Gaye's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:34:02 -0700 60 Gaye's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart, #1)]]> 114982
When her dear father is drowned in suspicious circumstances in the South China Sea, Sally is left to fend for herself, an orphan and alone in the smoky fog of Victorian London. Though she doesn't know it, Sally is already in terrible danger. Soon the mystery and the danger will deepen - and at the rotten heart of it all lies the deadly secret of the ruby in the smoke...]]> 230 Philip Pullman 0394895894 Gaye 0 currently-reading 3.78 1985 The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart, #1)
author: Philip Pullman
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/07/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1)]]> 179064 She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste.

Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.

From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.]]> 383 Shannon Hale 1582349908 Gaye 5 just-finished 4.14 2003 The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1)
author: Shannon Hale
name: Gaye
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2011/07/03
date added: 2011/07/03
shelves: just-finished
review:
Loved it even more the second time around. Now to Enna Burning!
]]> The Violets of March 9724798 A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

A mesmerizing debut with an idyllic setting and intriguing dual story line, The Violets of March announces Sarah Jio as a writer to watch.]]> 296 Sarah Jio 0452297036 Gaye 4 just-finished 3.82 2011 The Violets of March
author: Sarah Jio
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/06/25
date added: 2011/07/03
shelves: just-finished
review:

]]> Left Neglected 8492768 Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny - her new, true life - may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.

]]> 324 Lisa Genova 1439164630 Gaye 4 just-finished 3.97 2011 Left Neglected
author: Lisa Genova
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2011/06/21
date added: 2011/06/21
shelves: just-finished
review:

]]> Daughter of Fortune 16527
As we follow her spirited heroine on a perilous journey north in the hold of a ship to the rough-and-tumble world of San Francisco and northern California, we enter a world whose newly arrived inhabitants are driven mad by gold fever. A society of single men and prostitutes among whom Eliza moves--with the help of her good friend and savior, the Chinese doctor Tao Chien--California opens the door to a new life of freedom and independence for the young Chilean. Her search for the elusive Joaquín gradually turns into another kind of journey that transforms her over time, and what began as a search for love ends up as the conquest of personal freedom.]]> 432 Isabel Allende 0061120251 Gaye 0 currently-reading Loving it! 3.93 1998 Daughter of Fortune
author: Isabel Allende
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at: 2011/06/11
date added: 2011/06/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:
Loving it!
]]> The Yearling 596875
No novel better epitomizes the love between a child and a pet than The Yearling . When young Jody Baxter adopts and orphaned fawn he calls Flag, he makes it a part of his family and his best friend. But life in the Florida backwoods is harsh, and so, as his family fights off wolves, bears, and even alligators, and faces failure in their tenuous subsistence farming, Jody must finally part with his dear animal friend.

There has been a film and even a musical based on this moving story, a fine work of great American literature which won Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings a Pulitzer Prize. Complete with N.C. Wyeth’s original oil paintings, this glowing work features a soft touch cover, gold foiling, and tip-in artwork.]]> 432 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 088103973X Gaye 5
Oh I loved this story. It was the recipient of the 1939 Pulitzer Prize and was written for children or young adults. I would be hard pressed to put this into the hands of a child today, though middle school patient kids who love long and carefully crafted deep stories might be candidates. The pacing is slower than most of today's novels and the author infuses so many details about hunting and farming that one would think she lived the same lifestyle herself (she did not!)The dialect was also thick and I found myself having to read some phrases over and over to 'figger' them out in my mind!! I loved the phrase, "don't go gittin' faintified on me!" The descriptions of the woods were full of words like loblolly pine, saw grass, red bay, sweet gum, and palmetto. I still don't know what a ti-ti or a blackjack pine looks like but they sure are fun to say. I looked up words like milch, sorties, feist, crony, brogans, boles, and cooter and they meant nothing like what they mean now! I remember - I was supposed to be speaking "southern"!

