For 3 days this book was my "go to happy place". I couldnt wait to get into bed and devour page after page.

The story revolves around the main character, Poppy, who is engaged to a wealthy scholar. Poppy has her phone stolen and luckily finds another. She then ends up sharing a phone with the phone's owner, a businessman that is also engaged (actually its his secretary's phone, who resigned and dumped the phone). Through the course of the book there are many calamities (as one would expect) and the two get to know each other better through text messages and emails mostly... we all know exactly where this is going...

The same story we're heard a million times, wrapped up in new paper. I still never get tired of it and I'm sure you wont either. I highly recommend this book.

I found this novel to be very similar to the Mauve Binchey style. Think little old ladies. Anyway its refreshing to have a new author on the block.

The Mill River Recluse follows the life of Mary who marries into a very wealthy family. She is afflicted by severe shyness and struggles to form relationships with people and to even leave the house. The story flits between her death (at the beginning, so this isnt a spoiler) and her life from her courtship with her husband in her late teens. It centers around her one and only relationship with the town priest (who has his own weakness for stealing teaspoons) and the lives of the current Mill River residents.

The book flows gently but keeps your interest. It isnt "action packed" but is easily readable and not too challenging. A great book to curl up with at night.

I recommend this read.

So this book has it all:
1) Ugly duckling
2) Sex (lots of it)
3) the villian
4) the girl
5) intrige and suspense
6) drama
7) self-help
8) a potential happy ending

all rolled into one nice neat literature burrito for your reading pleasure. Stuff Hollywood movies are made of...

The story both captivated and disgusted me. I found these totally insecure men feel the need to constantly validate themselves by picking up women by playing on their own (the women's) insecurities.

Anyway I'll let you make up your mind about how you feel about the content of the book, but basically its exceptionally well written, easy to follow and brutally honest.

I do recommend this book, but its not for the sensitive reader.

Wow!

The best way for me to describe this book is that it stands out in my memory as having 3 "phases". The first phase being happy and sunny. Jeannette and her family at this point living a very care-free nomadic lifestyle of "dreamers". After a while I found it a little repeatitive and I almost gave up.

I'm so glad I didn't.

Phase 2 turns dark. The Walls' move to a town where things take a turn for the worse. You find yourself rooting for the Walls' kids (vs. their alcoholic father and their apathetic mother) all the way to the end.

I'm not going to go into the Third Phase at risk of releasing spoilers...

I can highly recommend the read and advise that if you, like me, are tempted to give up because you're finding it a little tedious in the middle, persevere! It's worth it in the end!

(Already I'm cringing from all the "no"s I expect people to hit at the bottom of this page but...)

The thing with this book is that it is hard to separate the CONTENT from the NARRATIVE. Greg single-handedly went our and changed rural Pakistan which is more than most of us will achieve in our lifetimes, and that is amazing etc etc etc... For that the content gets a 5 star.

However, the book I found very difficult to read, and shamefully, I didnt finish it (I read about 80%). It's written by a journalist who admits freely that he has lost his objectivity, so Greg is somewhat put on a pedestal. At the same time, a continued "He hates giving speeches to talk about himself" element is thrown in, yet an entire book is dedicated to him.

The narrative is very detailed and "illustrative" often describing the wind, and the dramatic colours and landscapes etc etc, which as a non-fiction piece is unusual.

In general, I found it difficult to read knowing the book was written by David "as" Greg. Just odd. Also I found the story gets a little repetitive, constant trips back and forth between Pakistan and America. A lack of a glossary and the repeated use of words in Urdu and Pashto was frustrating, as one tends to forget a few pages on, what certain words mean.

I guess it didnt help that I had read so many fantastic reviews and I had such high hopes.

To be clear: the two stars goes to the narrative... and how I felt the book was conveyed.

I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

The past few Grisham novels I have found dissapointing. Some, even, I havent finished. I'm pleased to report that I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!! It was one of those that kept me reading until 3am. It is a fast-paced novel, packed with suspense and action guarenteed to keep you awake at night!

The story revolves around an innocent man on death row in Texas and a reverend, lawyer and the guilty man's attempts to redeem him in the final hours of his life.

Well done John Grisham another riveting read!

This book was a great dissapointment to me.

I am an enormous Torey Hayden fan and have read ALL of her other books, which I usually devour in a matter of hours.

I cant put my finger on what it was that I didnt like about the story but the style is not the same, and it certainly wasnt as interesting as her previous books.

I do not recommend this book.

This book was OK, not spectacular but not a book you want to abandon either.

It's about migrant workers who initially begin work in strawberry fields in England. A variety of mishaps cause the 'team' to diverge and they take on their own adventures.

It is written from the perspective of all of the characters (including the dog), which I actually enjoyed, as each character had its own style.

Effectively it is a love story but this is not over-bearing.

I'm not going to highly recommend this read, but it is readable.

Wow! Simply put: this book is great.

I generally enjoy non-fiction and this book didnt dissapoint. It is the story of a drug smuggler who gets caught and finds himself living in a Bolivian prison. The prison is nothing like one would expect a prison to be which is the crux of the book's charisma.

It is written very simply, which makes it easy to read and understand. The detail given in the book is sufficient to garner decent imagery of what life was like in the prison.

I found this book very enjoyable and recommend this highly.

I have to be honest, I'm not one for fantasy or sci-fi stories or anything that is too unrealistic. I began this book with a bit of trepidation and what didnt help was that it gets off to a bit of a slow start. However I persevered and after about 30 pages was hooked.

It is poetic and has a brilliant gentle 'flow' about it. It has a several twists at the end which adds to the intrigue.

The story is about twins who move into their haunted aunt's apartment in London and follows their lives, and the lives of the (living and supernatural) residents in the block of apartments. It also includes details about the Highgate cemetary, which I found interesting and has a lot of value-add to the book.

I highly recommend the read, for those open-minded individuals.