5 comments about Shutter Island Low Price MTI CD.

1. This was an extremely nice distraction from all the thought-provoking literature I've been reading nowadays.
   
   I think one of the HUGE differences between "literature" and "popular fiction" is the reading level the book is written on. No, I don't think one is better than the other-they both have their place in life. Honestly, popular fiction is usually a much quicker read for me and I'm riveted to my seat to discover what happens next.
   
   But that's the subject of a different (and upcoming) post :)
   
   Set in the 1950's, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane is about a U.S. Marshal, Teddy Daniels, who is called to a criminal psychiatric hospital to search for an escaped patient, a woman who murdered her children.
   
   This is my first introduction to Lehane's work-I've not read or seen his best known work, Mystic River-and I enjoyed it.
   
   In Shutter Island, the point of view placed you over Teddy's shoulder. This is probably my favorite point-of-view for a story-it's also one of the most used for the advantages it gives. For this novel, it was key-you see the story's reality through the eyes of the character. Any other character's point of view would have given you a completely different story and not had the effect that Lehane was looking for.
   
   If I was going to suggest a few of the best examples of the use of this particular point-of-view, this novel would definitely be on the list.
   
   The story works and works well, however I will admit that the ending wasn't a huge surprise. No, I didn't see it coming, but I also didn't try to figure out (most of) the clues when they were given.
   
   That's fine with me-when the ending was finally revealed, I was definitely engaged with the characters and, by that time, surprise wasn't an issue. I could swear that I've seen this entire story done before in a different way-ending and all-so, for me, it doesn't have that completely "unique" feel to it. And that's ok too.
   
   Sometimes it's nice to sit back and just be led down the story by the author rather than to try to figure out what the author was doing. Suspense is nice-the reader should always WANT to know what's going on. Adding clues the reader can figure out is fun as well, but you want to be careful about revealing too much through those clues. I've read a few reviews of this novel that say the ending was obvious-I think those readers figured out the clues before the author actually wanted them to.
   
   So, for a quick and fun read, this was a really good book. I've heard there's a movie out based on the book with Leonardo DiCaprio and a few other stars directed by Martin Scoresce. I think I'll pass on the movie. While yeah, it might be entertaining, I don't feel the need to see it performed on the screen.



2. I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie... and I am so glad I did. I love this style of writing, and this was my first Lehane book. I am hooked. Wow. Some were disappointed in the ending, but I thought it was perfect. Kept me turning page after page. Ready for my next one...



3. The worst thing I did was start reading Shutter Island. It was supposed to be a weekend of intense work, instead it became an Lehane obsession. I couldn't put the book down. I read it cover to cover in one day. It had a mix of everything I loved in suspense novels. I suspected the ending earlier as he dropped one or two clues, but when it hit I was like "no! no! no!". I still think about that book and shake my head. Loved it!



4. Thankfully I decided to read this book before I watched the movie that had been somewhat recently released. Shutter Island by in far reminds me very much of another book I'd read a long while back, called The Magus by Fowles, which is another excellent book that should be read by pretty much everyone.
   I finished Shutter Isl in just about two days and it was a fantastic page turner, as usual the movie is a sickly phantom of the book, a crib note to the story proper. This has been my first Lehane book but certainly not my last, and if you still can, read this book before you see the movie, you'll thank yourself later.
   imo a fun and visceral must read.
   (reviewed on Kindle)



5. Product received promptly and in good condition. Very good seller. Would do business with again.

No comments about Deliver Us from Evil.

5 comments about A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61).

1. I have read many books about the ego and how one needs to let go of it for inner peace and to awaken to one's inner consciousness. A New Earth, for me, really expressed this concept in an easy to understand and graspable way. Even though many of the concepts discussed were not "new", they were expressed in such a way that i finally understand them on a deeper level where I can incorporate them into my daily life. This was a great read for me at this point in my life and it may be for many others as well.



