Rated of 5
by Shirley City of Dreams
Simply put I loved it! From the start I connected with the characters and that did not wane as the book progressed. At times I struggled with the brutality of humanity but the journey with the main characters kept me reading. I was relieved to find a great book after reading five average books and this one will come up in dinner conversations for a long time. Thank you Beverley.
Rated of 5
by Nat Historically very interesting!
I really hate history, truly do, especially the development of Northern America bores me to death, however "city of Dreams" actually got me interested in how everything was a few centuries ago, especially how people's cognition and perception of the world developed. I'm doing a medical course myself, however we don't extensively cover medical history and it was interesting to see the simplicity of the way the physicians tried to cure their patients. I think I found this book more interesting from the history aspect of the text rather than the development of the plot or the swap between characters every few chapters. And I do believe that this book is more inclined to give out the message about the development of one's mind and perception in the 1-2 centuries covered in the book.
Review (not rated)
by Ralph Ekwall
There are good things about this book. I got into it because I am interested in genealogy and have a number of ancestors who lived in early New Amsterdam. It has a good historical context.
My main complaint is that as soon as I got used to the characters and began to care about them, then the author switches to later date with a new set of characters. It is intergenerational, but the characters are different. This is a significant problem
Review (not rated)
by frank m
One of the best reads of the year. If you like historical fiction this in a must read.
Review (not rated)
by rcoop17
I was involved from the first chapter. This novel was a powerful mix of drama and documentary. While some of the well-drawn descriptions of medical procedure fascinated me, the narrative of the filth and the poverty made me want to stop reading, however, I could not stop myself from finding out what happened next. The social prejudices and the accounts of how things were done according to the unwritten laws of society were intriguing as well. An excellent read that was also an engrossing learning experience.
Review (not rated)
by Judy Keeter
I read this book when it first came out and it was wonderful!! hated to see it end...
Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
read more
U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
Full Story
of 5
by Shirley 
of 5
by Nat 
