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5 | Moving the ball | I am not now nor have I ever played soccer as a professional. I am not a soccer coach. I have been a fan of the sport since I was about six years old in Miami, and am parent to a former striker who coached a team of 5 year olds as an adult and has had three knee surgeries from injuries. Friends are currently or have... | [] | 1450422403 | 1450422403 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,413,744,535,000 | 1 | false |
4 | Try the Mock Kibbeh Tartare for a meat free treat | More foods from the Middle East are available readily now than even ten years ago in the US. Falafel and hummus are known by most people living in metropolitan areas and many folks are discovering that these can be made and enjoyed at home. [[ASIN:0757317707 Taste of Beirut: 175+ Delicious Lebanese Recipes from Class... | [] | 0757317707 | 0757317707 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,413,732,454,000 | 5 | false |
5 | Resource for novice bowlers is top notch | Had a book like [[ASIN:1450465803 Bowling Fundamentals 2nd Edition]] been available when I started bowling in elementary school many years ago, I would not have been called a "duck" when bowling. Being a person who benefits from reading about a subject and studying technique through pictures, I would have been a bette... | [] | 1450465803 | 1450465803 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,413,125,434,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Put on running shoes and take off with Jess Galvan et al | I loved [[ASIN:1617750255 Go the F**k to Sleep]], written by Adam Mansbach, so was curious to read his [[ASIN:006219965X The Dead Run: A Novel]]. This is listed in the Mystery/Suspense genre, but it is also hysterically funny and deals with supernatural people and places. I found it to be a quick read because it is v... | [] | 006219965X | 006219965X | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,412,872,933,000 | 0 | false |
5 | I'm torn between the two | I've been using [[ASIN:1118919319 Teach Yourself VISUALLY Samsung Galaxy S5]] by Guy Hart-Davis which I think is a great resource. Recently, I received this book, [[ASIN:1491904534 Galaxy S5: The Missing Manual]] which may be an even better book. The Hart-Davis book is more visually appealing which makes sense because... | [] | 1491904534 | 1491904534 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,412,442,488,000 | 20 | false |
5 | Short in length, long in after effects | It is a rare treat when a man creates a complex female character and writes from her point of view in language that is believable and enticing. Ian McEwan has done this in his breathtaking novel, [[ASIN:0385539703 The Children Act]], with the main character of Fiona, a judge in the family court who faces daily moral a... | [] | 0385539703 | 0385539703 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,411,680,255,000 | 0 | false |
5 | She knows her stuff | Scientific journals are not cheap and you can access many articles online if you know what you are looking for, but if you are entertained by subjects which clearly are the passions of the authors who wrote them, and you want to spend about the same amount of money as if you were going to see a movie, then you can't go... | [] | 054400342X | 054400342X | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,411,592,810,000 | 0 | false |
5 | A vegetarian's perspective | It's been many years since I've eaten meat, but as a person who did stuff sausages and cure meats for years, I couldn't resist getting [[ASIN:1624140467 The New Charcuterie Cookbook: Exceptional Cured Meats to Make and Serve at Home]] to see just how it's done today by the very smart Jamie Bissonnette, a man who was a ... | [] | 1624140467 | 1624140467 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,411,586,117,000 | 2 | false |
5 | Nimble fingers, mis en place approach and I'm good to go | The first time I folded dumplings was with Barbara Tropp of China Moon in San Francisco years ago. It was a very memorable experience and I always think about her and that gathering when I make dumplings either fresh or prepackaged. Lee Anne Wong has published a fantastic collection, [[ASIN:1624140599 Dumplings All D... | [] | 1624140599 | 1624140599 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,411,143,515,000 | 1 | false |
5 | We do what we need to survive and then must live with the consequences | I watched an interview with author Jenny Nordberg which impressed me greatly. [[ASIN:0307952495 The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan]], her book about girls and young women who live as and are treated as boys to avoid the burden of being a girl in Afghanistan. Her ability to... | [] | 0307952495 | 0307952495 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,973,355,000 | 2 | false |
5 | Invest the time to follow Holly Sykes | There are wines I drink with or without food and as I sip, I don't really think about it much after the first couple of sips. Others I sip and find myself stopping to recognize another characteristic. David Mitchell's [[ASIN:1400065674 The Bone Clocks: A Novel]] is like the latter and it costs less than a great bottl... | [] | 1400065674 | 1400065674 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,798,884,000 | 2 | false |
5 | All the elements of a juicy epic presented from a historical perspective | "Feminism made Wonder Woman. And then Wonder Woman remade feminism, which hasn't always been good for feminism." So much more than I'd expected, Jill Lepore has constructed in [[ASIN:0385354045 The Secret History of Wonder Woman]], a history of her creative benefactor, William Moulton Marston and the women who essent... | [] | 0385354045 | 0385354045 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,649,060,000 | 4 | false |