Lots of homeschool kids read this book and there are lots of study guides on the internet, yet I also saw reviews by many teenagers who just didn't like this book because they were forced to read it. Once again it supports my thoughts (what I tried to tell so many parents at Barnes and Noble) just because your child CAN read at that level doesn't mean that they SHOULD. Having some life experience behind us gives us a frame of reference, more meaning. This book requires some patience to uncover the gem that it is.

This book had me reading and enjoying it for a day or too after book group and I keep looking for a chance to say, "He's sure got a low eye for a high fence."]]> 3.94 1938 The Yearling
author: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1938
rating: 5
read at: 2011/06/01
date added: 2011/06/11
shelves:
review:
What language. It was dense and thick and like poetry. The story, The Yearling, is of a young boy named Jody and his life in the hardscrabble backwoods of northern Florida in the late 1800's. Jody and his parents live a solitary life and one where frivolous things don't belong. Yet all Jody wants is something that belongs just to him; a pet. When his father is struck by a rattlesnake in the deep woods, a doe is shot and killed for her healing organs, leaving behind a tiny fawn. This fawn now becomes Jody's pet.

Oh I loved this story. It was the recipient of the 1939 Pulitzer Prize and was written for children or young adults. I would be hard pressed to put this into the hands of a child today, though middle school patient kids who love long and carefully crafted deep stories might be candidates. The pacing is slower than most of today's novels and the author infuses so many details about hunting and farming that one would think she lived the same lifestyle herself (she did not!)The dialect was also thick and I found myself having to read some phrases over and over to 'figger' them out in my mind!! I loved the phrase, "don't go gittin' faintified on me!" The descriptions of the woods were full of words like loblolly pine, saw grass, red bay, sweet gum, and palmetto. I still don't know what a ti-ti or a blackjack pine looks like but they sure are fun to say. I looked up words like milch, sorties, feist, crony, brogans, boles, and cooter and they meant nothing like what they mean now! I remember - I was supposed to be speaking "southern"!

Lots of homeschool kids read this book and there are lots of study guides on the internet, yet I also saw reviews by many teenagers who just didn't like this book because they were forced to read it. Once again it supports my thoughts (what I tried to tell so many parents at Barnes and Noble) just because your child CAN read at that level doesn't mean that they SHOULD. Having some life experience behind us gives us a frame of reference, more meaning. This book requires some patience to uncover the gem that it is.

This book had me reading and enjoying it for a day or too after book group and I keep looking for a chance to say, "He's sure got a low eye for a high fence."
]]> Bellwether 1206542 247 Connie Willis 0553375628 Gaye 0 to-read 3.90 1996 Bellwether
author: Connie Willis
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[New York Dead (Stone Barrington, #1)]]> 1274411
Suddenly he's on the front page of every New York newspaper, and his life is hopelessly entwined in the increasingly shocking life (and perhaps death) of Sasha Nijinsky, the country's hottest and most beautiful television anchorwoman.

No matter where he turns, the case is waiting for him, haunting his nights and turning his days into a living hell. Stone finds himself caught in a perilous web of unspeakable crimes, dangerous friends, and sexual depravity that has throughout it one common thread: Sasha.]]> 352 Stuart Woods 0061090808 Gaye 0 to-read 3.75 1991 New York Dead (Stone Barrington, #1)
author: Stuart Woods
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Spellman Files (The Spellmans #1)]]> 3386471
Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends").

But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go -- a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.]]> 470 Lisa Lutz 1416594175 Gaye 0 to-read 3.71 2007 The Spellman Files (The Spellmans #1)
author: Lisa Lutz
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Demolition Angel 1942494
When a bomb call takes the life of another colleague, Carol begins to investigate a series of explosions that seem to be designed to exterminate bomb technicians. She soon realizes that she's "the one that got away." With the help of an FBI agent whom she loathes professionally for interfering with her job but finds attractive anyway, Carol must track down one of the most frighteningly brilliant killers of the modern age.]]> 400 Robert Crais 0385495846 Gaye 0 to-read 3.97 2000 Demolition Angel
author: Robert Crais
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Fat Cat 6090411 An experiment so bold, anyone might think it was a little crazy...
Catherine Locke is smart, ambitious, and--okay, not the slimmest girl around. But she's always cared more about her brain than her body. So far that's gotten her where she wanted: into the most advanced, competitive science class at her high school, where she'll once again face her fiercest rival, Matt McKinney.