2. Just get it! Read one page, read two pages at a time, just do it! It is life changing. I have bought copies for friends and family too. What Eckhart Tolle's words can do for your life, your view of things forever after you read it is what is life changing. He makes perfect sense in this world. A New Earth is ours, one person at a time. Bless you Eckhart Tolle and what you have given me and so many!



3. Eckhart Tolle has changed my life. A New Earth is very powerful and informative. It shows you a whole new way of looking at situations in life and a new way of living. Hopefully, enough of us are starting to live more consciously to save this planet.



4. Eckhart hits the old nail on the head, ego that is! Yet, I would assert that there lies a far deeper level of consciousness, that of the Unconscious that was investigated and systemized by Carl G. Jung in his work in depth psychology. Eckhart simplifies the matter yet gives you a practical means of understanding the mind. Jung on the other hand, posits absorbing mental chatter and integrating it into one's awareness. So, here's the question for me: Can you really stop unconsciousnes from erupting into the mind?



5. This book is truly eye opening and inspiring! As I write this I'm almost finished my second reading, that's how much it has touched me. Not long ago a friend recommened it to me to read after sharing with her how empty and unfulfilled I had felt in my own life of late. Now I feel renewed and reinvigorated with a better sense of who I am as a person. Anyone who also desires a better sense of identity and belonging in their lives will gain a greater perspective of that after reading this message. And they will accomplish that by living more consciously, in the present moment, free of the fear and distraction imposed on them by a culture more consumed by the disease of ego, which, in itself, is a false sense of self anyway. In essence, a mask we all wear for the sake of appearance, blinding ourselves and each other to who we really are underneath.
   
   Nevertheless, I truly have a greater awareness in me that has been lacking for a long time. A wakefulness which lifts the spirit. And Tolle does so by planting the reader squarely in the present moment, freeing them of their obsession with the past and their anxiety over the future. Truly liberating them to simply just be. I applaud Eckhart Tolle for an insightful and liberating work. And I sincerely recommend it to anyone who's interested in a copy of their own.
   
   Reflections on a Journey: The Collective Works of a Poet Storyteller

5 comments about The Silent Sea (The Oregon Files).

1. Out of the Fargo, Dirk Pitt Jr., Kurt Austin, Issac Bell, and Oregon series, the Oregon series is without a doubt my favorite. This is most likely due to Jack DuBrul being the primary writer of this series. I really like the makeup of the Corporation and the black ops they undertake.
   
   I truly hope he brings back Philip Mercer some day!



2. I probably would have rated the book as 4 stars but I increased it to 5 to do my small part to offset the Kindle selfish crybabies. The Silent Sea has tons of action, its believable and a complete ending.



3. I enjoyed the book very much. If you like action adventure books this is a very good one.
   
   I agree with most people here about the price complaints. There are discussion boards for those types of complaints.
   
   I rarely give five stars. I am going to follow another reviewer's lead and give it five because of the unfair weighting due to the pricing raters. I would have been a four star from me.



4. I was at McCarran airport, in Las Vegas, and this book was thirty dollars! Thank goodness for my Kindle. I only paid nine ninety-nine.



5. This is the seventh installment of the Oregon Files series by Clive Cussler. The series started out as a spin off of characters created in one volume of the Dirk Pitt series, also by Cussler. The characters turned out to be a perfect base on which to launch another successful series of books. To date, I have enjoyed every installment of the Oregon Files series. And The Silent Sea is no exception.
   
   The story starts on a family owned island off the west coast of the United States. For generations, the family members have struggled to reach bottom of a flooded shaft at the center of the island. At the bottom of which is believed to be an abandoned pirates treasure. But while the young men of the family line have struggled for generations to reach the bottom, none have yet discovered its secrets.
   
   How the story spins from the small family owned island of North America to the jungles of Argentina and an ice covered base in Antarctica is something that must be experienced in order to be believed. The story unfolds at an accelerated pace taking the characters on a series of twists and turns that ultimately lead not only the hidden secrets of the family owned island but the discovery of a lost ancient Chinese expedition and a deadly disease.
   
