Best Kingsolver, Barbara
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. Barbara Kingsolver is the bestselling author of the novels, The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven, as well as collected essays, High Tide in Tucson.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Evangelical minister takes his family (wife and four daughters) to the Congo on a missionary assignment."
"Colors not seen before...more likely...not noticed."
"The enjoyable aspects of the novel provide the "trials and tribulatrions" of a missionary family's expierence in the Belgium Congo circa 1960 as well as a enlighteniing glimpse of the native Congo culture and life under a long oppressed society at the hands of colonialism and a corrupt native puppet government led by (Mobutu)."
"I read this book, twenty-something years ago, and re-reading it was an entirely new experience."
"Profoundly serious as the story is, the author introduces downright hilarity into it when she speaks in the voice of the oldest daughter, Rachel, who misuses big words and lots of them."
"It was a somber but hopeful book that gives individuals a chance to really contemplate how they are affecting the world around them."
"In Kingsolver's story the contrasts, between the West (U.S.) and central Africa, play out elaborately in the environmental settings, the religions and the socio-political events presented."
"I had not read anything since."
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. Barbara Kingsolver is the bestselling author of the novels, The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven, as well as collected essays, High Tide in Tucson.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Evangelical minister takes his family (wife and four daughters) to the Congo on a missionary assignment."
"Colors not seen before...more likely...not noticed."
"The enjoyable aspects of the novel provide the "trials and tribulatrions" of a missionary family's expierence in the Belgium Congo circa 1960 as well as a enlighteniing glimpse of the native Congo culture and life under a long oppressed society at the hands of colonialism and a corrupt native puppet government led by (Mobutu)."
"I read this book, twenty-something years ago, and re-reading it was an entirely new experience."
"Profoundly serious as the story is, the author introduces downright hilarity into it when she speaks in the voice of the oldest daughter, Rachel, who misuses big words and lots of them."
"It was a somber but hopeful book that gives individuals a chance to really contemplate how they are affecting the world around them."
"In Kingsolver's story the contrasts, between the West (U.S.) and central Africa, play out elaborately in the environmental settings, the religions and the socio-political events presented."
"I had not read anything since."
A selection of stories featuring characters bound by a strong sense of place and the ties of love includes "Blueprints," " Why I Am a Danger to the Public," and "Homeland." Kingsolver's second book--her novel, The Bean Trees ( LJ 2/1/88), won high praise--consists of uniformly affecting short stories, enhanced by real wisdom and generous warmth.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Evangelical minister takes his family (wife and four daughters) to the Congo on a missionary assignment."
"Colors not seen before...more likely...not noticed."
"The enjoyable aspects of the novel provide the "trials and tribulatrions" of a missionary family's expierence in the Belgium Congo circa 1960 as well as a enlighteniing glimpse of the native Congo culture and life under a long oppressed society at the hands of colonialism and a corrupt native puppet government led by (Mobutu)."
"I read this book, twenty-something years ago, and re-reading it was an entirely new experience."
"Profoundly serious as the story is, the author introduces downright hilarity into it when she speaks in the voice of the oldest daughter, Rachel, who misuses big words and lots of them."
"It was a somber but hopeful book that gives individuals a chance to really contemplate how they are affecting the world around them."
"In Kingsolver's story the contrasts, between the West (U.S.) and central Africa, play out elaborately in the environmental settings, the religions and the socio-political events presented."
"I had not read anything since."
Best King, Stephen
Now a major motion picture—Stephen King’s terrifying, classic #1 New York Times bestseller, “a landmark in American literature” ( Chicago Sun-Times )—about seven adults who return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first stumbled on as teenagers…an evil without a name: It . But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them to reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. His novel 11/22/63 —a recent Hulu original television series event—was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller as well as the Best Hardcover Book Award from the International Thriller Writers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"When I was on a school field trip in the seventh grade, I took Stephen King's "IT" with me to read. I'd gotten into reading Stephen King two years before by way of a trip over the previous summer to my uncle's house. He had a collection of Stephen King novels and I'd started reading them with Pet Sematary, which had been adapted to the big screen two years before. In the intervening time, I'd devoured Salem's Lot, Carrie, Firestarter, and Misery, and The Shining. Whereas as a kid I identified with those elements as mapping directly onto my friends and setting, I did it unconsciously. I appreciated how well King encapsulated the distance between childhood and adulthood and all the roads we travel in between. King doesn't use mere words to tell stories, he uses meanings themselves, woven seemingly seamlessly into shades of context and pigments of innuendo and occasionally bright, obvious splashes of unobfuscated emotion that jar you because...hey...in real life that's how it works. And in getting that right, King manages to make the impossible elements like the supernatural nature of IT and the relationship IT has with the town of Derry and the inhabitants there...normal."
"Seven outcasts form a bond in order to defeat It, deeming themselves The Loser’s Club. Thinking they defeated It as children, they lead a life outside of Derry until the murders start happening again. Twenty-seven years later, The Loser’s Club makes their way back to Derry to defeat the evil once and for all. With the way King goes into details, it’s like you are actually in the book right beside the characters as they go through the horrors of every day life of living in Derry. His style definitely works by making you really feel terrified as you read, as if It could actually reach out and grab you at any minute. “…she took her washcloth and leaned over the basin to get some water and the voice came whispering out of the drain: ‘Help me….’”. -Stephen King, It. I loved the way this book was formatted. The book is split up into 5 parts, alternating between childhood and adulthood in the perspective of every member of The Loser’s Club. “Can an entire city be haunted?”. –Stephen King, It. This novel wouldn’t be what it is without the addition of the Derry Interludes at the end of every part. She wasn’t a major part of the storyline; therefore, I really didn’t care to hear about her life. Also I feel the need to mention one specific scene that just did not sit well with me, mainly because the ages of the characters at this point in the novel."