The guy who once broke her heart.

If Cat's plan works, she'll win it all: a huge improvement in her body and her lifestyle, first prize at the science fair, admission to the college of her choice, and best of all, revenge on Matt McKinney.

But as every scientist knows, even the best experiments can go wildly out of control...]]> 318 Robin Brande 1946627003 Gaye 4 3.87 2009 Fat Cat
author: Robin Brande
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2011/01/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Awesome work! This story has far more layers than you would think. This is not just about a young high school girl who is completing a science fair project. This is about changing yourself - from the inside out. The Neighborhood Friends Book Group loved it and so did I!! Robin Brande, provide recipes in your next book, please!
]]> Original Sin (Sally Sin, #1) 9883055 --John Lescroart, author of the New York Times bestselling Dismas Hardy novels

After falling in love and making a quick exit from her nine-year career in the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction),Ìý ex-spy Sally Sin Ìýdoes her best to become Lucy Hamilton, aÌý stay-at-home mom Ìýin San Francisco. No one, not even her adoring husband Will, knows about herÌý secret agent escapades --chasing evil masterminds through perilous jungles, escaping assassins, and playing dangerous games of cat and mouse with her old nemesis, Ian Blackford, a notorious and dashing illegal arms dealer.


In her new life as Lucy Hamilton, she squeezes inside forts crafted from couch cushions by her three-year-old son Theo, makes organic applesauce, and frequents the zoo.ÌýBut sometimes her well-honed spy reflexes refuse to lay low. She can't help breaking into her own house to check on the babysitter or stop herself from tossing the yoga instructor who gets on her nerves. And when Ian Blackford, who is supposed to be dead, once again starts causing troubleÌýfor the USAWMD, the agency becomes desperate to get Sally back on the job.


How can Sally or Lucy or whatever her name is save the planet while at the same time keeping her own family's world from spinning out of control? Pick up your copy today and find out how Ìýmessy modern parenting really can be!


