answers
dict | question
stringlengths 6
168
| context
stringlengths 1
19.3k
|
|---|---|---|
{
"answer_start": [
99
],
"text": [
"the characters are well drawn"
]
} | How is the people? | I've only just started it - in about 200 pages, but I'm loving it! Her descriptions are wonderful; the characters are well drawn and I'm fascinated by the story. Can't wait to find out what happens to Theo and the painting! When I'm finished reading, I will come back with more.... |
{
"answer_start": [
8
],
"text": [
"going"
]
} | Was the interaction between gareth and hyacinth funny? | This is going to be a short review because I can sum up Tangled in one sentence.::Start Review::Tangled Freakin' ROCKS, read it right now!::End Review::No, seriously that's all that needs to be said. Tangled is hilarious and memorable. Almost a year after reading it I'd still rank it as one of my top 15 books. And my number one most funny book... ever.I could not put this book down when I was reading it. It was one of the first books that had me up all night reading because I just.couldn't.stop. I remember even waking Matt up at one point because I was shaking the bed so hard from my laughter.Tangled is written in Drew's point of view. Yes, that's right male point of view and it's one hell of a point of view. Drew's inner thoughts are hilarious, his insight into the male brain was not only spot on, but hilarious as well. Drew is one of my all time top book boyfriends.Kate won't be on the book bestie list, but for a heroine she isn't bad. The interactions and 'arguments' between her and Drew were hilarious. I loved that she did some of the things she did to him. Kate was right there playing the game alone with Drew and all of us as readers. It made her enduring.Whenever someone ask me for recommendations and asks for something funny Tangled is my go to pick. I want to make each and every single person read this book. If you want something light and funny this is definitely the book to read. In fact I'm disgusted you're still reading this review rather than one-clicking Tangled.Do yourself a favor and add this one to your kindle today. |
{
"answer_start": [
192
],
"text": [
"This series is gripping"
]
} | How is the storyline? | More like 4.5 I enjoyed this book more than the 1st in the series. It reminds me of a mystery by other authors I used to enjoy, but started to find too predictable, cheesy, trite, and cliche. This series is gripping and moving but also very smart. Some predictions can be made, but overall things flow with a relative amount of twists, turns, and realizations that are logical and believable. The ending on this one was excellent, I couldn't stop reading. Can't wait for the third, but am sad it will be the last. I know I will be upset when I get to the end. |
{
"answer_start": [
31
],
"text": [
"The writing is interesting and detailed"
]
} | How is Robinson's prose? | I enjoyed this book very much. The writing is interesting and detailed. Gripping and painful. Amazing author. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to understand war. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This is probably the best overall look at Lincoln in respect to the 1860 presidential election and his presidency"
]
} | What do you think about his chapter? | This is probably the best overall look at Lincoln in respect to the 1860 presidential election and his presidency. It goes into vivid detail about the men he was running against, their beliefs, their backgrounds, and their platforms. It also describes their strengths and weaknesses and delves into how possibly the least likely candidate Abraham Lincoln earned the nomination.This book is very well-written which is amazing considering how far reaching this story is. Aside from just profiling all the candidates, which in itself could be confusing, it goes into exacting detail. It could be a little dicey keeping the issues and the candidates straight, but Kearns manages to create order out of possible chaos.The biggest draw is that this book is very readable. Instead of reading like a history, the treatment here is more like a novel. History comes alive, it is interesting, involving, and gives the reader the sense that they are there.One of the major points I extracted from this book is Lincoln's ability to recognize the strengths of his rivals and learn how to work with them as his closest advisors. I suspect this adds a new dimension to the adage of keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer. Ultimately though, it comes down to pooling resources and working for the common good of the people in trying times.While a long and sometimes complex book, I loved it. It was a wonderful trip back in time. |
{
"answer_start": [
93
],
"text": [
"good reviews"
]
} | What is the quality of the book? | This book was very disturbing to me. I read it as an Amazon recommendation and after reading good reviews. Not that the book was bad, it just wasn't for me. I like reading about Stolkholm Syndrome but this was just weird. And the ending was what was the weirdest to me. It fit the book, but it had me thinking for a couple of days afterwards. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing...lol. There were also parts of the book that were a bit slow and I found myself trying very hard not to just skim thro the pages. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"THE HELP has so many amazing qualities"
]
} | Is none of the book was peprfect? | THE HELP has so many amazing qualities it is hard to know where to start. Aside from the book's important social relevance and message, the writing is excellent in characterizing and describing both sides, never with a heavy hand, which makes Stockett's story all the more powerful and proves her place as one the most skilled contemporary writers today. This book is perfect for the reader looking for strong female leads fighting the odds. I'd put it right up there with my ultimate female underdog heroine novel SILLY LITTLE RICH GIRL. |
