Book reviews written by Faith J

Reviews

Sort by:

1 2 3 4 5 | Next » Last

Displaying 1-10 of 86 reviews

The Summer Garden

by Paullina Simons
- Rated 0 stars
“EDIT: 4-13-12 I was never able to get through this book. I liked the characters well enough, but, while I don't require a lot of action, something should happen and Simons had too many long stretches where essentially nothing happened. It's unlikely that I will finish this one, which is too bad, because if I could cut out all the excess verbiage, this might actually be a good story.

7-13-11 This is a long book -- not just the number of pages, but the style. I am about a quarter through (maybe less). Most of the "action" so far, has been to develop the characters, rather than to move the plot along. I care enough about these characters to want to finish the book, but this will be slow going and this summer is busy. There are plenty of other, easier books in my pile to read in the meantime. I'll repost this when I finally get the whole book read.”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Miss Timmins' School for Girls

by Nayana Currimbhoy
- Rated 4 stars
“I enjoyed this story very much. It made lengthy airport delays and flights fly by.

Set in India, it's the story of a young Indian woman who gets a position teaching at an English school. It is a coming of age story in the generation of sex, drugs and rock and roll. It doesn't seem like it would work set in India, yet that is part of what makes it such an interesting story. In a society that is so traditional and protective of it's young women, Charu's story stands out.

Another point that made this book such a good read for me is that it's a mystery. It's not a typical "whodunit," though. There are layers of mystery that slowly come unraveled.

One mystery is never really solved. Although I'm curious, this works for me. It's like real life where we don't know everything and adds another layer to make the story real. The epilogue feels tacked on to address this, but for me it was unnecessary. Because of the passage of time, Charu had become a different person, one who no longer seemed to fit the story and the revelation seemed no more certain that anything had at the time it happened.

Over all, however, the book was excellent and one I'm happy to have in my library.”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Pearl of China

by Anchee Min
- Rated 5 stars
“I couldn't put this book down! Min completely destroyed my childhood image of Pearl Buck as an "old lady." She has become a vital, vibrant, real person to me. I enjoyed this book for the friendship between Pearl and Willow, and wonder if any of the real friends in the real Pearl's life had been this close. I also enjoyed it for the Chinese perspective. For years all I knew of China were Pearl Buck's stories. Min validates Buck's view of China, for me.”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

by Seth Grahame-Smith
- Rated 4 stars
“Really fun once I accepted the premise. As far as I could tell, it was true to the real Abe Lincoln except for the vampire premise.”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories

by Alice Walker
- Rated 3 stars
“I liked this, but it felt dated to me... very 70s.”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Same Kind of Different as Me

by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, Lynn Vincent
- Rated 5 stars
“Wow! One of, if not the best books on Christian faith. It shows the power of acting one's belief as opposed to merely mouthing off about faith.”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Secrets to the Grave

by Tami Hoag
- Rated 0 stars
“Good story. My only complaint is the references to the forensic tools not yet available at the time of the books setting. I found them distracting”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Another Thing to Fall

by Laura Lippman
- Rated 4 stars
“Good story, but I thought Tess's wondering if she'd ever watch TV or movie the same way again after knowing how they were made to be unrealistic in the 21st century”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Ten Big Ones

by Janet Evanovich
- Rated 4 stars
“Very fun read!”

Faith J wrote this review 12 hours ago. ( reply | permalink )
Laboratory Studies in Earth History

by James C Brice, Harold L Levin, Michael S Smith
- Rated 2 stars
“It was part of a course I took. I guess I liked it. I'm not much of a lab type, though.”

Faith J wrote this review Monday, September 12, 2011. ( reply | permalink )