Hesse has done something amazing here. He's taken the story of the Buddha and the origins of Buddhism, given it a twist, and adapted it to be applicable to Western life. The story follows the lifelong journey of Siddhartha (interestingly, the story is largely based on the life of the Buddha himself, and the Buddha's full name was Siddhartha Gautama) to find the secret to nirvana. What he ends up finding is a much more profound, universal truth. He also finds himself. I can't even begin to relay the book's impact here, so all I can say is: read it. And don't be fooled by Hesse's simple writing style - there's an awful lot to think about here. So, just read it.

I must admit I saw the movie first. With Shakespeare, I nearly always see the movie first (unfortunately, I've been able to see only one live Shakespeare performance in my life - Macbeth). After all, Shakespeare's works are intended to be viewed, not read. While I did not like Othello as much as some of Shakespeare's other plays, I still did enjoy it. But damn it's depressing. It does, however, have one of the greatest villains in literature. If you read it, read the Folger edition, which has invaluable notes right alongside the main text.

I'm usually very dubious of anyone who claims to have anything verging on psychic powers. While I'm certainly willing to believe there are levels of communication we do not yet fully understand, I'm still a big ol' skeptic when it comes to actual claims. However, Nicci Mackay is surprisingly convincing. By the time I'd finished the second chapter I was already convinced that she's the real deal, and that's saying an awful lot. In this memoir, she recounts her lifetime spent communicatin with animals, particularly horses. It seems much like something a telepathic James Herriott would have written. She's not at all pretentious, and her style is open, friendly, and often humorous. A very worthwhile read.

Depressing, depressing, depressing. Good, but depressing. It's short though, so that's some consolation. This one really makes a point of examining the place (or lack thereof) of the mentally ill in society during the Depression era. It follows two itinerant workers, one a large, strong, but rather dim man who likes to pet soft things, such as mice and puppies, but inadvertantly kills them, not realizing he's been too rough. His companion is the brains of the pair, and tries to look out for his friend, but is left to make some really difficult decisions in the end. A very sad story, but important.

This was a weird one. Interesting, surely, but weird to say the least. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is "unstuck in time" and flops around at random from one part of his life to another, backwards and forward, with no control. He never knows what part of his life he might have to relive next. One recurring theme, however, is the Dresden fire-bombing of World War II, and its profound impact on Pilgrim and the world. Definitely worth the read, but certainly not your ordinary book.

What a disappointment! While not inaccurate, the book tells us nothing we don't already know. I was expecting some kind of in-depth analysis of the Derby, and what it takes to get there and win it. All I got were statistics and statements of the obvious. Not at all worth the read. Definitely not worth the price. Wish I hadn't bought it.

Largely autobiographical, this novel follows an anonymous man through two stages of hard living. The book opens in Paris, with the narrator in need of funds. He spends time working in hotels, and a restaurant, under filthy conditions. The second part of the book takes place in London, as the narrator lives the life of a tramp while awaiting a permanent job. There is no real central plot, which can be a bit unsettling at first, but once gotten used to this is a terrific book. Truly eye-opening and thought-provoking.

This book absolutely amazed me. It's hard to believe, but it even surpasses Quinn's earlier, similar book, Ishmael. The message here is even more powerful. It combines Ishmael-style dialogue-learning with a series of lecture by a speaker known only to his followers as "B". The narrator is a Catholic priest, Jared Osborne, sent by his superiors to invetigate B and determine if he is the antichrist. The first half of the book is much like Ishmael, but halfway through there is a drastic plot turn that is shocking at first, but ultimately serves to heighten the book's impact. Rather than merely getting the reader to think, like Ishmael, this book calls the reader to action. This is one must-read.

Perhaps I was expecting too much, judging by how much I've heard about this book, and already having read George Orwell's magnificent 1984, but Brave New World was something of a disappointment. Much of the story takes the form of satire, which is fine, but there are numerous places where it lapses into the ridiculous, undermining the strength of Huxley's message. A book like this needs to be both believable and scary (as was 1984) in order to have the desired impact, and Brave New World is neither. It's worth reading once, but I'd recommend checking it out of the library rather than purchasing it. Unlike 1984, I doubt I'll be returning for a second helping anytime soon.

