Member Profile

Name : Select H.
Occupation : Adult Librarian Services

My Reviews

Divergent by Veronica Roth
 
Book Club Recommended
Adventurous, Dramatic, Interesting
Divergent

Really good YA read -- will also have the film coming out in 2013 so will be good for clubs that enjoy book to film theme. The characters are well rounded - the action always keeps you reading -- futuristic -- does have violent scenes.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
 
Book Club Recommended
Dramatic, Insightful, Beautiful
The Book Thief

It was an insightful book on WWII in Germany from the German teenager viewpoint. Our book group really enjoyed the book within a book concept along with Death being the voice for the book.

 
Book Club Recommended
Journey to the Center of the Earth

Adventure driven read -- have to be careful which translation you read -- between translations they changed the name of the Professor and his nephew. so make sure all your readers are on the same translation book. We enjoyed the dinosaurs and the adventures the group had -- we had some difficulty with some of the language tho at the beginning..its a great ya read if teens are into classic adventure books.

Up Island by Anne Rivers Siddons
 
Book Club Recommended
Fantastic, Interesting, Beautiful
Up Island

 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Dramatic, Unconvincing
Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyle

This was an interesting read with an ending that Is a surprise. Bruno is an innocent 9 year old during WW II living in Berlin at the beginning at the story. Fast moving and is an excellent view from a German boy of the Holocaust. My book group had a lively discussion over this book and we will be watching the movie in the coming week and will compare the two.

The Cove: A Novel by Ron Rash
 
Book Club Recommended
Dramatic, Dark, Beautiful
The Cove

Our book club enjoyed the book and the characters. We found that we enjoy Ron Rash's writing. His descriptions kept it a fast paced read. The book has an ending that surprised us!!

The Aviator's Wife: A Novel by Melanie Benjamin
 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Interesting, Insightful
The Aviators Wife

This book gave us a lively discussion about Anne and Charles Lindbergh and their life!! Highly recommend this!! It led to reading nonfiction books about the couple and Anne\\\'s writings....

 
Book Club Recommended
The Butterfly Mosque

Our book club enjoyed reading and reviewing this book for the Muslim journey program at the library.
We found the book interesting with seeing the author's quirks and her vulnerability as an American Muslim in Egypt. Her insights into how she became a Muslim in a family of intellectual atheists and friends who were searching as well in America and then in Egypt, comparing the cultural as well as the spiritual growth that she went through was engaging. Would recommend this for a book club who is interested in reviewing biographies.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
 
Book Club Recommended
Fun, Insightful, Interesting
What Alice forgot

This book was enjoyed by our book club. We noted that the story could have taken place in England or Canada or U.S. - that was the one thing that bothered us that the locale wasn\'t prominent in the story.
Other than that - the book is well written, interesting and kept us wondering what she would discover next.

 
Book Club Recommended
Romantic, Informative, Beautiful
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Our book club loved this book!! We loved seeing all the forms of love shown and the interaction of the Japanese, Chinese and other Americans during WWII. The writing was concise, interesting and led to a lot of discussion. We enjoyed seeing the internal interplay with the Japanese in the camp with each other and with the Anglo Americans. We all came away satisfied with this read.

 
Book Club Recommended
Dramatic, Interesting, Insightful
The Secret Keeper

Our book club really enjoyed this book !! It is in the top 5 books we have read we decided!!
Historical fiction with a bit of mystery and lots of personal drama between the characters who are fun and insightful to read about.

The Shoemaker's Wife: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani
 
Book Club Recommended
Romantic, Beautiful, Inspiring
The Shoemakers Wife

Minaret: A Novel by Leila Aboulela
 
Book Club Recommended
Poorly Written, Unconvincing, Gloomy
Minaret

It was an insightful book into a life of a modern Muslim woman living in Europe after leaving Sudan.
Watching her come to grips with her faith and how it sustained her through romance and family and keeping her traditions in a modern setting was interesting.

 
Book Club Recommended
Optimistic, Inspiring, Informative
October Sky/Rocket Boys

Our book club enjoyed reading this book !! The reading guide provided on the Homer Hickam website really helped us evaluate the book.

 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Inspiring, Optimistic

 
Book Club Recommended
Fun, Informative, Interesting
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

Our book club found the book to be a good book to share and were interested in some of the back stories of the women. It made us look into what the WASP's really were about. Insightful and there were humorous parts of the book too!

 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Insightful, Informative
The House Girl

Our book club enjoyed this book! We had a great discussion over so much in the book. The characters were well done. We wish she had other books!!

