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Meh. Didn't like any of the characters (not even the annoying kid). What a lot of self-absorbed, self-pitying, selfish snobs. The story is predictable, but not even in a satisfying way. Don't bother.

A good read. Those who enjoyed the first two books in the series will enjoy this one, as well. I'm looking forward to the next Ben book.

I enjoyed this book, particularly Dumont's use of humour. The protagonist, Rose, is an engaging and relate-able character. There are numerous details that will have Indigenous readers chuckling and nodding their heads, but non-Indigenous readers will enjoy Dumont's writing, as well.

I didn't give it five stars because it almost felt like two stories in one, to me--that it started off as one kind of story and morphed into a story dealing with the paranormal (a subject matter I dislike). However, I very much look forward to reading other works by Dawn Dumont.

This is a beautifully written book dealing with coming-of-age among poverty and racism in Scarborough. The characters are so real and believable, I felt I knew them well. It's a page-turning, quick read, but not a lightweight one.

I am now inspired to read Chariandy's previous novel, Soucouyant, and I look forward to his future books.

I hate reading about cancer. I hate commercials about cancer. I hate television shows about cancer. I hate movies about cancer. I've seen enough of it in real life, including my own mother's ordeal, that I have zero interest in spending time reading or viewing stories about it. However, I became intrigued with this book after hearing the author speak at our local book festival. So, I bought it.

I loved this book. It's a quick read, but a good one. The author deals with the topic in a tender but matter-of-fact fashion, avoiding the usual clichés that I despise, and, in fact, poking gentle fun at them. Comeau's writing is almost poetic, not in use of flowery language, but in economy of words. I enjoyed this styled of writing.

This book's protagonist, Isidore, is a charming, warm-hearted boy in difficult circumstances--more difficult than those faced by the average adolescent.

His family is quirky. They are highly intelligent but socially challenged. I got the impression that everyone in the family other than Isadore were probably on the autism spectrum. Therefore, Isidore is left to learn to deal with his emotions, and the deaths of people close to him, on his own. Isidore also thinks he is less talented than his siblings, but the reader sees that his talents are merely different than theirs. They have IQ; he has EQ (i.e. emotional intelligence).

As a reader, I found myself invested in Isidore, and his character is the strongest, best-developed, aspect of the novel. The other characters are too one-sided, but I think this is purposeful. Part of Isidore's growth is that he starts to see the cracks in people that let him glimpse another dimension to them. He also learns that people notice and value him more than he thought.

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author.

I wanted to like this book. I bought it after hearing the author speak at our local book festival, and I was intrigued. However, I just couldn't.

Connelly can write beautiful sentences and create strong images.

However, the characters were unlikable and fairly one-dimensional.

The sex scenes, while described quite beautifully, lacked power and passion somehow. They bored me.

The story was rather disjointed. Essentially, this novel is a chick-lit, bodice-ripper romance with a twist. The author tries to give the story more gravitas by tossing in mentions of political issues involving terrorism, the Middle East, and racism. but without really exploring these concepts or integrating them into the plot. I found this jarring and confusing. It's like deciding a salad of only iceberg lettuce is too plain and throwing a handful of unshelled nuts on top.

There was enough in this book, however, to keep me reading. Unfortunately, even that was a disappointment with the deus ex machina ending. The sudden entrance of a character who forced the full extent of Shar's lifestyle to be revealed was just too coincidental and introduced a new complication into the relationship triangle right at the end of the book. Why?

Peterson's writing is beautiful, and this story was compelling. She explores what happens when a couple wants to explore an open relationship--or rather when one half of the couple wants to, and the other wants to stay in the relationship and be open minded. She also explores how others--friends and family--react to this new status and to the new romantic partners.

A good and thought-provoking read.

Gina Sorell clearly has talent, and the story held my interest. However, there was far too much self-pitying introspection on the part of the main character, Elsie, and it became tiresome.

That said, there's enough in this debut novel that I will likely read Sorell's next book.

This was a fun read. Sexsmith has a quirky sense of humour that reminds me of Stephen Leacock or Dan Needles.

This book was presented at our local book festival as an "adult fairy tale." It is a fairy tale, containing many elements of traditional fairy tales (magic, romance, evil enchantments, etc.) and it could be enjoyed by adults and older children, alike.

I liked it.

I really enjoyed this book. The relationship that developed between the old woman and the girl, each a lost soul in her own way, was heartwarming without being syrupy. There was enough suspense and action to keep the story moving along and the pages turning.

This is the true story of two German geologists who hid from the Nazis in the Namibian desert during World War II. I read this book after a trip to Namibia. On a drive from Sossusvlei to Swapkomund, our guide from Tracking Namibia Safaris showed us a cave where the two geologists lived. (From the description in the book, I'm pretty sure it was the first cave.)

In spite of the problems with scanning the book to an ebook, resulting in some of the words turning to gibberish and even a page or two completely missing, I found this tale fascinating. I enjoyed learning about how the men struggled to survive and the solutions they found to the challenges they faced. It was wonderful that I could picture many of the areas in the book after having visited the region. I do wish that Martin had refrained from waxing philosophical for so many pages in several sections of the latter part of the book. While the musings of the men might be interesting in and of themselves, they were so long that they interrupted the flow of the narrative.

Overall, though, this is a good read for anyone who is a student of history or who has visited or plans to visit Southern Africa.