This is a great edition of this important work. The translation is excellent, and the text is fairly easy to read despite Machiavelli's tendency to use very long, complex sentences. The material is fascinating, and one gains even more by reading the other works included in this volume (the 2003 Barnes & Noble printing w/ translation by Wayne A. Rebhorn). "The Life of Castruccio Castracani" is a [largely fictionalized] account of a man Machiavelli saw as something of an ideal prince. However, the biography does more to reveal Machiavelli's character than Castracani's, as he has largely fabricated much of Castracani's life in order to make him better fit his vision of an ideal prince. Also included are a letter Machiavelli wrote to a friend about The Prince, and some excerpts from his Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, which were written at the same time as The Prince and are supplementary to it. Despite Machiavelli's frequent re-writing of history, this is still essential reading (though it may help to have a detailed knowledge of Italian and ancient Roman history).

There is certainly no shortage of great biographies on Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, but what sets this book apart is its dual portrayal of both queens. Concentrating on the relationship between these two remarkable women, Dunn has given this well-known story a delightfully fresh look. One can really see just how connected their lives were, even though they never met. A must-read for anyone interested in this period of British history.

I think I've made it my unofficial goal to go through and finally read all those books I've had for years and never looked at. This is another of them. Once again, I found I'd missed a lot. This anthology has a lot to offer anyone interested in the study of fairy tales and folklore, Irish culture, or both. Yeats has collected an overwhelming array of stories on all imaginable mythological topics, including fairies, giants, witches, changelings, banshees, mermaids, and more. Not all of the stories are entertianing, but several are. I found that the book's primary merit, however, lies in how much one can learn about Irish culture and folklore by reading it.

This is another one that's been sitting on the shelf for ages that I just never read. When I did read it, I found most of the stories to be really good reads. There are a few duds, but most were entertaining. I particularly liked "The Flight of the Horse," a science-fiction tale that takes a delightfully whimsical turn. The stories are all by different authors (with the exception of two by Richard Harding Davis), and are mostly relatively obscure (though a few are well-known, such as Rudyard Kipling's "The Maltese Cat"). I'd recommend this to any horse enthusiast.

Andy Serkis is my hero. He really is. Here Serkis reflects on his experiences, both movie-related and not, during the years he spent working on Peter Jackson's epic adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Like most people, I had assumed Serkis only provided the voice, but when I saw the documentaries on the extended edition of the DVD for The Two Towers, I learned that he actually acted out, physically, all of Gollum's scenes to provide reference for the WETA animators. It's amazing how much he put into the role. Who knew that he actually crawled a full mile one morning to help himself get into character? The book is full of fascinating information, and Serkis's own self-deprecating humor. He also reflects on the difficulties of being separated from his family for extended periods of time, and includes a poem to his daughter. This is one of the greatest books I've read in a while, and I definitely recommend it to any fan of the movies.

This one's been sitting on my shelf, unread, for years and years, and I finally decided to pick it up and read it. I hadn't read any of Doyle's other Sherlock Holmes stories, but I found that I liked this one. It's very well-written, and has an interesting premise. The only thing I fault it for is not being quite as suspenseful as I would have hoped, given Doyle's reputation. While I actually didn't guess the outcome beforehand, the mystery was resolved much too quickly and tidily for my taste. In addition, much of Holme's discoveries are related via his reflections on the case at a later date, and I would have preferred to see him draw his conclusions as the story progressed.

Bauby was 40 years old when he suffered a massive stroke that left him with what is known as "locked-in" syndrome. The only part of his body that he could still move was his left eyelid. His therapist devised a communication system whereby he could laboriously blink out, letter by letter, what he wanted to say. And that is how he composed this brilliant little memoir. It is not written linearly, and each chapter takes the form of a vignette. Bauby reflects on his life in the hospital, dreams he's had since his paralysis, memories of times past, and more. Surprisingly, the book is not depressing and Bauby does not lapse into self-pity. Some of what he writes is even humorous. I was compelled to read the book when I heard that Johnny Depp will be playing Bauby in a movie of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in 2006.

