Rated of 5
by Martha L. (Warner, NH) warm, wonderful read
Outside Wonderland has given me a warm glow. I would give this book more stars if it were possible. Life happens and days pass. Everyone struggles with something/someone, but life is what we make of it and how we move forward. This book highlights this with the wonderfully warm characters of Eve, Griffin and Dinah. The brother and sisters lost their mother in an accident when they were very young and then their father when they were a little older. They seem to struggle with finding themselves and their paths in life. I enjoyed the scenes with the parents watching the children through the clouds of heaven. This book gives you hope without preaching, reality without despair.
"As always, humans beings are endlessly heartbreaking and inspiring, their lives threaded with strands of despair and brighter ones of hope. They are as predictable and changeable as the weather."
Rated of 5
by Kenan R. (Liberty, MO) Outside Wonderland
As I grow older I become increasingly less tolerant of self centered characters making “rookie mistakes”. So I have to say that while I liked Outside Wonderland - I did not particularly like any of the Stenen children, and felt their woe-is-me attitudes that offered them the mutual “out” for self absorbed, lousy decision-making, made for insipid and uninteresting protagonists. That said, I didn’t dislike the book, in fact I found it to be a fast and generally entertaining read. I much preferred the interaction in the afterlife between the Stenen parents and felt their relationship was much more real and potentially interesting than those of their offspring. I also felt the prose in the “Here” (afterlife) sections was vastly superior to that in the “There” or real life moments. I liked Outside Wonderland fine as written; I would have loved it had all been written like those incandescent glimpses of “Here” were.
Rated of 5
by Ellen S. (Mundelein, IL) Outside Wonderland
I hardly noticed the Chicago blizzard winds howling last night, as I read this book from start to finish. I was initially suspicious that it would be a predictable chick lit read or just a ripoff of The Lovely Bones. I normally prefer my fiction to be of a more literary and less sentimental bent. Nonetheless, I found that I enjoyed it very much. I love the idea of a heavenly afterlife, where our deceased love ones watch over and wait for us. I also enjoyed the author's handling of the ups and downs of long term relationships versus the reaffirming high of flirting and the intoxicating attraction of the new. Outside Wonderland is a sure bet for both bookclubs and young people.
Rated of 5
by Lisa G. (Riverwoods, IL) Outside Wonderland by Lorna Jane Cook
This book is about a family that has no idea their deceased parents watch everything they do, kind of like Lovely Bones meets Touched by an Angel. The plot is a bit trite but it was an enjoyable story and I liked the character development. The story kept my interest and it would probably make a good book group discussion.
Rated of 5
by Burlingame Book Lover What Now???
Too many storylines make this book a very choppy read. My head hurt just trying to keep up with what was happening. Could one family really suffer from this much chaos? The author threw everything into the storyline from death, angels from heaven, sickness, infidelity, homosexuality and an unwed mother. I wouldn't even suggest this book as a good beach read. Sorry.
Rated of 5
by Carolyn A. (Questa, NM) outside wonderland
Even though I cared about the characters and what happened to them, the book seemed just a step above a romance novel or soap opera. The writing was competent, but not exciting. I will not recommend it to demanding readers.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
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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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...
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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...
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British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
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of 5
by Martha L. (Warner, NH) 
of 5
by Kenan R. (Liberty, MO) 
of 5
by Ellen S. (Mundelein, IL) 
of 5
by Burlingame Book Lover 
