Reviews and Comments

I enjoyed the first two books in this series much more than this one. I found this one easy to put down and not very enjoyable to finish. Generally feels like the author ran out of steam but wanted to wrap up the storyline inline with history.

Throughly enjoyable. Vivid and compelling storytelling. Of course it helps that I already like historical romance novels set in Scotland.

Glad I decided to reread this. It was first read to me by my 5th/6th grade teacher. I enjoyed it then but didn't remember much about it. I can see why it's proven to be a classic. Not sure yet if I like it enough to read others in the series.

I have to say I was quite disappointed in this book. The first half read as if the editor said, "your book isn't long enough I need more". So while there's some interesting brain science and biology in there it really didn't add much at all to the discussion of consciousness. In fact one of my major complaints with this book is that it's not until somewhere in the middle that the author even tackles the sticky question of how to define consciousness at all. I had hoped to learn much more from this book and sadly most of the information I'd already come across in other articles that were more interesting and better written.

Another stellar novel form Backman. I've read A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry and loved them both. This one was equally heartwarming and insightful. He's a master story-teller and I won't hesitate to pick up whatever he writes.

It's exceedingly rare for me to give a rating of five stars. This book deserves every single one and then some. I might even go so far as to say it's one of the very best books I've ever read. Whimsical, enchanting, riveting, heart-wrenching (I haven't cried so hard since I read the short story "The Wonderful Cat of Cobbie Bean" as a child - literally sobbing at one point), insightful, and wise beyond belief. Oh there are lots of other things I could say and I've tried but deleted them all. Read it and see for yourself.

A glimpse into the thoughts of Paul Gaugin during his first trip to Tahiti. No art historical babble, just the words of the artist himself describing his experiences and some of the Maori mythology he learned from his Tahitian wife. Well worth reading if you're interested in his work at all. (the version I read had no introduction as was paperback published by dover)

I picked this up because she's gone and the latest Star Wars movie was about to come out, her last. Glad I did. It's a fun, funny, stream of consciousness stroll through both memories and reflections on life 40 years on. Makes me even more wistful wishing she was still with us.

Love and grief and reconnecting wrapped in a simple tale of neighbors. At times darkly humorous, at times with penetrating insight. Looking forward now to reading more by this same author.

I have to admit I didn't enjoy The Golden Dice quite as much as I did The Wedding Shroud (first in the series). The pacing seemed to bog down a bit somewhere between half and three-quarters of the way through. I also don't like how even though this is a trilogy the ending of this one felt as if it ended abruptly. I didn't feel this way with the first book. Even with these faults I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

I enjoy historical fiction and this was a nice change of pace. Set in ancient Italy it offers interesting perspectives on the differences between the Etruscan and Roman cultures of the time (400BC) and in particular the different roles of women in the societies. I wouldn't call it great literature but it was an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading sequels

This book has the flavor of a governmental report, sort of an anthropological view of an alien cultures. Because of this I found the reading overly dry. There are moments of interest but I was half way through the book before I started to find them. I enjoy the work on Doris Lessing but this is not one of my favorites.

This little book floats somewhere between a novella and a poem. Haunting and creative.

I devoured this book over the course of a few days. I'm generally not a fan of zombie movies/TV. Can't stomach the gore. However with this book I discovered I've no trouble reading it. The characters in this book are well drawn and the action is well paced. I was constantly thinking "what is going to happen next" and I wasn't disappointed.