5 | Style is an understatement | Betty Halbreich says, "I had always marched to my own drummer when it came to dressing -- turning my cardigan sweaters backward when I was a teenager because I didn't want to look like everyone else, or pairing brown shoes with a navy skirt in a combination that most people assumed was mismatched but looked well on. T... | [] | 1594205701 | 1594205701 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,641,369,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Good resource so one never needs to be bored in NYC | The first thing I did after receiving [[ASIN:1742208827 Lonely Planet New York City (Travel Guide)]] was to scan the barcode from the rear cover and do a little exploration online. There are a lot of resources available there that were interesting. I then looked at the fold out map inside the rear cover and was pleas... | [] | 1742208827 | 1742208827 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,631,595,000 | 0 | false |
5 | I cannot praise this enough | First published in France and with a very French style in presentation and location, [[ASIN:B00NIC7L9K Eric's Big Day: A Bicycle Race Unlike Any Other by Waters, Rod (2014) Hardcover]] is the sweetest, most lovely children's book with the loveliest message that I have read in a long time. With watercolored drawings th... | [] | 193771523X | 193771523X | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,622,834,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Makes sense of the language | Years ago, I produced an interactive video series for high school and college students on careers in Science, Engineering and Technology. After countless interviews with assorted engineers and scientists, I thought I became pretty versed in the language I called, "Engineerish." One underlying topic that inevitably ca... | [] | 1118832523 | 1118832523 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,458,488,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Don't smoke if you need lumbar spinal fusion | I am neither an orthopedic surgeon nor do I have aspirations to enter the field, however, I do have a medical background of sorts and my sister recently underwent back surgery. I cared for her for some time following the surgery and have only one regret. Had I possessed a copy of [[ASIN:1482253992 The Pocket Spine, S... | [] | 1482253992 | 1482253992 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,370,137,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Almost as good as a trip to the bonsai museum in Washington, DC | Each time I visit the United States National Arboretum, I spend most of my time at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum which is a collection that is breathtaking. Receiving the book, [[ASIN:1465419586 Bonsai]] was nearly as awe inspiring as a trip to the museum and I did't have to leave home. Each year, the Arboretu... | [] | 1465419586 | 1465419586 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,362,728,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Stimulating, entertaining, thought provoking, tasty morsels of..... | Having read bits and pieces by Italo Calvino throughout the years, I knew that [[ASIN:0544146441 The Complete Cosmicomics]] would provide entertainment and bring up memories of past readings. This collection surpassed anything I could have expected because the completeness only makes me want for more. Guided by Qfwfq... | [] | 0544146441 | 0544146441 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,360,020,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Challenging text and workbook duo is well presented and informative | [[ASIN:1118570863 Prescribing Scenarios at a Glance]] is way beyond me and a book pair that I think would be outstanding not only for medical students, nurses and physician assistant students, but also for pharmacy students. Presented in a package of two books, a text and a workbook. The text offers firstly an overvi... | [] | 1118570863 | 1118570863 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,288,709,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Quite the bargain for a very complete EKG/ECG interpretation resource | My first job in the medical field was working for a very prominent Pediatric Cardiologist in San Francisco decades ago. I began as a Medical Transcriber and soon thereafter became his medical assistant and was performing an EKG on each patient, most of whom were referred because of a cardiac anomaly, some who were so ... | [] | 1444181823 | 1444181823 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,118,271,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Helps simplify complex human reproductive systems | The at a Glance medical series offers assorted subjects at affordable prices, and [[ASIN:1118607031 The Reproductive System at a Glance]] in my opinion. The copy I have received is the Fourth Edition. With an accompanying website offering self tests as well as flash cards, one can enhance their learning experience. ... | [] | 1118607031 | 1118607031 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,410,116,452,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Necessary movement | Founded in Ukraine in 2008 by Anna Hutso, Oksana Shachko, Alexandra Shevchenko and Inna Shevchenko, Femen has made a statement around the world. The four young women admit that they are different individuals who may not have joined forces, were it not for the boredom each experienced in their mid-teens. Largely born ... | [] | 0745683215 | 0745683215 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,409,930,651,000 | 0 | false |
5 | A novel that for me wasn't read rapidly | I embarked on reading [[ASIN:0307378233 The Dog: A Novel]] by Joseph O'Neill with no expectations and although it took me longer to read than most novels, I returned to read it daily. Stream of consciousness and lacking a lot of action, the main character states pretty early on about his name, ¨Too loathsome to utter,... | [] | 0307378233 | 0307378233 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,409,928,676,000 | 4 | false |