This book was absolutely fascinating, and the only thing I've taken a star off for is historical accuracy. Told from the perspective of Mary Boleyn, the sister of the more well-known Anne Boleyn (second wife of England's King Henry VIII), the story follows Anne's famous rise and fall. First Mary is pushed into the king's bed by her family, when it becomes apparent that he favors her, in hopes that she will conceive an heir. If she were to bear Henry a son, he might marry her and that would make the Boleyn's the most important family in the country. After the kind's interest in Mary wanes, we see her help her sister try to secure the king's favor. The lapses in historical accuracy come with Gregory's changes to the personalities of these two women. Anne was not as cold and heartless as she is made to seem, and Mary was not as innocent and naive. Though I must admit, these changes do make for a better story. Definitely a recommended read!

Not quite as good as the other two books of his that I've read - The Forest and Sarum - but still very good. This novel is written in the same Michener-esque style (though infinitely more readable) and follows several fictional families down through the ages in Dublin, Ireland. There is a wealth of really good historical background information, and reading about all the events in Irish history was absolutely fascinating. This is a great work of historical fiction, and definitely recommended.

This is probably a great adventure story for children, but it was slightly boring to me. The book is very well written, and easy to read, but the story lacks depth and is a little flat. There isn't much character development. Recommended for children, but not for adults.

This is one of the best horse-related novels I have EVER read! The author actually knows her stuff when it comes to horses. It's so pleasing to have a writing portray them correctly. The story itself is also very touching and brilliantly executed. And this is Gruen's first novel! I was very surprised to find many parallels betweens the main character's family and my own, and that everyone is portrayed so realistically. The heroine is not perfect. She is an ordinary human with faults, and this makes her all the more likeable. This book is a definite must-read for any horse enthusiast.

Accurate, but very, very, very superficial. Everything said here could easily be learned by simply spending a couple weeks around horses. The book also strays off topic, talking more about curing problem horses, training foals, and handicapping races than about equine body language. Largely useless. Not recommended except to those that know very little abuot horses.

This is an excellent guide to the inner workings of horses. Langley reveals how horses perceive the world, and how these perceptions affect behavior. She points out common mistakes horse people make, and what these do to horses. She also offers alternate training methods that are much more effective. A great book!

Here the author relates his own encounters with several North American endangered species. The accounts were interesting, and the historical background he gives is good, but the book is largely outdated. One of the animals included is now extinct, and another may be, though that hasn't been verified. The 'current' status he gives on each species is now vastly inaccurate, the California condor's in particular. Bergman also displays several biases that slant the writing. Worth the read, but not the best book of its type.

This books was fascinating, and often funny and heartwarming. Linden has compiled a plethora of examples of animals displaying remarkable levels of intelligence. He concentrates mostly on the great apes and dolphines, though some other animals are included. He has, however, done a poor job of checking his facts and at least one story is thoroughly mixed up - he cited a female gorilla at the Woodland Park Zoo as being the FATHER of another gorilla. But I'd still recommend the book, though anyone writing a paper should double-check any stories they wish to reference.

This was an excellent and VERY inspiring autobiography by the man who's been to Antarctica, done search and rescue work with dogsleds, mushed in the Iditarod, and numerous other outdoor adventures. It's one of the most inspirational books I've ever read. Vaughan writes well and the book is very easy to read. Definitely recommended to anyone interested in exploration and the outdoors.

I was somewhat disappointed with this one. I'd heard most of the stories before, and the writing was nothing spectacular. I was also very disturbed to see how heavily Scanlan had parrotted from Monty Roberts's book The Man Who Listens to Horses (for which Scanlan wrote the introduction and afterword). He seems to idolize Roberts, and talk about him non-stop. The writing is also not balanced. He writes much of riding horses and ponies, but almost nothing of draft horses. Almost all of the horses in the "Sport Horse Legends" chapter are Thoroughbred flat-racers. There's one steeplechase horse a couple show jumpers thrown in. No western horses at all. It wasn't a wholly awful book, but it just wasn't that great either.

