Some classic Waters, but left me wanting.
594554
After falling in love with the gorgeously written Tipping the Velvet years ago, I have gobbled up Sarah Waters' following books as soon as I can get my hands on them.  The Night Watch being no exception.  I just finished about five minutes ago and took a moment to read what others had felt.

It was a good book.  Absolutely.  Sarah Waters can draw you in as few can-she gets it.  And, not only that-she can write it too.  There was a moment when she was describing the indescribable, the elusive-being in love-when I thought,"Exactly.  Wow.  How recognizable that is."  She has a firm grasp on the human condition, regardless of class or sexual orientation.  It is this that makes Sarah Waters one of my favorite writers.

Another reviewer mentioned they couldn't warm to the characters in this book.  I don't agree.  I found them all, with the possible exception of Duncan, to be fully fleshed out.  Even Alec seemed more fully formed to me than Duncan.  Perhaps that was intentional on Waters' part but he left me cold, just the same.

The reason I'm rating The Night Watch 3 stars instead of 4 or 5 is b/c, though I felt the characters were fully realized, and I felt very much in wartime London in the 40s (clearly she did tons and tons of research into the time) w/o it feeling false or quaint, and though there were moments of Sarah Waters' edge that came through, it didn't have that twist or significant denouement that I kept expecting to be on the next page.  As I saw the pages dwindling, I could feel my disappointment rising.  It just didn't have that gasp factor that gave her previous books that extra umph.

I remain loyal and steadfast, however.  And, I will pre-order her next book.  Fingers crossed, though, it's not another 3 years.
2353172
For the most part, it was good. The stories were intriguing and a couple resonated with me (still do). Some of the others were a tad too avant-garde for my taste.
3459635
There were many parts to this book that made it enjoyable, but there just wasn't enough action for my taste.
847220
This movie held my attention & had nice looking guys to look at. However, the movie left me wanting for more and it felt like something was missing. The overall storyline was weird, especially with the ending.
181717
Reviewing poetry is so hard, because each piece will be different for each person reading it. What resonates with one person might not be the same for someone else. I've wanted to pick up one of Robert Drake's collections for a while, and I'll be honest and say it was the covers that first caught my attention (they're all gorgeous). Last time I was browsing the poetry section, I picked this one up and flipped through a few to see if it was something I might like, and I thought it was 50/50, but worth a shot. Unfortunately, this one wasn't great for me. I liked it, and I will absolutely be picking up more of Drake's collections, but I was a little underwhelmed by Broken Flowers.

It was a bit repetitive (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but one thing about it started to annoy me fairly quickly: so many poems that began with "and." I know, it's probably a really stupid complaint, but for me it was irritating after a while. About 3/4 through, some of the poems were giving me deja vu because they were similar to early ones. Again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wasn't loving it.

Despite the fact that this isn't a collection I loved, I have a ton of sticky tabs marking pieces I really liked. Some of the poems in this collection really struck a chord with me. Overall, I think it was a good collection, but not a favorite of mine. I'm looking forward to reading some of Drake's older work, and also checking out the upcoming novel, Gravity.
4949241
It's not terrible, but personally, I could not get past the color, and it did have a bit of a metallic aftertaste. I am going to stick to plain water. It is cheaper and refreshing.
2672829
I have always loved Mary Oliver, but these poems seemed a little pedestrian.  I'll give them a little while and go back and read them again.
1951328
I love Curious George, but this wasn't the ending that I was hoping for, since I was giving this to a family that loves to fish.
406388
I enjoyed the essence of the story, as she travelled the country; however, I felt overwhelmed with details at times, which I found myself skimming over; and I hate to do that to a good story. Overall, I appreciated her journey of growth and self-love, it just didn't keep me wanting for more.
2334053
The title is what grabbed me - I'm 49 years old & was hoping this would offer some lighthearted insight to this transitional phase of life, but not completely missing some depth.  If you're looking for a highly detailed description of life full of "1st-world problems" (although cancer is devastating to all) and of someone of an urban (& of decent means) lifestyle, then this book may well appeal to you.  For me, someone more of "middle America," not privileged with urban amenities, spas, and bustling modern life (although I'd love that!), this book just didn't fit my life.  I know some will love this book, but I was looking for a bit more inspirational commentary on getting a bit older on life's journey.
2520444
I had an odd reaction to this novel.  I absolutely loved the title and the premise, yet was sort of disappointed with its composition.  It took me awhile to get used to Toxic's voice (our protagonist) and while it certainly admirable to stay with his voice throughout the book, I often asked myself why I was reading about him.  In some ways I found it fun reading about an emotionally ugly Serbian killer (his backstory was interesting) so it was a good stretch to read this.  But I guess I had been hoping for a more literal interpretation to the title (forgive me for that), furthering the stretch of the "fish out of water" theme.
1048100
This devotional is really a collection of the author's personal stories and experiences, along with her thoughts on how she applied them to God and how she saw Him working in her life (and that of her family). While the stories were interesting and the points well made, I was actually expecting a straight daily devotion. I guess what I was thinking of is more in line with just reading the Bible more and less on relying on side devotions. To gain a more personal relationship with Him, I won't find it in another's experience, but rather my own.