Life After Life: A Novel by Kate Atkinson
 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Confusing, Insightful
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

Our book club had a lively discussion following the book's questions for readers. We also talked about how we all had to go back and forth reading the book so we keep track of when she changed her life to keep events straight, but we gained more of an insight on the character.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Insightful, Inspiring
Invention of Wings

Our book group has such a lively discussion over this book! We began by admitting none of us had even heard of the Grimke sisters! Then we went on to use the very helpful discussion questions. The book truly had us moved...very enlightening when it came to that time period. We would highly recommend it and there were members that had not read any of Sue Monk Kidd and want to go back and read her other books.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova
 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Informative, Interesting
Still Alice

Our book club enjoyed the book thoroughly and the discussion was lively and insightful. We want to watch the movie and discuss how the book and movie go together.

 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Fun, Insightful
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Our book club enjoyed this book - we felt as a group it was more of a 3.5 rating....we liked the book as a whole but when talking about the book some characters and situations were not as believable as we would have liked. We enjoyed the book references and some are going back to read some of the books that A.J. Fikry and other characters were introducing. The questions were helpful with the club discussion.

The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
 
Book Club Recommended
Dramatic, Informative, Inspiring
The Nightingale

Our book club loved this book - we were glad we picked this book. Had a great book discussion and used the research that Hannah did to obtain other books of that era. We loved the continuity and the flow of the women's lives - and the surprises at the end.

The Boston Girl: A Novel by Anita Diamant
 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Informative, Insightful
The Boston Girl

The book club enjoyed talking about group of individuals introduced in the book. We had a very good discussion about what women's life was in Boston at this time and as 3 of our members had lived in the area at different times we were able to discuss what the areas were like when they lived there.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Insightful, Inspiring
Invention of Wings

Our book club was surprised by what we learned in this book about the Grimke sisters and about abolionists and women's rights in 1820-1840 time period. The book was riveting and kept our interest. There was a division on some of the people who could not get into the book at all because of some of the subject matter with slaves versus the ones that did enjoy the book that read it.

Some Luck: A novel by Jane Smiley
 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Interesting, Informative
Some luck by Jane Smiley

The book club came to the conclusion that for the first 1/2 of the book, the read was informative and good to read. Once the older children began to grow up, the book became a slower read for most of us and was harder to stay with. We all finished it, a couple enjoyed the whole book, but for most of it we finished, feeling left down at the ending.

Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella
 
Book Club Recommended
Confusing, Informative, Inspiring
Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella

Our bookclub decided to read this as part of a regional bookclub read. The club was divided by how they felt about the book. Half enjoyed half didn't. Turned out that the ones that enjoyed it are baseball fans - the ones that didn't, weren't fans. It was compared to the movie Field of Dreams which was based on this book. We kept hearing James Earl Jones and Kevin Costner as we were reading the book!!
The book itself takes dreams and makes them real. It talks about Shoeless Joe and the rest of the White Sox baseball 8 who were banned for life.
Over all, it was a good book for sports fans.

The Martian by Andy Weir
 
Book Club Recommended
Adventurous, Dramatic, Fun
The Martian

Our book club as a whole enjoyed the book. When it came to the technical items in the book, we were split as to if it hindered the book or made it more realistic. We did compare it to Apollo 13. Some of the club said they wished they had read the book before seeing the movie. We don't usually do science fiction books for the club but enjoyed the survivor theme and how he was able to cope with being on Mars alone.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Interesting, Fun

 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Dramatic, Interesting

Letters for Emily by Camron Wright
 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Inspiring, Insightful

 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Informative, Inspiring

 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Interesting, Slow

 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Interesting, Insightful

The Other Einstein: A Novel by Marie Benedict
 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Informative, Insightful

The Great Alone: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
 
Book Club Recommended
Adventurous, Dramatic, Addictive

 
Book Club Recommended
Addictive, Dramatic, Interesting

Mrs. Everything: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Inspiring, Gloomy

 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Informative, Dramatic

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
 
Book Club Recommended
Addictive, Interesting, Dramatic

 
Book Club Recommended
Informative, Inspiring, Interesting
Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Our book club rated this between a 4 - 4.5 some even rated it a 5 which is rare for our group!! First learning about an area that we knew little about during the Depression and learning about the Pack Librarians of Kentucky was new for us. The writing was concise and felt we were all there in that time.

 
Book Club Recommended
Dramatic, Adventurous, Informative

Dear Edward: A Novel by Ann Napolitano
 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Optimistic, Dramatic

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
 
Book Club Recommended
Dramatic, Informative, Inspiring

 
Book Club Recommended
Interesting, Informative, Adventurous

 
Book Club Recommended
Optimistic, Interesting

Ask Again, Yes: A Novel by Mary Beth Keane
 
Book Club Recommended
Insightful, Dramatic, Interesting

 
Book Club Recommended
Beautiful, Inspiring, Insightful

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