join now| sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:

Request Friendship
Send Request Cancel

Sara W

Sara W

As a mom of three young children it's not always easy to find time to read. I recently "rediscovered" the library and have also managed to open my children's eyes up to the wonders to be found there. My two year old is particularly fond of it; whenever we head out, his first question is "Go library?"

Many books on my read shelf are... more »
  • Pittsburgh, PA, USA
  • member since July 2 2009

Reviews

  • Sort by:
 
1 2 3 4 5  | Next » Last 
Displaying 1-10 of 55 reviews
  • The Gluten-Free Gourmet: Living Well Without Wheat
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I loved this cookbook. It is fully of yummy recipes that I can't wait to try. I've already tried the Pear Torte for Christmas Eve dessert which was phenomenal. Even my skeptical non-gluten free family members loved it and are already asking for more. I can't recommend a better cookbook for those faced with the challenges of a gluten free diet.

    As it is a library loaner I've photocopied some recipes for now but I fully intend on buying a copy ASAP. ”

    Sara W wrote this review 8 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Matchless: A Christmas Story
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Gregory Maguire wrote Matchless to read on air by invitation of NPR. In his now well-known standard form, Maguire chose to update a well-known fairytale for the modern reader. This time he chose The Little Match Girl. Moving the story to Christmas Eve from New Year's Eve, he interwove the Little Match Girl's story with that of Frederik, a fish thief, and his mother a seamstress to the queen.

    The story itself was short and simple, a heartwarming Christmas story perfect for the season. Intermingled with the prose were beautifully done black and white sketches. The only complaint I have, and it's minor, is that I wish it were longer. I would have liked to read more of the story of both The Little Match Girl and Frederik. However, as it was written to be read outloud on the radio, it's briefness makes sense. In a way this complaint is actually a compliment. I don't wish it was longer because I felt that more information was needed to make the story enjoyable, but instead because I thought it was so well-told that I wanted to know more. In all I really enjoyed the story. It was the perfect pick-me up in the middle of the busy Christmas season. ”

    Sara W wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Cold Comfort Farm
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Flora Poste has been recently orphaned, both her parents dieing within weeks of each other. Her father leaves behind for her only a pittance which will make it difficult for her to live on her own. Much to the horror of her friend Mrs. Smiley, Flora devises and executes a plan to beg her relations to give her a home. Amazingly they all agree and she has the pick of the litter Strangely she settles on the horrifying Cold Comfort Farm in out of the way Sussex to live with her Aunt Ada Doom, her mother's sister, whom Flora has never met. When she arrives she finds a sad, dismal home and family and endevors to "tidy things up."

    Cold Comfort Farm is a very drool send-up of the rural genre which was so popular in England between the wars. She managed to mock every aspect of those novels with such a light-touch that unless you were quite the fan of that type of novel you might mistake it for one. I enjoyed it quite bit and suspect that this is the type of novel that only gets funnier with each read. I'm not usually one to reread a book, but I can definitely picture myself making an exception for Cold Comfort Farm. It is a shame that none of her other 23 novels are still in print, for I would love to have a chance to read more of Gibbons work. ”

    Sara W wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Where She Went
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Kate Walbert's debut novel tells the story of mother and daughter, Marion and Rebecca Clark. A collection of short stories, Where She Went, is a window on the life of these two women with no geographic roots. Marion is a company wife, following her husband from city to city. She feels trapped and views the world as a series of repeating vistas. It might be a new city and a new home, but nothing really changes for her. Rebecca is a free spirit who continues her mother's wanderings, but on her terms. She travels the world, from Istanbul to Paris to New York City and every destination in between, but can't settle down. She details these journeys in postcards to her mother, written an off-beat manner, not so much describing the places as her senses.

    This book very much reminds of the first book I read from Kate Walbert, A Short History of Women. The free-form style of her later novel is already very much in evidence in this, her first book, though not completely quite as smoothly. Cleverly written, you definitely get a feeling of distortion, as if you are viewing the wprld through a fishbowl. Similar to other authors who write in such a free-form style like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, Kate Walbert will not be to everyone's taste, but if you enjoy a good challenge and an author who makes you think, Kate Walbert is a nice place to start. ”

    Sara W wrote this review Saturday, December 5 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The History of Love: A Novel
    • Rated 4 stars

    “The History of Love tells the story of two people, Leo Gursky, a survivor of the Holocaust and fourteen year old Alma, named for a character in the book he wrote for the girl he loved; a book he thought long since lost to time. Leo Gursky is an eccentric old man, with many little quirks designed to get people to notice him so that he doesn't die unseen. Alma lives with her mother and younger brother, all of them trying to live with the memory of her father who died years before. In an attempt to better understand and help her mother, Alma embarks on a journey to unravel the mystery of the History of Love, the story that both her parents loved so well they named their first child for it.

    This was my first audiobook and I am glad I gave them a try. Hearing the story read really gave it a different emotional impact then you can get by reading it. I particularly appreciated that each of the characters whose viewpoint we are given had their own reader. I particularly liked George Guidall who narrated for Leo Gursky. His voice was perfectly suited to the character and I felt his parts most strongly. I didn't care for Barbara Caruso who narrated Alma's parts initially but once I got into the rhythm of the book I came to like her a good deal.

