Garret R

Kristel is now following Susan T.

Kristel is now reading a book.

Kristel reviewed a book.

“This young adult novel by John Green features a female protagonist, Hazel who has terminal cancer. She is 16 and has responded to an experimental drug. This story is about sick young people with cancer. The author states that he hadn’t written with a female protagonist before.

*****May...”

“This young adult novel by John Green features a female protagonist, Hazel who has terminal cancer. She is 16 and has responded to an experimental drug. This story is about sick young people with cancer. The author states that he hadn’t written with a female protagonist before.

*****May contain mild spoilers but I don’t think anything to significant.

I gave this story 4 stars because I think it is a good YA about having cancer or an illness that makes them different from others. There were things I didn’t like about the female protagonist. I didn’t like that she had to know what happened to the people in the book but I get it. This is a question people ask authors. At least that’s what John Green says. And John Green says that Peter Van Houten said is the truth but you don’t have to be a jerk when saying it. The only time I’ve ever wanted to ask an author what happened to the people in the book was with Gone With The Wind. I liked the male characters best in this book. Maybe Mr. Green is just better with males. One comment I had noted in previous reviews is that perhaps these young people acted more mature that a young person really would but I thought it was pretty right on. The author captured a lot of reality with cancer; the becoming the illness, not knowing how to be anything but your illness. I’ve worked with people who survived cancer as children and it does forever affect their adult lives. Granted, I work only with people who have problems so I can’t say that it is the norm but it does exist. I liked the ending. I am glad that Hazel was finally able to talk with her parents.

I like the title and enjoyed learning that it actually comes from Shakespeare and is Caesar talking to Brutus, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." and refers to fate and friendship.

The narration was good. I enjoyed Kate’s voice. She handled many accents well. I was a little annoyed that one of the minor characters, Kaitlyn had a British affectation. I thought that was a little much.

A quick read, how can you say anything bad about it but I don’t think I liked it as much as others have. ”

Kristel is now reading a book.

Kristel reviewed a book.

“The Hound of the Baskervilles first chapter is titled. Mr. Sherlock Holmes as previous to this book, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had grown tired of the detective and had sent him to his death but his readership would not let him go and begged for more and so we have this book which was supposed...”

“The Hound of the Baskervilles first chapter is titled. Mr. Sherlock Holmes as previous to this book, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had grown tired of the detective and had sent him to his death but his readership would not let him go and begged for more and so we have this book which was supposed to have occurred prior to his death. The story is about the Baskervilles who live in the the southwest part of England in the moors. The Baskervilles family has been victims of untimely and violent deaths and there is a legend that the hound seeks to kill off the Baskervilles because of a misdeed of one of the early wild Baskervilles. Sir Charles dies mysteriously and there are footprints of a hound nearby. Sherlock Holmes sends Watson to accompany Henry Baskervilles, the heir to the estate, as he goes to take hold of his inheritance. The moor is sinister with its Grimpen Mire, escaped convict and howls of some unknown beast.

Holmes is a rational detective who solves crime by using his reasoning. Dr. Watson is a man of science as well though not as astute as Holmes. These stories reflect the advance of science. The myth of the hound and supernatural speculations reflects the interest in spiritualism that also occurred during this time. The story is enjoyable and often considered to be the author’s best work. I give it 5 stars because it was a good read, interesting story and contributed to future detective novels as well as many movies and TV shows. ”

Kristel now owns a book. (see 5 more books added to shelf)

Kristel now owns a book. (see 8 more books added to shelf)

Kristel reviewed a book.

“Ficciones by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges is really a work of a master. The work is a series of short stories by this incredibly intelligent author. These short stories have some common themes including libraries, books, philosophy, God reality and unreality. Borges was gradually...”

“Ficciones by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges is really a work of a master. The work is a series of short stories by this incredibly intelligent author. These short stories have some common themes including libraries, books, philosophy, God reality and unreality. Borges was gradually growing blind and he also served as a librarian. The author was educated in Europe and while he is Argentinian his stories have various settings and various nationalities. He is truly a international author. The various stories that comprise Ficciones sometimes read as essays, are mixed with many non fictional characters and elements and require careful, slow reading and probably should be read many times to really appreciate the authors genius. I enjoyed some of these stories, some were difficult to read. I gave it 3 stars because I do think the author is great and that these stories represent a mastery and a forerunner of magical realism but it was also hard to read. I especially enjoyed Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius though it was struggle to read. I also enjoyed Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote, The Circular Ruins, The Babylon Lottery, Funes, the Memorious, Death and the Compass and Three Versions of Judas. Wikipedia provides a synopsis of each story and I found this very helpful. ”

Kristel reviewed a book.

“Live life in your head or live life large. Zorba is large. Parts of this story really would grab me and parts seemed to be just toooo draggy.

The author, Nikos Kazantzakis was born in Crete and he was a runner up for the Nobel in 1952. He is the author of 30 several novels, plays and...”

“Live life in your head or live life large. Zorba is large. Parts of this story really would grab me and parts seemed to be just toooo draggy.

The author, Nikos Kazantzakis was born in Crete and he was a runner up for the Nobel in 1952. He is the author of 30 several novels, plays and books on philosophy. The narrator is unnamed. He has been called a ‘Bookworm’ by his friend and this has made him angry and early on we know he is reading the works of Buddha and aspiring to be an ascetic. He meets Zorba who invites himself to accompany the narrator. The narrator likes this larger than life man and agrees to take him to Crete where they will mine coal. Zorba is the exact opposite of Zorba and lives life for the moment, aspiring to enjoy life to the fullest in the moment. This is where the philosophical aspects are demonstrated as the two characters play out their opposing qualities. Through most of the book it appears that Zorba’s hedonistic bent is the winner but then things get tough. The narrator learns a lot from Zorba, does Zorba learn from the narrator. This quote by the narrator is a good example of the narrator's reflections; “While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize-sometimes with astonishment-how happy we had been. But on this Cretan coast I was experiencing happiness and knew I was happy." This book was funny but it also was full of deep reflections and also of great loss.

What I really experienced in reading this book was great desire to be in Crete instead of Minnesota. Especially this winter, oops I mean spring. Just feels like it is still winter. ”

Kristel reviewed a book.

“A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, narrated by Rob McQuay
4 stars

This is the of Bill Bryson's attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail which stretches from Georgia to Maine. I read his book Notes From a Small Island which was his walking England. I liked that one quite a bit....”

“A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, narrated by Rob McQuay
4 stars

This is the of Bill Bryson's attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail which stretches from Georgia to Maine. I read his book Notes From a Small Island which was his walking England. I liked that one quite a bit. This one a little less. Mr Bryson provides besides a commentary about his experience, history of the trail, ecology and political commentary. Bill can be funny but some of his humor is a little edgy at times. I did like it more than his The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and a lot more than his A Short History of Nearly Everything. The narrator was okay. He tried to give different voices to the different people but I thought he mixed them up once in awhile and if you weren't paying attention you could end up wondering, who said that? I like travel books and I give it 4 stars but just barely.”