5 | Suddenly, I got it | I'm torn in my reaction to Suddenly, Love: A Novel, by Aharon Appelfeld because despite there being so much that I adored and was moved by, there is so much with which I have a problem. My frame of reference for the reaction is that my parents were Holocaust Survivors from Poland and my father recently passed away aft... | [] | 0805242953 | 0805242953 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,407,784,619,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Detail directs every aspect of Theroux's work from character to plot to after effects | It is a rare author who crosses the line between fiction and non-fiction, succeeding in both, and Paul Theroux is a master of both. A varied assortment of short stories is compiled into the collection, Mr. Bones: Twenty Stories, some of which have already been published in magazines or literary collections, more than ... | [] | 0544324021 | 0544324021 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,407,197,758,000 | 2 | false |
5 | Gray in color | It's hard to believe that it has been twenty years since David Guterson gave us Snow Falling on Cedars, an incredibly well received novel which was subsequently produced as a memorable motion picture. Guterson was a High School English teacher at the time who ironically home schooled his children for some time and wen... | [] | 0385351488 | 0385351488 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,406,759,441,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Clear, concise, simple to follow and reference, get this before you receive your S5 | What a surprise. As an Android user for years, I thought that Teach Yourself VISUALLY Samsung Galaxy S5 by Guy Hart-Davis would not offer me much information, but I was curious to see the screenshots because I am a visual learner. I am very impressed by the information provided, the format, and can highly recommend t... | [] | 1118919319 | 1118919319 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,406,317,948,000 | 32 | false |
5 | ¨When your father's local is the first bar seen in Barfly, you know how this story's gonna turn out.¨ | While reading Take This Man: A Memoir by Brando Skyhorse, I kept track of specific excerpts I wanted to include in my review, but now that I'm writing it, I can only say that if you have the slightest interest, you will benefit from reading his tale of two women and the men who passed through their doors. Skyhorse was... | [] | 1439170878 | 1439170878 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,406,224,279,000 | 4 | false |
5 | ConFABulous novel | I've not read any of Steven Galloway's previous novels, but The Confabulist has turned me into a fan of his writing. This is listed as a biography or memoir, but it is fiction, despite Harry Houdini playing a major role in the story. Martin Strauss is a character I'd love to meet, maybe even more than the deceased Ho... | [] | 1594631964 | 1594631964 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,401,397,879,000 | 1 | false |
4 | I felt the pressure | I should be the perfect audience for Ayelet Waldman's Love and Treasure, since I'm the daughter of two Holocaust survivors from Poland, but for me, it was just okay. From the start, I had difficulty reading without stopping to reread specific sentences, not because they were so stunning as I love to encounter, but bec... | [] | 0385533543 | 0385533543 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,401,308,675,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Deserves to be read at least once | As I was walking the dog one day, I struck up a conversation with a passerby. Upon learning he was from Egypt, I asked if he was familiar with Beer in the Snooker Club by Waguih Ghali, but he was not. To the surprise of us both, we had an instantaneous discussion about Egyptian authors, none of whom I knew, and he vo... | [] | 0804170746 | 0804170746 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,400,184,651,000 | 1 | false |
4 | When hungry, we'll eat anything, so why not try a tasty little morsel | Daniella Martin has found a nice little niche that's ripe for investigation, entomophagism. When living in San Francisco many years ago, I ate chocolate covered ants but couldn't really taste the ants, just the chocolate. Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet... | [] | 0544114353 | 0544114353 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,395,679,708,000 | 3 | false |
5 | Little Failure is a Big Success | I first must say that Little Failure: A Memoir by Gary Shteyngart is the most enjoyable memoir I have ever read and I am no spring chicken. I laughed, I cried, and I kept turning the pages amusing those around me as I'm sure they wondered about my state of mind. It's not often that I highlight passages as I read, but... | [] | 0679643753 | 0679643753 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,391,566,456,000 | 0 | false |
5 | DK publishes good illustrations | DK is not like books for Dummies. With many books published for children or in encyclopedic format, Kill or Cure is more. Many of us forget that medicine did not originate in the US or even western cultures, so this collection is a rewarding reminder of a vast history far more expansive than traditional western medic... | [] | 1465408428 | 1465408428 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,391,187,851,000 | 4 | false |
4 | Need not be dumb to appreciate the Dummies Paleo Workouts | I have read several of the Dummies books and find their formats to be very similar. With a basic approach, a lot of information is presented in bits. Some is pretty basic and others are "wow" entries. The Paleo Workouts For Dummies is a good introduction to a Paleo lifestyle which is very basic in itself. A... | [] | 1118657918 | 1118657918 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,391,185,736,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Inspirational but not a blueprint for designing The Food | If you are a fan of Paul Liebrandt then you will love To the Bone. If you are seeking a cookbook, you are likely to be disappointed. As I write this, the television is airing The Taste, a program I've never watched. What this reinforces is that it is all a matter of taste. Liebrandt early on expressed his adoration... | [] | 0770434169 | 0770434169 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,391,133,113,000 | 0 | false |