Every bit as much fun as a spy-mom thriller ought to be,Ìý Original SinÌý is a fast-paced mystery with a dose of romantic tension to keep things lively. A great read for mothers and spies, and anyone who has ever dreamed of being either.]]> 304 Beth McMullen 1401324215 Gaye 2 3.63 2011 Original Sin (Sally Sin, #1)
author: Beth McMullen
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/02/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
This had so many possibilities but it truly wasn't worth my time or the space it took up to take in my suitcase on my trip! I read an ARC given to me in exchange for a review by Bookreporter.com. It just wasn't my cup of tea, I guess.
]]> <![CDATA[Aunt Dimity's Death (Aunt Dimity Mystery, #1)]]> 583921 244 Nancy Atherton 0140178406 Gaye 3 3.93 1992 Aunt Dimity's Death (Aunt Dimity Mystery, #1)
author: Nancy Atherton
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2011/02/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Neighborhood Friend's Book Group read. Cozy. The first in a series of Aunt Dimity books that Mindy suggested we read. The mystery here is who was Aunt Dimity really? What influences she had on those around her. No blood or dark stuff here and of course, this cozy ends in England too. A fun reprieve.
]]> Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1) 6339664 A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.]]> 391 Becca Fitzpatrick 1416989412 Gaye 0 Cool cover art. 3.93 2009 Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1)
author: Becca Fitzpatrick
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2011/02/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Cool cover art.
]]> <![CDATA[The Dragon of Trelian (Trelian, #1)]]> 4926996
Calen, a lonely young mage-to-be, never dreamed that Princess Meglynne would become his friend. And impulsive Meg never imagined that tending a baby dragon would "link" her to the creature â€� for life. And now Meg’s sister is about to marry a prince to end a war between kingdoms, a celebration that Meg and Calen know is endangered by a murderous plot. How can a girl, a boy, and a dragon merge their magic and strength to bring down a powerful traitor in time? From the author ofÌý Library Lion Ìýcomes a classic middle-grade fantasy soaring with sorcery and suspense, spunk and adventure, friendship and first romance, and a cast of enchanting characters.]]> 416 Michelle Knudsen 0763634557 Gaye 3 4.01 2009 The Dragon of Trelian (Trelian, #1)
author: Michelle Knudsen
name: Gaye
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2011/02/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 6643090
The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?]]> 359 Helen Simonson 1400068932 Gaye 4 3.89 2010 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
author: Helen Simonson
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/03/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Oh Major, where is your cool action figure? I would carry you around with me as a remembrance of how one can change and grow. You are crusty and loveable. The first 30-50 pages were tough for me and I had trouble seeing what everyone else saw in this book, but then I turned the corner! I loved hearing the author read this at the Tucson Festival of the Book. After that I had to go home and give the book another try AND read it with an English accent in my head. There was much more humor in there than I was reading. I had a different experience and perspective. I truly enjoyed it. Give it a try!
]]> <![CDATA[The Library Card (Apple Signature Edition)]]> 3800669 147 Jerry Spinelli 0780787722 Gaye 3 3.05 1997 The Library Card (Apple Signature Edition)
author: Jerry Spinelli
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.05
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 2011/04/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Good premise. Short stories all connected around a library card. Such possibilities. I was a little disappointed.
]]> <![CDATA[Bones of Faerie (Bones of Faerie, #1)]]> 3379051
Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza's world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers she has the Faerie ability to see into the past, into the future and she has no choice but to flee her town.

Liza's quest will take her into Faerie and back again, and what she finds along the way may be the key to healing both worlds.]]> 247 Janni Lee Simner 0375845631 Gaye 3 3.62 2008 Bones of Faerie (Bones of Faerie, #1)
author: Janni Lee Simner
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/04/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Once a Spy (Spy #1) 7154243 Ìý
When Charlie Clark takes a break from his latest losing streak at the track to bring Drummond back to his Brooklyn home, they find it blown sky high—and then bullets start flying in every direction.Ìý At first, Charlie thinks his Russian “creditorsâ€� are employing aggressive collection tactics.Ìý But once Drummond effortlessly hot-wires a car as their escape vehicle, Charlie begins to suspect there’s much more to his father than meets the eye.Ìý He soon discovers that Drummond’s unremarkable career as an appliance salesman was actually a clever cover for an elaborate plan to sell would-be terrorists faulty nuclear detonators.Ìý Drummond’s intricate knowledge of the “deviceâ€� is extremely dangerous information to have rattling around in an Alzheimer’s-addled brain.Ìý The CIA wants to “containâ€� him--and so do some other shady characters who send Charlie and Drummond on a wild chase that givesÌý “father and son quality timeâ€� a whole new meaning.
Ìý
With Once a Spy, Keith Thomson makes his debut on the thriller stage with energy, wit, and style to spare.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 325 Keith Thomson 0385530781 Gaye 0 3.73 2010 Once a Spy (Spy #1)
author: Keith Thomson
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2011/04/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Wide-Awake Princess (Wide-Awake Princess, #1)]]> 7197913
But who is her true love? The irritating Digby? The happy-go-lucky Prince Andreas, who is holding a contest to find his bride? The conniving Clarence, whose sinister motives couldn't possibly spell true love? Joined by one of her father's guards, Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleeping spell struck, Annie travels through a fairy tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family . . . and perhaps even find a true love of her own.]]> 261 E.D. Baker 159990487X Gaye 0 4.12 2010 The Wide-Awake Princess (Wide-Awake Princess, #1)
author: E.D. Baker
name: Gaye
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2011/04/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Les Misérables 24280 1463 Victor Hugo 0451525264 Gaye 5 4.19 1862 Les Misérables
author: Victor Hugo
name: Gaye
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1862
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> The Stone Diaries 77554 The Stone Diaries is one ordinary woman's story of her journey through life. Born in 1905, Daisy Stone Goodwill drifts through the roles of child, wife, widow, and mother, and finally into her old age. Bewildered by her inability to understand her place in her own life, Daisy attempts to find a way to tell her story within a novel that is itself about the limitations of autobiography. Her life is vivid with incident, and yet she feels a sense of powerlessness. She listens, she observes, and through sheer force of imagination she becomes a witness of her own life: her birth, her death, and the troubling missed connections she discovers between. Daisy's struggle to find a place for herself in her own life is a paradigm of the unsettled decades of our era. A witty and compassionate anatomist of the human heart, Carol Shields has made distinctively her own that place where the domestic collides with the elemental. With irony and humor she weaves the strands of The Stone Diaries together in this, her richest and most poignant novel to date.]]> 361 Carol Shields 014023313X Gaye 4
"He has entered his baroque period."