This is one of the most colorful and engaging biographies I've ever read. I've long been interested in the six women that played the role of Queen to England's Henry VIII at different periods of his life, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading Weir's book. She really makes them come to life and shows us how very different their personalities were. She also dispells many of the myths surrounding them. On the whole, a great read, and highly recommended to anyone interested in English history.

This has got to be THE funniest book I've read in a long time. Paulsen, who used dogs to travel his traplines for years, finds himself growing more and more enamoured with mushing. Ultimately he decides to head for Alaska to run the Iditarod, but it turns out he has a lot to learn. He's the rankest rookie out there and makes countless mistakes, including getting lost before even leaving the city of Anchorage at the start of the race. The other mushers voted him least likely to get out of Anchorage. But he eventually did make it all the way to the finish in Nome, over 1,000 miles away. Over the course of the race he learns a lot about himself and about life in general. It was a highly entertaining, touching, and thoroughly worthwhile book. It's also a very fast read, as I finished it in only one day. Highly recommended!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this biography of world-reknowned horse trainer Monty Roberts. It talks about how he developed his "join-up" method of training, watching the interaction of wild mustangs to learn how they communicate with one another. His entire life story is just fascinating. It's well-written and easy to read. I look forward to reading his book Shy Boy as soon as I can get a copy of it.

This is an excellent account of the current status of wolves in North America. It covers all breeds of wolf, and all the various controversies surrounding them today, including details on various restoration programs. The writing is very balanced and looks at all sides of each issue, and the reading is easy. The book also has TONS of really beautiful photographs.

Joe Redington, Sr., was an amazing man, and this biography does him perfect justice. He grew up in Oklahoma, but then moved to Alaska in 1948, and eventually conceived of the idea of re-opening the historic Iditarod trail and establishing a 1,000-mile dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome. Nearly everyone thought he was crazy. The first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was held in 1973 on a shoestring budget, as few were willing to sponsor such an endeavor, but Redington made it a success, and it's been run every year since. Redington also helped such champion mushers as Rick Swenson and Susan Butcher get their footholds in the sport, brought the first dog team to the top of Mt. McKinley, and participated in a dogsled trial at the 1994 Olympics in Norway. He ran in almost every Iditarod (though he never won it), his last being in 1997, when he was 80 years old. This biography captures the wonderful spirit of this inspirational man, and was truly a joy to read.

This book was quite a disappointment after The Horse Whisperer and Evans' even better second book, The Loop. The story is your basic over-done love triangle, and isn't even very well done at that. All the other elements of the story are irrelevant and only the very beginning of the book has anything to do with smoke jumping. I found that I just plain didn't like any of the characters, and that the dialogue between them felt unnatural. Still, it's an easy read, and not the *worst* piece of writing I've ever come across. Not very highly recommended though... I considered rating it two stars, but for some reason rounded it up to three...

This book starts off slow, but is essential reading for the true Tolkien / Lord of the Rings fan. The initial stories are so crammed with information and a plethora of names that it's hard to sort out the information, or retain it afterward. However, beginning with Chapter 16 it really picks up, and I enjoyed it quite a bit from then on. It gives all the background information of the creation and events of Middle-earth in the First and Second Ages, laying the foundation for the stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

This may have been somewhat entertaining to some people of Voltaire's time, when the issues he satirizes were still relevant, but it's all irrelevant now. And the story in and of itself isn't even enjoyable. There's little character development, no central or logical plotline, and the whole thing is outrageous and unbelievable. It's a lot like Don Quixote, the only difference being that, thankfully, it's a heck of a lot shorter. The story itself is only 75 pages, and the rest of the book is commentary on it. Oddly, I found the commentary more intersting than the actual text, though not by much. It's pretty dry stuff.

This is, without a doubt, one of the most disturbing books I have ever read. I was hoping it would be as good as Charlotte Brontė's Jane Eyre, which I greatly enjoyed, but I found it to be a vastly different novel, containing one of the most extensive collections of sadistic and masochistic characters I've ever come across. I found it extremely difficult to care for any of the characters, or to empathize with their predicaments. Yet somehow I still found myself wanting to read on to find out what happens. The book does have literary merit and is very well-written, but I really can't say I liked it much overall.

