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The Careful Use of Compliments
by Alexander McCall Smith
The fourth installment of the enchanting, already beloved, bestselling Isabel Dalhousie series.
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The Best Recent Reader Reviews |
To write your own review, simply click on the "Reader Review" link from any book review or book excerpt page at BookBrowse. |
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Rain Fall
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Barry Eisler
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8/14/2008: John Rain is a complex character; I am still not sure if he is a good guy (how can a cold blooded, for money, killer be good?) or a really bad guy? He saves people he likes, but, he kills others without second thought (one though who truly deserves it). Will he continue killing for money, or will he kill for other reasons? Does it matter? Will he stop killing? Will he find true love? Does that matter?
I do know one thing…I AM looking forward to the next adventure and learning more about... |
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A Great and Terrible Beauty
by
Libba Bray
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8/13/2008: A Great and Terrible Beauty has everything I've looked for in a book: fantasy, a bit of mystery, historical fiction, and true to life characters. The girls were around my age, which made it more interesting. It's extremely well written! It opened my eyes to what a girl's life was like in Victorian times. (I think you have to be at least 12 or 13 to understand some of the more complicated sequences in the book, though). I have never read anything like this before, it's intriguing, compelling,... |
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All The Pretty Horses
by
Cormac McCarthy
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8/11/2008: This book, and the other two in the Border Trilogy, captured my heart from the beginning. McCarthy does a fabulous job with character development, so you feel like you really know the main character and understand how he thinks as he comes of age. To top this off, what impressed me most is McCarthy's ability to describe the land, the people in it, the animals, the sky, etc. There are very few books where I really feel as if I'm place, but All the Pretty Horses took me from the U.S. to Mexico... |
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The Glass Castle
by
Jeannette Walls
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8/5/2008: I must say that I truly enjoyed the telling of this story even though it was as one reviewer described it, a 'train wreck that you can't get off'. It was touching and it was very telling about the state that a lot of young children in this country are in.
There are comments about the book saying it doesn't sound plausible, that it is impossible for her to remember the conversations she had at such young ages. My answer to that is that this woman apparently had a very trying childhood, one... |
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Absolute Friends
by
John Le Carre
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8/4/2008: A book that can be enjoyed on several levels, as ever with Le Carre, from the quality of the prose, & the depth of the characters, to the complexity of the plot; and yet, unusually for Le Carre, a thinly veiled personal political statement on contemporary international affairs using the world he knows and writes about so authoritatively, espionage, to tell a tale and also to clearly send his message. Whether one does or doesn't agree with the author's blast at what he sees as the American and... |
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A Patchwork Planet
by
Anne Tyler
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8/3/2008: Anne Tyler is a great writer, no doubt. Her book, A Patchwork Planet is a great read but I found the ending somewhat unsatisfactory. At the beginning he admired Sophia's "definiteness" and routines and were an influence on his own journey. I got a sense that he used her. And, I cannot see anyone who claims he is honest and trusting, going into someone's house and taking what is not his, for any reason. He was definitely taking a chance by breaking the law (again). A little bit... |
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My Sister's Keeper
by
Jodi Picoult
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7/31/2008: This is the only book I have ever read that actually made me cry uncontrollably. It was one of those silent cries that you just can't stop and the tears pour like rain from your eyes. I'm not a cryer and this book changed that. This book is absolutely fabulous and extremely well written, making the book impossible to put down. The ending was out of left field, I never saw it coming; there is no way anyonee could predict what happens. I highly recommend this to Jodi Picoult fans and... |
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The True and Outstanding Adventures of The Hunt Sisters
by
Elisabeth Robinson
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7/28/2008: The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover. I know you should never judge a book by the cover, but in this case it was a good choice. I loved that there was a young girl dancing around. Throughout the whole book I was in awe and I couldn't put the book down. I made this book my bus book which toward the end, made for a lovely display of tears. I must say that every second and page of the book was spilling with unique and witty writing. Each character was compelling and I felt... |
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The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint
by
Brady Udall
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7/26/2008: I love the idea of Edgar living his life in reverse, going from severe almost unendurable hardship to come "home" and be a child, something he deserved in the first fifteen years of his life. A refreshing and poignant ending. I was rooting for Edgar all along the way, praying perhaps that Art would be his dad, but the finding of Rosa was even better. Hope I didn't spoil the ending, readers. Once I started this book, I could not put it down. The characters are fully developed . The incidents... |
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The Monsters of Templeton
by
Lauren Groff
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7/25/2008: I wish I could say that I loved this book, but I didn't. I was looking forward to it with high expectations because I had read a story by the author in the 2007 Best American Short Stories which just took my breath away.
I think this is an ambitious novel with plenty of elements that I usually like: a young woman who is quirky and intelligent, plenty of history, a family tree which figures in the story and a bit of the supernatural. But I found it hard to follow, which is saying a lot,... |
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Harriet and Isabella
by
Patricia O'Brien
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7/22/2008: There were several things that surprised me about this book. The first that struck me was the way the author chose to structure her narrative. Its beginning scenes take place as Henry Beecher is dying, but flashbacks soon take the reader back to the infamous trial and -- flashback within flashback -- to earlier family history. (I found this a bit disturbing at first, but soon got so wrapped up in the various plot-lines I found I no longer cared.)
Surprise #2: Much of the book is... |
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The Wild Trees
by
Richard Preston
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7/22/2008: The Wild Trees was interesting to me because I work with trees, have been in the redwoods, and even vacationed where one of the main character's wives was born.
The best part of the book for me, was the forest information, most of which can be verified as factual.
The only downside to the book for me, was the lack of any photographs.
Although the book is loaded with information, I discovered that Preston applied superlative descriptions to many aspects of the book.
The book is... |
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The Traveler
by
John Twelve Hawks
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7/21/2008: This is an awful book. The characters are all sad stereotypes and it is so predictable. Some of the plot holes are massive. One of the great untouchable Harlequins who stayed off the grid his entire life has his security cam in the open and connected to a simple co ax cable so a dvd player could replace the feed. The Harlequins should shop at a better Radio Shack.
This is like a Mountain Dew commercial directed by Michael Bey.
Comparing this to 1984 is like comparing Paris Hilton... |
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The Dancing Girls of Lahore
by
Louise Brown
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7/20/2008: I deeply recommend this book. Brown is a sharp observer of details, and blends the complexity of past and current social issues with an own sense of humour, and unsentimental yet moving depicting of different lives she comes across over time. Her writing appeals to all of the senses and emotions. It's easy to lose track of time spent with your nose in this book. Absolutely delightful and enlightening. Because of this book I am now seriously planning a trip to Pakistan...... |
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The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
by
Maggie O'Farrell
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7/18/2008: It's always good to be reminded of what today's women have won in terms of freedom, and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is one of the best choices. The story of Esme, who is released from hiding after many years, is one that will touch you and move you. Decidedly non-linear, it may be hard to grasp who's talking and when in spots, but persevere and an engrossing, very personal tale will enfold... |
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