Rated of 5
by Kimberly G. (Irving, TX) Another Story of Family HIstory Revisited on the Descendants
It took two full reads of this book for me. I kept thinking I missed something along the way - hence the re-read - only to realize that there was nothing new here. Tale is one we hear so often in writing today... "I am who I am because of the dysfunctional family I was born in to..."
Unfortunately this one left me cold, and NOT wanting more.
Rated of 5
by Kathy M. (Neptune Beach, Florida) Not my favorite
I really enjoyed this book in the beginning but I have to say it started to wear me down. While the author obviously has pulled herself out of some very difficult life experiences, I was exhausted with reading about the horrible childhood she experienced with her mother. By the time I finished the book I was waiting for a positive resolution and I felt like it never came. I can only assume that she has become successful by her biography on the back cover. I certainly hope she is still in recovery and can redeem her life so it is not as tragically wasted as her mother.
Rated of 5
by Sally D. (Racine, WI) Not another Glass Castle
While I admire Domenica Ruta's way with words, this book did not hold my interest. Humorous at times, rather disgusting at others, ultimately it felt like just another story of a horrific childhood that went on way too long. At first the story seemed somewhat fascinating but it didn't go anywhere except to more of the same. At three quarters through the book, I fought hard to finish it. I kept waiting for the "aha" moment that taught a profound lesson but it never seemed to come. Yes, she finally found sobriety and that is terrific but it came too late in the book for me.
Rated of 5
by Gwendolyn D. (Houston, TX) Good but not what I expected
I was originally attracted to this book by its title. Having grown up on U2, this title evoked a certain sentimental yearning that I associate with the U2 song of the same title. Needless to say, the book is nothing like the song. This is a tough-to-read memoir that tells the story of the author's gritty and difficult childhood. The memoir is well-written, but I was so sad for this little girl and what she was forced to lived through that I had a hard time finishing the book. A masterful accomplishment, for sure, but emotionally draining to read.
Rated of 5
by Jacqueline S. (Gladstone, MO) Not For Me
I started this book and gave it to page 70, but it really was not my cup of tea. I passed it on to a friend who loved it and read it in one weekend! I read to mostly escape, and this story was gritty, real and not for me!
Rated of 5
by Vicky R. (Cumming, GA) Courage and survival
I had to continue to remind myself that this story was nonfiction. It's hard for most of us to imagine that someone - a little girl - can grow up in this environment and not only survive but end up thriving (although obviously not without emotional scars). A mesmerizing story, often full of despair and sadness, but the author manages to inject it periodically with doses of comedy and laughter. If I were to be granted a wish list of people I could have lunch with...the author would top my list.
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.
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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Can an wiser, older narrator view the past with more wisdom than he might have possessed forty years earlier in the summer he was thirteen? Ordinary...
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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...
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by Kimberly G. (Irving, TX) 
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by Gwendolyn D. (Houston, TX) 
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by Vicky R. (Cumming, GA) 
