This book is a great read and is by far the most readable and interesting book I have come across related to the financial crisis. I highly recommend it!

This book came highly recommended and I expected to love it right from the start. I enjoyed the beginning – the writing style, the interspersed mathematics, and the vivid descriptions of the professor, his life, and his home. However, it wasn’t a page turner. I felt pity for the professor and was nervous he would be hurt or become ill and I was hesitant to read on and get to what I expected to be sadness. Although parts of the book were sad, I am glad I stuck with it and I ended up enjoying the book.

Powerful. That’s a one-word description of Still Alice. I found the book heart-wrenching and incredibly honest. It inspired in me an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness that I don’t have a family member with alzheimers, especially early-onset. However, just as strongly this book reinforced the idea that with love and courage a family can conquer anything. One of the best written books I have read in years and I will be looking for future books by Genova

I really enjoyed the 19th wife. Its a balanced book, by which I mean a good mix of modern page-turning type prose coupled with interesting historical fiction. I found the subject matter fascinating and appreciated that it was presented in a way that did not make me feel like I was reading a tabloid. It gave detail, but just enough to entice the reader, not enough to make me feel guilty for wanting to know so much about how a group of people lives. This isn’t an easy read, so not one I’d recommend for a beach vacation, and you also have to pay attention to the history in the beginning to make sure you know all the important players names as you go through time. Recommended!

I finished this a few months ago and remember thinking that the book was well written but I grew a bit tired of the main character constantly being attracted to horrible men. It also skipped over a large part of her life during which (spoiler alert) she has a baby and the last part is pretty disjointed with the beginning. Not a bad book though!

The Glass Castle is fascinating. Its a quick read, although I did think there was a lull in a few places in the middle. Walls is a very descriptive author and while her childhood is always an adventure, some scenes get a bit repetitive. This is not to say that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy every page. The parents are interesting characters, ones I think it is important to expose ourselves to and this book provides a platform for understanding the “societal norms” are not for everyone. That the author and several siblings grew into productive, adjusted adults is an astounding outcome.

I am almost ashamed to admit, but this makes me think back on my own childhood and wonder what I thought of kids who may have had a home life similar to the Walls. I don’t even think I could imagine it.

Exactly what you expect it to be. The pink cover will not lead you astray. Its a quick read and a feel-good story, especially fun for someone who lives/lived in NYC since you’ll recognize a lot of familiar landmarks. When I have a craving for another chick lit book I’m going to start the sequel (Something Blue), which is about the best review a book like this can garner!

The subject matter of this book is fascinating, that’s a given. The author bravely writes her story of growing up and eventually escaping a fundamental polygamist lifestyle. Unfortunately, the book is not very well written. I found it hard to ignore the repetition, poor word choice, and simple sentence structure. Its really too bad because I wanted to like the book and I respect Carolyn Jessop for writing it. Maybe she needed a better editor?

I was interested in the premise of this book, but wound up wishing it was over MUCH quicker than it actually was. I struggled to finish because I couldn’t begin to care about any of the characters. There was so little development of the central individuals…perhaps the writing style was meant to let us discover their characteristics ourselves, but I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Update: changing my review from 2 stars to 1 after realizing its one of my least favorite books. Sorry!

Born to Run is a very interesting book with a topic that rarely creeps into my usual reading material. The author takes on a challenge to determine why all runners seem to be injured and disprove the theory that it has to be that way. He does this by exploring the extreme culture of the Tarahumara in Mexico. They run to live and live to run, amazing distances through canyons, up mountains, and across deserts. Their running way of life is not something attainable for most of us but the lessons to be learned are very much relevant.