Member Profile

Name : Avid R.

My Reviews

 
Fun, Interesting, Adventurous
Not up to his usual

I did not care for this book, although in fairness, most of the other members of the club did. I found it meandering and pointless, lacking the charm of his travel memoirs. We all agreed there wasn't much to discuss.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
 
Adventurous, Interesting, Dramatic
Should have waited for the movie

This is the last book of his I'll try. Very poorly written. I don't understand all the fuss. Most of us felt this way and we hardly discussed anything.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay
 
Informative, Dramatic, Insightful
Skip the current day parts

We all agreed we loved the little girl's story, and none of us knew about this horrible part of a horrible history. That's why I'm giving it 2 stars. But the narrator is weak, insufferable and it was hard to care about her problems (which she seemed to bring on herself) and which seemed so triffline compared with the other story.

 
Book Club Recommended
Adventurous, Dramatic, Interesting
Unanimous Raves!

We loved everything about this book and had a lively discussion.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
 
Insightful, Interesting, Gloomy
Couldn't Get Through It

A couple of members liked it. I found it too sparse and dry. None of us connected with or cared about any of the characters.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Inspiring, Interesting
Unanimous Raves!

We all loved it, had one of our best discussions.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
 
Informative, Dramatic, Interesting
Loved it, until...

Loved the first part, but the end was too contrived, full of coincidences. He's an excellent writer and it did make me want to check out his memoirs, as hopefully, they won't have the same problems.

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
 
Informative, Adventurous, Insightful
the end ruined it

First of all, you must read her sci fi books. Our club was very hesitant as that's not usually our thing, but we all loved them - The Sparrow and Children of God. We were really looking forward to this one, but the ending brought in a supernatural element that was no where to be found in the first part, and was totally unneccessary.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
 
Interesting, Gloomy, Dramatic
couldn't get through it

and I wasn't the only one in the club who couldn't. The writing is beautiful in parts, but the book as a whole just plods along.

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Epic, Brilliant
Good discussion book

I really liked this, as did most of our members. We also had a good, not great discussion.

 
Romantic, Adventurous, Dramatic
Oh please

It's not that I hate vampire stuff, it's just that I love well-written, well-plotted books with characters I care about. This wasn't any of that.

 
Epic, Dramatic, Adventurous
Stop after 2/3

Loved the beginning, could not put it down. But the last 1/3 was horrible. Totally contrived, predictable. You could just hear the author thinking, "OK. I have to resolve this plotline this way, so how can I get the characters to do X." Hope the movie is better.

 
Book Club Recommended
Fun, Adventurous, Inspiring
The best discussion, ever!

We all loved the book, and quoted a lot of lines to each other that were laugh out loud funny. We also enjoyed the inspirational part. Best of all, Doreen called into our club and was as entertaining and inspirational as her book.

The Gathering by Anne Enright
 
Boring, Slow, Gloomy
A Unanimous Hate for this Book

None of us cared for it at all. I hated it so much, I brought notes on why. It's pointless, utterly dark and gloomy, and the big secret? Oh, please in this day and age it was a big nothing. The author also never made a case for why she thought it affected her brother the way it was supposed to in the book.

 
Book Club Recommended
Inspiring, Insightful, Beautiful
One of my favorite books of all time, but not much to discuss

I think that says it all.

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