I found this book very easy to read, easy to imagine being in the main character's place; but, I have read better. While there are some insightful phrases, I found it somewhat choppy and after mid-book, quite predictable. Probably better for women over 40 than for younger women.

This book is slow to start but if you can get past the first 100 pages, you will not be able to put it down. Dramatic, heartfelt, moving. A MUST read, especially if you didn't grow up learning much about the Civil War.

While I thought The Hunger Games was pretty good, I found this book impossible to put down and read it in a single night! Powerful action and a large dangling carrot at the end of each chapter make this book unforgettable.

While the language can be somewhat raunchy in this title, I found myself laughing my head off to the point of crying at some passages. If you laughed at the translation of the spanish soccer spectator in "Eat, Pray, Love", you will laugh at the racquetball game description in this book. Days later I re-read this passage and still found myself laughing hard. NOTE: It's not often I find anything funny in the written word. Rhoda Janzen does have a few more serious and retro/introspective comments and her mother proves to be a colorful character - someone you wish you knew. However, I found the ending a surprise in that I didn't realize it was the end.... until the next page said "Appendix". While it's pretty funny and insightful, I am thinking the only reason it was a best seller is readers thought they were getting a real sneak peak into the life of the Mennonites - which this book does not truly supply. I am going to venture into trying the Borscht recipe in the back though!

Having a daughter going off to college, when I heard what this book was about from a friend of the author, I had to read it. The author describes a personal and utterly disgusting incident involving alcohol and a date-rape mickey which happened in a frat house at the University of Virginia (UVA). She goes on to describe the life-long emotional trauma of being a victim and the ineptness of various agencies (over many years) in helping her bring the criminals to justice. Truly enlightening and a book every young woman should read - not just those going to college. Very quick read that will surprise you, perhaps make you sick to your stomach, and perhaps will make you angry as hell like it did me. Highly recommended.

Don't waste your time. Not only does the author drone on and on about things that don't really matter to the story, there is never a real story or real point being made except pointless things...that don't really relate to one another. So SLOW. Could have been much better but the author apparently got tired and dropped the ball, virtually literally.

I couldn't wait to be DONE with this tirade of porn. Totally unbelievable, ridiculously saturated with unnecessary sex scenes. No story, worthless, and most predictable. I canceled my reservation for the third book. Not going to bother - just another tired turn of the page.

Readers are grabbed in the first chapter for a wild ride in Philly as John, our detective, winds his way through a double murder investigation fraught with intrigue, cops gone bad, and an ancient document that no one wants discovered. Not just a murder mystery, but a question regarding what we would do to have some happiness in our lives and what we would do when the impasse presents itself. More than skin deep, a story worth reading from a first time novelist.

This book is not historical fiction. It is NON-fiction which might make it hard for fiction lovers and historical fictions lovers alike to read through to the end. Very detailed, which in the end was required, the book is definitely a SHOULD read. In the end, I really liked it because it showed a very different view of WWII than your typical troops, artillery, and bombers and makes one wonder if Hitlers real aspiration in trying to take over Europe was to simply steal all valuable items of art for his own museum. His greed and arrogance (and that of his officers) are amplified beyond comprehension. I have never given any thought to the preservation of art and culture during war and how many pieces of our collective history are destroyed each time a country goes to war, be it global or civil. I anxiously await the movie coming out December 18, 2013 with George Clooney, Matt Damon, and more of an all star cast. While the book is difficult at times to read due to it\'s slow nature - which is what the Monuments Men experienced - it is worth reading and I\'m sure will result in some excellent book club discussion.

If you liked Memoirs of a Geisha, you will love Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. A beautiful story of culture that compares the difficulties that class/caste/money can cause - but it\\\'s more about a wonderful relationship, how it develops, and how it comes full circle. One of the best books I\\\'ve read.