Literature & Fiction

With his second novel, Khaled Hosseini proves beyond a shadow of doubt that "The Kite Runner" was no flash in the Afghan pan. Once again set in Afghanistan, the story twists and turns its way through the turmoil and chaos that ensued following the...
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It is hard to argue with the central premise of this book, which seems to be that it's tough to be a woman in a patriarchal society, especially one torn by war and chaos. And the history of Afghanistan is a tragic one. Agreed.

But...
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In a backdrop of the Soviet War in Afghanistan, adversaries form an unlikely bond based on a common fate: suffering cruelty at the hands of a man they fear. The story line in Hosseini's second novel is straightforward and contains fewer overly...
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Quite Enjoyable!
Don't miss this book if you like elephants, romace, and want an enjoyable, fun read for summer. In Water for Elephants, the circus big top is highlighted by author Sara Gruen. At the ending, Gruen pulls off a remarkable...
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Having picked up on the positive buzz about this book, I couldn't wait to read it. I'd imagined it would be somehow magical, enchanting - and I could not have been more incorrect in that assumption.

I do give the book two stars, for...
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If you are looking for deep, mind tickling literature, you will not find it here! What you will get, is a bit of entertainment and slight escapism. I'm a little baffled by all the hype. I guess there really is marketing genius in this field and...
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This book has it all, history, romance, politics, believable characters and a great plot. If you are interested in English life in the 12th. century, then this is the book for you. I could not put it down
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This is a workmanlike historical thriller. A fair amount of effort has been put into the setting, and the book is a reasonable page turner - but it has some important flaws.

As a work of literature the book has serious faults. The plot and...
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I must say that this book was a fun read, but much of Follet's dialogue and characterization were not in keeping with the time period. It was evident that he has done his homework, for a good portion of the historical facts are accurate....
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This book is mesmerizing from start to finish. It is the type of book you will not want to put down. This means staying up late or squeezing it in on your lunch hour. Do not miss it.
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while glimpses of a different culture were interesting, the protagonist (at least of the first 100 plus pages - which was all I could read) was such an unpleasant (as well as unhappy) boy, that I just couldn't care what happened to him - and...
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Hassan is slavishly devoted to Amir. The class system is alive and well in Afghanistan and Hassan and his father are members of a detested caste called Hazara. Despite the fact that Hassan and his father are beloved by Amir's father and treated...
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I was surprised when Oprah included "The Road" in her book club, since this is atypical for the books she usually features. After reading it, I can understand how Oprah's Book Club would like "The Road" because it is a story of love - the love...
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...too long convey its story effectively. There are both horrifying and touching parts of the story, but in between are long stretches of nothing interesting, as gray and bleak as the world the author shows the reader. Dad loves his son, so much...
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All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey.

Papa, wheres Mama?

She choked on a ham sandwich.

Oh.

Lets go.

Okay.

They stopped into a church because it was on the way....
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Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her long time lover Benton Wesley are called to Rome to work with a team investigating the death of sixteen-year-old tennis star Drew Martin. Her body was left in a prominent location so that her mutilated corpse would be...
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I bought Patricia Cornwell's latest offering with the highest of hopes. Surely she has read the criticisms offered for her last few efforts. Surely she would have worked hard to correct the flaws that so many readers complained of . . .the shift...
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Once again, the forensic detail is what will hook most Scarpetta fans in 'Book of the Dead,' whose title seems descriptive of the inner lives of the characters. Kay Scarpetta's recent relocation to South Carolina, as well as a detour to Rome to...
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What a great book! It is a story of friendship between two girls. They friendship was arranged by a matchmaker so they would be "soul sisters" as they grew up. They spent the summers together to learn the fine arts of being good wives. They get m
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I felt the author was not able to capture the delicate restraint inherent to chinese culture. I did not really enjoy this book.
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Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky is a superb novel even thought it is a translation - and even though it was published 64 years after the author died.

The book plan called for five sections for an approximate total of 1000 pages....
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It's not often that I don't finish a book. I'm a voracious reader, especially when it comes to anything that even remotely has to do with history. When I saw all the high reviews for this book, I had to give it a go.

I don't think I...
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Many characters, hard to follow story line at beginning, no major plot, yet believable because of the situation of War
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Over the past two centuries, great writers have found memorable ways to represent the blessings and curses of a working life. Their subjects have been farmers and fishermen and factory workers, cowhands and cops, salesmen and soldiers. Of all the...
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Not since Borges has a Latin American writer placed literature itself as the central concern of his fiction as Bolano so explicitly and touchingly does in The Savage Detectives. "Life put us all in our place or in the place that suited her, and...
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