jenbsbooks's Reviews (2.41k)

Hard to rate this ... did I "enjoy" it? No. Appreciate it? Yes. While apocalyptic reads are in my wheelhouse, this one wasn't really on my list. Too "classic" perhaps?  I've definitely heard of this author, this book, made into a movie (which also didn't call to me, just looked too depressing). No Country For Old Men (also by this author),  is Hub's go-to movie. My son (#4) has recently taken up reading/audiobooks (yeah!) and I saw this on his currently reading list. Not sure what his inspiration was to pick it up, but I figured I'd give it a read (Hubs said it is on his list) and then we could possibly discuss it.

I feel like if I really delved into the book, examined it, dissected it  ... for English class, or even bookclub, that I'd appreciate it more. Just a quick read for enjoyment ... well, there's just not much enjoyment here. I'm the first to admit, I'm totally the mom in this scenario. Why try to survive, and struggle and suffer? Why? Is there such shame in a quick, easy, painless out? Throughout the movie, as it ends ... I was never convinced otherwise. For the Man, for the Boy, for anyone else on the road. In this book/movie and so many others. 

I went with the audiobook, which is a different experience than reading in print. In print, the lack of quotations, of credit (who is talking), is SO obvious. Less so in the well done narration, where it isn't missed, as the narrator has a different voice for the man, the boy, others. Kudos.  Going with the audio, I would stop and repeat unique words, profound statements ... things that I would have stopped to highlight, note, look up, if I had been reading myself. I had a Kindle copy to look through as/after I listened. 

I watched the movie after I finished the book ... some differences of course, some statements directly from the text, it captured much of what happened. What did happen? This was a tedious journey, with little/no real redemption or hope.  It was interesting listening to the audiobook before watching the movie, but having seen a preview and thinking the "voice" of the Man didn't seem to match Viggo Mortenson. 

So, I am glad I got the little push to read this. It's not one I'll think on fondly, but I like knowing about it to be able to discuss it.

I saw the movie years ago and loved it. Read the book reads ago and loved it too. I wasn't sure if I'd been able to appreciate both the way I did if I'd switched the order. The movie changed a lot of things up. Most of the covers feature the movie actors (and TomHanks character is hardly in the book at all). 

This is a quick read. My original read I'd gone with the book, I tried the audiobook this time, but had the Kindle copy on hand for reference. Just 10 chapters. I always find it frustrating when there are chapter headings that are NOT included on the digital (ebook or audiobook) Table of Contents. I like to look at the TOC for reference during/after reading, and if it's just "Chapter 4" it isn't very helpful.  The chapters are (1) The Fledgling (2) The Pilot (3) Fly a Crooked Sky (4) If I'm a Kid Doctor, Where's My Jar of Lollipops? (5) A Law Degree is Just an Illegal Technicality (6) Paperhanger in a Rolls-Royce (7) How To Tour Europe on a Felony a Day (8) A Small Crew Will Do-It's Just a Paper Airplane (9) Does This Tab Include the Tip (10) Put out an APB - Abagnale Has Escaped. 

In the e-book there was an Afterword & Q&A with the author, which was NOT included in the audio, and I think that leaves listeners hanging. Even if it isn't included in the official memoir, what happened after the past page, until the author wrote this book, is really essential information (and is included in the movie).  But that was a major frustration in the audiobook, I was thinking "that can NOT be the end!" 

These escapades took place in the 60s, and it is a bit dated, with the writing of checks and the lack of technology, the ease of airline travel security - although the author admits that technology actually makes fraud and cons easier. One wonders what his cons would have been in today's tech world. There is a bit of a dated feel to the conversation too ... calling women "fantastic foxes" and many of his references to the ladies ;) 

The story starts somewhat in the middle (during his "pilot" years) ... then goes back to the beginning, his younger years, how he got started. Goes through his pilot years in detail, then his stints as a Doctor, Lawyer and Professor (in Utah, my home state). Goes much more in depth to his time in prison than the movie. The movie showcase the POV of the other side (detective tracking him down/Hanks) and that really isn't in the book much at all. It's all Frank. 

An enjoyable and easy, almost unbelievable, story. 

I liked this a lot. I listened to the audiobook and the narration was good, but I think had I been reading it on my own, I would have stopped, highlighted quotes, made notes. I can't stop as easily with audio (I'm usually multi-tasking) and then I struggle to remember certain moments I wanted to delve a little deeper into. Bookclub discussion points to ponder type things.

