Susan SwanCríticas

I'll be honest: I read this book but I am not sure exactly what to make of it. It's a collection of short pieces about women and their relationships with men-- with their boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, husbands, acquaintances, one night stands, random strangers, etc. The first half of the book contains short stories in a more traditional format while the second half, titled "Cyber Tales", is a collection of internet postings by famous historical women (Aphrodite, Marilyn Monroe, Catherine the Great, etc.) in a chat room where they discuss their love lives. I love the idea of the "Cyber Tales", it's incredibly imaginative and I liked this section better than the first half of the book. As for the stories themselves, I found them sometimes funny, sometimes quirky though I felt some of them went over my head or I had trouble relating. I have a sneaking suspicion I'd enjoy this book a lot more if I was older and had more life experience.

I picked up this book because I am absolutely in love with the movie Lost and Delirious, which is based on this book. The book is so different from the movie... they're both creepy, but this book just blew me away.

I really liked this book. I was glad I was forced to read it in University.
It was good. It has topics in it that most people never want to think about let alone openly read about. It was perfect.
I was also pretty heartbroken when JFK died. I got so attached to the characters and the time period it was written in.

This is the story of a 12-year-old girl (Mary) growing up in rural Ontario. Her father is the town doctor who works far too much to have much time for her. She is being raised by her aunt Louie and her father's former nurse, Sal. John Pilkie, a former NHL star judged criminally insane after the death of his wife and baby, comes to stay at the local mental institution. Mary's relationship with John at this formative time in her life is what drives the story.

This is a comfortable read in the sense that the setting is recognizably Canadian and the story includes the Leafs/Canadiens rivalry and a long, cold winter. Well written. Good, not great.

This should be read by every high school student. A great coming-of-age novel which shows the confusion of what goes on inside a 12-year-old girl's head.

Page 307:
Now it's time for me to get to the part of my story where I learn what I needed to learn all along: most of the truths we seek lie in the extremes and although we have to travel to that rugged place to feel them in our bones, the extremes are no place to live. (...) I write a three-page letter to Big Louie explaining that I will soon be a teenager so I'm changing my name to M.B. Bradford. My grandmother phones me immediately.
"Congratulations, Mouse. You're about to reach the age of aching," Big Louie says. "Let's hope your aching doesn't last very long."

Catchy story about quirky students at a girl's boarding school, with some weird plot twists. The main character has a polio "hump" that she names Alice, she thinks JFK is her surrogate father, her roommate wants a sex change, and she gets caught up in an erotic cult that worships King Kong! The gender issues and paths to self-discovery are novell for a coming of age story but it is a little too whacky at times.

Z loved it and it did wonders for his independent reading confidence to be able to read a story that the has experienced through read zooids in more difficult text.

Not my usual reading fare, and not really my cup of tea, either. This book is well crafted, though, and I very much enjoyed both of the protagonists--present-day Luce, and her ancestor Asked For. The book got a little tedious at times, and it felt bogged down because it was going in so many directions. But it's a solid story, with interesting twists and turns, and likable narrators.

I received a copy of this from the Goodreads First Reads program.

I don't know what I expected from this book, but what that was is not what I got. I immediately noticed that the book was originally published in 2005 and this worried me a little. Then I noticed that several Canadian newspapers rated it rather highly, so I curled up on the sofa with cup of tea at hand and read...and read.

I was fortunate that it was a week end as I did not want to put the book down. I wouldn't call it an edge-of-your-seat-page-turner, but my interest in the protagonist - Luce and her ancestor - Asked For (yes, that is her name) parallel lives in Venice and Greece never waned. Armed with her ancestor's journal Luce reluctantly navigates through the Mediterranean with her late mother's partner. Asked For's writings serve Luce as both a therapeutic tool to cope with her mother's death, and and a means of encouragement in finding a partner worthy of her love.

Swan elegantly intertwines Luce's and Asked For's stories in ways that render even the blustering Lee Pronski likable. For his part, Casanova is quite simply a conduit for all of these women to realise their potential and who they really are.

As it turns out, I am quite pleased to have a read a 7 year old book that I had never heard of.

I love this book. It's a great introduction of some basic ancient Egyptian knowledge, particularly about mummies, on a level that younger kids can understand easily. Definitely worth a read through.

Truly inspiring stories of a collective of moms who produced "MOMZ Radio" back. These are transcripts of conversations. Very interesting.

Well written. Hits you where it counts. Beautiful.

http://www.booksforkids-reviews.com/2008/03/snake-hair-story-of-medusa.html

Love this book. I've read to boys and girls and they sit awestruck and silent. (When I get a chance I'll copy the review to LT)

Cause & Effect