The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing586 reviews Melissa Bank Penguin (Non-Classics), 2000 my favorite novel + Fantastic Read + Ignore the bad reviews! + Read it for the writing             Strange Piece of Paradise76 reviews Terri Jentz Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006 Shall haunt me all my days + fascinating journey + True Catharsis + Empowering Herself By Defusing Evil             In Cold Blood429 reviews Truman Capote Vintage, 1994 Anarachy in the heartland : an American story + Brutal Event in Journalistic Focus + The first true crime book is still the best + In Cold Blood in a new edition + A Commentary on our 21st Century Culture             Sharp Objects: A Novel128 reviews Gillian Flynn Shaye Areheart Books, 2006 Wow -- what a debut! + Impressive This is an extremely well-written and forceful book, especially for a first novel. There's nothing remotely tentative about this story of Chicago reporter Camille Preaker's return to her little southeast Missouri hometown to do a story on the murder of two local young girls less than a year apart. ...             Glamorous Disasters: A Novel22 reviews Eliot Schrefer Simon & Schuster, 2006 Witty, Clever, Smart Prose from a Smart New Author + Impossible to put down! + fun, insightful glimpse into the world of SAT tutoring on Fifth Avenue + A tale that needs to be told             Running with Scissors: A Memoir821 reviews Augusten Burroughs Picador, 2006 Wonderful read for good laughs + A Childhood Undesired: A Review of Running with Scissors + A humorous romp through an unusual childhood + Liked the Movie Better             The Dissident: A Novel6 reviews Nell Freudenberger Ecco, 2006 Two good stories in one + Quite Enjoyable + Two stories, one worthwhile. + A thought-provoking novel that depicts the fragility and complexity of relationships             Little Children: A Novel238 reviews Tom Perrotta St. Martin's Griffin, 2005 Big Children + A- Tom Perrotta is a master of realism. A few of the blurbs on the inside cover refer to Little Children as "satirical," but I haven't ever read anything that better describes the normal lives of normal people while keeping entertainment a part of the process (See Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of ...             The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America770 reviews Erik Larson Vintage, 2004 Time machine + Highly Rated for History Fans + A bit tedious at times, but worth a read - esp if you like architectural history This book makes me wish I had a time machine to go back and see the White City in person. I work in downtown Chicago and I walk by many of the buildings described in the book every day. I find it fascinating to think of what Chicago must have been like in 1893. Of course the story of HH Holmes is ...             The Kite Runner2517 reviews Khaled Hosseini Riverhead Trade, 2004 Ki + Wonderful + Fantastic + powerful and moving + Could Not Put it Down             The Wonder Spot87 reviews Melissa Bank Penguin (Non-Classics), 2006 Thoroughly enjoyed this book! + Hilarious and inspiring + A decent book. I recently picked up The Wonder Spot from a bargain table at a local bookstore - having never heard of the author Melissa Bank, plus the fact that the book had been relegated to the bargain table, I didn't expect it to be anything more than a bit of fluff - perfect to read whilst on the beach. I ...             Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer230 reviews James L. Swanson William Morrow, 2006 Harrowing "Manhunt" + Outstanding Read + A gem for Civil War enthusiasts + The facts of Lincoln's assassination that you never learned in school. + Suspenseful             A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity17 reviews Kathleen Gilles Seidel St. Martin's Griffin, 2007 Couldn't Put it Down + good for moms of middle school girls + Surprisingly delightful + For me, an enjoyable read but you could probably love it or hate it             Free Food for Millionaires55 reviews Min Jin Lee Grand Central Publishing, 2007 Brilliant novel helpful for all who face East-Meets-West issues + Free Food for Millionaires + Was it really 600 pages? I'm in love with this novel for many reasons. As a novelist, I could appreciate Min Jin Lee's uncommon clarity of personal voice, the exceptionally well constructed dialogues, the authenticity of each character, the marvelous plot. Shakespeare comes to mind as my favorite comparison. I'm not ...             Instant Love: Fiction9 reviews Jami Attenberg Shaye Areheart Books, 2006 Instantly... + THIS GIRL CAN WRITE + A Great Read! I felt that someone has created "chick lit" that is meaty, it has heart, soul and tells it like it is, sister! So un chick lit like really. But it still "got me" how chick lit can do. Jami so poignantly depicts the modern woman's cry: "where is he? I've been dating since I was sixteen!" Not to ...             Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books361 reviews Azar Nafisi Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003 A tribute to the human spirit + Memorable + cinsandiego + Pleasantly surprised             The Man of My Dreams: A Novel53 reviews Curtis Sittenfeld Random House, 2006 horrid title, wonderful book--better than Prep + A Poignant Portrait of Growing Up . . . + Excellent coming-of-age read! Wow. I read Prep, and while it was well-written, I thought it was terribly cliched in a lot of ways. The protagonist was a (stereo)typical masochistic adolescent female, and while this may be more a fault of modern society than Sittenfeld's writing, I just didn't have much patience or sympathy for ...             Absurdistan: A Novel106 reviews Gary Shteyngart Random House, 2006 Slow start, finishes with a bang. + Another fascinating tale + Prophetic! + Not a book to leave around for your teenage sons to read             Flight: A Novel57 reviews Sherman Alexie Grove Press, Black Cat, 2007 One of the boldest and touching fictions. + Come and check out this FANTASTIC EVENT for FLIGHT + FLIGHT: Book Review + One of Alexie's Best + Powerful             This Is the Beat Generation: New York-San Francisco-Paris2 reviews James Campbell University of California Press, 2001 Simply brilliant I started reading this book with little prior knowledge of the beat movement and authors. I also didn't expect much from the book, thinking that it would probably be a rather academic piece of writing. And what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be! The book was so gripping that I finished it in ...