"When we think of the past we tend to assume that people were simpler in their functions....We take for granted that our fore bearers were imbued with a deeper purity of purpose than we possess nowadays, and a more singular set of mind...But none of this is true. Those who went before us were every bit as wayward and unaccountable and unsteady in their longings as people are today"

"it was as though she had veered accidentally into her own life"

Sometimes life is like..." a thousand little disappointments raining down on top of each other."

"...why wouldn't she love it, this exquisite wounding, the salt of perfect pain?"

In old age "...we are always dampening down our inner weather, permitting ourselves the comforts of postponement, of rehearsals."

I learned lots of new words... dithyrambic (my personal favorite)
solipsistic
exegesis
probity
surfeit
comity
censoriousness
bruit
naif

and a great phrase..."full of ginger and fizz"!!
I did love the author's qualities and my vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds...I learned a lot more when we met and talked about it in Book Group. It always helps to have friends to talk to!!]]> 3.89 1993 The Stone Diaries
author: Carol Shields
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Can I say confused? I enjoyed the writing enormously. The prose was deep and meaning-filled...I'm just not sure I always got the meanings I was meant to. I loved so much of this book and then I would be oddly surprised and find that things weren't what I had thought they were. Symbolism was rife in the book and the tangents of sex were odd, random and so out of place. The pacing was all over the place � or maybe I was all over the place. I was at times eager to read on and at others wishing the book would just end already. Several of us thought there were weird side notes and blatant talk about sex that seemed to come out of nowhere. It was typically so random and odd. Yet, all of my complaints aside, I felt riveted by the prose and the thoughts. Twists of phrases twirled in my mind long after I had read them.

"He has entered his baroque period."

"When we think of the past we tend to assume that people were simpler in their functions....We take for granted that our fore bearers were imbued with a deeper purity of purpose than we possess nowadays, and a more singular set of mind...But none of this is true. Those who went before us were every bit as wayward and unaccountable and unsteady in their longings as people are today"

"it was as though she had veered accidentally into her own life"

Sometimes life is like..." a thousand little disappointments raining down on top of each other."

"...why wouldn't she love it, this exquisite wounding, the salt of perfect pain?"

In old age "...we are always dampening down our inner weather, permitting ourselves the comforts of postponement, of rehearsals."

I learned lots of new words... dithyrambic (my personal favorite)
solipsistic
exegesis
probity
surfeit
comity
censoriousness
bruit
naif

