ClubReading

Russo’s novel is wonderful! The characters, even the minor characters are real, tangible, quirky, heartwarming and heartbreaking. His writing style is rich and engaging; his style reminds me of John Cheever, or John Updike, John somebody anyway. Empire Falls, a small mill town in Maine, has seen the last of the good times. Miles Roby grew up in Empire Falls, had a brief chance of escape while in college, but was drawn back because of his mother’s failing health. Now, middle aged and struggling to make ends meet, Miles runs the Empire Grill. ...

Reviewer: Sally Some people think humans evolved from apes…gorillas. Glee Granger thinks gorillas are almost human and can be taught to think and talk. Rob (Glee’s brother) thinks gorillas are animals, but he talks with Sema, Glee’s gorilla. Brad Fielding (director of Gorilla exhibit at zoo) thinks gorillas are fascinating…but animals from which humans evolved. Irene (Glee and Rob’s grandmother) thinks gorillas are animals uniquely created by God. Sema knows she’s a gorilla, and wants to be a mother gorilla. ...

This is another interesting tale about Qwilleran and his two cats. In this installment, they are renting a large mansion on the main street of town. The house’s owner is retired and now living in Florida. When the owner suddenly commits suicide, Qwilleran suspects foul play. Qwilleran, the protagonist, is not your typical hero. He’s an older gentleman, a retired journalist, with a mind that never stops questioning and an imagination that often leads him into trouble. He’s grumpy in the mornings before his coffee, just like many of us, and he’s not always polite. His flaws make him all the more real and relatable, and that’s what makes him such an interesting character. ...

Reviewer: linda Adventure books, I keep reminding myself, were written in the mid-1970s for men, just as James Bond movies were made for men. And the women in them are, well, less than the men. If you can make it past this issue, the book is a fun, quick read. Dirk Pitt goes to look at a ship stuck in an Iceberg, and has at least 3 attempts at his life because of something he has learned, but he doesn’t know exactly what. As with Sahara, which was recently made into a movie, the actions sequences are improbable, but fun. An enjoyable read, if you ignore the women! ...

Reviewer: Linda While this is not the most well-written book I have read, it is thought provoking. Aimed generally at eating disorders that cause women to starve themselves (anorexia or bingeing and purging) it has some applicability to anyone with an eating disorder. The book concentrates mostly on the media and the “body myth” from there, i.e., all women should look like teenager boys but with big boobs. The author lets us understand some of the processes of therapy without the therapist. There are exercises intended to help us, as adults, to evaluate what we were told as children about weight and body image. There are also exercises to help remember how we felt when told those things. The insights just from reading the exercises were interesting; doing them would likely result in real revelations. ...

Reviewer: Linda This is a book which discusses acceptance of one’s weight and appearance. The author is funny and her discussion of Duke’s weight loss center is wonderful. When your weight is getting you down and you feel like you are ready for radical change, read this book. If you still feel that way after reading it, maybe you are ready for radical change. As for me, FAT GIRLS UNITE! ...

Reviewer: littlemissthing Add one part Kolchak: The Nightstalker, a touch of Columbo, and heavy helping of wizards, elves, dragons, and all sorts of fantasy creatures. Blend quickly while tongue is planted firmly in cheek. There you have the entire Garrett P.I. series from fantasy writer Glen Cook. Petty Pewter Gods is the 8th book in the series. While it definitely helps to have read the first seven before jumping into this simultaneously zany and action filled installment, Cook does a great job providing just enough back-story to explain the sometimes (O.K. quite often) strained relationships between our hero and his so-called allies. ...

A myth combined with fantasy. That’s a very short description of what this book is. The story and plot is important, but the writing and the journey is more important than finding out what happens. And that’s a really good thing, since I picked this book up not realizing that it was the third in a trilogy. I was a good 40 pages into the book before I entered it on this site and discovered it was the final book of a trilogy. It obviously stands on its own. Some of the characters of the first two books are in this book and I’m sure they would be more interesting if I had read the first two books. ...

Julie Powell felt she was in a rut. Turning thirty, dead end temp secretary job, crappy loft apartment and trouble with her husband. On a visit home, she finds her mothers copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 50th Anniversary Edition and decides to cook every recipe in the book. In one year. And write about it online. The book was not what I expected. I was expecting a book about the author’s love of cooking and her experiences and challenges cooking in a decades old style. But instead, the book doesn’t discuss the actual cooking much at all. Instead, the book is about the author, her friends and her emotional challenges. ...

(Anonymous Submission to old ClubReading website) Lindsay or Linbaba, as the Indian people named him, is a fugitive who escaped prison in Australia, where he served two years of his 19-year sentence of arms robberies, which he used to do to support his heroin addiction caused by loosing custody of his daughter in a failed marriage. After the escape, Linbaba lands in Bombay on a fake New Zealand passport. Upon landing, he meets Prabaker who plays the guide role and shows him even the most secretive parts of Bombay. In the same time Lindsay meets Karla, a beautiful Swiss-American who works at Leopold’s cafÈ the place where all the ex-pats hang out. Linbaba falls deeply in love with Karla and the love takes a complicated role in the plot. ...