Diana Stevan
Beautifully written, Henderson's Spear is bound to appeal to those who like adventure and exotic places in their stories. But I found myself drifting as the details, specific names and places, were too much for me to keep track of.
The two intersecting stories, the one of Henderson and the one of Liv, the documentary filmmaker, kept me guessing about their connection, which was great. What was most compelling was Liv's account of her life and the challenges she was facing, regarding the daughter she never knew, the father whose disappearance was unexplained and the reason she was in a Tahiti prison.
Because this is not a genre I particularly like, I was reluctant to give a starred review.
Catherine Ryan Hyde has a gift for telling a story in a clear and concise manner. Her characters are well-formed and her story moves beautifully from one character's point of view to another. A heart-warming tale of a young girl, whose crisis affects the strangers in her building. It was totally believable. The author was able to weave in multiple stories with satisfying conclusions for all.
A wonderful and surprising read. The author is incredibly skilled. Using simple prose, the author took two protagonists, both teens and with cancer, and wove a story, laced with pathos, humor and romance. An excellent book.
What a delightful read! I was captivated by the author's style of writing. Marisa de los Santos tells the story about Cornelia, a young woman, perhaps unlucky in love, who becomes enmeshed in the life of a young girl, Clara, in need of some motherly love and attention. Clara is the daughter of Martin, the man who has (we think) won Cornelia's heart. And then Theo enters, the husband of Cornelia's sister, an old time friend, the one who gave Cornelia her first kiss. The author switches points of view from Cornelia to Clara evenly, and keeps us intrigued and guessing right to the end as to how it'll all turn out. Highly recommended.
A very good read. Diane Keaton goes back and forth, weaving in details of her life with her mother's. I found it refreshingly honest and vulnerable and that surprised me. I love the fact that she honored her mother the way she did in the way she told her mother's story, through her letter and photographs and remembered phone messages. I also thought it was respectful that she didn't dish on all the romances she had. She paid tribute to some of the stars that were her lovers without going into any unnecessary detail.
This is a book that I know I will read again. A story about jazz musicians in Berlin and Paris during WWII. The author brilliantly captures the fear and horror of what is taking place, but also the protagonist's need to express himself no matter what if going on around him. Esi Edugyan's prose surprises and delights with her novel use of language which shows the intimacy between the characters during a horrific period in the world's history. This is a jewel of a book. Highly recommended
My enjoyment of this collection of short stories was uneven. My favourite story was The Dead, which was made into a movie starring Angelica Huston and directed by her father John Huston years back. The reader is introduced to quite a few characters at a party, all vividly described. The author certainly shows his masterful abilities as he is able to keep the reader engaged despite giving us details that are often missing in more contemporary novels. I particularly loved the last pages as they revealed the devastating impact of one dead soul on a marriage.
It was another view, that we don't often get from the media, of an Islamic population, who are warm, welcoming and rich in spirit, even to Westerners of a different religion.
I found the reviews of this book intriguing. It's interesting to read such a wide range of opinion. I enjoyed the book; in main part because I visited Masada a few years ago. Alice Hoffman did a masterful job recreating those ancient times. For future readers, I would highly recommend googling Masada and viewing the images of the place. Though I found the story a good read, I did get lost at times in all the detail. I wouldn't describe this book as a page turner; rather an engrossing trip through the eyes of four fascinating women.
Of course, I had to read this book. I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I was pleasantly surprised to find it rather well written. Not to give anything away, I was disappointed in the ending, but am not sorry I took the time to read the book. All those readers can't be wrong. The book does deliver the titillation it promises.
Such an interesting read. Not a big book, 150 pages, but it's juicy. Juicy in what it reveals about an ordinary man trying to make sense of his own life and the ending of his friend's life. It won the Man Booker Prize in 2011.
I'm not a Stephen King fan as I'm not a fan of horror but I enjoyed this one. He had me on the edge of my seat.