While I don't think this was as good as Ambrose's earlier book Band of Brothers, I did enjoy reading it nonetheless. It follows the experiences of the 15th Army Air Force, based in Italy, through the years 1944-45. The book is easy to read and understand, covering the history of the 15th, its men, and the B-24 "Liberator" bombers that they flew. However, it centers around the experiences of George McGovern, and the reader does not get to know the other players as intimately as they did in Band of Brothers, which was a little disappointing to me. But it was still an educational and interesting read, and I would recommend it to those interested in the subject.

I've long admired Gary Stevens as a racehorse jockey, watching him win on such great horses as Silver Charm and War Chant, and I was duly impressed with is performance as George Woolf in the 2003 movie Seabiscuit, so it was a pleasant surprise to find his autobiography in the bookstore. The book offers wonderful insights in the world of racing and the life of a jockey, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. At the end, Stevens touches upon his experiences filming Seabiscuit, though I do wish he'd delayed the publication of the book long enough to say more on the subject. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to any racing enthusiast.

This is a touching biography of the famous race filly who was undefeated until her fatal breakdown in a match race against Kentucky Derby winning colt Foolish Pleasure. The book is well-reasearched (the author interviewed all the still-living members of Ruffian's "inner circle") and easy to read. Though the language is simple it is still emotional and detailed. This book really does justice to one of history's greatest racehorses, male or female.

While this book fell short of Kingsolver's earlier work, The Poisonwood Bible, it was still interesting and worthwhile. It interweaves three very different stories of love and the effects of humand on the environment (and vice versa). Though a little confusing at times, it is mostly an easy read. The ending left a little to be desired - I didn't feel that the story was over yet. But on the whole it was a decent read.

Peterson has written her memoir by putting together a collection of vignettes that discuss her relations with animals from childhood to the present. The stories of her early childhood are not all that moving, as they are filled with exuberant, flowery adjectives that make the experiences seem concocted or exaggerated, but the stories of her experiences as an adult are quite interesting. Among the animals Peterson discusses are wolves, whales, seals, coyotes, domestic dogs, domestic cats, and others. The book is fairly easy to tread, but the editting is poor, with numerous spelling errors.

The authors here have conducted a study of the way in which women obtain, deal with, and formulate knowledge. The study is thorough and the presentation of the results here is insightful and fascinating. It is clearly evident that women deal with knowledge in very different ways than men do, and that the systems in today's society designed by and for men may not work for women. This is definitely a must-read!

This is a very interesting collection of stories told by 18 women involved in the horse racing industry - jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders, photographers, journalists, track officials, and more. The stories are all interesting and uplifting to read, and each is accompanied by a few photographs of the subject, usually working with a horse. The book's only drawback is poor editting, and the interviews are almost directly transcribed and could use a little work to make them into something reader-friendly. People just don't speak in the same way that they write.

Though very controversial among "Ripperologists," I believe this book presents a well-researched, well-thought out, and very plausible hypothesis as to the identity of the 19th century serial killer Jack the Ripper. Cornwell has essentially proven that artist Walter Sickert wrote a large number of the Ripper letters that were received by the Metropolitan Police, and she provides the reader with countless evidence that points to Sickert as the killer as well. This truly seems like the most likely theory to date. The book also offers detailed information about life in London's East End - and particularly the life of prostitutes, or "unfortunates" - at the time.

This novel explores the questions "What is love?" and "Is it possible to love too much?" by telling the story of Sethe, a slave woman who escapes with her children, only to kill her daughter when faced with recapture rather than see her grow up in captivity. While this book has some good messages beneath it, I really didn't care for the presentation. The story was not very believable and hence, to me, did not seem to give its ideas as much power as they could have had.

After reading Pride and Prejudice, this book was a bit of a let-down. It is still a good story, and was not unenjoyable, but it is not as fully developed and satisfying as Pride and Prejudice was. The character development is not as advanced, and there are times when the story drags on and becomes tedious. The resolution is a bit fanciful, with everything falling a bit too neatly into place. A good enough book in it's own right, but not Austen's best work.