{
"answer_start": [
738
],
"text": [
"those parts were bOOOring"
]
} | How is the attraction? | If you are looking for steamy sex scenes that rival those of 50 shades, this book is for you, 5 stars for that! I had to take away a star because I just got so irritated with Jocelyn, she had so many issues and the entire book she did not let anyone in and shut everyone out, she had such nice people surrounding her, Braden was a real stand-up guy and her friend Ellie was so supportive of her, yet she did not open up to anyone until the very end. While the sex was great, it would have been better if she had opened herself up emotionally and accepted her feelings for Braden so the love would have been more mutual for a bigger part of the book. Also, she sees a therapist and they put way too much of that dialogue in the book -- those parts were bOOOring! |
{
"answer_start": [
3217
],
"text": [
"The book is easy to understand"
]
} | How is book? | Two decades ago my allergist told me to give up wheat, milk products, soy, yeast, citrus and sugar. I did and initially I lost weight. Eventually I gained it back. But yes, if you give up the most common foods in the western world, you will probably lose weight because you won't enjoy eating and you'll have difficulty finding ample quantities of food to eat. You'll become very focused (some would say obsessed) on what to eat and may lie awake at night thinking about it. You'll have to carry strong eyeglasses with you when you shop so your can decipher all the labels.Instead of the foods I started with, JJ Virgin lists 7 foods to drop: corn, eggs, peanuts, dairy, gluten, soy, and sugar (including artificial sweeteners). You can do this IF you rarely eat out, avoid social events, and live in the right place. The right place is Southern California or some other warm climate where a variety of fresh foods is always available. Believe me, there are plenty of places where it is just about impossible to find decent veggies in the winter! I find myself standing in the produce section wrinkling my nose at the pitiful selection of bruised and past-ripe items. So I would wait until summer to try this diet.Except that I've been living with most of the restrictions for years. After the initial diagnosis of food allergies, I followed my doctor's instructions carefully but still had digestive problems. Eventually I learned that I could not tolerate peanuts or corn, plus most fruits, many spices, and a host of other items. So by the time I read the book I was already on her plan for the most part. I did eat eggs occasionally and I had added sugar back in because it is just too hard to avoid forever. Probably it would be easier in southern California, but here in rural Virginia the items available in stores are limited. Our health food stores are tiny and farmers markets are closed in the winter months.But enough whining! There are some good things about the book! It popularizes a list of common allergenic foods, and a number of people will discover allergies or intolerances from trying this diet. No doubt some readers have already gone gluten-free and given up wheat; it's kind of a fad right now. And Ms. Virgin is correct in cautioning us to be wary of gluten-free substitute foods because many of them are high in carbs and sugars.To her credit, she mentions in two places that the diet may not improve your symptoms if you have SIBO, candida, parasites, or "poor digestion." I've had all those and indeed you should consult a medical practitioner to help sort out those conditions. However, I found some of her other assertions to be simplistic. So don't expect science here; this is more of a self-help book.I was put off by her claim that all of her clients were helped by this program. I imagine she is not counting the diet drop-outs and I'll bet there were more than a few! And I'd be interested in knowing how many people gained the weight back after a year or two.Still, if you are highly motivated and self-disciplined, you may very likely drop the promised 7 pounds, at least for now. And you may discover that certain foods cause symptoms that you will be glad to put behind you.The book is easy to understand and attractively presented, at least in the hardcover edition. The fonts are readable and charts serve as illustrations. The clients' stories are repetitious but may help inspire you. So I give this an above-average rating in spite of my reservations about long-term results. |
{
"answer_start": [
97
],
"text": [
"What a fantastic beginning to the new series"
]
} | How is your evaluation for the book? | Move over Christian and Anna, Gideon and Eva - - Ethan and Brynne have arrived - - with a BANG! What a fantastic beginning to the new series, "The Blackstone Affair", by Raine Miller.Following a life-altering experience Brynne Bennett moves to London to attend University and escape her past. To help pay her bills she does some modeling, which she is quite good at. Her photographer, Ben, has a gallery showing and is exhibiting a large wall hanging of Brynne, in all her glory. Ethan Blackstone, millionaire owner of Blackstone Security, attends the showing and is drawn to Brynne's photo and ultimately buys it for his home. While at the showing he spots Brynne chatting with Ben and follows her out when she leaves. He offers her a ride home and, strangely drawn to him, Brynne accepts. So it begins.We are guided through the fragile beginnings of Ethan and Brynne's relationship and begin to hope for their success. While there are similarities to 50 Shades and Bared to You, the characters of Ethan and Brynne are very strong in their own right and you are compelled to learn their individual stories. The last chapters of this book absolutely blew me away! I love Raine Miller's writing style and this book did not disappoint in that area.I finished this book in a day and I am anxiously awaiting the release of the 2nd installment, All In. |