    The story itself was incredibly touching. The characters were fully developed, and you really found yourself emotionally involved in their story. The ending of the story while expected, came together in an unexpected way and was so moving that it brought tears to my eyes. I think that had I not sometimes had to go days between listening to it again, I would have given this book a full five stars and potentially a favorite status. I am definitely planning on picking up the print version so that I can more fully immerse myself in it. ”

    Sara W wrote this review Tuesday, December 1 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Catering to Nobody
    • Rated 2 stars

    “Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson
    2 stars

    Goldy is a a single mom and caterer in small-town Colorado. While catering the funeral of her son's suicidal favorite teacher Laura Smiley, her former father in-law is poisoned. Her ex is quick to lay the blame at her feet and until the matter is cleared up, her catering business and sole source of income is shut down - just in time for the Christmas holidays, a caterer's busiest season. In order to save her business Goldy starts investigating for herself and turns up a lot more than she expected, starting with the supposed suicide of Laura Smiley.

    The book was the epitome of why I don't typically read cozy mysteries. I found the writing to be dreadful, littered with such awful metaphors as "Overhead the sky was a deep periwinkle blue, as if a celestial housecleaner had spilled a bottle of bluing agent to the four corners of the earth." Why would her editor not tell her this not an appealing description of a deep blue Colorado sky? On top of the poor writing, the characters were shallow and uninteresting, the plot formulaic and the killer obvious. I'm unclear as to why anyone would tag it 'thrillers.' The only thing thrilling about it was finally getting to the end and being done with it. The most interesting part of the book was the recipes the author occassionally shared. I know I'll be trying the Honey-I'm-Home Ginger Snaps and Holy Moly Guacamole. The only reason it didn't get one star was because I reserve single star ratings for classic novels that I expect more out of.
    ”

    Sara W wrote this review Saturday, November 14 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Seeing Redd
    • Rated 3 stars

    “Follow-up to The Looking Glass Wars, Seeing Redd tells the story of what happens immediately after Alyss takes her rightful place as Wonderland's queen. Not long after ascending the throne, Wonderland is again under attack, but by whom? Did Redd and the Cat somehow escape the Heart Crystle or is Wonderland facing a new threat?

    The novel is fast-paced, with lots of battle scenes. Sometimes it seems like too many. We get to know a lot more about other characters both major and minor that we first met in the previous book. In all it was a decent follow-up to The Looking Glass Wars and I enjoyed, but I think it falls prey to the dreaded sophmore slump that so many second books due when part of a proposed trilogy. I'll still read the final book, due out in the next month, but I'm not anticipitating it nearly as much as I did this one. ”

    Sara W wrote this review Tuesday, November 3 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Things They Carried
    • Rated 5 stars

    “There aren't words to describe this book. I'm not sure that anything I can say will do it justice.

    On the surface it's the true, but not true, war stories as Tim O'Brien experienced them during the Vietnam War. They are his memories, or in his words, the story truth. They speak of the men he knew, what he saw, what he felt. But they are more than that, and this is where I can't find the words to explain it.

    I felt this book on a deep visceral level. His writing is so direct, so unencumbered by the over use of adjectives and descriptors. He let the stories stand for themselves. He let the words do the talking and that is what makes it so powerful.

    I can see why this book is on the 10001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. It belongs there. Perhaps more than any other book on that list that I've read. More than the classics, more than James Joyce or Dickens or Austen. It just belongs. It is real. It is more than real. It's powerful and deep and strong. This book moved me more than any other I've read. The Things They Carried will stay with me for a very long time. ”

    Sara W wrote this review Sunday, November 1 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Shadow Isle
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Part one of the final two books set in the Celtic-inspired world of Deverry, and book 3 in the Silver Wyrm series, you can definitely see that Katharine Kerr is set to wrap things up. All of the "old" characters are there, in their latest incarnations and they are all converging upon each other. Neb, formerly Nevyn finally discovers his word. Rhodry, or Rori as he is now known, is debating whether or not he wants to remain in dragon form or if he wants to be returned to his natural human state. The mystical island of Haen Marn has returned to Deverry, along with it's inhabitants and one unexpected visitor to the island. The Horsekin seem to be massing for a major offensive or migration depending on how you look at it. In all, there is a lot going on in this book, but it is well put together and I have confidence that Kerr will tie it up well. The final book is due out later this year, and I'm excited and saddened at the same time to see how she ends it. ”

    Sara W wrote this review Thursday, October 1 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The No-Cry Sleep Solution
    • Rated 5 stars

    “The best child sleep book I've come across. Pantley's sleeping tips really work and are a gentle alternative to what is in my opinion the cruelty of cry it out.”

    Sara W wrote this review Sunday, September 27 2009. ( reply | permalink )
1 2 3 4 5  | Next » Last 
Displaying 1-10 of 55 reviews

Missing a review?



© 2006-2010 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close