January 28th, 2010
LOVED IT. I like tennis. I’ve never loved it. I liked Agassi. I never loved him. I watched a ton of tennis at home, because my mom loves it. Loves it enough that she will wake herself up in the middle of the night to see a match. So I followed it.
I’m amazed at the quality of writing in this book, by this athlete. Yes, I understand that he had editors and whatnot to help him along, but I was so impressed by his way with words. It was a great book. You have to enjoy tennis, at least slightly, to get through some parts. There is a LOT of tennis talk: matches, training, etc. But the story that fills in the gaps and time between matches, the parts of his life that he shares, they’re just moving.
Again, I think this book has drawn both good and bad reviews – both on the book and on his life – but I happen to (surprise) LOVE it. It gives me an entire different opinion of Agassi. Not that I had a bad one before, but it just changes the thoughts you have about someone whose entire “image” was shaped by sports media writers and commentators.
It’s soulful. It’s harsh. It’s funny at times. I strongly recommend.
Book Report by Sarah.
January 28th, 2010
As I mentioned earlier, I just could not get into the last book I started reading (The Book Thief by Markus Zusak). I tried again over the Holidays and it just wasn’t happening. My mind would wander after each sentence and I had to keep going back to re-read pages. I ultimately decided to throw in the towel.
While perusing the aisle’s of Target for some toddler tunes, I decided to find something a little lighter to read. “Chick lit”, some may call it.
I picked up “Something Borrowed” by Emily Giffen and read 200 pages in one day. I finished it the next evening. It was a very easy read. Something happened each chapter that made you keep turning the pages. It was a little trashy….the kind of trashy that reality shows are. I think that’s why I got sucked in. I didn’t have to think much and it was like watching drama unfold in a reality show.
I give it two thumbs up for those of you who have baby brain (or just can’t focus lately) and need a light read.
Book Report by Steffany.
January 18th, 2010
This book is just delightful. It’s so fun and has such a great twist close to the end. I highly recommend it! I am a big fan of Sophie Kinsella’s work. What I appreciated most about this book was the development and treatment the author gave the main character, Lara. She seemed to have more depth than Becky, the star of her Shopaholic series. In this book Lara finds herself with a new “friend” and undergoes a mission to find a missing necklace. Lara acts a bit nutty and scatter-brained like most of Sophie’s leading ladies do, but she seemed to be more grounded than Sophie’s other characters. I enjoy a scatter-brained leading lady because her hi jinx are humorous, but I also enjoy someone who makes thoughtful decisions. Lara is scatter-brained, tender-hearted and smart; a winning combo. I will say, this, however, that when Lara talks to Sadie in the book I couldn’t help but think, each and every time, how the people around her must have thought Lara was a complete crazy person. I wish Sophie would have done something different with those dialogue exchanges. Overall though, I give this book two thumbs up. It’s a fun read.
January 18th, 2010
I really liked the cover art of this book. I’m not going to lie – that’s what initially drew me in. Then I realized that it’s by the same gal who wrote The Time Travelor’s Wife, which I very much enjoyed. Time Travelor’s Wife is a better story than this one, but this one isn’t particularly bad. It’s just weird. Weird in a way that I just kept waiting for something to happen. And it really, just, well, didn’t. The characters are all a bit strange and I kept thinking while I was reading the book that they were going to surprise me, that something they did was going to make me say, “whoah!” But it never did. These strange characters were strangely predictable.
I can’t really give this book a glowing review, but I can’t exactly give it a negative one either. I would suggest you read it. If you liked Time Travelor’s Wife and the fantasy-type world that it painted, then you may enjoy this book. It’s got some of the same elements – things that are unbelieveable but you believe them as the basis for the story.
November 13th, 2009
I must be honest, this book was a tad annoying. It was annoying in the way that it was so very predictable. Not just predictable, but unbelieveable. The story is about how three sisters go across country on a search for a child that was given up for adoption. The main characters of the book were a bit flat and, I’ll use the word again, predictable. The characters go through some pretty heavy stuff, but their stories were shallow. I didn’t feel for them, I wasn’t into them enough to really care. I kept reading the book simply to see how it ended, even though I knew how it ended because it was so predictable. And then I was thrown for a surprise at just how badly it did end. It ended how I thought, but the author threw in this plot point that, I guess, was supposed to tie the story together, from start to finish, but it was just stupid. I sort of feel bad that I don’t have anything nice to say about this book, but I just don’t. I wouldn’t recommend it.