{
"answer_start": [
116
],
"text": [
"The writing was really good"
]
} | How do you like the end? | This novel is full of twisty turns. I was halfway through the book when all of a sudden I had a huge ah-ha! moment. The writing was really good, and the story was clever. I won't be recommending it to my friends because the ending left me with a sick feeling in my stomach, but I am glad I read it nonetheless. |
{
"answer_start": [
1402
],
"text": [
"The first two hundred or so"
]
} | How many pages does the book have? | Humanity is almost obsolete on earth. The human body now serves as a "host" to unseen invaders from another life form. These invaders plan to take over and make the earth a more civilized place, and it won't be tainted by things like war, sexual perversity, hatred and other human complexities. "Wanderer" invades the body of Melanie Stryder. It should be simple enough. At first, the Wanderer will experience some withdrawal, where the former soul refuses to succumb and the invader experiences thoughts and memories that are not her own. But as Wanderer goes on with her life and career, she realizes that Melanie lives within her, tormenting her thoughts. The reason to the host's refusal to move on dawns on Wanderer: Melanie is looking out for two humans, one of whom is the love of her life. Things reach a head, and Wanderer can no longer distinguish between her thoughts and Melanie's, and soon their feelings for Jared are in synch as well. How will it all unfold?Stephenie Meyer once said that she was a better storyteller than she was a writer. I think I get what she means after reading this book. I bought this a year ago, began to read it, then put it down after about one hundred pages. Now I dust it off, open it to the dog-eared page, and carry on reading it. I didn't have to reread the first hundred pages, for it was not difficult to pick it up where I'd left it off. The first two hundred or so pages are extremely dull. It is nothing more than a series of flashbacks and Wanderer having an internal dialogue with Melanie. Things pick up after this rather tedious beginning. However, things drag on and on to a point where I almost throw the book to the nearest wall in more than one occasion. This book should have been at least two hundred pages shorter. The redundancy is extremely exhausting. Science fiction has never been my favorite genre. I cannot imagine green-colored men and aliens with six or seven eyes that are found in those books. (I do like paranormal fantasy though, which is why I enjoyed Meyer's Twilight series better.) However, this one is entertaining and at times compelling. If only it had been better written and edited. But oh well. I needed to know why this book was so popular (still in hardback and an NYT bestseller after over one year), and so that's out of the way. Read it if you must. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"I found the book very compulsive shocking reading in the first half"
]
} | How is the write? | I found the book very compulsive shocking reading in the first half . Twelve year old Theo and his mother are in a bomb blas in an art gallery and he gradually realizes over a period of hours and days that his mother is dead and not coming back.This trauma led to his dysfunctional growing up in various situations where he was basically left to his own devices living with adults who were preoccupied with their own lives.I found the book quite upsetting and wondered where Donna Tartt got the psychological understanding from.I did learn some new things about art which was interesting.I |
{
"answer_start": [
16
],
"text": [
"This is a complete OUTRAGE"
]
} | How is the book? | I want to poke. This is a complete OUTRAGE!! The authors of it, the editors of the book, and people giving 5 stars, are utterly mad and needs to go to either to a neurologist or jail! I don't want my children to grow up in a world like this! Your religion is an embarrassment for the whole universe: wars, inquisition, assassinations in name of God, fanatics all over, homosexual persecution, women discrimination, hunger, lies, manipulation, sexual abuse, Galileo torture, burning of books about knowledge ... what a world we live in! This is very sad. What did you learn at school people? In my country children learn evolutionism, reason, science and ethics. We learn how to be good, love everyone, accept different cultures, never be racist, accept homosexuality, go against wars, against hunger... I can't believe that in USA and other countries people still learn religion and old myths as if they were all facts. Religions are an insult to the "Mother Nature", to Life and to God itself.We share most of the genome with the chimps, sharing a common ancestor. We are ANIMALS! And we should be very proud of it! We should be proud to be alive and part of this fantastic nature. Animals have brains, consciousness, dreams, language (dolphins), feelings, fear, they feel sorrow for their death... all like us! The unique difference is that we are more intelligent and we have abstract thinking due to our brain evolution. Some animals are more intelligent than others, this is nature. Also, we have imagination that allow us to believe in invented