   I'm a big fan of Cussler's work. After dozens of compelling and entertaining adventure stories, he continues to release creative and original works that center around powerful and captivating characters. The Silent Sea is yet another great example of his work.

5 comments about Fantasy in Death.

1. J. D. Robb has done it. Great mystery staged in 2060. Eve Dallas and her husband, Roark interacting with her NYPD team to solve this murder mystery. Best one yet in the series.



2. I have been reading JD Robb books for several years now. Each and every one of them has been excellent and better than the one before.



3. The very first book in this series had some plot weaknesses but well defined characters and an interesting World. I've read all the rest since then and I've become a fan. This book, unfortunately, is the weakest since the very first. I find it strange that J. D. Robb, in her alter ego as Nora Roberts is one of the World's most highly read romance authors, because relationships, frankly (at least in this book) are not her strong point. The dialogue is witty and dead on, except when her characters talk of their emotions, when it becomes sappy, over-wrought and generally unbelievable. Roarke and Eve's frequent, passionate declarations of love make me wince, and their several obligatory sex scenes were boring. In addition, the plot in this one depends upon a deus ex machina device that was predictable early on but not at all believable. I get the feeling that the author was working on a deadline and rushed this one through. Let's hope that she works a little harder on the next one.



4. I enjoy this series of books that JD Robb writes and look forward to the next one that will be issued.



5. I love J.D. Robb's books for the most part. But every now and again she writes a real dud and this was one of those times. It was boring, the murder merely rehashed over and over. And never mind having to suspend belief ~ no matter how hard I tried to swallow the fuzzy explanation for what had happened I just couldn't do it. And Eve as an electronics whiz? I don't think so. Read it if you must, but don't pay hardcover.

5 comments about The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity.

1. I am sorry - other reviews are so glowing - but I hated this book - and cannot believe I finished reading it - I should have stopped midway throught when it started to annoy me.
   Annoying - is the best thing I can say about it - I thought most of it was drivel - and I was thoroughly and most definitely depressed when i turned the final pages.



2. This book is amazing! So insightful...really makes you think. Although some of the chapters, events, statements may not totally agree with your religious doctrines, the goal of the book is this: GOD IS LOVE. What better message? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will read it again and again for inspiration, hope and faith. I recommned it to every one I know.



3. This is such a well written and thought provoking novel. I enjoyed every second of it and it made me think long and hard about God and what kind of man made rituals and concepts are just installed in us while growing up. I think everyone should read this book once.



4. I received this book as a Christmas gift in 2008. The guy who gave it to me was moved deeply by it. It sat on my bookshelf for quite a while until I picked it up. It took me a while to do so because I thought it would be just an ordinary fictionalized account of a christian guy's struggle with tragedy. While it was just that, the writer does a good job conveying the message that God truly does work in "mysterious ways." Is that a convenient way to deal with tragedy and to seek false comfort? Maybe, maybe not. But what's for sure is that faith in a higher power surely provides a perspective that helps ease the pains of life. Why did the daughter have to die, and so tragically?? Why does anyone have to die? At the end of our questions, we find God in whom/which we can place our questions and look to for hope and strength. That's what this book is about. Finding hope and transformation/restoration through tragedy.



5. After reading The Shack, I certainly had alot to think about. This book gives the reader another view on forgiving one self for past mistakes, and forgiving other. The book drew me in from the very beginning, I even read the preface , which I rarely do, and I glad I did, because I would have missed some very important points of the book. I enjoyed it so much I purchased several other copies for family and friends to read.

5 comments about Split Image (Jesse Stone).

1. I read this book after inquiring what to read after finishing Robin Hobb's trilogies (Farseer, Liveship Traders, and the Tawny Man.)
   
   This is a different style of book, which may be why I did not like it, but I was told that the relationship between the main characters was delightful and worth it.
   
   Well, most of the book consisted of dialogue, the characters were slightly interesting, I felt no connection between Jesse and Sunny, and the ending was unsurprising and elicited absolutely no emotion in me whatsoever. I was glad when the book was over and glad that I did not purchase the book but borrowed it from the library.
   
