World Without End342 reviews Ken Follett Dutton Adult, 2007 The second time around was just as much fun... + What a marvelous book! + EVEN BETTER THAN "PILLARS OF THE EARTH" I don't usually go for period pieces but these two books are great, holding my rapt attention over the years, and ages...             Life Class: A Novel23 reviews Pat Barker Doubleday, 2008 A coda to the "Regeneration" trilogy + Austere Beauty Many people feel that Pat Barker's newest World War I era novel is not nearly as good as the novels in her "Regeneration" trilogy, and I think that's true. Still, it is worth reading after you've read "Regeneration," "The Eye in the Door," and "The Ghost Road." "Life Class" acts as a kind of coda ...             Songs Without Words49 reviews Ann Packer Knopf, 2007 Insight not Excite If you are looking for a book to excite you about its ideas or action, this isn't it. But if you want a book that has a quiet melody, that shares insight into characters and into life for a family, I think this is worth your time. I finished the book with tears in my eyes, thinking to ...             All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well: A Novel9 reviews Tod Wodicka Pantheon, 2008 Surprisingly Fascinating! + A Character for the Ages + interesting debut The uniqueness of the characters and plot of this book make it unique and intriguing, but Mr. Wodicka's prose made it impossible for me to put this book down unread. Born an orphan with a disfigured nose and raised by nuns, Burt's life is indeed tragic all the way around, since his wife dies, ...             No Country for Old Men (Vintage International)398 reviews Cormac McCarthy Vintage, 2007 Beautifully written + This is a great book + Not Bedtime Reading - take it to the beach + Disturbing             River1 review Lowen Clausen Silo Press, 2008 Travels with Lowen Lowen Clausen's fourth novel, River, flows like the Loup, Platte, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers on which its protagonist, John, kayaks. He's searching for himself and grieving the premature death of his son, Amleth. Although River is a novel, the author's description and historical storytelling ...             The Accident Man: A Novel8 reviews Tom Cain Viking Adult, 2008 PHENOMENAL SOPHISTICATED THRILLER!!! + Will keep you guessing until the end THE ACCIDENT MAN grabs you with the first page and never lets go until the very last page. This is a sizzling thrill ride....compelling, mesmerizing with breath-taking non-stop action!!! Tom Cain is the master of chapter endings....just one more...just one more....suddenly it's one in the ...             The Eye of Jade: A Mei Wang Mystery (Mei Wang Mysteries)8 reviews Diane Wei Liang Simon & Schuster, 2008 Diane We Liang is a welcome addition to mystery writers + a good debut! + Exciting New Chinese Mystery Series + Unusual and fascinating + "Cornerstone" of a mystery             People of the Book: A Novel100 reviews Geraldine Brooks Viking Adult, 2008 an ambitious success + Full and expressive "People of the Book" drew me in with its title, and had me enthralled from the first page. This is an ambitious work, which could have been a disaster in the hands of a less skilled writer. But Geraldine Brooks does not disappoint; on the contrary, she exceeds my highest expectations. "People of ...             Silent In The Grave80 reviews Deanna Raybourn Mira, 2007 It made me love mysteries! + Grabs you in the first two lines! + Seconds anyone? + The joy of a new author + Wonderful Historical Mystery!             Rhett Butler's People192 reviews Donald McCaig St. Martin's Press, 2007 Best book about Rhett and Scarlett since Gone With The Wind + Loved It! + Light reading without a ton of "history lessons" + great take on Rhett + Stick with it             The Gathering (Man Booker Prize)97 reviews Anne Enright Grove Press, Black Cat, 2007 Raw but riveting... + An Engaging Narrator Takes You to Liam's Wake While Shrouding the Past in Mystery + The Gathering Review + A secretive family history in very well-written prose + Sometimes the Booker Prize is a Curse             Now You See Him: A Novel62 reviews Eli Gottlieb William Morrow, 2008 Sort of Surprising This Amazon Vine offering served as an intro into my upstate New York period, as I followed it with "Bridge of Sighs" by Richard Russo. Gottlieb's short novel, his second and first since 1997, reminded me of another recent read on death in suburban/rural America, Jeffrey Eugenides "The Virgin ...             Gardens of Water: A Novel11 reviews Alan Drew Random House, 2008 "Many horrible things happen in the world," I, too, wish I had someone to blame for them." + Gardens of Water - A Whirlwind of Emotions + An English Teacher's Dream + Gardens of Water             Away: A Novel87 reviews Amy Bloom Random House, 2007 Life Is A Matter of Survival + Funky book This is not your usual immigrant novel, where the good girl resists all evil and prevails. Lillian does prevail. She arrives in New York in the 1920s, a shell of a woman after witnessing the butchering of her husband and parents and the disappearance of her young daughter. Life is a matter of ...             Change of Heart: A Novel150 reviews Jodi Picoult Atria, 2008 outstanding + Good Enough + Excellent and creative i always feel like jodi picoults books topics are going to turn out to be boring, but im always surprised that i take interest to them and finish them literally in two days because i cannot put the book down. this book was amazing i think with a twist torwards the end that changes the readers ...             The Double Bind (Vintage Contemporaries)207 reviews Chris Bohjalian Vintage, 2008 wonderful book + Great, great story I enjoyed this book from start to finish. It is the first book i have read about a german family dealing with the horror of the war and their downfall when they lost their perfect life and had to face the truth about what their country had done to the jews. great book!!             Body Surfing: A Novel83 reviews Anita Shreve Back Bay Books, 2008 "The family never stays after Labor Day. Never." + Surfing Through Life There are very few books in my life that I picked up and read all in one day. Body Surfing is one of those books. Sydney, age 29, has not had a terribly easy life thus far. She has had two marriages, one of which ended when she divorced her husband and the other ended when she was widowed. We meet ...             The Emperor's Children (Vintage)225 reviews Claire Messud Vintage, 2007 A great read I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For the first chapter I thought this book was extremely pretentious and the writing clumsy and cliched. I quickly realised, however, that it was a satire and that the writing style (which changes depending on the character speaking) was reflecting the style or ...             The Uncommon Reader: A Novella68 reviews Alan Bennett Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007 Short easy read - LOVED it! + `Hobbies involved preferences and preferences had to be avoided..' + Hail to the Queen! + Wonderful story by a true wordsmith + A quiet gem of a story