That said, this is still a good devotional to show us how God can work in our lives. It reminds me of my story I tell my kids in Sunday school when discussing the importance of prayer.

My brother-in-law had lost his wallet in the ocean while we were checking out a beach in Kauai. In it, he'd had his driver's license, credit cards and over $200 in cash. Panicked, he and a friend of ours grabbed snorkel gear and frantically snorkeled through the crashing waves, hoping to find it. But the waves were frequent, the murky water constantly churning with sand. There was no way we'd find it.

My husband went down the beach to search the shore, as did his parents. I didn't know what to do. And in that moment of helplessness, all I could think of was to pray. Now, for someone who doesn't believe, they'd explain this away and that's fine by me. I know what happened, because it happened to me. I stood in the waters, the waves crashing against my legs. And I began to pray: "God, please help me find his wallet."

Simple. Not fancy. Just stating the miracle we needed in that moment. But then a thought, like a little voice, spoke up and reminded me that yes, He could probably "show" me the wallet, but would I be able to reach it? Or would it be floating ten feet away with no hope of getting to it in time? So I quickly amended my prayer: "God, only You can do this. We have NO clue where the wallet is at, or if the fish are racking up a huge credit card bill (lol, ok...I didn't exactly say that). Please help me not only find and see the wallet, but be able to catch it in my hand." And I placed my hand open, with palm facing the ocean, into the water.

I'd barely gotten my hand in the water when a wave came crashing in and....I kid you not, the wallet landed square in my palm.

That night, I got an excellent fish dinner as a thanks from my brother-in-law. I had to remind him, it wasn't me he should thank, it was God. All I did was ask for help.

So while this devotional isn't all scripture and lessons from the Bible, the author does use her personal experiences (like mine) to show just how amazing our God is.

This review is based on free copies provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.
1274642
I'm always drawn to any story that takes place near the water whehter lake, sea, or ocean.  Looked like a good story but by 7% I realized that two of the main charcters were using the "F" word and that does it for me.  Too bad, looks like I might have enjoyed it otherwise.
885744
I was a bit disappointed when I couldn't at least small the flowers, but the water is clean and pure, so I got over it.  I had a bottle recently that I got elsewhere that you could really smell, though not taste, the flowers...and I really got it for that reason as I do not like water at all.
2754673
I wanted to like this book. It was well-written and provocative. However a few things grated on me, and I finally had to just quit reading. One thing was the heroine's thoughts about theology. They just didn't have the right feel for the time period. For example when told to give up her mixed thread garment, she did so gladly thinking about how such a law would not be needed in the future when God was truly revealed. There were so many references to "God is doing it this way to guide his people now, but He won't need to do it in the future". These thoughts were just too related to Christian doctrine to feel right for the earliest days of the Hebrews. The other thing that really made me shut the book down forever was her slipping into the "Stupid Female Protagonist" mode. I don't want to spoil the book so it's a bit hard to go into exact detail, but he said something she took the wrong way and the rest of the book looked like this eternal go-round of does he love me, yes but not the way I am, what does he want, what does she want, does she love me...etc. I gave the book three stars because I enjoyed about 66% of it before I just couldn't handle the dithering. Maybe you can get past it, but I can't. To the writer's credit no graphic sex!
4472652
I love the literary nods to favorite classics. The pace of the story, though, was not as moving as I had hoped it would be. There was a lot of detail and character building -- which was interesting but at the same time drug a little. I think if I had started at the beginning of the series I would have been far more interested and engaged. This story was more of a dark comedy to me.
4201241
Somewhat vague.  Needed to describe more waters, especially smaller rivers and streams.