Review written for ClubReading.com by Bill In Mark Doty’s memoir, Firebird, we are taken on a beautifully written, poetic, dark, disturbing and uplifting venture into the life of a gay boy growing up in the post-world war II, baby-booming 60’s. The authors background in poetry is clear. The book is written in such a lovely lyrical style that often, the beauty of the words will carry you on to the next page, the next chapter. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Sally Because of the Civil War, many women–north and south–were left alone without the prospect of a husband. After the war, thousands of men went west to seek a new life, to seek a fortune. With all the lonely men in the west and all the lonely women in the east a new movement was begun–mail order brides. Sincerely Yours is book seven in the Mail Order Bride Series by Al and Joanna Lacy. It is definitely not the best in the series. The authors spend more time setting the stage for the romance than on the romance itself. The characters are not real. They are entirely too perfect. No one is that good . . . especially children. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Sally Dana’s Valley will give you a good understanding of how each member of a family is affected when one family member faces a serious illness-especially an extended illness. It will give you more compassion for families you know who are going through a similar situation. There is more involved than the illness itself or even losing a family member. There is financial pressure; children losing the attention the parent(s) who become the caregiver for the one who is ill; children who are expected to take over responsibilities of the household, etc. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Rose The Clematis Tree is the first book by Ann Widdecombe that I have come across. She is a well known Meber of Parliament at the moment in opposition. I hope that it won’t be her last book. This a totally absorbing story of a tragedy that tears apart a young happy family. It is fascinating to read how the different members of the family cope with this event which changes all their lives. On the Christening day of their second child, Mark and Claire’s son, Jeremy is knocked down by a young driver who is speeding and under the influence of alcohol. Jeremy survives, but is brain damaged and is unable to do anything for himself. At first the family can only be thankful that he is alive, but as the reality of his condition becomes apparent, the way that each member of the family deals with it provides the strong story line. This story is at times shocking, but always compelling. The characters are not particularly likeable, and do not engage the reader’s sympathy, but the strength of the book is the way in which the difficult issues are dealt with in a sensitive and honest way. I read this book in two sittings and at the end I still felt that I didn’t know what I would do in a situation like that. This is not an easy read, but it is a compelling one. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Barbara The first story, “Rocket Summer,” takes place in January of 1999, but no matter. It’s not the date that’s important; rather, it’s Bradbury’s writing, Bradbury’s visions of the colonization of Mars, Bradbury’s notion of man. Though a collection of short stories that can each stand on it’s own, they are intricately connected by a progression through time as man settles on a planet where ethereal denizens still seem to live. Earth travelers settle into little villages perhaps drawn from childhood memory, they have picnics, and they drive trucks, and all around them is the Martian landscape. And the Martians. But are they real? Are they ghosts? What, in the end, are they? To Bradbury, they are many things, and he discloses this in a novel that’s science fiction, but it’s also poetry and psychological drama too. Though Mark Twain once said that “a classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read,” he would never have said this at all had he lived long enough to read The Martian Chronicles. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Barbara The People’s spaceship crashed to Earth a long time ago, and they dispersed, easily blending in because, outwardly, they appeared no different from humans. Now their descendents, having lost the knowledge of where they’re from, try desperately to fit in with the “natives,” but they have powers such as telepathy and telekinesis, and fitting in is not always easy. This is the story of their struggle to accept themselves. Because Pilgrimage has long been out of print and because you’ll have a difficult time finding it, there’s a link to Ingathering: The Complete People Stories. This is not “hard” science fiction; rather it’s soft and very human, and even those of you who don’t normally read science fiction will enjoy it. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Sally You will come to admire Father Tim as he walks through the ordeals of daily life with the people of Mitford–normal things like you and I face. He is genuine, likes people, doesn’t claim to have all the answers, and acts like a real person. I have worked for an international religious organization for 30 years. Trust me, a preacher who really likes people is way up there in my book-exceptional. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Linda According to the blurb in the front of this book, it was originally published in pieces in Rolling Stone. I imagine in the early 1970s this was considered high art. But in the year 2000, it is not only dated, which is understandable, but down right stupid. I can’t imagine reading about a several day drug and alcohol binge and finding it interesting. Perhaps this is my cynical viewpoint, but I don’t care to watch someone slowly kill themselves, and put others in danger while they do so. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Mary David Whyte is an incredible poet who has learned how to meld poetry with corporate America. He has been able to take the gift of lyrics and teach administrators how to bring their soul(and that of their staff) to work. This remarkable work is used by various corporate entities to develop the spirit in the work world. He has consulted with many major corporations in America to facilitate growth of personhood in corporate America. ...
Review written for ClubReading.com by Bill The publisher puts this book in the category of Essays/Memoir. The book is laid out as a chronological series of stories. David Sedaris takes us on a hilarious journey, a cathartic re-living of his growing up years. When I first picked up the book and read the first couple of chapters (Chipped Beef, A Plague of Tics) I was certain the stories were either complete fabrications or such extreme colorizations that the real truth was so hidden that we may never be aware of it. But as I read further, I started realizing what the author was showing us. This is how we remember. We remember the outrageous, we tell those stories over and over again…if not to others, we tell them to ourselves. And in each re-telling, the stories seem more and more foreign, more like a dream. ...