bookappeal

• Rated 2 stars

“No offense to Capt. Putney - he has a great story to tell, he just doesn't know how to tell it. Harris Done's documentary film, War Dogs of the Pacific, tells the same story and breaks your heart. Putney seems more concerned about recording the details. From his actions, it's obvious he cares very deeply about the dogs and the men who worked with them in World War II but he has a difficult time expressing his emotions in the printed word. Still, it's an interesting part of history and carried a timely message when it was published - Congress had just passed legislation requiring that dogs used in war be detrained and returned to civilian life whenever possible. Putney and his men proved this to be possible yet dogs used in subsequent wars were destroyed without anyone even attempting to detrain them.”

bookappeal wrote this review Sunday, September 20 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I'd actually forgotten about P.J. Tracy's first book, Monkeewrench, until I was browsing in the bookstore and came upon this sequel. While Monkeewrench focused more on computer genius Grace MacBride and her team, Live Bait features homicide detective Leo Magozzi and his co-workers. A homicide lull is broken by several deceased senior citizens who appear to be pillars of the community, or at least nice people. The detectives are at a loss so they feed information to Grace who is helping police across the country solve cold cases with a new computer program that looks for missing links. A combination of technology and good old-fashioned detective work helps crack the case. The novel blends excellent plotting, multi-dimensional (but too numerous!) characters, clever dialog, and a puzzling mystery. Very enjoyable.”

bookappeal wrote this review Sunday, September 20 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I really wish I could tear myself away from this series because it always leaves me with unpleasant images that I simply cannot get out of my head. Cain continues the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell story but cleverly keeps Gretchen on the sidelines, focusing instead on the pop culture that has grown around the beautiful, and elusive, serial killer. Just as graphic and disturbing as the first two in the series but in new and terrible ways. Not for weak stomachs.”

bookappeal wrote this review Saturday, September 12 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“(Advanced Reading Copy)

Mirror twins Julie and Victoria (one is a mirror copy of the other both inside and out) accept the conditions of their Aunt Elspeth's will requiring them to leave their parents in America to live in her flat in London for a year in order to inherit her wealth. Julia and Valentina are always together, unlike Elspeth and Edie, their mother. But when they move to London, they start to grow apart. Julia forms a friendship with Martin, a neighbor with OCD whose wife has just left him. Valentina becomes close to Robert, the man who loved and still mourns Elspeth. All of their lives are thrown into chaos when Elspeth's ghost reveals herself, trapped in the flat and desperate to be "alive" again.

Niffenegger's tale requires a considerable suspension of disbelief but she pulls it off, creating a creepy, out of time atmosphere similar to Diane Setterfield's _The Thirteenth Tale_. Readers who prefer completely resolved endings will not be happy but various aspects of obsessive love are explored in these characters and their decisions amidst very unusual circumstances. London, Highgate Cemetery, and British culture are beautifully interwoven with the plot.

Unique, clever story; beautiful (but not overly-challenging) writing style.”

bookappeal wrote this review Tuesday, September 8 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Compelling story about a not so distant future in which Panem, comprised of 12 Districts and a controlling Capitol, has risen from the ruins of North America. The government controls the people by limiting their resources and by The Hunger Games, an annual competition in which one boy and one girl from each district must participate - to their deaths. Save for one victor, of course. Our heroine, Katniss, is a good hunter (illegally obtaining food to support her family) who takes the place of her sister in the games. Peeta, the District 12 boy, once showed Katniss a kindness and she has a hard time seeing him as someone she will have to kill to survive. The rest of the story details the "games" which are eerily like a dark version of contemporary reality-TV survival shows and the decisions Katniss has to make if she's going to survive. Fantasy, adventure, fear, and a touch of romance combine with great characters for a quick, captivating read.”

bookappeal wrote this review Wednesday, September 2 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“The setup took some getting used to but once I bought into the premise, the story was cute. The author uses a little too much internal dialogue for Katie in order to establish what kind of person she is, since she can't talk to anyone about what's really happening in her crazy, suddenly magical, life. Hopefully, subsequent entries in the series will have less of Katie's internal musings and more action! I sense a love triangle (quadrangle?) brewing but I hope Swendson doesn't drag it out in an Evanovich-like way. An entertaining blend of chick lit and fantasy. ”

bookappeal wrote this review Sunday, August 30 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“I knew nothing about Frank Lloyd Wright's life before reading this book. Since the author based the fictional novel on as much source material as she could find, I feel secure in concluding that FLW was an arrogant bastard. As a feminist myself, I should feel more sympathy for Mamah Cheney and perhaps I would - if she'd left her husband and kids for anyone but Frank Lloyd Wright. The story was a repetitive rehash of their guilt, followed by their unwillingness to change the behavior that was causing the guilt. When "the big surprise" came, I was so tired of all these characters that I really didn't care what became of them.”

bookappeal wrote this review Sunday, August 30 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I was thrilled to receive an Advanced Reading Copy of this book since I am already a fan of the Gamache series. I don't care how many people die in tiny Three Pines, Penny always makes it believable and compelling. A very dark undertone runs throughout the story though it's lightened by truly funny dialogue. Penny's writing is as beautiful and poetic (but readable!) as always. I'm not a fan of poetry and the snippets she uses still confuse me but it doesn't matter. What she accomplishes with the plot is hard to describe without spoiling it but my stomach was in turmoil (too much aromatic, strong coffee?) right to the end. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that there are some plot points I need to discuss first with my Gamache-loving friends before I decide whether or not this is the best-written entry in a fantastic series. ”

bookappeal wrote this review Tuesday, August 18 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“If I hadn't already read the Twilight series and the House of Night series, I might find this series worth continuing but it just shares too many elements of other teen fantasy/romance novels without being as compelling. The romance is not as intense and immortality just isn't as interesting anymore. Or maybe I'm just burned out on this genre.”

bookappeal wrote this review Monday, August 10 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“A slow-moving story about a young woman in the early 1900s who aspires to become a photographer. Jessie Gaebele takes a job as an assistant to photographer F. J. Bauer, a man whose marriage has suffered since the accidental death of his young son. Jessie and Bauer are drawn to each other and, though they never actually commit adultery, they do share intimacy. When Jessie's secret desires are revealed to her family, she realizes she must leave town altogether to escape the temptation of forbidden love.

Kirkpatrick captures the restrictive era in her descriptions of Winona, Minnesota, and early photographer but some of the dialog is awkward and she repetitively describes Jessie's futile attempts to deny her attraction to Mr. Bauer and vice versa.

I do not read much Christian fiction so I can't compare to other works in this genre but this story was over-long and rather tedious.”

bookappeal wrote this review Sunday, August 9 2009. ( reply | permalink )