religions! The universe is sooo big, soooooo dark, and sooo unknown, that by simply statistics we are not alone, 99.999% for sure. Aliens exist all over! They may be aware of us, or not. They probably have their own religions, or none at all! They probably think they are alone in the universe. The conditions for life to arise that took place on Earth happened all over the Universe. There are billions of other suns, planets and galaxies. Conclusion? We are not the chosen species, but we are the most selfish species in the whole universe! The universe is 13.700.000.000 years old. Huminids occupy only a tiny part of it. We're not safe from extinction. If humans get excincted, the universe will continue its course billions of years more... and some other species will arise, probably different than what we know.The Bible is a text written 2000-3000 years ago by primitive, ignorant and perverse people. Trying to make interpretations of the Bible is simply an excuse to keep believing in our religions. To be ancient doesn't mean that it is real, just the opposite. The Bible was written only 2000 years ago; the homo sapiens and other species of huminids (nearthendals, homo erectus, etc) have been in Earth thousands of years. Before us, dinosaurs and other extincted species inhabited our little planet. Why do you think God would decide to express itself only at this short period of the Earth timeline? The reality is that, people that wrote the Bible found an ingenous way to control masses and keep society quiet. They discovered that using a mystery like the dead, nobody would ever 100% prove the existence of an invented heaven or hell. Religions are tales to explain the unknown. But nowadays science has evolved so much that we no longer need religion to explain most things. Humanity have been always cruel. Romans practised slavery, sent people to the lions, etc. people like those are who wrote the Bible.If you read the Bible you will discover it's perverse. If an all-knowing entity like God would have written it, the Bible would contain awesome knowledge. Instead, it contains:* Creationism: the world, oceans, stars, plants, etc. were created in seven days, without any scientific explanation of it. Ridiculous. Read about Big Bang.* Intelligent design: read about evolution.* No place for dinosaurs.* The age of Earth is ridiculous.* Geocentrism: Earth is neither flat nor the center of the universe. We are the most selfish.* The divinity of rainbow: it's just a natural effect of light scattering. In fact, I can see a rainbow every time I wash my hands in my office bathroom.* Noe's boat: how do you put 1.7 million of species in a boat? Animals like crocodiles or sharks have been around in Earth millions of years.* Slavery, discrimination of women, children aasassination: I want to throw up.* Miraculous healings: learn about placebo and the power of faith.* Angels with wings, spirits...: all fantasy* Heaven, Hell, plagues: thanks to fear, it's a way to compensate those who obey, and punish those who doesn't* The last paragraphs of the Bible states that any who adds or takes out something in the Bible will suffer from eternal punishment. It is clear a way for people who wrote it to cause doubt and fear to thouse who will not obey.* God created us in his resemblance. If a single intelligent being exists outside our planet, this falls apart completely.* Does God speak English, French, German, Spanish...?Do you think an all-knowing, all-loving entity, would write such a thing?There are 99.999% of possibilities that after death there's nothing! This is life, and we MUST accept it as it is. Birth means nothing without dead. Everything has a beginning and an ending. Where is the problem of it? Our memories, consciousness, thoughts, feelings... mysterious and intangible things: that neuroscience can explain them! Mind comes with the brain. Check diseases like Alzheimer or Schizophrenia, alcohol, drugs... and see how chemistry or brain damage affect our vision of reality. Spirits, NDE, OBE,... all depends on culture and have scientific proof: our complex brain that tricks us. All those testimonies, those stories about life after death, are simply tricks of the brain. Memory is proven to reside in our neurons. Brain damage can erase it completely. How would you explain that someone who leaves its body returns remembering those experience? The reason is simple: they never left the body or the brain behind. They had hallucinations, dreams, whatever. Their experiences always match their religions and culture. This is how our subconsciousness work!Have you ever lost consciousness? Your ego and existence comes to absolutely nothing! Where's the eternal part of it during it? It dies with the brain cells, returning to nature what we borrowed from it. Before our birth we were absolutely nothing, we were not eternal, and won't be; death works the same way. And I accept life as it is: a complex and beautiful experience.Life is very hard, please, don't make it even more difficult than it already is.Science has found things so hidden and complex such as Higgs' Bosson, electromagnetism, quantic physics, medicine... but never paranormal things!Fanatics, are you asking indigenous people, children with cancer, people with brain diseases, other cultures, other religions, tribes in the remote Amazon jungle, to believe in your myth?I can believe in some form of God, because nature is amazing and very complex. However, who created God? Therefore, I can also believe that there is no God at all. Reality is that nobody knows. But science has proved that something can arise from nothing.What is true is that I'll never believe in your ideas! Religion causes irreversible psychological damage, it