This novel addresses a question not often looked at in literature: What happens to elderly people in a society that does not value them? Pym delves into the later lives of four aging co-workers who have no one but each other to turn to, and refuse to do so. Their lives are sad, empty, joyless, and all too plausible. Reading this book, it becomes painfully evident that this fate could await anyone in contemporary western society. Though Pym's novel was written in the 70s and is set in England, it is equally applicable today and in the United States. It serves as a clear warning of what we might face if we do not do something about our futures while we are young. The book is easy to read, and not terribly exciting. It can be tedious at times, but is nevertheless an important work.

This is a beautifully written novel. Hogan tells a tale not so common in contemporary society - that of a female quest myth. We have many tales of young men traveling in search of a vision and to come of age, but we have few such stories of women. Here Angel, a young Native American woman, must rediscover her place in relation to four generations of women in her family, and also in relation to her people as a whole. Her physical, emotional, and spiritual journey is told in poignant language that will grasp the reader and draw them into story in a whole new way. It forces us to look at the painful issues facing Native American peoples, and hopefully will bring a much-needed awareness to white Americans.

Walker brings one of the most taboo subjects out into a stark, often painful light. That subject is female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation. Tashi is an African woman who was saved from the ritual by her mother, following her hemophiliac sister's death from the procedure. Tashi marries an American man, but then decides to undergo circumcision after all in order to connect herself with her heritage. She must then deal with the consequences of this irreversible decision. This work also emphasizes the fact that female circumcision is not just an African practice, and that it can and does occur anywhere, to people of all backgrounds. The book is painful, at times very hard to read, and not made any easier by Walker's non-linear writing. The telling jumps around in time, and requires a conscious attention on the part of the reader. It is, however, a book that carries a very powerful message, and should be read by everyone.

This book, translated from the Japanese, contains two novellas, both concerning how one deals with and recovers from death, attitudes toward and different forms of love, and the power of food in both. The writing is very minimalist and to the point, but still manages to evoke feeling and carry strong messages. I did not, however, find it particularly inspiring or memorable. It was a decent work, but not the best I've read.

This is undoubtedly one of the BEST books I've ever read! Narrated in turns by the wife and four daughters of a Baptist preacher who sets out with his family for the African Congo, it tells the story of their experiences there. Each woman has a vastly different voice, and each of these voices brings a different insight into the family's time in the Congo and the repercussions of the following thirty years. The book looks at issues of race, gender, religion, culture, politics, and survival, and brings an amazing awareness to the reader. The Poisonwood Bible is a definite must-read for everyone.

An excellent book, the only thing I fault it for is its loose adherance to actual historical events. Kaufman has taken a little more liberty with the plot than I would have liked. As a story, however, the book is very satisfying, recounting the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, duchess of Aquitaine, at different times queen of France and England, and mother of ten children, including two future kings - Richard the Lion Heart and Henry III of England. The character development is brilliant, and the story is easy to read.

While the story here has potential, the book was overall very tedious. Very little actually happens, and the writing is primarily focussed on ideas and thought processes of the characters. This is not a bad thing in and of itself, but Hawthorne's style makes it very boring reading. The characters seem very flat, with only the elements of themselves that pertain to the central theme - adultery - brought to the reader's attention. The one thing I did find amusing was that the characters' names reflected their defining characteristics - the cold, cunning of Mr. Chillingworth, the dull, timidity of Mr. Dimmesdale, and the "pride in sin" of Hester Prynne.

Much like Orwell's 1984, this book gives us a picture of what may face humans, particularly Americans, in the future. The difference? This story is told from a woman's perspective. Offred is a "handmaid," a woman who's job (though it can hardly be called that, since handmaids aren't paid for their services) is to get pregnant. In an age where the birthrate has dropped spectacularly due to an atmosphere polluted with nuclear waste, all upper class men are elligible for handmaids if their wives cannot conceive. It is illegal to even suggest the possiblity that a man may be sterile. Offred takes us through her thoughts and experiences in this stark, nearly joyless world, but unlike 1984, we do not find out the end to the story. We are allowed to either imagine the worst, or hope for the best. Well written and easy to read, this book brings us perspectives we could not get from a male mind.