5 | A story of rebirth | Charlie Crosby tells us early on that he loves books and constantly reads. He says, "I deliberately found the thickest novels I could, for the pleasure of lingering in other worlds and other people's lives for as long as possible." He was a regular guy who lived in the town his family had called home for generations ... | [] | 1400069432 | 1400069432 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,391,121,288,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Breathtaking novel was inspirational | My introduction to Alexander Maksik is this novel, [[ASIN:0307962571 A Marker to Measure Drift]]. Some fiction is great but after being immersed into another creation, it drifts from my memory until something sparks a recollection of the story, location or characters. This one lingers, like the memories of its main c... | [] | 0307962571 | 0307962571 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,390,947,081,000 | 1 | false |
3 | A struggle for me to read despite the historical meal | I read [[ASIN:0307958264 The Aftermath]], by Rhidian Brook, prior to learning that the novel was purchased before its publication and was in the works as a screenplay. I struggled through the novel, all the while thinking the author was driven by creating visual images and actions for the characters to be used in a fil... | [] | 0307958264 | 0307958264 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,390,846,387,000 | 2 | false |
4 | Basic information in easy to understand format | Diet. Diet. Diet. The [[ASIN:1118692667 Flat Belly Cookbook For Dummies]] is a resource for those who are interested in dining on foods that will provide carbohydrates that do not immediately fur to fat in the belly. Several diets and food plans are currently popular which are based upon this notion and can be quit... | [] | 1118692667 | 1118692667 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,390,333,014,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Experience | My first introduction to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was through a television interview several months ago, after the publication of [[ASIN:0307271080 Americanah]]. I immediately put it on my list of books to read because I was so impressed by her style, language and the story line of this novel which was greatly influen... | [] | 0307271080 | 0307271080 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,390,059,269,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Please give me more | As a reader of Saveur Magazine for many years, James Oseland is a familiar name to me. I found many of the authors included in the assorted essays of [[ASIN:1743218443 Lonely Planet A Fork In The Road (Travel Literature)]] recognizable, but I didn't know many others. Regardless of my familiarity with the author, each... | [] | 1743218443 | 1743218443 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,389,197,848,000 | 1 | false |
5 | It's a dual reference and a thing of beauty | My sisters and I are each different but we are all in synch. Two of them sent [[ASIN:1607741911 Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes]] from my Amazon wish list for my birthday this week!<br /><br />I've been a fan of Debo... | [] | 1607741911 | 1607741911 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,388,426,631,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Share and support, you'll be thankful | I'm a supporter of Women for Women and was thrilled to obtain a copy of, [[ASIN:1906868875 Share: The Cookbook that Celebrates Our Common Humanity (Women for Women International)]]. The recipes are contributions of assorted world-wide humanitarians, restauranteurs, chefs, as well as women from countries supported by W... | [] | 1906868875 | 1906868875 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,387,833,379,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Yes and No | I started reading Matthew Quick's, [[ASIN:006228553X The Good Luck of Right Now]], while enjoying a cup of Chai at Starbucks and found myself literally laughing out loud. Midway through, I thought it was a fantastic book and was ready to purchase a copy for everyone. Because I regained my senses and continued reading... | [] | 006228553X | 006228553X | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,387,815,282,000 | 2 | false |
4 | No passport required to read the guide | I haven't yet tested the accuracy of information provided by [[ASIN:1742204147 Lonely Planet Japan (Country Guide)]], but it certainly has provided me with loads of information and pictures to whet the appetite. My nephew lived in Japan for many years and although I didn't make it there before he moved to Switzerland ... | [] | 1742204147 | 1742204147 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,386,716,455,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Informational book with a few recipes | The Mediterranean Diet has been recognized and popular for some time now and I'd assumed that my diet was naturally stylishly similar. I'd not read about the diet until the Mediterranean Diet For Dummies arrived yesterday, and I learned that I was right. This is an impressive introduction to the healthful benefits (a... | [] | 111871525X | 111871525X | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,385,479,924,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Hanging ten on this one | When I was a high school student in Miami and a surfer on South Beach, I did what none of my friends did. I went to the library and checked out every book on surfing that I could get my hands on. I learned about the physics of surfing and the sport of surfing, but what I didn't get was much on the history of surfing.... | [] | 0307719480 | 0307719480 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,383,263,205,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Sweet chapter in food culture | Luke Barr has said, "Who can know where history actually happens, where or when exactly an idea takes root, or blossoms, or wilts away?" Fortunately for us, he shares early memories of his great-Aunt, M.F.K. Fisher, and through her discovered diary, journals and letters, brings us to the South of France in December of... | [] | 0307718344 | 0307718344 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,383,261,179,000 | 1 | false |
