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This book is about a wealthy businessman in 1907 who places an ad looking for a “reliable wife.” The woman who answers the ad has a plan to eventually poison the man.
I was intrigued by the plot, however, I found myself to be very bored and unimpressed. Most of the people are very unrealistic and there are a lot of holes. Very depressing, boring and eventually, predictable.

Excellent read. It tell the story of a 40 something year old women, a successful professor, who gets early onset Alzheimer’s. It is told by her point of view and is truly moving and heartbreaking. Made me feel how lost a person with Alzheimer’s truly feels.

A truly touching and gripping book. I could not put it down literally. It is incredibly touching, really made me look at my life and appreciate what I have. I cried several times, although I tried to fight any tears. I have heard this book is being made into a movie, I’m looking forward to it.

This was a very moving and compelling novel. It was chilling at times, but I found myself relating to it quite a bit. Realistic and honest. It explores matricide from all angles making one see the reasons behind it and even finding compassion for the criminal. Growing up in a house with people suffering from mental illnesses will take its toll on those who are sane…in the end, making everyone a victim.

I wanted to read a suspenseful mystery, so I decided to read The Dollmaker. The title itself sounds a bit creepy. The actual book is very creepy at times.
It tells the story of Claire, a middle aged woman whose daughter Ruby was kidnapped seven years ago. One day, she spots a doll in a shop window that looks exactly like her daughter. She gets in an accident which prevents her from going inside the store that day, and she later finds that the doll has gone missing. She’s determined to find that doll, if it could give her a clue about whatever happened to Ruby. She goes to her ex-husband, a private investigator, for help which opens up their turbulent past.
I must say, the story intrigued me. However, I had a hard time getting into the book for a while. There are a lot of little sub plots in this book. I didn’t really like that. But, I did like how the book would sometimes go into the mind of the kidnapper. Those parts were creepy. When I got down to the last 50 pages, I really got into it finally. It was finally starting to pick up pace and excitement. I couldn’t help but feel that in the last scenes of the story, I was reminded of the movie Psycho very much. That’s all I’ll say about that, in order not to spoil the book for anyone.
All in all, an ok read. Creepy and interesting at times, but slow at other times.

I bought this book for my younger sister as a gift and I decided to read it while I still had it. It tells the story of a high school boy, Clay, who receives a package of cassette tapes from a girl who has recently committed suicide. On those tapes, she talks about the 13 reasons why she killed herself. There are 13 people responsible for that, and those are the people who are getting the tapes.
It is a book that you won’t be able to put down once you start reading it. It is a book that should be required in high school. It is a book that high schoolers could very easily relate to, even as adults, our adolescence is never really lost. It is very emotional, chilling, sad, depressing but in the end, hopeful. There are so many emotions that we struggle with inside ourselves, sometimes they are hidden deep inside, this book brings some of those out.

I was looking for something good to read and stumbled upon some reviews of this novel. A lot reviews compared Yates to Updike, who wrote the Rabbit series. It was an excellent read, entertaining yet slow at times. Definitely a classic, but I enjoy Updike’s writing more. It is more intriguing, shocking and beautiful. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Revolutionary Road, which told the story of a couple living in the 1950s in suburbia land and losing themselves to the boring routine of their everyday lives but trying to come out of it, realizing at last that they don’t know who they are…they never really did.
I just found out that they have made a movie based on this novel. It’s coming out this year in December, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates! I’m thrilled, it is a great book and these are all such fine actors.

I literally couldn’t put this book down! It’s chilling, interesting, sad, scary. A masterpiece.

Had to read this one for my Social Problems course. Even though it is interesting and the author makes many good points, I found it somewhat pretentious even though the issue at hand is not pretentious. I find the author to be pretentious, although I sense she tries hard to not be…but somethings you just can’t hide. She “went out there” to live the life of a member of the working poor, but she offered no solutions for the working poor, she contributed very little. All she did was see for herself how bad some people have it. I guess you can say perhaps she increased awareness on the issues at hand, but that is all. But I guess that is a start.

it’s plain and simple, this guy’s brilliant. pure genius. how shall i put it? this book is real heavy true stuff. the kinda stuff that we live around but rarely take the time to acknowledge or ever think about. it was around a year or two ago that i read rabbit run. in rabbit run, i had a disgust, almost a kind of hate for rabbit. he just seemed so selfish, disgusting. but in many ways, he was US. rabbit is who we are as people. in rabbit redux he has just evolved as a person, a bit cynical but actually SOFTER. they say life/experience hardens you, the heart but actually it does just the opposite. makes you soften up.
i have a true appreciation for updike. he puts this world in a light that is so hard to find these days, even though it is right outside our windows everyday.