Rated of 5
by Shirley L. (Norco, LA) Pure Genius
What a fun, intelligent read. Higashino's characters are fully formed and his plot is as taut and satisfying as a perfect geometry proof. The writing is simple and logical but contains so much - the meaning of love, friendship, justice, loyalty, truth. This is a book that stays with you after you finish the last page and makes the reader want to share it with others. I plan to give this book to my son who is working on his PhD in Math. I hope he takes an afternoon away from his work for this nugget of gold.
Rated of 5
by Vivian Q. (Greer, SC) Barely readable
I'd read a blurb about this book months ago, added it to my wish list, and was very happy when I won an Advanced Reader's Copy for review. I expected to be wowed by this winner of the Japanese Naoki prize which is similar to the National Book Award.
What I got instead, was a slow, boring and unimaginative read. I had to really push myself to finish it because nothing about the book engaged me - not the story, the characters, and especially not the writing. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Rated of 5
by Patricia S. (New Canaan, CT) Momentum builds slowly
A seemingly perfect crime in Japan is solved through scientific theory by a physicist turned detective as he meets with a mathematics professor, a former university friend. Momentum builds very slowly in this mystery, written in spare Japanese prose, and I couldn't become involved with the characters. I did expect more from this prolific author.
Rated of 5
by Betsey V. (Austin, TX) For fans of Nora Roberts
This was advertised as winning the Japanese equivalent to the Nat'l Book Award, so I was expecting something even better than Murakami. Well, this was just juvenile. Nora Roberts, tops. It was written on a 7th grade level, maybe 6th. It had some violence, so it wasn't for young readers, but I kept saying "See Spot run" throughout. The narrative was less than pedestrian--cliches cut and pasted together.
I mostly laughed because it was so preposterous and the characters were as thin and contrived as the pages they were written on. The basic outline to the story had potential, which was why I gave it two stars instead of one, but it was filled in with a ludicrous mess. The melodramatic ending was hilarious, but not meant to be.
Rated of 5
by Aprile G. (Northampton, Massachusetts) Lost in Translation
A very quick and engaging read, although the characters aren't very nuanced (not that they really need to be in a murder mystery)and the final chapter falls completely flat and undermines some of the book's good qualities. But the prose often seems stilted--could this be a problem with the translation? I didn't dislike the book, but can't really say I'd highly recommend it.
A very large book - in number of pages and in content - and every page worth reading. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and her first book on the...
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Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great...
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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...
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News Corp will officially split into two companies June 28(May 24 2013) As expected, News Corp has announced it will officially split its publishing and entertainment businesses on 28 June.
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Its board approved the...
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of 5
by Shirley L. (Norco, LA) 
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by Vivian Q. (Greer, SC) 
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by Patricia S. (New Canaan, CT) 
