There were so many points in this book that were unclear. Many were confused about whether the cargo had any significance to the crash and escape. There were those of us that thought the main character killed her husband, while others thought the incident was just a delusion. The number of characters made it difficult to follow and difficult to discuss. The book, while short in length, just seemed to dredge on in the lifeboat. I am sure some of these aspects would be true to life, but the disturbing nature was not something that I would clutter other's minds with, so I do not recommend this book.

I was pleasantly surprised that most of the women in the book club found the book intriguing and believable. While I studied art in college, I found the process of forgery fascinating. Others in our book group came away with a new appreciation for art and artistic ability. However, I thought that many of the story lines, characters, and the descriptions of events were unconvincing.

Perhaps Shapiro tried to create too much of the story herself instead of incorporating historical facts into the storyline. While I know the book isn\\\'t labeled as historical fiction, the book was inspired by the actual robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. As a former resident of Cambridge, I\\\'d hoped to conjure up more descriptive pictures of the Boston. I hoped to learn more about Isabella in the process as well, but it seems most of the events in the book that involved her were fictional. I think the book is unconvincing because it lacks so much in historical fact.

I picked up the book hoping that it would be a great read about art and the art world. However, after our book club discussions I think it was perhaps more a book based on Shapiro\\\'s history as a Sociologist. When reading about how she was rejected from many publicists on the basis of the book not really being in a certain category or genre, I now understand why. While I enjoyed the book, it wasn\\\'t what I expected when I chose it to read. I wish she would have been persuaded to base the book more in reality than fiction, less on sociology and deviant behaviors, and more in a place of further informing the reader about the history surrounding Degas and art during his time.

If you are reading this very short book, be prepared to take notes and have a Spanish/English dictionary on hand. No one in the book club was able to keep track of characters or follow how they were connected except for one who had taken notes. Usually books of this length take me one or two days to read. This book took me almost three weeks. I couldn't get into the writing style, and the characters were not developed enough to keep me engaged. Our group was confused about the cementing theme and disappointed that so many of the exciting elements were cut off right in the middle of the action with little to no resolve. We kept expecting that there would be more in the later chapters about the death of certain characters, but it never happened. I think this story could have been lost in translation, but I am not really sure. P.S. We were all pissed and even less amazed by the book when we found out the author's note was not even true. The whole book seemed a bit hard to believe.

Almost everyone (12 young moms) agreed that the storyline was just took too slow a pace. I can appreciate that was somewhat the affect the author had hoped for, because I get the feeling that her point was many of us find our everyday lives and challenges quite interesting. The fact that there were so many opportunities for drama that never played out also seems to speak to this theory. I really saw how Meg\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s inspirations rang true in her book: http://m.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/03/inspiration-information-the-interestings.html. I found the movie reference to be spot on - so if you like this book you may want to check out the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Seven Up\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" documentary series which follow the lives of the same people every seven years. It is interesting to read or watch the story of our lives play out, yet if we were to write a book about it then it may not be all that exciting.

I did find the characters interesting, I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'m just not sure I would recommend this book to others on account of the slow narrative.

After having given birth to my first child naturally I wanted to read this book because I felt as though I naturally brought myself into a state of hypnosis to manage pain. I can't say that I've ever been hypnotized or would care to be, but this book is more about using the power of your mind to manage a complete state of relaxation throughout birth and better manage any fears or pain that you might be experiencing. While the idea is to have a completely pain-free birth, I feel that there can be circumstances outside your control in a hospital setting that may interfere with your ability to have the perfect pain-free birth, which is apparently the goal (however lofty). However, I agree with many of the ideas and techniques in this book and hope to use them in my upcoming labor.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a natural birth. Though I hadn't read it before my first, I feel that I used similar techniques to manage pain. I also feel that giving birth naturally will empower you throughout the rest of your life. I often say to myself in a tough situation, "I gave birth without any pain medication. I can do this." It is an achievement that I will never regret. I am a total advocate of natural births and water births after my experience, but I do feel that you must have the right environment, including your psychological environment to be successful. This book will help guide you (with great relaxation techniques, exercises, birthing positions, and more) toward your ultimate goal of giving birth to a healthy, unmediated, alert baby. A baby that will look you in the eye and have a complete connection from the moment he or she emerges. It's a beautiful experience.

