Body Surfing by Anita Shreve

Uh.........didn't really like it and DEFINITELY not one of my favs of Anita Shreve, it would in fact be very near to the bottom. I didn't like the writing style, didn't find the book credible or believable.

I did read the whole thing, and she still is a gifted writer, I just did not like the style (or a lot of the substance, for that matter)

Madonnas of Leningrad

Mostly, I liked this very much, although there is a lot of content of art (of which I know nothing) and a lot of endless suffering, which ordinarly I don't like. However, the context is interesting (Russia, WWII) and the way that she weaves past and present, and tries to present through the eyes of a person with progressing Alzheimers was beautifully done, and I really admired that.

Worth reading.

Thumbs down for me

Too much torture, too much violence, too much drama, too many miraculous escapes from execution.............. too much sex, too much violent sex........ and so on.

Not my thing, but I think I am in the minoity, most people I meet absolutly LOVE this series, so you will have to read it for yourself and decide!

Peony in Love

Wow.

TOTALLY different than the other two "See" novels I have read: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Dragon Bones.

There is nothing I can describe that wouldn't be a spoiler, except that the setting in China is a place that Sherlocks and Mom and Dad toured.

It is a very different novel. Get out there and borrow this one so we can all discuss it! It's hardcover, not sure I would recommend you buy it.... dust off your library card, or get my mom's copy, we are waiting to hear more opinions!

J

We are all Welcome Here

I enjoyed this book very much. The story is about a woman who gives birth in an iron lung and then raises the child although paralyzed from the neck down, and while it is fiction, it is based on a real person.

Very engaging, nicely written and an easy read. I liked it.

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Wow. I will need other's opinions to discuss this one.

Since it won a Booker prize, I guess it is redundant to say that the writing is very good, but it is. Very readable, and I found that the characters captured me right from the start. It is a sad novel, and "The Inheritance of Loss" works for me as a title very well, it captures the theme of this book, so many losses, so many consequences of losing, or being born into a "loss" situation

This book is set in the Himalyan mountains, and at the time of the story it was India (From what I could tell). It was very well described, but I sure could have used a map and maybe a bit of a history synopsis, I'm not sure I really "got" all that was intended with the various rebellions and territory changes. I read this in hospital, so my concentration was not ideal, I think I missed some of the points, and I especially missed whatever was within the novel that would have helped me to accept the ending. I found I totally missed whatever resolution there was and it is also possible that that was intentional, that resolution was not a part of the story.

Am very interested in others' opinions, I think that this was a "Molly" recommend book. I'm glad I read it, and would like to hear from someone else who has.

J