TravelKage

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“heartbreaking. genius. ”

TravelKage wrote this review Monday, October 1 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Peter Mayle serves a delightful novel with rich flavors and textures that leap off the page. Do not read this book on an empty stomach. ”

TravelKage wrote this review Monday, September 17 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 0 stars

“A lovely coming of age book that even we, who came of age decades ago, can still relate to and savor.

We all need to nurture that inner Star Girl. ”

TravelKage wrote this review Tuesday, July 3 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Hornby enters the mind of a woman in his latest literary jaunt as he tackles the true meaning of being good. As Katie, Hornby shows that he has a good grasp of a female mind in the midst of a domestic and spiritual battle. Or that he has issues with women in general.

Katie is good person. She donates to charities. Her husband David is not. He hates people. In fact, Katie thinks she may hate David as well. And she has good reason to. But when David meets a self-styled guru and suddenly wants to be, in an almost fanatical sense, good, she cant stand him even more.

Their marriage may be the center of this tale but the true account is in intangible lines that Katie has drawn between the couple.

Hornby tackles the issues of guilt, values and choices, using David’s extreme good-deeding (and Katie’s growing frustration) as his platform. It makes you think even as you silently berate, cheer for or resist the urge to slap the story’s characters.

The deadly combination of satirical wit and brutal honesty make “How to Be Good” introspective… and hilarious.

Is it upsetting? Yes. Should you read it then? All the more so. ”

TravelKage wrote this review Thursday, October 26 2006. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 1 stars

“an easy if slightly disappointing read. not to say that it wasnt well-written. ablom has a good grasp of grammar and knows how to spin a good tale. but, coming off the heels of tuesday's with morrie, i expected much more than this novel was able to offer. ”

TravelKage wrote this review Monday, October 1 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“It begins at Christmas.

Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo carome around the house, partaking in a family tradition that brims with the tenderness and intimacy that only their Mama can provide. Pages fly with passages on love, recipes, herbal remedies and dreams.

At the hub of which is Indigo, the youngest, whose passion drives the novel ever forward.

All in all, it is the story of three sisters coming into their own in a world that is, all too often, far too real. Each with their own gift to share and moved by the everyday magic that surrounds their lives. Shange creates a book that is as vivid as Sassafrass' tapestries, as fluid as Cypress' dancing body and as lyrical as Indigo's rebellious violin.

The speech of her prose reads like poetry, both a spiritual journey and an almost voyueristic peek into the heart of the characters she created.
”

TravelKage wrote this review Tuesday, October 17 2006. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Fast friends who share a dream for success, Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather have dreamt of having their own catering business. Behind them are a team of supporters - Cathy's husband, the pragmatic lawyer, her blue collar family and Tom's model-gorgeous girlfriend.

Enter hopes dashed, frustration and two engaging waifs who nearly steal the story. And it becomes very clear that small town folks do not always lead humdrum lives.

Behind the closed doors of their pleasant houses, tears are shed, grief is shared and the nuances of day-to-day existence rear their colorful heads.

Maeve Binchy (author of "Circle of Friends) proves that she is an articulate storyteller - joining just enough of idiosyncrasy into her characters to make them believable. Better yet, some endear themselves to you while others anger you just by appearing on a page. Her talent for drawing the reader deeper into the heart of her ordinary characters produces an extraordinary relationship between the two. You are sorry to turn the last page, to see the tale end. And you wonder how fictitious lives could affect you so much.
”

TravelKage wrote this review Tuesday, October 17 2006. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“A collection of short stories both witty and wise.

Among the most memorable lines comes from "The Golden Apple of Eternal Desire" where the protagonist says 'An ugly woman hopes to gain something from the luster of her pretty friend; a pretty woman, for her part, hopes she will stand out more.' The two men later go on to discuss the nuances of a dalliance.

From sighting to that elusive 'boarding' where contact with a woman is established.

And in "The Hitchhiking Game" it quotes 'jealousy isn't a pleasant trait, but if it isn't overdone... there's even something touching about it."

Kundera draws out - then plays with - the paradoxes and complexities that make up a very human mind. His characters are not sketches but fully live people who inhabit their space on paper for all the world to read. His stories contain no more magic than the kind we dream of on a daily basis. His jaded look at the human condition is softened by his advocation of love in this world. This is the cynic and the dreamer in his element.

The combination makes Laughable Loves a real treasure to be read over and over again.
”

TravelKage wrote this review Tuesday, October 17 2006. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Prepare to question love, fall in love and gain insight on the nature of human emotions.

Best to set a whole weekend... a page-turner that forces introspection and, later on, much discussion.

Personally the best of Coelho's book that I've read. ”

TravelKage wrote this review Tuesday, October 17 2006. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“Jemima J introduced my to Jane Green's writing. I enjoyed this bit of chick lit -- it was light, entertaining and sometimes actually insightful.

The only glitch was that (**spoiler alert**) while it expoused being happy with your body and tried to portray a woman who realized she couldn't find happiness by crash dieting... the man she was in love with didnt truly love her back until she'd lost the excess pounds. So it was kind of like "love you body... but he will love it more if it's thinner..." you know?”

TravelKage wrote this review Tuesday, October 17 2006. ( reply | permalink )