and a great phrase..."full of ginger and fizz"!!
I did love the author's qualities and my vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds...I learned a lot more when we met and talked about it in Book Group. It always helps to have friends to talk to!!
]]> Wrong Number 7554062 200 Rachelle J. Christensen 1599553643 Gaye 2 3.85 2010 Wrong Number
author: Rachelle J. Christensen
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2011/05/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Oddly paced. I felt like it was a pushme-pullyou. At times the writing was tight and nicely done, at other times it felt amateurish and like trudging a long path to nowhere. I must admit that I read to the end though to find out if she would wrap it up in a predicted pretty package.
]]> <![CDATA[Fatal Error (Ali Reynolds, #6)]]> 8817101 368 J.A. Jance 1416563814 Gaye 3 3.89 2011 Fatal Error (Ali Reynolds, #6)
author: J.A. Jance
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2011/05/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
An Ali Reynold's mystery. I enjoy JA Jance's books - they're easy to fall into and I've been reading her for years so I have fan loyalty riding on her. This series is just not my favorite and I really don't feel loyalty to the characters so it was just, how the kids say it, meh.
]]> Isn't it Romantic? 473193
But that is exactly what happens to this French couple, and they quickly find themselves beings taken in by the obliging citizens of Seldom: Natalie by Mrs. Christiansen, a retired high school teacher who runs a rooming house for women, and Pierre by Owen, a gas station ownder and ambitious winemaker in an unlikely part of the world.

And here, also, the separated couple becomes enchanted by the locals. Natalie is soon being wooed by Dick Tupper, a handsome and honest rancher. Pierre falls quickly for Iona, a beautiful, no-nonsense waitress at the local diner.

In this charming entertainment, mistaken identities, botched schemes, and hilarious misunderstandings abound as Parisian sophistication collides with the affability and simple pleasures of the Great Plains.]]> 0 Ron Hansen 0606313435 Gaye 3 2.93 2003 Isn't it Romantic?
author: Ron Hansen
name: Gaye
average rating: 2.93
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2011/05/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Light hearted. Quirky. I smiled.
]]> <![CDATA[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society]]> 2728527
“Treat yourself to this book, please - I can’t recommend it highly enough.� (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love)

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.�

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb....

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends - and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island - boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Praise for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

“A jewel... Poignant and keenly observed, Guernsey is a small masterpiece about love, war, and the immeasurable sustenance to be found in good books and good friends.� (People)

“A book-lover’s delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary.� (Chicago Sun-Times)

“A sparkling epistolary novel radiating wit, lightly worn erudition and written with great assurance and aplomb.� (The Sunday Times [London])

“Cooked perfectly à point: subtle and elegant in flavour, yet emotionally satisfying to the finish.� (The Times [London])]]> 277 Mary Ann Shaffer 0385340990 Gaye 4 4.13 2008 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
author: Mary Ann Shaffer
name: Gaye
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Loved it!! I was hesitant about the letter writing format but I was smitten after the first letter. What a fun device. I am intrigued by Guernsey. I will just have to visit! A great Neighborhood Friend's Book Group read. Thanks ladies!
]]> Playing for Pizza 1205297
But all Rick knows is football, and he insists that his agent, Arnie, find a team that needs him. Against enormous odds Arnie finally locates just such a team and informs Rick that, miraculously, he can in fact now be a starting quarterback–for the mighty Panthers of Parma, Italy.

Yes, Italians do play American football, to one degree or another, and the Parma Panthers desperately want a former NFL player–any former NFL player–at their helm. So Rick reluctantly agrees to play for the Panthers–at least until a better offer comes along–and heads off to Italy. He knows nothing about Parma, has never been to Europe, and doesn’t speak or understand a word of Italian. To say that Italy holds a few surprises for Rick Dockery would be something of an understatement.]]> 262 John Grisham 0385525001 Gaye 3 just-finished 3.48 2007 Playing for Pizza
author: John Grisham
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2008/03/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves: just-finished
review:
An easy get-away book. Think football, Italian food, and travel. It was a fun Saturday afternoon diversion that required little thinking. 3.5/5
]]> <![CDATA[The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible]]> 495395
Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the hundreds of less-publicised rules. The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal, and will make you see history's most influential book with new eyes.]]> 388 A.J. Jacobs 0743291476 Gaye 3 3.76 2007 The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
author: A.J. Jacobs
name: Gaye
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2008/03/01
date added: 2011/06/10
shelves:
review:
Enjoyed his humor and these kind of year-long experiences.
]]>