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Carmen M

Carmen M

has 129 followers and is following 27 people

“What makes a book great, a so-called classic, is its quality of always being modern, of its author, though he be long dead, continuing to speak to each new generation.”
Lawrence Clark Powell

Letters forming to create words ... words forming to create sentences ... sentences forming to create thoughts, convey dreams, shatter... more »
  • North Alabama, AL, USA
  • member since January 8, 2009

Reviews

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Displaying 41-50 of 332 reviews
  • The Mysterious Affair at Styles
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I have to start by pointing out that this was written in 1920, and that is worth at least 1/2 look in itself. This is the first story of many for Hercule Poirot, and that is worth another 1/2 look. With that said, the superb writing of this one pulled it from 2 looks to 3 looks, in my opinion.


    This is the second Agatha Christie book I have read. I can't believe I have gone through 46 years of life, and 40 of reading, where I have read only two Christie books. The first, And Then There Were None, was superb in every way. It was suspenseful, intriguing, thrilling and kept me guessing until the very end. Wonderful!


    Mysterious Affair was extremely well written, but I got so bogged down at the ending explanation of the murder, my head was fairly spinning. I just felt that it didn't have to be so ... complicated. It really served to put a negative spin on the rest of the book. Writing = 4 looks, overall story and resolution = 2 looks, average is 3 looks.


    Some of my favorites:
    It struck me that he might look natural on a stage, but was strangely out of place in real life.
    From the very first I took a firm and rooted dislike to him, and I flatter myself that my first judgments are usually fairly shrewd.
    A "man of method" was, in Poirot's estimation, the highest praise that could be bestowed on any individual.
    You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.
    ”

    Carmen M wrote this review Sunday, January 13, 2013. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Magician's Nephew
    • Rated 4 stars

    “This book was in the children's section of my church library, but it definitely appealed to me. Being familiar with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, I was immediately enchanted with the very beginnings of the world of Narnia. C.S. Lewis is a master story teller and deft at the art of allegory.

    A friend of mine pointed out that, even though Lewis never fathered children, his ability to write with such tenderness and truth from a child's point of view is ... well, magical. You can easily see the Christian parallels here, and appreciate the truths therein.

    I wrote several favorite quotes:

    What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.
    The trouble with trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

    I highly recommend this one. ”

    Carmen M wrote this review Thursday, January 10, 2013. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )
  • Three From Galilee
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I liked this book even better than the previous in the trilogy. While some fundamentalists may think it heretical, I found it to be very believable, tender and true to the Word of God.

    Mary and Joseph have returned to Nazareth, to their families, to start their own family. The relationships are very real, from the sibling rivalry to the great friend of the family whom the children call "uncle".

    Jesus and John's stories are thought provoking as familiar stories from the Bible are woven into the fabric of the lives in the book. Parables' beginnings are explored in a unique and wonderful ways, again making the stories from the Bible even more compelling. It made me go to my Bible to read the words of Jesus, as he told the parables he lived in the book.

    The story is tense at times, however, as he realizes fully who he is and what his destiny will be. My F2F book club is going to read the third in the series, The Messiah, for Easter, and I am glad there will be a break in between this one and the next.

    This is one that I will purchase, and I highly recommend it.”

    Carmen M wrote this review Monday, January 7, 2013. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower
    • Rated 5 stars

    “When I finished this book, I just sat and stared at the floor, allowing this epistle to fall around my mind and settle in its place. It is very affecting. It is very dark. While it has doses of humor, the feelings that it employs are very real, piercing and difficult to feel ... again.

    Everyone tells me that high school makes "the best years of your life". Well, I am not sure where these people went to high school, but I wouldn't go back to those years for any amount of money or fame. The years of a high schooler are grueling, confusing, treacherous and painful. You are growing mentally, academically, physically, emotionally and independently. Like a moth becoming a butterfly, tearing yourself out of that cocoon is quite a feat, and not all survive, some are damaged and very few of us see those years as our best.

    This is a clear and concise account of a teen making the transition from boy to young man. The fact that he has a mental issue on top of it makes the story even more poignant rather than out-of-touch. It adds to his struggle. The solid family life, the teacher who reaches out to him and his coping mechanisms are very real and true. I loved the constant references to books (and the fact that read them over and over), and his need to provide a meaningful soundtrack to whatever circumstance in which he found himself.

    This book is a period of time of a real life; a real boy; a real situation. Highly recommended. ”

    Carmen M wrote this review Saturday, January 5, 2013. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Handmaid's Tale
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Dystopian society books are usually not my favorite, but this book was riveting. Set in what could be the very near future, society goes to a male-dominated theocracy quickly and with very little resistance.

    It was shocking how complicit the masses are in this sudden and sweeping change to the fabric of society. Fear, combined with passivity and rationalization, form to make a straight path to a world which we fought from becoming at various times in our past. It is the typical "you may believe as you wish, as long as you believe as I do" mentality.