5 | No weapons required for this hunt | [[ASIN:0345536258 The Mushroom Hunters: On the Trail of an Underground America]] is a treat of a book, suitable for those interested in mushrooms, food, curious connections or commerce. Langdon Cook takes us through woods in contemporary caravans of secretive souls, painting a portrait of mushroom hunters who travel a... | [] | 0345536258 | 0345536258 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,383,071,531,000 | 1 | false |
4 | Cute idea for a little specialty cookbook | [[ASIN:1118497201 Great Balls of Cheese]] is a cute little cookbook that has a very specific audience. If you don't like cute things or cream cheese, this is likely not going to be appreciated in your kitchen, but if you enjoy making pretty simple little appetizers that can be visually enjoyed and savored by a small g... | [] | 1118497201 | 1118497201 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,382,806,932,000 | 2 | false |
5 | Stories for sharing | Amos Oz has introduced us to characters as diverse as those found in any community in this short interwoven collection of stories but these characters share an ideal. Occurring in a fictional kibbutz during the Fifties, shortly after the founding of Israel, [[ASIN:0547985584 Between Friends]] is home for an assortment... | [] | 0547985584 | 0547985584 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,382,383,927,000 | 2 | false |
4 | Cute story with interesting premise and characters | I am an adult and not the intended audience for this book targeted for middle schoolers and I haven't been interested in fantasy fiction for many years. Nevertheless, the premise intrigued me enough to request [[ASIN:0547792638 The Mysterious Woods of Whistle Root]] for my own nighttime reading. Off to a slow start w... | [] | 0547792638 | 0547792638 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,382,373,706,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Informational, historical, biographical, printed well | Reading [[ASIN:0761452834 Cesar: Si, Se Puede! (Spanish Edition)]] to a group of kids on the farm was an outstanding experience. The story of Cesar Chavez and his influences was perfect against the backdrop of a functioning small farm outside of an urban area and the discussions that accompanied the stories were more... | [] | 0761452834 | 0761452834 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,382,369,881,000 | 1 | false |
5 | The best I've seen | National Geographic has produced an outstanding waterproof topographical map in the [[ASIN:1566956293 Delaware Water Gap (Trails Illustrated) (Ti-Other Rec. Areas)]] and I expect that any of their waterproof maps are equally as impressive. With more information than I'd expected and a durability that's top notch, ther... | [] | 1566956293 | 1566956293 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,382,150,020,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Fast read holds on to interest | In the recent few weeks, I've read two crime novels by Israeli authors. The first was [[ASIN:0062195379 The Missing File]] by D. A. MIshani and shortly thereafter, I read [[ASIN:0062237446 Lineup]] by Liad Shoham. I liked them both and although the first gave me more of a taste of Israeli geography, I think I preferr... | [] | 0062237446 | 0062237446 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,381,269,242,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Innovative literature | David Rakoff presented us with a poetry and prose hybrid that conveys lives intertwined throughout decades. Unfortunately, my copy of [[ASIN:038553521X Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel]] is a bound galley which lacks the artwork that's included in the final publication, so I haven't yet seen the i... | [] | 038553521X | 038553521X | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,377,888,721,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Trust No One | D. A. Mishani has a following in Israel and I believe this debut novel will plant the seed for a similar following in the USA. [[ASIN:0062195379 The Missing File]] is set in Holon, Israel and the characters are Israeli. If you're expecting a fast paced mystery with sexy characters you'll see on television in the Stat... | [] | 0062195379 | 0062195379 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,377,781,563,000 | 3 | false |
4 | Why I gave up my garden plot | I was surprised by Ground Up. With a comforting Foreword by Alice Waters, I was inspired to read further and actually completed the book in a single sitting, but I was expecting a book about organic gardening and not as much of an author's personal journal. My personal interest is that I'm an organic gardener at hear... | [] | 0812992997 | 0812992997 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,377,779,055,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Successful non-linear mystery | I've had a limited exposure to Karin Slaughter, so I entered this installment involving Will Trent and Sarah Linton with a clean slate and no pre-conceptions. After finishing a book which left me dissatisfied the day before, I was thrilled to be immediately immersed in a new mystery that kept me wanting to read it ove... | [] | 0345539478 | 0345539478 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,376,616,891,000 | 0 | false |
3 | Bummer of a book, victim of a personal irony | [[ASIN:B008LQ223S Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway]] opened for me with a bang as the first forty pages or so kept me reading one night before bed. Unfortunately, shortly after the opening pages, I found each page became heavier to turn and I longed for the tale to end. I thought I'd had enough several times bu... | [] | 0547429339 | 0547429339 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,376,347,026,000 | 1 | false |
