Book Review

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think this is the 4th or 5th book of Coelho’s that I’ve read, and I found it much more absorbing than the other books. It is a wonderfully crafted story of finding one’s meaning in life, the struggle to overcome great personal [...]

Book Review

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book ROCKED! The author did NOT make this into a farce, comical view, which could have easily happened. Instead it was a series of interviews conducted with survivors of the 10 year world war against [...]

My newest toys…

I’ve been pretty busy lately on the networking front — to read more, you’ll need to check out my “public” blog, Unleashed Abundance.  In particular, I was on the organizational committee for a local business conference that took place this past Tuesday, and the day after, my back threw me out for abusing it so [...]

Book Review

Shogun by James Clavell

My review

rating: 5 of 5 starsMay 2009 — finished it again; there is such an intricate depth to this book and the characters that I just can’t get enough! Too interesting to read before bedtime — just sucks me in! Toranaga is quite the smooth [...]

Book Review

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett

My review
rating: 2 of 5 stars
It started out pretty well, ranking high on the “laugh out loud” scale. But somewhere toward the middle the laughing out loud stopped. It was like the authors tried too hard to make it laugh out loud — getting hit over the head too many [...]

Book Review

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

My review

rating: 4 of 5 starsI initially read this book in high school, and re-read it at least once more in my 20’s. Recently checked it out at the library, b/c it’d been so long that I’d forgotten what it was I [...]

Book Review

The Concubine’s Tattoo by Laura Joh Rowland

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is my fluff series — I’m typically NOT a fan of mystery, but I am a big buff for historical fiction, and with Shogun being one of my all-time favorites, this book fits right in. I liked this one more than the last [...]

Book Review

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I came away from this story with very mixed emotions. The style of writing made this a very simple read, yet the story and the characters were very well developed and complex. It was a book I had difficulty putting down, which is probably why [...]

Book Review

Ok – this one is a little belated – I read this back in April of this year.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Spooky, but a great read! Has the enjoyable feel of a children’s classic, but definitely not for kids. Gives you that “alone in a dark creepy basement” feel!
My review
 
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Book Review

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a beautifully written, very poignant story; the depth of the love between the main characters was spectacular. Despite the hardships and brutality these women endured, there was still love an hope. I’m now curious about his other book, The Kite Runner.
My review
 
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Book Review

The Twentieth Wife: A Novel by Indu Sundaresan

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was an ok read – somewhat light reading, but interesting historical fiction nonetheless. The basic plot of the story is based on actual historical people & events in the late 1500’s / early 1600’s Indian Mughal empire, however little is actually / [...]

Book Review

The Space Between Us: A Novel by Thrity Umrigar

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very powerful, poignant book – the maid and her mistress have lives that have been intertwined for over 20 years, and they have helped each other through the worst patches, yet at a crucial moment when their lives are brought even closer, [...]

Book Review

The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession by Paulo Coelho

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I struggled with whether or not to give this a 3 or 4 star = it was somewhere between for me. This is the first fiction book I’ve “devoured” in quite some time; took only two days. The premise of the book [...]