This was a pretty cute story. I tripped up on some of the dialog, especially at the beginning, because it didn’t always feel realistic (which seems like a funny thing to say about a fantasy, I know). I also got a little confused at the beginning about who was supposed to be the main character because we saw into the thoughts of both the fatherly troll and the lost kid.

But I thoroughly enjoyed the love story and how the author brought together various elements at the end to wrap it all up. All in all, I enjoyed it.

The book jacket describes the main character as a “modern-day neurotic yearning to break free.” At first, I wasn’t that jazzed up reading about his various neuroses, but Daniel Pecan Cambridge grew on me. I loved Shopgirl almost instantly but I grew to love Martin’s second novel as I read more of it, with my attachment to it coming to a crescendo just as I read the last page. (damn!)

While I don’t join Daniel in his insistence on a constant total of wattage from indoor lighting, the book got me thinking about the more subtle barriers I put in place to avoid doing the things I want to do but don’t—I know I’ll be happy after doing those things, but still I avoid them. All those nights I waste watching television shows that mean nothing rather than have to make a decision about what I want to do with my time. All those mornings I hit the snooze button 10 times rather than wake up and have time to write. All those times I make excuses that I can’t exercise rather than just do it and feel good about my body and my health. This book made me wonder: What am I afraid of?

This book made me see my cats in a new light. I originally picked it up because our first cat (Shadow) has never accepted our second cat (Parker), and it’s not a passive kind of rejection unfortunately. Shadow was relentless in attacking Parker, and Parker could never relax while both cats were out and about in the house. We were planning a move, so I picked this book up thinking we could take advantage of the change in territory to give the cats a fresh start, and I’m very glad I read it. Every person with a cat in their family should read this! I actually developed more respect for their cat-ness because of this book.

While we’re not quite doing everything the author suggests (it’s a struggle to fit in just one interactive play session on weekdays let alone multiple), we’re still learning. We plan to get a cat tree to increase vertical territory and maybe some nice window perches since our new home doesn’t have windowsills wide enough to sit on.

The good news is that the new home has served as a more neutral territory, and I think our daily play sessions have helped stimulate both kitties so they’re not so anxious. We haven’t had any fights in the new home, and I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll stay that way!

I loved this book. I wasn’t sure that I would because sometimes “bestsellers” turn out to be more hype than quality, but not this book. The underlying theme of bees throughout was beautiful, and I fell in love with the calendar sisters, especially August (of course). But what got me most were the main character Lily’s feelings of abandonment, anger, and low self-worth. When you lose a parent to death or abandonment, those feelings all whirl around inside you, sometimes all at once. I was amazed to read in the interview with the author at the back that she had both of her parents growing up.

Now I’m wishing I hadn’t borrowed this but had bought a copy for myself to keep!

This novel of vignettes felt like a long poem. And even though I’m not a huge fan of lyrical writing, I enjoyed it.

This was an interesting memoir, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I were familiar with any of the author’s other work. But it was a very quick read (less than 100 pages) and wonderful writing.

After reading just the first couple of chapters, I knew I’d love this book. The characters are delicious, especially the main character’s uncles! Their tiffs are hilarious. And at the heart of the story is an interesting discussion of history, art, and property values. I highly recommend this one.

I loved the main character in this book—he made me chuckle to myself many a time while reading. Being vegetarian myself, I have to admit that I skimmed certain sections in the middle of the book (you’ll see what I mean), but otherwise I loved every bit of it.

I do think that those who are more into religion will get more out of this than I did, but even if you don’t consider yourself religious in any way, it’s an interesting adventure story.

A quick, heartwarming read. It reads more like a parable than a novel, which I wasn’t expecting. Also, I don’t consider myself religious at all so I was a little hesitant to read a book with “heaven” in the title. But it came across as spiritual rather than “religious” or dogmatic in any way, which I appreciated.

I read this in high school. I liked A Farewell to Arms a lot, but this one just wasn’t up my alley. I do appreciate the form and style, but I didn’t get into the characters as much.