Free books: Fiction
The Middlesteins (2012)
This is Franzen's _The Corrections_ with Jews and food. I enjoyed parts of the book--nice eye for details, good sense of plot management with intriguing flashbacks and flash forwards. Yet, the characters are just miserable people who you really rather hate for their flaws. Petty, miserable, inse...
Loving Adam (2000)
Genova offers a unique perspective of a writer AND neuroscientist. This is a work of fiction and all her books deal with the emotions involved with families who struggle with a neurological disorder of some kind, and Love Anthony is no different. Her characters seem very real and the depths of ...
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2012)
Despite what it says on the cover, this book is not the 'Catch-22 of the Iraq War'. But that's ok. There are dozens of books that are similarly doomed to end up less appreciated than they ought to be because some hack over-reached in praise.That said, if the Catch-22 of the Iraq War/War on Terror...
A Confissão da Parteira (2013)
I feel I'm a bit generous to give this book 4 stars, probably 3 1/2 would be more accurate, but it was very readable and enjoyable, and I wanted to turn each page to see what would happen. The plot was good and full of twists and turns. Unfortunately I found the characters shallow which let the...
Midwife's Confession (2011)
what a book. The characters are so well written and complex that you tend to forget that their fictional, and what a plot! Diane Chamberlain knows how to tug on your emotions and make you think about the issue at hand, her writing of this novel is very reminiscent of a Jodi Piccoult novel. Both ...
The Midwifes Confession (2000)
If you read this book, you have to be willing to suspend belief a little bit, especially towards the last 1/4 of the book. However, with that being said, I really really liked this book. The reason for only 4 stars is because it took me quite a few chapters to really get invested in the story, to...
The Forgotten (2012)
Whizzed through this audio book - liked it and all the characters - even the bad guys and gals. Am a fan of David Baldacci's writing which I find smooth and clear. The action built up and kept my interest.Had to look back through my read books list and discovered I had read the first John Puller ...
Every Last One (2010)
*ARC copy obtained in 2010* So, when I sat down to FINALLY read this the other day, I had just finished reading a family crime drama and, for some reason, was expecting the same from this. Turns out, "Every Last One" is NOT a crime drama but instead an exploration of a mother's love for her fam...
We Are Water (2013)
This is my first Wally Lamb book and at times I liked it but at others, I didn't. He provides in-depth character development of the core characters (Orion Oh, Annie Oh and their three children). Each character has their own personal demons to deal with (Orion never knowing his father, Annie deali...
The Burgess Boys (2013)
For what it was--the story of three siblings in the throes of their respective mid-life crises, it was okay. I never felt particularly invested in any of them, and didn't find their family dynamics compelling. I wanted to read the book because it was reviewed on public radio as well received by t...
Secret Daughter (2010)
WONDERFUL book!!!! Exquisite prose! Great exploration of the tensions and ties between daughters and mothers and grandmothers and in-laws and cousins. Delved into the dynamics of infertility and adoption and giving up a child. Frosted it with the challenges of an intercultural marriage. This ...
The Dinner (2009)
I couldn't decide between 3 and 4 stars, and then I read some of the negative reviews here, with which I agreed on many points, so settled on 3. The subject matter -- how far would you go to protect your child from the consequences of his own actions -- has been done before. Defending Jacob, Befo...
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2012)
I gave this a 4-star rating but maybe it was a 3.75. I did thoroughly enjoy the story and think I caught on to the son situation pretty early on but was hoping it wasn't true. I'm glad it had a sweet ending. Harold's journey was a lesson in not judging and his insight into his thoughts and fee...
De kunst van het veldspel (2011)
This book intrigued me at first. The subjects of baseball and small colleges are not ones that would normally pique my interest, but for some reason they did in this case. As the book went on the initial stories didn't seem to play out as interestingly as I thought they would. I found it diffi...
L’Elégance du Hérisson (2000)
This is one of the most thoughtful books I have ever read, at the top with some of Coelho's works. Books like these are why we read; it is one that I will visit year after year and that which has shaped a lot of my own current life views. A social satire, its very intelligent writing, subtle sarc...