I had a very difficult time with this book. I couldn't get into it -- in fact, I started it three times. I had difficulty following the plot and I had to force myself to finish it. The reason why I was initially interested in reading The Face Thief was because of the concept of face reading, but I found the whole idea silly and therefore, could not take this book seriously.

This book is written by the granddaughter of two amazing Tibetan women. She writes about her grandmother, who is a Tibetan nun, and her mother who struggled through extreme poverty and hardship to survive and educate herself. I was mesmerized by the trek to freedom across the Himalayan mountains during the winter and the deeply spiritual nature of the grandmother and her husband, a Tibetan monk. If you like books about strong, successful women, you will love this as much as I did. I finished it in a marathon reading session.

I stayed up late and woke up early to read this fascinating, true tale. I think I was done in less than two days. It was a bit tough to get into because of the Caribbean patois, but it was worth the effort. You can read the plot summary anywhere, so I won't bother recounting it here. What I want to tell you is that I cared about the characters in the book. They were three-dimensional; they were real. The author made me wonder what made her people tick; why did they do what they did? Hopefully, she will do a sequel, I really want to know what happened to Grace -- since this is the true story of the author's experiences as a nanny in NYC, I am optimistic that she won't leave me hanging.

The book arrived on Thursday afternoon. 48 hours later, I finished it. It was inspired by the author's grandparents who spent 56 years as Mennonite missionaries in China. I was disappointed and surprised when I learned that it was, in fact, fiction because it is so well-written. The author does, however, list a number of books in her Acknowledgment that she used in her research for this piece, which I fully intend to read. Anyone who has an interest in Chinese culture and/or history would be interested in reading this or anyone who just wants to read a good, old-fashioned love story. I had a lot of things to do today, but the book held my attention to such a degree that I got up early and spent most of my day in my reading chair because I couldn't put this book down.

I am a sucker for any book about animals -- especially books about rescuing and rehabilitating sick and injured wildlife. The author explores the spiritual connection between humans and animals through his own experiences at a wildlife rescue sanctuary. I enjoyed the book a great deal -- although it was a bit too sappy at times for my taste. Sometimes I missed the point of a story that the author was trying to make because the writing is not as polished as it could be. But the work that Jeff and his colleagues do is to be greatly admired, and animal lovers like me will find this book a cozy read. I finished it in two nights,

The book is about taxidermy and I requested it to review out of morbid curiosity. My opinions of taxidermists have not been favorable, but this book changed my mind. I now believe that they are both scientists and artists. The book is well written, well organized and entertaining. It is not overly technical and while always very respectful of the profession, it is often humorous. If you have every visited a natural history museum (especially the American Museum of Natural History in New York City) you will enjoy reading about how the dioramas in these museums are created and the amount of skill that is required to create them. My impression of the book can be summed up by the author's own words when she was attending a taxidermy trade show and she watched a demonstration "amazed and bewildered." Me, too.

I started reading this book on Friday night and finished it on Sunday morning. I couldn't put it down. It is a short, sweet story of a family dealing with the sudden death of a young daughter who left behind three small children. The book is equally heartbreaking and heartwarming. The reader will laugh out loud and cry at the same time. This is a book that I will recommend to all my friends and will buy for my own daughter -- I'm keeping this copy. I was not familiar with this author, but will now search out and read his other books.