This is the kind of book I am drawn to - a story based on true events, previously unknown to me. It's an amazing and heartbreaking story based on a real island and real people. I spent hours researching the history of the actual place and events and was amazed how resilient the islanders were for as long as they were left alone. I am glad to have learned something new, but I had problems reading the book. I've read many reviews who describe it as "lyrical". Many pages had at least one passage that I had to reread because a phrase (or many phrases) was so beautiful and descriptive, so yes, lyrical. However, some sentences seemed to go on forever and conventional punctuation is often lacking. It was not an easy book for me to pick up and took me a long time to finish. That said, I do think this would be an enjoyable book club selection. Even if others were like me and struggled to finish, it's a short book and so many important topics to discuss.

What a delightful book! I loved the story and was often surprised (in a good way) by the story line. I loved the arc of Tanner and Louise's relationship. I loved the dialogue. This was my first Colleen Oakley book, but won't be the last. The book made me smile many times - highly recommend!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think it would lend itself to a great book club discussion. Gil, the protagonist, is such a good person. In fact, maybe too good sometimes. I found myself telling him to get a spine now and then - maybe a just a little bit of anger, revenge or snarliness, but that was not his character and that's OK. Gil intuitively knew how to engage and befriend Tom, the boy next door – my favorite relationship. I was not so thrilled with Sarah (girlfriend). Despite being well intentioned, she did somethings that would have ended their relationship had Gil not understood her motives. Gil's observational skills allowed him to understand and be empathetic to humans and animals alike. Ultimately, he touched and changed (for the better) virtually character in the book. The world needs more Gils!

How many of us can successfully achieve our childhood dream career? I'm guessing not all that many. Ann Hood fell in love with travel (and air travel) at an early age and became a stewardess (term at the time) when air travel was glamourous and, apparently, much more civil than now. I loved how she seemed to learn from every experience - formal training, hanging out with more experienced co-workers, and even passengers. Even though I knew, I still cringed at the weight/height/grooming stipulations for women (the male flight attendants evidently were under different rules.) Ms. Hood often mentioned that she kept a notebook with her and jotted down thoughts and experiences during quiet times. I guess the book was based on her notebooks. I enjoyed the book but thought it could have flowed better in parts and could have used a closer editing. This would be a good book club selection – lots to discuss.

I honestly didn't think I'd like this book. A 20 something who can't hold a job and apparently doesn't have any thoughts about the future just isn't something that appeals. However, I quickly grew enchanted with Del and her story and had a hard time putting the book down. Turned out she had a lot more going on than someone scrounging for rent. Loved her determination, her detection and response to BS, and her humanity. Loved how we learn about Del's past and that, for some of it, there were no pat answers or tidy explanations.

I found the other characters in the book realistically characterized - likable, not likable and sometimes both. I LOLed while reading the Christmas party chapter. I can see this being a movie. Great debut novel. I hope we see more from this author.

This book is the fictionalized story of 2 girls (and they were girls) sterilized, without consent, only after being used as human guinea pigs for a birth control drug. Sadly, it is based in truth and happened to tens of thousands more girls/women. The book's main character, Civil, was a nurse in a family planning clinic and she met the girls and their family as part of her job of ensuring they were on birth control, even though they weren't sexually active. She did her best to protect, support and uplift the little girls and their family while learning, sometimes painfully, that she was not the family's decider. There were lots of things I wish the book had included – why did Civil decide to become a physician, what caused her to adopt a child, how did she get her name, what were the aftereffects from the trial, etc. However, knowing, or not knowing, these details did not take away from the primary story. I believe this is an important book because of the subject matter. I am not sure why this isn't as well known as the Tuskegee experiment, but maybe this book will help to change that. It will be a great bookclub choice (I'll be recommending it to mine.)

Édouard Manet was in his mid-forties when he began to suffer the effects of syphilis and died when he was only 51 (soon after the book ends.) The "lost notebook" contains his journal entries for the last 3 years, or so, of his life. I love when a book has a good story as well as inspires me to learn new things. I spent at least several hours exploring Manet's paintings, his models, friends and family, the history of syphilis, etc. However, I believe the book would still be enjoyable for readers who are not interested in doing extracurricular research. I enjoyed the notebook format and loved the writing. I highlighted several passages, but a couple quotes that stood out to me were: "You never think of health until it begins to fade." And Manet's notebook entry about how it's easy to remember "firsts" but" What is much harder is to know the last of things. Those you do not recognize until time has passed." How true!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have already recommended it.

Because of my lack of knowledge on mythology, I think I would have enjoyed this book better had I read an electronic version where I could have instantly looked something/someone up. I was sometimes confused about the characters and their relationships. I listened to (and quite liked) Circe but had the same problem with it. That's on me, not the book. Thank goodness for Google search! I thought the writing was outstanding and enjoyed the story. The main characters were well drawn and the feminist slant interesting. I think this would be a good bookclub choice.