Flowers for Algernon was so interesting! I loved that the premise was unique and the circular progression of the writing style was fascinating. The author raises such important issues about how someone like Charlie Gordon views the world and what a life from that perspective could be like. Of course its just one opinion and the book is fictional, but it opened my eyes to something that I rarely consider. And we all should consider it more often with regard to the people in our lives who have these challenges.

I loved this book. Lewycka knows how to be witty and her humor really is right up my alley. I love the blunt statements that make me laugh out loud and how the mere facts presented as she writes are so comical. Of course the book wouldn’t be half as good without a real meaningful story line, which follows the several years after the death of Nadia’s mother and chronicles her relationship with her sister Vera and the often hilarious, often sad happenings to her aging father. Overall an excellent read!

First of all, I will say that I ended up liking the book much better than I anticipated after the first 50ish pages. In the beginning, the author seemed shockingly self-centered and insensitive to those around her, but slowly I understood that that actually was the point. I don’t find her inspiring, but her travel stories are mildly interesting and I enjoyed hearing about the characters she encounters in all three countries.

I loved this book. Its incredibly well written, imaginative, and has great character development. I really like how Gruen uses the framework of the main character in the last stage of his life to ground the story of his younger days in the circus. I really liked reading about circus life. For me, it was long enough ago that the animal (and human) brutality seemed more like fiction. Totally recommend it! I couldn’t put it down!

Wow. Powerful. This is a spectacular book. I also loved Kite Runner, and often second books don’t live up to expectations, but that was not the case with Thousand Splendid Suns. The perspective of two women in Afghanistan over a ~30 year period of time starts out as shocking and unfathomable. But as Hosseini draws you into the lives of Mariam and Laila, their own struggles and modest triumphs become incredibly real. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Nearly 3 weeks and 500 pages later…and I still didn’t want it to end. Loved this book! Seton writes clearly but authentically, and uses the history to guide her fascinating story. Not knowing the actual historical outcome of the story perhaps made this even more enjoyable for me. Classic.

Ann Patchett’s writing style is fabulous. I think regardless of the underlying story line, I would enjoy reading her descriptions and anecdotes. However, this book also had a good backbone in the story of a woman who loses the love of her life (a gay magician) and embarks on a trip to Nebraska to uncover the story of his background and soothe her broken heart.

Drivel. Last 100 pages are slightly more bearable than the rest of the book. In the first 3/4 of the story, the shopping addiction and subsequent financial irresponsibility of Rebecca Bloomwood is apalling. Control yourself! Anyway, a quick read and not totally without merit, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Interesting subject matter, fascinating anectdotes, and a good dose of history. Hard to tell just how one-sided this book is about the Mormon faith, especially since this was my first experience reading in depth about this religion. But regardless of just how shaded this is by Krakauer’s own view, it told a compelling story, explained carefully the basis of the Mormon belief system, and described some very powerful events and decisions made due to a “revelation from god.”

Pretty interesting read…not the best written book of all time, but if the subject matter sounds good, I’d recommend it. Story of two guys who enter the Atlantic rowing race presented in diary-entry type form with each of the rowers describing the events of the 50ish days in turn.