When I read this, I could tell that what I was reading was good stuff - the stories are beautifully written in colorful, poignant language, and carry with them heavy messages and symbolism. Unfortunately, I was not always able to readily identify all the messages, symbolism, and connections between stories. This is the sort of book that takes several readings to fully comprehend, though the beauty of the language alone makes it worthwhile. A basic understanding of Haitian history and politics is also essential to a thorough understanding of the book.

This was my first read by Jane Austen, and it has been instantly elevated to a position high among my favorite classics, along with books like Brontė's Jane Eyre. The plot is complicated and yet falls together very neatly, with no loose ends or broken pathways. Austen's character development is superb, bringing then all vividly to life. I could not help but compare the romance between Jane and Mr. Bingley with that of Shakespeare's Hero and Claudio from Much Ado About Nothing, and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's with Beatrice and Benedick's. It is always interesting to me to find connections such as this in literature. The ending of the book was not quite as strong as I would have liked, but this stems from a modern-day perspective on love and passion and not from any fault in the author's writing ability. Looked at in context, the story is perfectly concluded.

This book is a very refreshing adaptation of the Biblical stories of the family of Jacob, told from a woman's point of view. The principle character is Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob and Leah, mentioned only briefly in the Bible in passages alluding to her rape and avengement. Diamant's book, however, takes this story much further, bringing with it many new and not at all unwelcome surprises. It was very relieving to me to see all these traditional stories told from a female perspective, rather than in the traditional male view.

For the most part, very boring. While the story has entertaining elements, and the basic idea of it isn't that bad, the writing is excessively tedious and leaves the reader feeling swamped in uninteresting irrelevancies. There is no strong central plot, and the book is more like a grouping of short stories unrelated in anything except having the same main characters. Character development is certainly present, but the characters are rather two-dimensional and simple. There were, however, a few story-within-a-story type tales, told by various characters, that I rather enjoyed, such as the "Tale of Ill-Advised Curiousity."

I was not quite as struck by this book as I was with its predecessor, Ishmael. Rather than introducing a selection of new ideas, this consisted mostly of Quinn's original thoughts re-worded and presented in a different manner. It was still, however, an interesting read, and quite worthwhile. Perhaps it is good to have more than one presentation of a set of ideas available in order to draw in a wider audience.

An excellent biography of the famous racehorse! Easy to read and yet entirely engaging, the book follows Native Dancer's entire career. I only wish that more had been said about the colt's early years, before racing, but other than that the book is exceedingly thorough. This work is on the same level, I believe, as Laura Hillenbrand's fabulous Seabisuit and Raymond Woolfe's Secretariat, both of which I also loved.

This book was exceedingly droll, though not quite so awful as Oliver Twist. It is hard for me to recall much of the plot, as it was so uninteresting that my mind often wandered while I was reading. While there is more character development than in Oliver Twist, and the story is not so incredible, it was, in every sense of the words, dry and boring.

I absolutely loved this one. The detail of description and character development really make the story come to life. It is quite interesting to watch the transformation in Raskolnikov's mental state from the beginning of the book, when he murders a local pawnbroker and her sister, to the end, when he finally accepts the responsibility and consequences that he had formerly thought beneath him, as well as the changes in his relationships with others.

Thorougly depressing, but very thought-provoking. This book has restored my faith in Orwell, as I absolutely hated Animal Farm when I had to read it in junior high (however, I suspect I may enjoy it more if I were to re-read it now - I don't think I knew enough about history of politics to really understand it at the time). This is a truly terrifying look at what may lie in store for our culture if certain things do not change. The utter hopelessness of Orwell's world is profound. A must-read!

I had expected a little more from a book I have heard so much about, but it was nevertheless a worthwhile read. I don't, however, find it all that much more profound or thought-provoking than The Giver, which I read back in seventh grade. In fact, the two have quite a number of parallels in structure. I would, however, recommend it to anyone interested in this genre.