   On the good side: it was a very quick read, so it didn't waste too much of my time.
   
   Still trying to find books as good as Robin Hobb's.



2. Typical Parker with his quick wit. Not his greatest but hardly a throwaway !



3. 
   The Jesse Stone novels are always a good read. This one isn't as good as most but is still a good story. At last he seems to be rid of that irritating relationship with his ex-wife.



4. Robert Parker was one of my favorite authors. Split Image was another great read.
   I will miss Robert Parkers books, hope Tom Sellek will make a tv movie out of this.



5. Heard Robert Parker was a good mystery writer. This was my first book of his. He may have been skilled earlier in his career but this one was done strictly for the bucks. Thin plot, weak characters, lots of white space, large font size. My first and last Parker novel. Sorry he passed away but this was a big zero.

5 comments about The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the last of the series. Because of the author's death, we will not see any more books, and it is impossible to read this novel and not feel that there was more left to say about these characters, and this spectacular heroine. However, I will say that he wraps up all the major plot threads. I was less than compelled by a couple of the subplots in this book, and I became a little weary of how sexually irresistible the male protagonist supposedly is. However, the courtroom climax is tremendous. While my least favorite of the three, I read this conclusion as compulsively as I read the other two. Truly, a compelling series. And, atypically for most thrillers of this type, quite feminist!



2. I just finished the 3rd book of the trilogy and wish there were more but unfortunately I will just have to wait a while and the read the books again. My dear husband picked it up at the English bookstore in Paris for me. Nice surprise. Friends and family are arguing over who gets it next!!!



3. I thought that the first book in this series the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was a mediocre serial killer mystery, the second book "the Girl who played with Fire" a heart stopping/edge of your chair action thriller, and "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" a better written version of The Firm". Together all three parts add up to make a top-notch trilogy. Stieg Larsson stays true to his character. At this time there is no cure for autism, and Salander, the central female character remains a unique blend of brain, brawn and social ineptitude. In the Girl Who kicked the Hornest Nest we find Salander in the hospital recovering from the severe injuries she received at the end of book two. Certainly down but never to be counted out, she fights back this time with more brain-power, then brawn. Until the last few pages......
   
   Mikael Blomkvist is an excellent journalist who will follow a story with the tenacity of a dog with a bone, he is oblivious to the impact he has on the opposite sex, and makes a better friend than lover.
   
   Many of the wonderful character from book two such as Detectives Bublanski and Modig are back. Berger takes a job as an administrator at a large newspaper and finds she has a stalker on her trail. We are also introduced to a secret organization within the security branch who will do anything to make sure that their illegal actions are not revealed.
   
   During the last 100 we are taken to court, where Salander with the help of her friends will try and defend herself against the trumped up charges against her, and try to keep herself out of a psychiatric ward.
   
   I had been a little concerned that perhaps this third book would have a lot of loose ends which obviously now cannot be tied up. Not the case. Not to give anything away, but those looking for poetic justice will not be disappointed. The last page actually brought tears to my eyes, as in my opinion the author got it so right. Even though I thought book one the weak link, I suggest reading them as close together as you can, so that you do not forget any of the characters. Highly recommended



4. The final installment in Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy is a book I wanted so badly I ordered it from amazon.uk, and wanted to prolong so badly I read it slowly, savoring each page. The compelling story of Mikael Blomquist and Lisbeth Salander concludes with this satisfactory resolution, but the knowledge that Larsson's premature death precluded further examination into corruption in high places makes reading the final page a bitter/sweet experience. The three hefty novels really tell one story, but the focus is weighted more heavily on different characters in each instance. This final one does make for a bit more technical and political investigation than the previous two, but the fact that Larsson was himself an investigative reporter only adds to the immediacy of the material. Highly recommended (but be sure to read the first two if you haven't already done so).



5. The Millennium Trilogy is an incredibly good read - the type you can't put down for any reason - to eat dinner, to go to sleep, to get off the bus... trust me. It's like literary crack cocaine. Totally addictive.
   