    The writing here is superb, with Atwood commenting on the right, as well as the left. So much of her story smacks of today's organized religion and how far it has come from the ideals presented in the Bible. On the other hand, protesters are also caricatured. Not only are old feminist liberals taken to task, but those in subjugation are conflicted, too. Becoming fiercely demonstrative when given the opportunity to destroy a life, as theirs has also been destroyed, they do not hesitate tearing apart a human being with their bare hands, even as it makes some insane.

    The commentary on the use of language, illiteracy, and lost of individuality in order for a small group to control the masses is sickeningly familiar. As opposed to other dystopian-centered books, this book has a possibility to it that is sobering.

    Highly recommended.”

    Carmen M wrote this review Thursday, January 3, 2013. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )
  • Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
    • Rated 2 stars

    “I am not sure what I expected from this. For some reason, I thought this was going to be an oddity, like John Dies at the End by David Wong or anything by Jasper Fforde. Instead, it was a straight-up mystery with a pretty heavy dose of character study. I had put off reading this because of my expectations, but was completely wrong.

    Larry has really gotten the shaft in life. He has suffered for years for being different, and more years for being a silent victim. Son of an ass of a father and a ghost of a mother, he was destined to fail.

    Silas has taken advantage of every opportunity and has succeeded in life, at least on the outside. Son of a single black woman, he was the typical success story in rural Mississippi (the reason for the name of the book).

    Franklin, as an Alabama native, writes perfectly of the underbelly of the South's redneck white trash population. He has it down to a "t". It would have been nice to see this balanced with the more genteel side of Southern living, but that may have been too prosaic for the author. Instead, it felt like a story awash in Southern stereotypes, that I (as an Alabama resident) don't see in my particular corner of the world (thank goodness).

    If Larry has been in law enforcement, I would have been reading In the Heat of the Night. And probably liked it better.

    Not recommended. ”

    Carmen M wrote this review Monday, December 31, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Spellman Files
    • Rated 4 stars

    “This was a very fun book. It was a mystery, suspense, story of a dysfunctional family and romantic relationships, and hilarious. That is a feat for an author!

    Isabel is a woman-child with great connections, few friendships and a riotous family. I was hooked at the very beginning and could not put it down. I made several comparisons with Evanovitch's Stephanie Plum character, but this one was more real to me. A character in the book describes her as a combination of Dirty Harry and Nancy Drew, and I thought that was perfect.

    I am glad I have the rest of this series and will dive into book two as soon as I can.

    Highly recommended.”

    Carmen M wrote this review Saturday, December 29, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Handmaid and the Carpenter
    • Rated 3 stars

    “This was a good book. At first, I was a little iffy on the doctrine. After all, if you are going to write about Christ, the least you can do is study and stay true to the Bible. However, it turned out to be a nice telling of the Christmas story and made Mary and Joseph seem very real.

    Unlike the other book I read on the birth of Christ, Two From Galilee, this one portrayed Joseph much more like I thought he would be at the news of Mary's pregnancy. He didn't simply take it in stride, letting it fall by the wayside because of his love for her. No, he got angry and sought to divorce her privately, as it details in the Bible.

    The other touching moment of the story was a forward in time to Joseph's death. The last moments of Mary and Joseph were very touching, as she prepared her heart to raise Jesus, as well as her other children, as a newly single mother, with His fate in mind.

    Recommended.”

    Carmen M wrote this review Friday, December 28, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
  • Two From Galilee
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Very good storytelling makes this a winner to read. Solid Christian doctrine makes it believable. With a combination like that, it's hard to go wrong.

    I have just a few issues, though, with some of the characterizations. The first, and greatest, is with Mary's mother, Hannah. She is portrayed as a harsh, selfish, harpy of a woman who takes to her bed with headaches whenever she doesn't get her way. It was annoying at best and caused me to bristle every time she was involved in the story. When she finally broke at the end, believing that her daughter was actually carrying the Messiah, I felt no sympathy for her in the least. I was glad that she had finally received her mental comeuppance.

    The other issue I had, albeit very minor, was Joseph's reaction to Mary's pregnancy. He was not angry in the least, but only confused. The text also doesn't indicate that he wanted to divorce her quietly, but that it was the urging of her father for him to do so. This story tells of a firm and steadfast Joseph who never waivers in his love and devotion to Mary. I don't think that's the way it could have happened, especially when the culture at the time called for the stoning death of the woman.

    With that said, the writing was beautiful. I highlighted many passages in the course of my reading to be able to go back later and fully digest them, or to have the simple pleasure of reading them again. Mary's arrival at Elizabeth's and her reaction was a joy. Joseph's delivery of the Christ child was touching. It was a delight to read and I look forward to the other two in this series.

    Highly recommended. ”

    Carmen M wrote this review Thursday, December 27, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Christmas Train
    • Rated 3 stars

    “This had the potential to be a really fun book, but it read at times like a propaganda piece for Amtrak, lobbying heavily for American rail.

    It was a typical Christmas book in that there are numerous characters fulfilling different roles, a bit of a problem to solve, and a happy ending. It was very easy to read and had a bit of a twist at the end. I would recommend this. ”

    Carmen M wrote this review Thursday, December 27, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
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Displaying 41-50 of 332 reviews

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