October 24th, 2009
Ted Dekker’s Green both begins and completes his Circle Series, an epic story of good versus evil in which the main character, Thomas Hunter, travels between our world and another in an effort to save both worlds after his son Samuel turns his back on his family and his faith and decides to wage war on others in their world.
Green may be categorized as a fantasy book, but its theme resonates in the here and now. The parallels between the worlds in the book and between those worlds and our world make this book enjoyable and relevant.
Dekker paints the Black Forest so descriptively that it could be a real place. The pacing is such that I didn’t want to put the book down. And his characters are developed so well that their motives and actions are understandable. The only part of the book that was hard for me to grasp was the difference in time periods between the two worlds (2,000 years) and the difference between how years pass in each world (faster in ours than the Black Forest).
Whether you like to read for entertainment or for inspiration, I recommend this book. It is written so that it can complete or begin Dekker’s Circle Series, however I recommend reading it as the conclusion.
October 7th, 2009
When my friend Jack and I were reporters at a small newspaper in northwest Ohio, we both wanted to write long, in-depth, meaningful feature stories like those found in Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone. To this day, I still believe that some of the best writers out there write for these publications. Take the Sept. 28, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated for example.
Gary Smith’s article about 17-year-old Bonnie Richardson, a high school senior who won her school’s state track team championship all by herself (twice), is amazing. The story is long – 6,510 words – but every word is used perfectly. It’s impossible to put the magazine down.
Even if you don’t like sports, or don’t like track and field, I honestly believe you’ll love this article. Smith paints his picture so vividly that before page 2, you’ll feel like you know Bonnie and her coach and her family. You’ll be rooting for her – even though she doesn’t want you to. That might even make you root harder. I know I couldn’t stop reading for a second because I was so captivated by her story, which if written any other way may have come across as too stereotypical in that underdog-takes-all sort of way.
Someone (Mark Twain?) once said, ‘If you catch an adjective, kill it.’, but I’m glad Smith ignored that advice. The fact that Bonnie’s coach’s car is white or that she wears long, baggy, red-striped black shorts over her track shorts makes the story all that much more gripping. (Not to mention the reference to llamas.)
If you don’t get SI, you can read the entire article here. Enjoy.
October 5th, 2009
The best book I’ve read in a very long time. Being a busy mom, I don’t have a lot of time to read, but I love doing so. It usually takes me a little over a month to finish a book, but I finished this book in a week! From the first few pages, I could not put it down. I was completely pulled into the story and the characters, so much that I felt like I really knew them.
The book is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60s. It is the story of 3 women (2 maids and 1 black-sheep society lady) who come up with a risky idea that will change their town as they know it, by pointing out the lines that nobody wants to cross or talk about. It is Kathryn Stockett’s first novel, which makes me sad, as I would love to read more from her.
October 5th, 2009
Wow. Alice Sebold can’t write a book that doesn’t make you think, can she?
I know a lot of the ‘real’ book reporters out there (like Publisher’s Weekly) didn’t like ‘The Almost Moon’, but I did. The novel unfolds over the course of one day, which I think is an amazing way of writing a book, and moves very quickly. You know the premise of the story in the first sentence, but what comes after is very thought-provoking and moving.
Without saying too much, what the main character does in that first sentence seems un-understandable at first. To be honest, all of her actions seem crazy. But, all together, told over the course of the day/book, I think I understand. (I don’t condone her actions, but I can sort of understand them.)
Part of me wishes Sebold would have further explained some of the main character’s motives, but another part of me likes that she left some things up to interpretation. I’d love to hear what you thought.
September 30th, 2009
I. Loved. This. Book.
I thoroughly and completely loved this book. I know I’m a little late in reading it but I wanted to read it then see the movie. I can’t wait to see the movie now! Think I can drag my husband to the movie? We’ll see.
I really didn’t know anything about the book other than the obvious, that it’s about a Time Traveler. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I got into the story. I really enjoed the way it was written and the story itself was not plausible but believable because of the way it was written. And the love story is so sweet!
If you’ve read the book, click on the highlighted text below, because I’ll be giving away a few plot points and I don’t want to spoil it for those that haven’t read it.
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