In the dedication - the author notes "the women of Cloverlea, who taught me to look for the magic" and I'm guessing that was the inspiration for the name. I know it's likely just a personal problem, but the name just never clicked for me, always felt odd, and I didn't care for it. Likely a no-win situation for author's ... picking names for characters. 

I liked the story - the premise of the death doula, the struggles Clover herself had dealing with death and how it impacted her life. The "regrets" and her attempting to "correct" some of them was sweet and inspirational. It was reminiscent of another novel [book:We Are All Made of Stars|24493717] (hospice nurse writing down a last letter, taking one a bit further). 

I had also just recently read [book:Strange Sally Diamond|62322008], and while Clover is much more adapted to life (and death) it was still a little too close (for my reading them so close together) to have a MC that doesn't deal with others well, is perhaps asexual (comes up in both). The stories are completely different, but having the somewhat similar character struggles muddled my brain up a bit. 

The romance portion was a bit predictable to me, no surprises there. Also some interesting anticipations of "another life" (seeming to indicate more of a "reincarnation" belief than the "eternal love" idea/LDS ideology). 

There were just two instances of proFanity (at that point I wonder if it would be better to edit, as many prefer profanity free. Some talk of sexuality but nothing explicit happening. 

I'd really loved [book:Find Us|58275443] by this author ... one of the few "thrillers" that actually had a twist that caught me off guard. I was excited to experience another, but this one just didn't do if for me. Honestly, I'd have trouble really recapping what happened. I have the basic gist, but would need to relisten - and I have no desire to do that. If this had a Kindle copy (but it doesn't) I'd likely skim over the text.

It started off "audio drama" style with different voices/narrators - but then shifted into storyteller mode with just the POV of one. I don't think we heard any of the other voices again except for that little opening scene. 

Just too muddled, I didn't care about any of the characters, even to the extent of remembering their names or backgrounds. I'll remember the basic premise, but nothing beyond that.

This is a tough one to rate, and even to shelve here on Goodreads ... I'd just given the book/blurb a quick look and didn't exactly know what I was getting in to. It was NOT what I was expecting. I think I was expecting something quirky/cute ... this was not that.  And I'd just read [book:The Quiet Tenant|61897971] and this was much too close reading these back to back, with such a similar subject (a woman being held captive for years). 

Part 1 - all the chapters are from Sally's POV. In Part 2, the chapters switch between Sally and Peter, with Peter's POV starting in the past (1974). This was a bit confusing at first, but it all came together. A new(male) narrator was introduced for the Peter sections. Not really sure what differentiated Part 3 from Part 2 (we do get Sally/Peter together, but not right at the start of the part). 

This was compelling and twisty and dark - 

Horror/Scary isn't really my genre ... but this one was spooky. I could envision parts of it (like a movie). It was good, kept my interest, although I'm not sure how much of the story overall I'll really remember. Nothing really to highlight/note or discuss. Recommend only to those who like scary stuff. 

I liked the prologue a lot ... although I'm still not quite sure how "that's where it began/seemingly unrelated events from years earlier".  I'm not sure I really understood everything going on, I'd struggle to give a good recap. 

There was the Prologue and four parts, and epilogue and author's notes.  Normally I like Author's Notes and appreciate the insight they give ... here, I feel like they muddied the waters. I get a little frustrated with the "approbation" of things. I felt like [book:Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow|58784475] made good points, as they said if white people only wrote about white people, and black people only wrote about black people, and in other art, it would be so limiting. The author  talks about representation of Native Americans, and while I agree with what he says, it just seemed a little too much/too defensive off the bat.  I think this is one I might have done better skipping the notes as it just soured things a little for me. 

This one is a little tough to rate. I liked it fine. Great premise (a medical fix that halts aging. Not immortality per se ... you can still die from sickness, injury, accident, murder, but not old age). I think that's what I liked best about it, the possible discussion points. Could be good for a book club, even though the story itself is a little lacking. I picked up this one because my son did. I like to read what he's reading ... as mentioned, discussion (and he had brought this one one recognizing the many points to ponder and talk about). 

I went with the audio edition - and I'll admit, the narrator threw me off a little. Personal problem, I recognized the voice from [book:The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver|31286995] - and definitely had that character in my head still. 