If it is possible, I liked this even more than Les Miserables. This is most definitely my favorite piece of fiction to date, with little in the way of serious competition. The story is one of the most beautiful I have ever read, and Jane is a character I was very much impressed with. She is vastly mature for her young age, and displays a marked amount of self-control. She knows what she must do, and she does it. And amazingly, despite her habit of making personal sacrifices, she even manages to find a happy ending.

I have rarely been so disappointed with any book as I was with Oliver Twist. Perhaps my expectations were to high, after reading Dickens' marvelous A Tale of Two Cities, but I just plain didn't like this book. The story is entirely unebelievable, and there is very little character development. The reader never gets to a point where the actually care about Oliver and his life. All in, all, I found this a poor read.

This is most certainly one of the best books I have ever read! The story is wonderful - Hugo is a master of description. He also manages to make every character important, no matter how insignificant they seem when the reader is first introduced. The story is beautiful, and all the ends come together nicely. The only thing I would criticize about Hugo's writing style is his tendency to go off on VERY long tangents. His sequence on the Battle of Waterloo, to give one example, dragged on FAR too long, with only one small incident being relevant to the rest of the story. As for the plot itself, I found myself despising Marius, and becomming more and more disgusted with Cosette as time went on. Marius was, in short, a bastard. And Cosette, while likeable as a child, turns out to be nothing but a brainless flake who dotes upon Marius' every word.

This was the sequel to A Vision of Light, which I read in October of 2002. It was a bit of a disappointment compared to the first book, which I thought was better, but it was still a great read. I actually liked Gregory/Gilbert better in this book. The main problem I had is that this continuation of the story just isn't believable. A Vision of Light had a few incredible aspects, but it was for the most part easy to fathom. Not so with this book. It, instead, can be taken for entertainment value only, and is not truly imaginable.

This was my first Dickens novel, and I was most impressed! His descriptions really make the characters come alive and the settings seem real. He also does a terrific job of tying all the ends together to make a very satisfying ending. The story was quite tragic and moving, but written in such a way that it is understood that no other conclusion could have come about. I don't think anyone could have done better here than Dickens, and I would highly recommend this book to any reader!

A little dry. Ok, quite dry, as a matter of fact. Rousseau has a habit of creating long-winded sentences that have a tendency to lose you somewhere along the way. I found I had to be especially careful to ensure that I didn't miss things. He does make some interesting points, though I'm not sure I agree with him on everything. This is certainly not recreational reading.

It took me a chapter or two to really get used to the style of writing Dumas uses, but once I got into the story I really enjoyed it. I don't at all times agree with the ethics of the main characters, but one must be reminded that their behavior was characteristic of the times. This book also shows very clearly the duplicity that existed in society's view of women at that time - a woman was either an evil temptress, or she was a frail, virgin-like figure that must be protected. From a historical standpoint, I found this book very useful.

This was one of the best books I've read in a while! After seeing the excellent movie based on this book, I decided to read it and am glad I did. The book goes far beyond what was shown in the movie, and adds invaluable extra information. I particularly enjoyed the numerous excerpts from the letters of David Webster. I would very highly recommend this book, whether you're a World War II buff or not!

This book was interesting in some respects, but I wish Cantor had stayed a little more focused. At times he seems to drift off into aspects of Medieval life that, while interesting, are not very relevant to the Plague. I was also a bit disturbed to discover that some of the information he presents is either incorrect or incomplete. It is, however, well written and not difficult to follow.

A very good historical fiction novel, this is the sequel to Waldo's Circle of Stones. In it, Waldo presents her interpretation of the real twelfth century Welshman Madoc's journey to America with a company of a couple hundred druids, traveling in ten ships, seeking a land free from persecution. Well-written and intriguing, there are only a few instances where I find it hard to fathom a character's emotional response to a situation. On the whole, however, it is an excellent story.

Going into this book, I was rather excited and had high expectations. I was a bit disappointed. The book is not bad, but neither is it as revolutionary as it is touted to be. The author has collected her stories of female heroines without much regard, it seems, to the actual appeal of the story. Many were boring, oversimplified, or hard to understand. Perhaps if she had taken themes from her sources, and rewritten the stories in a more engaging manner rather than taking the tales straight from her research the book would have been a bit more engaging.