Many other book club members had read other books by Alice Hoffman. They said they enjoyed how she combined many stories into one (which "The Museum of Extraordinary Things" kind of did) and the mystical (which they felt she only did in the dream portions of the book that we all could hardly remember come meeting time). Many of us enjoyed the historical fiction aspects of this book, which included workers rights and two major fires in New York. Unfortunately, I feel Hoffman should be upset with her publisher and graphic designer because many of us could hardly read the sections in italics. A book should always be designed with the reader in mind. It was a slow read for all of us with "I didn't hate it" being the most quoted comment. Not raving reviews, mostly because it was very dark and approaches many difficult subjects from sexual and physical abuse to horrific deaths. However, if you are interested in New York history this could be the perfect book to read. It did have many extraordinary events.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to other book clubs. Nearly unbelievable events happen in war and so often these terrible things are not even touched on in our education. I understand that veterans have difficulty reliving events like these through retelling their stories and it becomes clear why in this book. There were areas that I had to quit reading because my stomach was getting too upset. The harsh realities of POWs is too much for me to read about and yet it was good to know the truth. Louie's memories were a great honor to read, in part because he had the ability to tell so many stories that go untold. His ability to conquer and forgive are a lesson we can all benefit from reading about. It's amazing to me that his own memoirs never took off, but I'm glad that Hillenbrand was able to make this into a popular novel.

The book reads like a well-researched novel, which is the only reason I give it four out of five stars. I quite enjoyed the statistics throughout, yet at time the drama was perhaps overshadowed by the research. I'm sure that largely the author wanted to prove that these events are what actually occurred, but it felt forced at times. Certain events seeming to last too long and others abbreviated too much due to lack of proof perhaps.

Though largely focused on the wartime period, I wish there would have been more about his coming to Christ and his work after the war. This man lead an unbelievable life and it is stunning that he not only came through the other side unbroken, but truly inspiring and unrelenting in his love for humanity. I can't wait to see the movie.

I don't think a single person in our book club of about fifteen women enjoyed "The Saving Graces." Perhaps, in part, because we are part of a mom's group and the book just seemed like ordinary life. The problem being that we found many of the dramatic scenes unconvincing. As an example, Rudy's relationship with her husband was difficult to believe. As mothers I think we are looking for a bit of escapism or something larger than life when we spend our time reading. The book wasn't different enough from the every day, and yet a little too fantastic in odd situations to seem believable. There was a disconnect and little emotional connection with the characters. Sadly, the character Isabell, is who seemed most believable and is under the worst circumstances, fighting a battle with cancer and dies. The ending seems to bring everything together, but reveals dying advice from Isabell that any reader might bestow instead of revealing something new or exciting about the characters. The book just didn't resonate on an emotional or spiritual level, which seemed to perhaps be the goal of the author. I don't think any of us would recommend the book. Perhaps this is an ungracious review, but let us recommend you not waste your life reading this book

Graham does a great job depicting a struggling artist. There are moments that will give you insight into what that life is like. The love interests are interesting and wildly different from one another. Though the book was interesting, there wasn't a lot of depth to discuss. While most of our book club liked it there wasn't anything majorly outstanding about the plot or discussion about the book, which is the only reason I wouldn't recommend it for a book club. The book was a quick easy read, which means everyone that started actually finished. This would probably be a great book for a group in acting or a book club of drama students.

As the author states, these traumatic events seem to be shaded over by Hitler and war. Though the event seem to have been buried and nearly lost in the Unites States I wonder what the history lesson would be like in Russia. Our book club was in shock because many of us came from a heritage in this part of the world and knew little to nothing of these events that are so horrific. We were glad to be more informed, while saddened that the human condition could be so horrible. Thoughts of the book "Unbroken" and movie "Woman in Gold" came to mind in discussion.

Let's just say that no one foresaw the ending. Bazinga!

If you enjoy Jillian Flynn, then Karen Slaughter may be your next author of choice. She takes graphic scenes to a new level with gut wrenching details of horrific acts.

The book was a little too much like reading a very long college paper with very little narrative. This was not a novel like we had all expected. Very little emotion was created while reading and very cerebral experience.

The book I