4 | I know quirky | Reading Helen's flowing thoughts gave me a respite from my own. James Kelman has written a novel, [[ASIN:1590516001 Mo Said She Was Quirky]], which took me longer to read because of the intensity of thoughts of the narrator. This is not light summer reading, not a thriller, doesn't require an intense historical arsen... | [] | 1590516001 | 1590516001 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,375,053,818,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Life and Death with a little humor and nostalgia | While reading this assortment of poems by Andrew Hudgins, I often was stopped upon seeing repeated uses of "moan," "mown," "groan," or "grown" in his prose. Perhaps this was intentional, but since this collection contains works published over a period of time in an assortment of publications, I wonder. I found myself... | [] | 0544108809 | 0544108809 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,375,052,745,000 | 0 | false |
5 | What a fun read with even better pictures | Targeted to an audience of 6-8 year olds, I believe that [[ASIN:0761451609 Squeal and Squawk: Barnyard Talk]] will entertain as many parents as children. The poems are of varied length and each is enhanced by some of the best pictures I've seen in a children's book in years. While reading these aloud, I sometimes was... | [] | 0761451609 | 0761451609 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,372,376,606,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Very cute book for some chuckles | With so many children's books available now, how do we decide what a young person will like? I took a chance with [[ASIN:0761457143 Tickle, Tickle! Itch, Twitch!]] and it paid off with a very cute and simple book that's not too silly to be entertaining for the adult who is reading the book to the 3-5 year old for whom... | [] | 0761457143 | 0761457143 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,372,375,927,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Literary six degrees of separation | Colum McCann can entertain and educate this reader and he proved it again with [[ASIN:1400069599 TransAtlantic: A Novel]]. After reading [[ASIN:0812973992 Let the Great World Spin: A Novel]], I really thought he had reached the top, but I was wrong. Although a work of fiction, the intense historical background and ba... | [] | 1400069599 | 1400069599 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,372,251,003,000 | 1 | false |
4 | Sets the time successfully with resuscitated Easy Rawlins | Ezekiel Rawlins (Easy) has "friends" worldwide because for those of us who have read Walter Mosley's entire series, he's a believable character who we've missed following. Set in Los Angeles in the 1960's, we learn that Easy has been rescued from his implied death by Mouse (Raymond), who once again performs a strong r... | [] | 0385535988 | 0385535988 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,371,226,696,000 | 0 | false |
5 | This made me miss my Mom | I love Elsa Schiaparelli designs. Salvador Dali intrigued me. Michel Duchamp was extraordinary. Audrey Volk was as powerful and fascinating to her daughter, Patty, as mine was to me. Patty, however, has written the memoir, Shocked, and has drawn pictures of her mother parallel to Elsa. My personal memoir would probabl... | [] | 0307962105 | 0307962105 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,368,628,297,000 | 0 | false |
5 | History revisited on the screen | The Retrospective by A. B. Yehoshua is a complex and multilayered novel that is an amazing reflection of lives and the emergence of the state of Israel. The author has given us a retrospective of a film history that in actuality doesn't exist but is created through his descriptions of an Israeli film director. It divul... | [] | 0547496966 | 0547496966 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,368,494,632,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Man, woman, child, father, daughter, father, mother, husband, wife, daughter | Amity Gaige wrote a compelling novel. Told from the perspective of an incarcerated child abducting father in the form of a lengthy letter written during his three weeks of self imposed silence, it was hard for me to believe that this was written from a man's perspective as a sort of soul cleansing delivery for his wife... | [] | 1455512133 | 1455512133 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,368,213,528,000 | 1 | false |
3 | Close to four star book, but not quite there for this reader | This book troubled me, only because as I read it, I didn't feel that it warranted the four star review it was so close to achieving for me. I personally do not consider this to be, as described on the back cover, "Cuba's answer to The Diary of Anne Frank." Wendy Guerra has written [[ASIN:1612184332 Everyone Leaves]],... | [] | 1612184332 | 1612184332 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,365,283,000,000 | 2 | false |
5 | I must see the film | [[ASIN:1590514505 The Secret in Their Eyes]] by Eduardo Sacheri surpassed [[ASIN:B006LMNE18 Fatal Tango]], a book I recently read which also took me to Argentina. This was so much more than a mystery, but was a literary achievement that left me thinking long after I completed the novel. I'll often read a novel and ei... | [] | 1590514505 | 1590514505 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,365,255,768,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Outstanding style lifts unbelievable tale | Tatjana Soli has a lovely literary style that carries a story that likely would not succeed at the hand of another author. [[ASIN:1250001048 The Forgetting Tree: A Novel]] introduces the reader to an unlikely companionship after a slowly moving first half. The author's language was a pleasure to read and I often had ... | [] | 1250001048 | 1250001048 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,365,215,047,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Smart spy, smart spy | I wish I'd been able to appreciate the clues with "aha" moments, but I just don't have the references under my belt. Dan Fesperman has given us in [[ASIN:0307700135 The Double Game]] a fascinating undertaking which I'm certain is like candy for fans of spy fiction. My Dad got more out of this than I did. I've been e... | [] | 0307700135 | 0307700135 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,365,198,545,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Structured like a dance | My eldest nephew is a tango dancer, teacher and dj. I requested this novel so that I'd have something to discuss with him. Being a fan of mysteries and thrillers, I was surprised to find that I got more out of this novel about Argentina and the dance than the actual story. I can't say exactly what was lacking for me... | [] | 1611091470 | 1611091470 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,365,197,900,000 | 0 | false |
