Review:This I first read at the suggestion of former Chicago cop and graduate English professor (of Chaucer) John McNally, with whom I also first read Dante in Italian--well, the Inferno. I taught Pale Fire a few times in modern lit courses, and it continued to delight. It's one of the few parodies of academic poets and their place in the modern university--hilarious, the academic introducer prof annoyed at sound intrusions while he writes his introduction.
The poet of Pale Fire is, as the title su... Read more

Review:Pretty solid book. I generally enjoyed it, but man the last 1/4 of the book is insanely slow. And one of the characters is completely disconnected and not really needed (but her parts are generally short). Really looking forward to the next couple as I heard they are the meat of the series. Read more

Review:Unfortunately, it’s become clear to me, having now read a dozen or so books in this genre, that if one truly appreciates the written word, in all of its wonderfully creative and literary forms, one is essentially looking, at best, a 70/30 chance of coming away disappointed. This work by Sanford, “Shockwave,” is also unfortunately one of them, so overridden with horribly vapid attempts at cavalier dialogue and banal machismo that it nearly sends this otherwise well thought out plot into oblivion.... Read more

Review:I ordered this book based on the pictures it showed in the preview. I ordered it in March and it arrived in Sept. I was excited to get it. Well I was very disappointed. The pictures to color are good. The color plate pictures are awful. The colors in the color plates are smeared, blurry or pixilated. The faces were so over inked that they looked dark orange. There were some of the color plates that were nice, but I would say that over 3/4 of them were very bad. If you want the book just to be ... Read more

Review:If you have not read Lovecraft before then it may be hard to get into the language. No one speaks in the manner of the narrators of his stories or books anymore and sometimes, that's a shame. Sometimes, though, the flowery language hinders the stories and makes what should be a scary descent into madness a tedious grind through language. Overall, though, Lovecraft is an important literary figure and pretty much created the super weird dear god I can't fathom what that thing was that went bump... Read more

Review:Whether you've followed "Hey Ladies" and Caroline and Michelle from the early days at The Toast or you are just now joining, you are ahead for so many laughs. They've captured the conversation and make you feel like you are a fly on the wall sneaking a peak at the computer screen. So happy it's now a book. It's definitely one worthy of it's own email thread! Read more

Review:I thought it might elaborate on some quotes, but it doesn't. It's the same size/ shape as all Little Golden Books, and takes the same amount of time to read. I gave it to my mom on Mother's Day & she seemed to genuinely like it. It's more nostalgic & decorative than insightful, but it's a fun 3 minute read for those of us who grew up with LGB. I was so happy that both Scruffy and the Saggy Baggy Elephant were included, as they were among my favorites.
It would be a piece of junk to an... Read more

Review:This book is an entertaining look at the making of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" that has you feeling like you're on the scene. However, there are a couple of minor problems, which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. First, the photographs included are, in my opinion, poor choices. In particular, the photo of Patricia Neal shows barely half of a side view of her; she's almost not in the photo at all. Second, it would have been very helpful to have an appendix that told what happened to t... Read more

Review:You have to be a reader who delights in characterization over plot and in that wonderful UK sense of humor to be a fan of this series. Well, count me in! However, American readers are known to prefer plot driven fiction so if you are instead looking for a rip roaring, can't stop turning the pages novel, this isn't it. It has more in common with Benson's MAPP AND LUCIA than with Larson's MILLENIUM TRILOGY.

We pick up with Matthew's wedding at the start of this novel and his very eventfu... Read more

Review:This was the first Alexander McCall Smith book that we have read and we were entranced by how well this gentleman weaves a story. We will look forward to reading more of his books and learning more about Bostwana and Africa. Read more