I enjoyed this collection of short stories in which the odd and familiar live side by side. Some of my favorite stories were "Catskin" and "Magic for Beginners."

Rating: 4*/5 = great

This was a good mystery with seemingly unimportant threads which prove useful in the end. I look forward to reading the first book in the series, Case Histories.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

I enjoyed this quirky, amusing book about good, evil, reality and fiction. I especially liked Jane's interactions with her instructors.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

The Bluest Eye is the book by Toni Morrison has changed my life

Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.

The Protocols: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Exposed

T’S A LIE THAT WOULD NOT DIE; believed to be true by Adolf Hitler, Henry Ford, and the late Osama bin Laden. It was introduced by the Russian secret police in an attempt to bolster the reign of Tsar Nicholas II.

www.shelfari.com/books/23822030/The-Protocols-The-Protocols-of-the-Elders-of-Zion-Exposed?uid=MikeEvans

Michael D. Evans is an author, journalist, commentator and the head of several prominent ministries in the U.S., and Netherlands.

He serves as the Executive Director of The Corrie ten Boom Fellowship, as well as Chairman of the Board the Corrie ten Boom Foundation in Ha’arlem, Holland, which operates the ten Boom Holocaust Museum. He also founded The Jerusalem Prayer Team with a reunified Jerusalem’s second mayor, Ehud Olmert. It is a direct outreach of the Corrie ten Boom Fellowship. He founded Churches United with Israel, Inc., the Middle East Media Group, the Evans Institute of Middle East Studies, The Jerusalem World News.

This is a book that is read by grade school children (Alyssa read it in Grade 10). She said that she saw the movie too but I don't think I could handle that. It was a different way to tell of the horror of 'Out'With. Very well written, simplistic for its ended audience. I still have a scream inside me that wants to get out!

The Boy In the Striped Pajamas by John Boyle
I am looking forward to reading this. I have to find out which child brought it into the house. Whoever it is I am impressed!

We Need To Talk About Kevin - A Novel by Lionel Shriver

I started this book thinking really I care what this lady thinks for that many pages? But as the book goes on I did care and I cared about the other characters. I found Eva (the mom) to be terribly selfish, and Franklin (the dad) to be unbelievable because he seemed so out of it. Through it all I thought that the warning signs were glaring and had to wonder is that what it really like if you were a parent of a troubled child?
The writing was flowing and poetic. There were more words I never saw before than I knew what to do. It ended like I thought but still had some gasp! moments. Glad I read it.

Enjoying this immensely! While this book covers the birth and evolution of a scientific field of inquiry, the subject is certainly not above the average reader's head. I think this could be attributed to the chronological and narrative approach, following pioneer Dr. K. Eric Drexler. This in itself is something of an oddity given that nowhere in the book's two subtitles is he mentioned and even in the book jacket is referenced as something of an afterthought. Despite this, I'm hooked!

Very in-depth coverage of a branch of architecture that has been ill-appreciated. As the author explains in the introduction, these buildings are not simply the easiest method of shelter but a rational choice involving both environmental concerns , most importantly, tradition and spiritualism. However, this book does not lend itself to a two-week lending period and so I shall put this one to the side for the moment....

Cursory information at best (having been on the tour twice) that obscures probably the most interesting photos: the journal notes of the owner.

"Recycled Spaces" and recycled photographs! While the photography is indeed lovely, more would be preferable to periodic recycling in later chapters. In the same vein, a certain project was highlighted for the subject of each chapter, but only for example. The book reads as a textbook for what to expect (which is enlightening) and neglects the opportunity to explore the stories that came about in the process that can often be more telling.

Riveting telling of the Ruth Snyder-Judd Gray murder case. Hansen recreates NYC in the twenties wonderfully and the murderers are not without sympathy. The case calls to mind the recent media circuses surrounding the Simpson and Anthony cases. I couldn't put this one down, even though it's not a whodunit.

A recommendation from A Jury of Her Peers, these linked stories give a vivid impression of a small nineteenth century Maine fishing village. I liked them but I felt they became a little repetitious and a tad too sentimental. However, there are some great characters and the structure was certainly influential.

Rather fluffier than I expected given the references to Edith Wharton in the blurb; but maybe the jacket's description of this as a "guilty pleasure" should've set me straight. A lot of historical detail and a romance narrative that mingles a variety of characters and events that I feel like I've mostly seen elsewhere (though there are some original things sprinkled in there). In general, I'd prefer a Julia Quinn; I would rather a book be completely fluffy than fluffy but trying to pass itself off as more substantial literature. Fun, fast, not particularly surprising or thought-provoking. Still, it was an entertaining read, and I don't feel like I've thoroughly wasted my time.

The characters were not well-developed enough for me to really understand why they acted as they did; rather than fleshing them out, Goodwin just tells us what their motivations are or worse, has them explain to each other why they are acting as they do. The latter option is not always a bad choice, but the dialogue Goodwin writes in these portions is not smooth enough to make it not feel like a big expository chunk. I couldn't really commit to the characters; couldn't feel strongly one way or the other about whether Cora stayed with her husband or ran off with Teddy, except on an abstract level of "how moral is this and which choice would make a better plot?"

Linked short stories in preindustrial small-town America. Sherwood's characterizations are sharp, his descriptive abilities impressive. Powerful stuff about the changing of America.

Always fun Brunetti.

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