4 | The challenge of language | I am a first generation born American and remember as a child having friends who didn't understand my parents accents. More than the accents, I think, were the differences in what was actually said. One time, my mother explained that she was late in getting to a teacher's meeting because she was at the "saloon" when ... | [] | 0374108994 | 0374108994 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,365,197,369,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Long lasting stimulation | [[ASIN:0307957055 Ancient Light]] by John Banville disturbed me at times. I wasn't as uncomfortable when reading [[ASIN:0743456459 The Graduate]], likely because the male character was a few years older and the times a few years later in the latter. Banville's language was extraordinary; simple words when strung toge... | [] | 0307957055 | 0307957055 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,361,500,473,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Easy to see why Hart succeeds | John Hart has a growing fan base and I see why. In his fourth crime thriller, Iron House, we meet brothers Michael and Julian who were abandoned, placed in an the Iron House, and the lives they live, each freeing himself from those years. Hart's imagination is huge, his storytelling and character development is super... | [] | 0312380348 | 0312380348 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,356,985,484,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Flashbacks worked | All too often, the use of flashbacks to tell a story stop the flow of a novel, but that's not the case with [[ASIN:0307263177 Thick as Thieves]] by Peter Spiegelman. I'm a fan of thrillers and the television series, Leverage, so I anticipated that this would be an enjoyable read. Although not a five star book, I did ... | [] | 0307263177 | 0307263177 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,356,983,398,000 | 0 | false |
3 | Not the best Hanukkah book ever | Avi Katz has drawn some fun pictures that are a pleasure to look at, however [[ASIN:0761453555 The Best Hanukkah Ever]], written by Barbara Diamond Goldin is not a book about Hanukkah that I can highly recommend. I often miss the Yiddish colloquialisms my mother would utter and was hoping to reminisce a little in this... | [] | 0761453555 | 0761453555 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,355,962,935,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Takes me back and propels me forward | Daniel Mark Epstein's [[ASIN:0061807338 The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait]] took us with Epstein to four concerts which he attended at different points in Dylan's career (1963, 1974, 1997 and 2009), a journey I throughly enjoyed. As an undergraduate student many years ago, I wrote about the art of Bob Dylan's music.... | [] | 006180732X | 006180732X | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,351,781,853,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Literary study of human development | Ward Just has given in us [[ASIN:B008SM4UTE Rodin's Debutante]] what has been described by some as a coming of age novel. Unlike J. D. Salinger's classic, The Catcher in the Rye, which offered us an unforgettable Holden Caulfield, Just's Lee Goodell is adequate, but not a character that drives us to uncontrollably wan... | [] | 0547504195 | 0547504195 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,351,781,051,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Literary endeavor nearly succeeds | The story of one particular January Saturday in Sidney, Australia's Circular Quay as experienced by four individuals, [[ASIN:1250003733 Five Bells: A Novel]] by Gail Jones offers structurally sound sentences which for me elevated the novel. Some books grab me from the onset, but that was not the case with this one. F... | [] | 1250003733 | 1250003733 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,350,331,943,000 | 0 | false |
3 | Not very memorable for this reader | I first must say that I read [[ASIN:0345527895 A Fatal Debt: A Novel]] over a few weeks, reading several other books along the way. Despite being brought back into the story within a few minutes each time, this one simply didn't hook me enough to be ushered to first choice, thus its long life on my night stand. The s... | [] | 0345527895 | 0345527895 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,349,477,165,000 | 1 | false |
3 | Story is worthwhile but execution is average | The story of [[ASIN:0061732370 The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe]] tells us of a woman's drive to support herself and her family during the Taliban rule in Kabul, Afghanistan. The story is remarkable and inspiring, another successf... | [] | 0061732370 | 0061732370 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,348,518,948,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Chinese history and mythology via a love story | Sam Meekings has given us a man and woman, Yuying and Jinyi, in the historical love story, [[ASIN:B005DI7Z1G Under Fishbone Clouds]], a novel which takes the reader through their long suffering but loved lives. Although at times the turning of pages seemed to be exhausting, I struggled through and completed the journe... | [] | 0312622791 | 0312622791 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,348,517,680,000 | 0 | false |