"The characters are memorable and the narration is, as all King's works, quite vivid and engaging; however, it is also quite a long book and feels drawn out at several points. You are going to learn more about the fictional town of Derry than you ever wanted to know, as well as a lot of histories of characters several times removed from the main ones."
Best Karon, Jan
After five hectic years of retirement from Lord’s Chapel, Father Tim Kavanagh returns with his wife, Cynthia, from a so-called pleasure trip to the land of his Irish ancestors. All this as Wanda’s Feel Good Café opens, a romance catches fire through an Internet word game, their former mayor hatches a reelection campaign to throw the bums out, and the weekly Muse poses a probing inquiry: Does Mitford still take care of its own? "Karon knits Mitford's small-town characters and multiple story lines into a cozy sweater of a book.... Somewhere Safe hits the sweet spot at the intersection of your heart and your funny bone. — Cleveland Plain Dealer “Loyal fans of Karon’s Mitford novels and Father Tim will be delighted once again to spend time in this quintessential American village with its leading citizen and his colorful coterie of friends, family, and dependent souls.”. — Booklist "After a long hiatus, Karon has returned with a novel that offers something for those who believe and those who do not. to Karon’s gift for illuminating the struggles that creep into everyday lives—along with a vividly imagined world.” — People --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"`Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good' is the latest and much anticipated continuation of the Mitford series; although one would not necessarily have to have read the previous volumes - you will probably want to. There are instances when the story seems to hop in time and thought, much like our own minds work in reality, but it can be a bit confusing and other than assuming the reader knows what OMC is we are welcomed into this mountain town. One will smile at thoughts like books take you to other peoples' lives and places, but you can still sit in your chair warm and cozy."
"A morsel, then contemplation; like taking a bite of Esther Bolick's orange marmalade cake, set down fork, roll tongue, and salivate. If it's your first time in Mitford, no worries, Jan Karon introduces you to the town's characters, past and present, in this fun and lengthy re-debut. Like all previous Mitford books, "Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good" comes so packed with both old and fresh that it is impossible to describe in a review. Village neighbors `got yur back', don't cha know; each character with realistic human issues transforming text into a genre kaleidoscope of humor, mystery, romance, tragedy, historic . My wife and I married in our mature years, and enjoyed Mitford "A Common Life", alternating chapter reading to each other during our honeymoon."
"I have read and loved all the books in the Mitford series and I was thrilled when I found out that Jan Karon was back with another book in the series."
"I'm a huge fan of Jan Karon's and have read the Mitford Series at least 7 times."
Best Koontz, Dean
Bestselling author Dean Koontz presents his most terrifying, dramatic and moving novel: The explosive story of a man and a woman, caught in a relentless storm of mankind’s darkest creation.…. The books of Dean Koontz are published in 38 languages, and worldwide sales top 400 million copies.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I read many of Koontz's books, but when he started the Odd Thomas series, things just started going bad."
"This book has had THREE movies made with this story as the basis of the movies. The movie does not do the book justice AT ALL and certainly doesn't include the story as it is written! What is worse, the next two remakes of this amazing story got so far from the book's story that the makers should be ashamed naming those two films after this great book. SO, if you see any movie called "Watchers" with a credit to the author Dean Koontz, be aware the films do NOT reflect the true story in the book!"
"There were a few surprise moments that took me off guard and after realizing it, I felt a bit naive, but it reinforced the idea and feeling of suspense that his often found in his writings."
"I was surprised by the oddly dysfunctional, but likable, main characters I could root for, and the author gets extra points for giving me a smart dog to love."
"Every time I read one of Mr. Koontz books, I think it is the best he has written."
"Characterization, backstory, storyline, dialogue, suspense, pacing and love of all creatures (especially those who bark) written in vivid detail without bogging down the reader with unnecessary drivel just to fill the page. Whether you check it out from the library, borrow it from a friend, or put it on your Christmas list you will not regret it."
"I am sure that this will not be my last time reading "Watchers"."
"This book wasn't it, but it was almost as good the second time around."
Best Krentz, Jayne Ann
As Witherspoon's financial empire continues to crumble around them, taking a deadly toll, Julius will help Grace step into her past to uncover a devious plan to destroy not only Grace, but everyone around her. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Grace believes in a positive outlook that is threatened when she discovers her motivational speaker boss murdered. The vodka bottle next to his body thrusts her into memories of when she had to kill to escape another murderer. The characters emotional lives are as much a mystery at the end of the book as the beginning and thus as a reader, I didn't feel a deep connection with them. WORTH MENTIONING: I am a big fan of Jayne Ann Krentz and many of her books are on my all time favorites list. The story was interesting and I enjoyed it, but because the characters and their relationship is not well defined, this is a one time read for me."
"Right, or they have been deceived by other men and there is the usual, you're not beautiful comments hanging over their heads. When Grace Elland finds the body of her boss, while shocked she is even more disturbed to see a Vodka bottle in his room, a bottle she hasn't seen in years and it brings back all the usual memories."
"An old friend fixes her up with on a blind date with venture capitalist Julius Arkwright to take her mind off her troubles, but it seems she can’t get away from Sprague’s death. Worried about her future, Grace asks Julius to help her develop a business plan, and this time, they are united in a common goal, along with trying to solve Sprague’s murder."