There's a little "intro" ... in the Kindle copy, there's not even a link to it (A Note About the Text) ... after the epigraph, before the first section. It's absolutely part of the novel, not just a note. Some Kindle readers might miss it if they started the first chapter using the table of contents. Dated in the year 2093, this introduction to the text tells us that an old device with text files had been discovered. These were journal entries, or written as blog posts, that the writer had used "LifeRecorder" to preserve and transcribe interactions.  Now I realize this might be considered sacrilegious to make any comparison to The Diary of Anne Frank, but this does have a similar (if fictionalized for a sci-fi future) feel. At some point in the future, a manuscript discovered, detailing a time of turmoil and trauma, has been discovered and is now being made available to the public to shed light on the time. Ironically, Anne Frank is alluded to at one point also ... "so what, I have to go hide in an attic for the rest of my life? Keep a diary?"

It's easy to see why it might have been thought these had been prepared as "blog posts" ... catchy title headers, ending with a "date modified" ... I rather wish the date had been included at the start (as would be for a diary, or blog posts). Definitely with the feel of being written to be read by others. Dialog included (which doesn't fit a diary entry much to me ... although all the "diary" books I've read have dialog, even though my personal diary of  40+ years has hardly any, and any that is included is just mid paragraph, not formatted like novels do). Also included are other articles (seems like there could be some copyright issues if this WAS a blog! *Ü* 

It was a little hard to follow - no numerical chapters listed, but the heading were quite memorable (#4 said he lost his place at one point, but did remember the chapter heading and was able to find his spot again). An early "chapter" it titled "I'm Always Gonna Get My Period" ... and to have that read in a male voice threw me a bit (but it was our MC, referring to a conversation with his female roomate). 

This ^ ... always getting your period (if women don't age and go through menopause) is just ONE of the many issues brought up in a world were people don't age. Another header ... "You realize you can never retire now, right?" ... because again, retirement is age related. Another tantalizing title ... "They're All Getting Divorced" .... our MC is a lawyer, and it's recommended he get out of estate law (as death is being delayed) and into divorce law, as while people promise "as long as we both shall live" that is based on the thought that life is limited ... add in unlimited years, and that takes on new meaning. Marriage takes on new meaning (literally here, as there are new marriage contracts to last a set number of years, a set end date that can be renewed if desired, dissolved if not). 

In addition to such issues ... is the "cure" itself. Should it be legal, should it be easy. What are the restrictions (age, minimum/maximum age) ... you just KNOW it will be abused (What Do We Do With Baby Emilia?)  Young women in the sex trade forced to halt their aging. Russia requiring young military men to get the cure. There are protests for and against the cure. Overpopulation.

The book is divided into four sections: (1) Prohibition/June2019 (2) Spread/June2019 (3)Saturation/March2059 (4) Correction/June2079

Obviously overpopulation will become an issue - our MC becomes an "End Specialist" who assists those who decide it is time to die. Basically legally assisted suicide, it's encouraged ... and then moves beyond that (requirements, more murder). 

I think the basic premise will stick with me ... but the story itself was disjointed and hard to follow. You didn't really get to know characters, enough to care about them, to track a timeline and be able to give a recap of the actual events in the book. 

Content: There was proFanity (x65), sex and violence/death.

This is very highly rated, and seems to be very in demand at the library (but also in Hoopla/audio for immediate availability). While I don't have anything negative to say about the story or the writing, it just wasn't for me. 

One of my favorite books from childhood was The Witch of Blackbird Pond. This has some slight similarities with the setting, a young girl come from out of the community and struggling to fit in, the church and the charges of witchcraft. Here though, there is a supernatural element. It takes a while to even understand, and I'm not sure if I ever really did. There's a Fae feel ... Forest, Creek and Sky, animal's with a child's face. There is the "beast" ... Slewfoot, is he Satan/Lucifer, other names from the Indians, or Father (nature)? Is he evil. I just got a little lost with this part of the storyline.

There was some extreme violence and torture on a more realistic scale ... the "trials" and punishments by the church. It was a little hard to push through. Frustrating in that there is truth to that part, and with any torture ... "just tell us what we want to hear, regardless of the truth" or torture continues. Having some church struggles, I easily see the hypocrisy of some of the situations but then again ... Abitha HAS "made a deal with the devil" and isn't completely innocent and the people aren't completely wrong (although it's so frustrating to see the group mentality and how easily the innocent could be called out). 

