, I believe I would have given it five stars.

Holly is also a very real character.  But her story doesn't produce the emotional tug that Vivian's does.

Be that as it may, I actually recommend this highly.  It's an easy enough read and you will likely remember both characters long after reading the book.  You may however find yourself skimming a bit of Holly's story.

I wish I could honestly score this higher than three.  I do urge you to read the book because at the very least, it is a good Summer read.  I expect great things from this author and while I can't give this a better rating, the author has the ability and even if she doesn't rise higher in her next book, this is one you'll remember reading.
4122916
Not an easy book to read but an important one.