Review:I discovered Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels years ago after hearing a story about them on NPR. "Desolation Island" is the fifth novel in the series I have read. While the 19th century English naval jargon is at times distracting, the characters are engaging and the stories filled with excitement, intrigue and modest romance. O'Brian delivers intelligent nautical tales filled with history, heroism and humanity.

To increase my enjoyment of the novels, I purchased a companion editi... Read more

Review:I have been hearing about this book for years, as something unique and transformative. It was a brilliant idea of Rhys, certainly, to imagine the life of the first Mrs. Rochester, the madwoman in the attic of JANE EYRE. Antoinette Cosway (the birth name of Bertha Mason in the book), is a Creole like the author herself, born of white parents in the Caribbean. Rhys suffuses the book with remembered beauty: the lush profusion of the Cosway estate at Coulibri, between the river and the sea, shaded b... Read more

Review:I have been hearing about this book for years, as something unique and transformative. It was a brilliant idea of Rhys, certainly, to imagine the life of the first Mrs. Rochester, the madwoman in the attic of JANE EYRE. Antoinette Cosway (the birth name of Bertha Mason in the book), is a Creole like the author herself, born of white parents in the Caribbean. Rhys suffuses the book with remembered beauty: the lush profusion of the Cosway estate at Coulibri, between the river and the sea, shaded b... Read more

Review:Don't you just love books with nice tidy resolutions, where the good people end up triumphing and the baddies get their just desserts? Somehow I'd missed out on reading Cold Comfort Farm before. Glad I was able to remedy that, and to enjoy the ride. Read more

Review:The book series is great. After reading this one I went back to book 1 and started again because it reminded me why I like them. Haven't read anything else by the author, but his humor is pretty good and I find him very adept at building suspense. Read more

Review:Disclaimers: 1. this is the first book by this author I have read; 2. I am 70 years old; 3. I love science fiction and I love James Bond. Having said that, I just don't get this book. The characters are totally forgettable (well, Ramona wasn't bad), and the plot is a mish-mash of spies, aliens, occult, attempted humor and a plethora of techno-babble. I guess I am just not the author's target audience, which is fine. But if you fall into my demographic, you may want to skip this one. Fortunately... Read more

Review:I think this book deserved a 5 star rating because of its great writing,humorous moments, & drawings. I wish there were more short stories like this. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a great read and something different than what you're used to when it comes to reading. Also after reading the book I would recommend watching the movie "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty"
-Boden Morris, 12 years-old Read more

Review:Bulgakov entirely destroys the concept of Russian literature most of us got from college - dull, grey, plodding and intense. Instead, Bulgakov is witty, irreverent, fantastical and intensely colorful. The political implications of his works are so well intertwined with the stories that you can pay them intense attention or ignore them entirely as you choose. His plotlines are hilarious and just twisted enough to keep you guessing and surprised.
While Master and Margarita is clearly his gre... Read more

Review:Perfect as usual for Georgette Heyer. Great plot depth and clean writing. She can describe and set the setting in a few choice words. Also she has brought her strong female characters out and into the plot. An excellent read! Read more

Review:"The Black Moth" is my first Georgette Heyer. Coincidentally, it seems, from reading other reviews, that this was the first book she wrote. When I first opened it, I was actually surprised - and a little disappointed. From reading reviews on-line, I had expected paragraphs upon paragraphs of elegant prose, complex characterizations, unusual characters - what I actually saw was pages upon pages of dialogue. Disappointed, I put this at the bottom of my TBR pile. Then, by chance, I read these ... Read more