I was intrigued by the story at the start, but nearer the end it was more of an ordeal to push through and I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could move on. I've purposely been  attempting to manipulate my "mood map" pie-chart on Storygraph (dark, tense, mysterious) but those are NOT my usual, and for a reason ... it just is too much at times.

One thing I note is when a song is included in a story - in the audiobook, is it "spoken" or sung. Here, it was sung. The narrator had a lovely voice. Not sure if it is a real song or if a melody had to be created for the audio. 

Third person/Past tense.
Cover - the image is very representative of the story.
ProFanity (x7), some sexual stuff (slight) and violence (blood, gore, death, torture).

I don't know that I'll ever be a reader of graphic novels, but I've gained such an appreciation for them,  especially adaptations of classics - just another presentation to something already out there, that I've already read. I was very impressed by [book:To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel|38359009], how true it stayed to the story, yet highlighted some things that I didn't really remember during my read (I seriously had to go back to the novel and look up that section). Again for [book:Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel|41812473] - I loved the audio and the original, but the illustrations really brought it to life in a new and different way.

It's been a while since I read The Giver originally - probably did a re-read (although I only had it noted once on GoodReads) and then went on and read the others in the quartet. Very fond feelings toward it. I remember when the movie came out and WHAT? The most basic premise and storyline were the same but they changed so much. I think that's what I am loving about these graphic novels, they stay remarkably true to the original (in my opinion). Nothing is really changed, some things are left out for space, like an abridgement, but so often the dialog and text is taken word for word from the original. Add in some illustrations, and it just introduces things visually and presents them in a new way. 

As with my other graphic novel reads - I had the original close by for reference. So interesting to compare and see how the original words have been adapted to this form. My main complaint with graphic novels is that they are a little hard to read ... smaller text, different fonts, cramming SO MUCH into such a small space. I have tried reading digital copies where some enlargement is possible, but it's a little hard to navigate. I've returned to physical books for graphic novels ... and maybe I need to put on reading glasses. 

I LOVE the cover image ... great representation of the story. Here in illustrated form, the early flashes of color (the apple, Fiona's hair) have a bigger impact, because you can actually SEE it. In a community sans color, you'd expect a basic black and white ... but the illustrator here did some blue shading that still gives the visual of b&w, but with more interest. There's an interview with the author (Lowry) and the illustrator (Russell) at the end, and both are very interesting and add depth and details worth knowing. 

This illustrated version really made me more aware of Jonas's "light eyes" (funny eyes/pale eyes) ... BLUE eyes.  It's interesting, having read the book a couple of times (the original) how much this version cements so much of it into my memory. I could recap the story and discuss it much more after adding the graphic novel version to my mind (I did also do a re-read/listen to the audiobook of the original). 

I'd absolutely recommend this to anyone who has already read The Giver, and also think it would be fine as a first introduction to the story. 

I've had this on my list for a while - seemed a little spooky, so I pushed it to October. I'd heard (and there's the title) there were pictures included in this, so I wondered if it would be okay in audio. Others had said yes. And yes ... it was fine. I had the Kindle copy as well, and the little drawings added a bit of ambience, but they weren't essential to understanding. 

I didn't even read the blurb, so I was a little surprised when this was from a female perspective/female narrator (I'd just noticed the author was male). If you read the blurb, no surprise :)  1st  person (all Mallory)/present tense, although memories were in past tense. Basic numbered chapters, no headings (until the end, "One Year Later" instead of "Epilogue"). 

This had me pretty captivated ... up until the twist and the end. I didn't really care for it. I mean paranormal isn't really supposed to be realistic, but beyond the "ghost" (I liked all that, it was spooky)... I just wasn't a fan of the direction, seemed super far-fetched.  SPOILER

I liked the whole "the ghost isn't who we thought it was" but then when it's revealed that the mom took the little girl, "transformed" her into a boy, and the couple fled, and the father was enamored of the nanny, and the mom is more murderous than the first murder "in self-defense" ... that was all just "ehhh" for me. I liked the ghost, and that she followed and tried to reveal her death and protect her child ...)

So I'm afraid the end spoiled the story overall for me.

Content/Trigger Warnings: Just a bit of proFanity (x5). Some drug use mentioned, sexual content was slight, some violence.