4 | Long lasting isn't always better | I struggled through [[ASIN:1609804112 Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?: A Novel]] and found some times when I was interested and others when I wished it was over. Being that it was a translation from Norwegian, I can't discern whether or not the difficulty for me was with the writing or the tran... | [] | 1609801350 | 1609801350 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,348,167,549,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Is it real or is it Memorex? | I haven't been to Tribeca for a while but currently live in a metropolitan area adjacent to suburbia, so I found the apt title, "Triburbia", to be stimulating enough to order this book. The novel proved to be more appealing than I'd anticipated and the author's writing style was just my cup of tea. It's been some ti... | [] | 0062132393 | 0062132393 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,345,509,555,000 | 1 | false |
5 | Many beautiful lines come from a young man | In [[ASIN:0547397089 Solo]], Rana Dasgupta puts words together in a way much older than his age. I'm not saying it's more mature, I mean he created two different stories of a one hundred year old life and he succeeded in both "movements," giving the reader line after line worthy of quoting. I can't remember the last ... | [] | 0547397089 | 0547397089 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,342,663,856,000 | 0 | false |
5 | A novel super satirical sad true love story | I regretfully delayed writing a review for [[ASIN:1456123637 Super Sad True Love Story]], Gary Shteyngart's what is considered a dystopian world of the not too distant future, but after my recent days, I think it's a contemporary novel that's more realistic than satirical in nature. Shteyngart's style is appealing to ... | [] | 1400066409 | 1400066409 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,342,661,896,000 | 2 | false |
5 | Extraordinary historical fictional account of Lodz Ghetto | In [[ASIN:1250007631 The Emperor of Lies: A Novel]], Steve Sem-Sandberg tells the story of the Lodz Ghetto and it's "Emperor of Lies", Rumkowski. As the child of Holocaust Survivors from Poland, my parents were taken from their small town near Lodz to death camps. I've heard many stories about the times before the w... | [] | 0374139644 | 0374139644 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,342,660,090,000 | 0 | false |
5 | A faithful fable worthy of Aesop's foundation | [[ASIN:1594487944 No One is Here Except All of Us]] by Ramona Ausubel is not for everyone. I'm the child of Holocaust survivors. I grew up hearing stories about life before the war, during the war, and I shared their experiences of life after World War II. Understanding that I'm fortunate to still hear my father's s... | [] | 1594487944 | 1594487944 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,342,658,413,000 | 4 | false |
4 | Multiple mysteries for Moe Prager | [[ASIN:1440531994 Hurt Machine (Moe Prager)]] by Reed Farrel Coleman was my first introduction to the author and the protagonist and I will be reading more and recommend this crime fiction novel. Initially, I wasn't very impressed with Moe because of the immediate and repeated mention of his gastric cancer, but before... | [] | 1440531994 | 1440531994 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,342,654,861,000 | 1 | false |
5 | I am not Ora, but I am a mother | It was difficult to read [[ASIN:0307476405 To the End of the Land (Vintage International)]] and not think about the irony of its author, David Grossman losing his son to war as he wrote this book. As a mother, my greatest fear is still that harm might come to my adult daughter and I would personally take any pain she ... | [] | 0307592979 | 0307592979 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,339,684,436,000 | 1 | false |
4 | Reading was good, story lagged a bit for me | It took me some time to get into listening to [[ASIN:1609982649 Fallen]] and when I did, I found that I wished it would hurry along at some points. I tend to appreciate strong female lead characters, so Slaughter succeeds here, I just wasn't hooked by the pacing. The narrator was easy on the ear and easier to follow ... | [] | 1609982649 | 1609982649 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,339,593,415,000 | 0 | false |
5 | Every word is necessary | Walter Mosley hooked me with Easy and has reeled me in ever since. I heard him speak years ago in Washington DC and was impressed by his life story and style. I'm not a big fan of science fiction but love reading fiction with philosophical undertones, so requesting Mosley's dual short novels was instinctive. [[ASIN:... | [] | 0765330083 | 0765330083 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,332,258,931,000 | 0 | false |
3 | Difficult to concentrate | Reading [[ASIN:B004IK9F86 The Marrowbone Marble Company: A Novel]] was a chore for me and I put off writing a review because I knew it would not be favorable. Glenn Taylor has constructed a tapestry here that suffers from too many characters in a weaving that leaves holes in areas and too many threads in others. In m... | [] | 0061923931 | 0061923931 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,331,739,337,000 | 1 | false |
3 | I remember or I think I remember | I read [[ASIN:B0051BNXGQ Something Red]] last year and thought I'd already reviewed Gilmore's book, but since I just realized that I'd never gotten around to composing this, it will now be brief. The Goldstein family give us a year of their lives, back and forth, character to character, thought to thought, little bits... | [] | 1416571701 | 1416571701 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,331,738,745,000 | 1 | false |
4 | Ha ha ha ha | In preparation for a trip to my birthplace of South Florida, I finally got around to reading [[ASIN:0061876917 Electric Barracuda: A Novel]], which I've had on the shelf for a few months. What a delightful romp I took through areas I'd never traveled before with an author I'd never read. As a fan of dark humor, odd c... | [] | 0061876895 | 0061876895 | AGCA64OUVM2TJGNN3IUXMEU7KF6Q | 1,331,737,711,000 | 0 | false |
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