A really interesting look at our natural tendency to assign blame – and never to ourselves – instead of admitting mistakes and failings. The authors look at the way we create scenarios to get ourselves around what they term “cognitive dissonance” – the knowledge that we’ve done something stupid or wrong, a knowledge that doesn’t jive with the thoughts we have of ourselves as smart, good people. It also gives the reader a number of strategies to help them look at their thoughts and actions and re-evaluate them in more objective ways.
It’s a very interesting read that will leave you thinking, and seeing more clearly.

This is a really fun and encouraging book for the new sewist. I had to return the book to the library before I got a chance to make anything – but I know my fair use photocopies will come in very handy soon!

I was really impressed by this novel. There’s something so deeply emotional about the tone, even as it is distinctive in its dispassion. It’s full of small, details, telling details that, in just a word or five, give you incredible insight into characters and situations.
This is much better than the movie. Highly recommended.

There are movies about flawed characters that are very good.
Then there are movies where the characters are all very very low on redeeming qualities. Any signs of likeableness. This was the latter. No fun.

Gawd. Nothing in this movie was funny.

A classic. Ahhhhh.

The writing is sort of uneven, but MacLean really demonstrates a passion for wine and the wine world, and manages to transmit that passion to the reader – each type of wine she described, chapter after chapter, seemed really damned desirable all of a sudden!

Worth the effort!

This was fabulously well done. Will Ferrel is incredible, and Dustin Hoffman his incomparable self. The story is really interesting and really well handled – so nice to see real character development in a Hollywood film for a change.

The only sour notes for me were … why Emma Thompson? I love Emma Thompson, but this really didn’t seem like her role. My husband and I couldn’t decide who else we’d cast, so I guess we shouldn’t judge. But this just wasn’t played to her subtle strengths.

And the darned epilogue… oh well.

Pretty fabulous overall!

Not so bad as to turn it off in the middle, but neither good enough to have something to say about it. It was pretty enough, but utterly blah.

This third book was better than the second, but I have to agree with the writer below that the first was by far the strongest of the trilogy. Still, this was a satisfying end to Tally’s story, and left many of the issues raised open for interpretation by the readers – an important thing when it comes to young adult literature, I think.