   In the final part of the trilogy, the cover up of Lisbeth Salander's past knows no bounds - it goes up into the Swedish secret police and beyond, and the powers that be want her locked away for good. Her friend and one-time lover Mikael Blomqvist must do what he does best, which is to ferret out the truth, in order to save her from the fate of her ongoing victimisation.
   
   It's been said before that Lisbeth is an original heroine, and it's completely true. She's unique and fascinating and it makes the story unpredictable and enthralling. It's a great read, and one of the best I've had in a long time.
   
   For more:(...)

5 comments about UR.

1. I love to hook my cd player up to portable speakers and have it in the kitchen while I cook. Or up load to my iPod and laid down and chill.



2. As only the master himself could, Stephen King does it again and strikes fear of the everyday into our hearts. Reading this on a Kindle (and writing the review on one as well) becomes VERY disturbing as this modern retelling of the classic "The Monkey's Paw" unfolds. Another great addition for those following the ka-tet of nineteen as well.



3. This audio book was very entertaining. It was creative and very typical of King's other works. I also like the fact that it ties in with the Dark Tower.



4. It was a waste of money! I can't believe that I listened to the entire book waiting for it to get better and it didn't.



5. After Colorado Kid I swore that I'd never buy Stephen King again. Well, I gave it one more try and I'm left feeling cheated again. King must adore his Kindle and wrote this tale as a love letter. The hero, a dweeby college professsor named Wesley buys a Kindle and it comes, not from our Amazon but from an alternate universe. In that alternate existence Hemmingway didn't blow his depressive head off and wrote several more books, Poe didn't die in Baltimore, Shakespeare wrote a bunch more plays, Hilary wins, Kennedy lived, Ringo didn't become a Beatle, MLK didn't die, and the Russians decided to go for it and nuked New York.
   
   After all this, King finally gets the heart of the story. The Kindle has an news archive that has past news and FUTURE news. Wes decides to prevent a tragedy from happening and he gets too close to the Dark Tower. Yes, the Tower and the low men in yellow coats come out to play.
   
   The good part about this story is King's portrayal of side characters, Don and Robbie. I cared about both, especially the college boy, Robbie. The bad is how King can't help but let his politics intrude on the story. He bored me when he should have been entertaining me. I was left thinking, 'Okay, okay, we know how you vote. This CD's half over, when is the monster going to come out of the closet?' There's more bad. We've seen this tale before. How many times did Kirk alter the space/time continuum in Star Trek? How many times did it happen in Outer Limits and even Fantasy Island? There was also a little superior story called WordProcessor of the Gods. And for completely changing the fate of possibly whole worlds, Wesley pays a very small price. It's such a weak conclusion that it makes the whole story pointless. King has done this before in his latter years. He gives a nice build up and bails out on the ending. I'm going to have to read "It" again to remind myself that King was once capable of telling a terrifying tale and keeping it interesting from begining to end because he sure can't do that now. Don't waste your time or money.

5 comments about The Help.

1. I absolutely fell in love with this book. The characters were true & believable, with the richness of a fine dessert. The voices of Aibileen, Minny & Miss Skeeter jumped off the pages and into my ears, making me feel as though I was there with them. This is one of my all-time favorite books!



2. I absolutely loved this book. It grasped me and did not let go for 450+ pages. I thought it was very well done in catching the small nuances in southern families both Southern white families and the African American families that provides support to them. Very enriching and I can't believe this is the author's first book. I hope she continues to write because she has a gift and I look forward to any of her future books.



3. It was a wonderful moving story. Great for book club discussion. Can't wait for the movie!



4. Great story...not perfect. But days after finishing I couldn't get some of the characters out of my mind...always the sign of an effective book....



5. I certainly had my gripes along the way, like the audacity of this woman writing in those black voices but hey, it was a great read and a great read is a treasure. The Help was for me one of those mysteriously riveting books that I actually did not want to like but could not help loving.