Kate

Started reading then skimmed the rest. It seems like a good reference but goes too far into the weeds to be readable for fun.

Lenz says that court-enforced 50% custody was the way to make her ex-husband a good father

It was pretty entertaining, but a lot of things didn't seem to make sense

I'm not sure how this book is so split between excellent reviews and poor ones. The negative reviews often describe the author as arrogant and narcissistic; he's certainly introspective, as is appropriate in a memoir (I wonder what these same reviewers would say about Thoreau), but I don't see the arrogance. The author doesn't shy away from negative depictions of himself. Compared to his new Amish-style neighbors, he's weak, ignorant, and incompetent in his new lifestyle, but he seems to realize this.He doesn't say explicitly, “I was an idiot”, or “I'm full of regret about that.” One wonders whether the other reviewers are products of a laugh-track culture that can't figure out for themselves what's supposed to be funny or self-deprecating. For example, one tongue-in-cheek remark occurred when the author and his wife were having their first child and they went to a local store to buy baby supplies. The cash register rang up over $100, a large sum in their circumstances. He says, “Mary [his wife] looked at me. I looked at Mary. Didn't she know that the baby items were the mother's responsibility? ‘Can't you use your credit card?' I asked.” Do these reviewers actually think that he made his wife put it on their credit card, because it's the “mother's responsibility”? If that were really the case, he wouldn't think it was worth talking about. It's a joke, people, about them not having money. Perhaps a poor joke, but I'd hate to live in a world where every joke has to be explained in great detail, lest it offend.That said, I would have liked to hear more of Mary's perspective, of what it like being a woman in Amish country. The author does seem oddly incurious about this, as well as silent on what had originally attracted him to Mary. I can't help but compare this book to another experimental memoir which I really enjoyed, [b: The Dirty Life 7841677 The Dirty Life On Farming, Food, and Love Kristin Kimball https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1277929135s/7841677.jpg 10935145], in which a journalist from New York City marries a relatively new farmer and they start a CSA farm together from scratch. There, the romance between the two and their joint efforts on the farm get much more emotional attention, and poetic nature of that book seems more fitting. Still, there were some really interesting points made about the roles of men and women. Brende said at one point, “The word house-husband is redundant. Of course! This startling thought came to me as I reached for the hand pump. The ‘hus-‘ from ‘husband' is simply the Old English form of the word ‘house,' while ‘band' means ‘bound.' The man who stays at home to work is returning to a long-forgotten calling preserved in the language like a fossil. There is no linguistic need to add the extra ‘house.' “All in all, it's definitely worth reading, but I would suggest reading [b: The Dirty Life 7841677 The Dirty Life On Farming, Food, and Love Kristin Kimball https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1277929135s/7841677.jpg 10935145] and [b: The Unsettling of America 146191 The Unsettling of America Culture and Agriculture Wendell Berry https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363657372s/146191.jpg 1984458] before this one.

The “I'm so rAnDoMm” of books. Jokes that aren't funny, telling rather than showing, quirkiness as a personality. DNF at 71%

The world was fascinating and unique, but I found I didn't care much for the characters. Like in mythology, everyone seemed selfish and made nonsensical choices, so when trouble came, I wasn't in suspense because I couldn't care less what happened. Sorry :)

Wonderful writing, fun mystery, some deep reflections.

I loved Piranesi, but reading this was a real struggle. I first picked it up around 2008 or so, and stopped reading. This time I finally made it through, but I don't get the hype at all. Other reviews compare it to Austen, but it lacks what makes Austen good. Characters in this book don't really grow or change much, and the dialogue between them isn't very interesting or revealing. The pacing was so slow, then lightning fast in a bad way: “oh the climax has already happened, I missed it. “

Clarke does a great job of conveying that Norrell is a fearful, introverted, annoying, unwise, pain in the ass, the kind of elderly man with no sense about people whatsoever. But that part is repeated so unnecessarily often. Austen would have painted the whole picture in one striking sentence and then moved on.

Strange is a much more interesting character, but we never really see the effects of anything on him emotionally. The ending was terrible.

I liked the Graysteels and Flora, and her relationship with Jonathan Strange. That part was clever.

I didn't finish this but it's much more of a research book about different fermentation traditions than a do it yourself guide. Perhaps the first book has more details?

dnf at page 46

I didn't much like the ending, but the rest was my favorite kind of book. If you enjoyed the Curse of Chalion, I think you would enjoy this

The book doesn't make any sense at all as a cautionary tale (i.e. it's pretty unlikely that anyone will decide to divide society based on personalities), but if you instead read it as an allegory about growing up, things start to make a lot more sense. Tris grows up in a meek and selfless household with loving parents, but the restrictions chafe. She is given the chance to choose a different life with one of the other factions, but to do so would mean publicly rejecting her parents' way of life. Sound familiar to anyone?

It sounded familiar to me, and so I loved it.

Weird and uneven. The reader is set up with the expectation that something spooky will happen, but if it does, it happens off-screen. Not particularly scary or thrilling at all.

The ending seems to point to Munday being the most savage at all, cheating on his wife while she is dying in the room above. While that's an interesting way to conclude, that particular ending saps any energy from the first section of the book, which is dependent on us being scared for him and his wife Emma. The managing of reader expectations seems to be carelessly done, as if Theroux has contempt for the reader.

I thought the descriptions were strong and the style interesting, but the plot and characters weren't spectacular. Great starting paragraph though.

I loved it. It really does run the gamut from stories about up and coming cheese traders to serious military manoeuvres.

highly enjoyable, but somehow uneven and a little rough around the edges, like a cake baked by a teenager

Entertaining but had a ton of filler. (saying “sorry editor” doesn't really help.) I really liked Jenny Lawson as a person. Still, there were very few guffaws (and more titters) to be had from this book.

A good read, but I didn't understand what made this book stand out. It's zany like I like it though!

It's a little like Twilight with the roles reversed. Much better written, but I felt bored.

It was gripping enough for me to stay up and finish it, but the near constant sex talk and racist language made it hard to get through. I got the distinct feeling that I wouldn't like King very much as a person if this is how his mind is usually.

Skillful. Troubling. But I've never liked urban fantasy much

Fantastic.

Wonderfully written

Really enjoyable. I don't know whether it will stick with me as a reread, but I loved how smart the protagonist was, and how the story changed genre a few times.

Kind of enjoyable but the plot and characters felt weak. It felt like I could write this.