has brought crimes and hell in Earth. And you still worship God as someone loveable and fair. How can you love someone who sends poor children, good and honest people to hell? If God exists, he gave us brains to think critically, and to have free. If your God existed, I prefered to go to hell along with my family, friends, wife, children, and other brilliant people in human history, rather than going to heaven to worship a cruel and unfair God while seeing how loveable people is tortured FOREVER. Fanatics, do you understand what eternity means? It means that for simply not believing what several ancient people wrote in a perverse book you will be tortured billions of billions of years, and afterwards, you will be tortured billions of billions of years more, and so on. Only for some free thinking you had during your brief life span. It does not matter at all how much you loved, how many people you helped, nothing matter. It only matters to have blind faith in a book that loves slavery, assassinations and women discrimination. Am I going to hell simply by loving and accepting life as it is?Most people say: what if you are wrong and hell is real? If you believe and you are wrong you do not lose nothing. Instead, if you do not believe and you are wrong, you get punished. This is called Pascal's wanger, and thanks to this the Church still exists, earning money, sexualy abusing from children, and giving delusion to people's lives. Let's try an experiment! Imagine I now publish a book explaining I have had a Near-Death Experience. In this NDE I have met God. God have told me that Earth is a mess, that life in other planets is great. That religions are only human inventions to relief their fear to death. God also tells me that the unique religion is the religion of love. And finally God tells me that those who believe and teach religions like Christianty will go to hell for lying and causing phsycological damage to innocent people. Do you have any evidence that I am lying? I have exactly the same evidence that those who claim the Bible was written by God.Can't you see people that using the word "faith" everyone can make you believe ANYTHING he wants? No matter how inverosimile it seams! Faith is so powerful, and the brain so complex, that people actually end up seeing God, Jesus or whatever they were told to exist.Another point. Isn't your God so infinitely fair? I can ensure he is not fair at all:* People before Jesus did not believe in him. But they are saved automatically.* People at the time of Jesus believed in him because they saw him during their lives.* People nowadays are obviously losing faith, because time changes and society evolves.* Some people claim that have met Jesus or God in person. That is, they will go to heaven by evidence, while others have to go to heaven by simple faith. How fair, isn't it? They are simply liars, dreamers or manipulators.* People in 2000 years will no longer believe in him because science will have evolved and we will have probably created artificial consciousness and demonstrated that soul is a myth.* People who live in other parts of the world, in the jungle, in India, etc. will never believe in him.Aren't you aware this is completely unfair? This the most archaic plan for an entity so powerful that has created our complex universe.Fanatics, you are the most despicable people in the universe for assuring that people who don't feel what you believe, will go to eternal punishment. If some form of God is real, he will punish you for bringing Hell in Earth.You know what? Hell is real. It's in the Earth every day. It's in our heads. Please, live your life at most. And let live. Love. Help. Have children. Live is wonderful, is amazing, and mysterious. Find your light yourself, don't believe what ancient people wrote for their interest.If you want more information go to webpages like whywontgodhealamputees, godisimaginary, richard dawkings foundation, Victor Stenger, etc. Learn more about the chemical of consciousness. And finally, learn the Bible and see the nonsense of it and the intentions behind the people who wrote. It was written in an age where slavery, woman discrimination, miracles, exorcism to epileptic people, ignorance, etc. where completely normal. |
{
"answer_start": [
1456
],
"text": [
"generally liking the"
]
} | How did you like the story? | The Lost City of Z is a non-fiction book by David Grann. It tells the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett.Percy Fawcett disappeared in the 1920's with his son and his son's friend while looking for an ancient city in the Amazon, a city that he had named Z. For decades, explorers then went in search for Fawcett in the hopes of finding either him or what had happened to him, often without much luck (often disappearing themselves). Grann, a journalist who never did ANYTHING in the outdoors (and took the elevator up two flights to his apartment instead of walking it) decided to go in search of Fawcett himself AND he was able to reveal new evidence how Fawcett died and whether he had really found his city or not.I found this book to be alternatively captivating and then quite boring. There were parts that were absolutely fascinating. I found the parts about Fawcett's early life and the author's life and motivations to be really, interesting. Oftentimes, the parts about the various explorations that Fawcett went on before his latest and greatest were boring. They were all the same and they all ran into each other. There was nothing to distinguish them and I found my attention lagging at those parts. I would have to put the book down and then come back to it later on. The book itself was very well written and very well researched. I was very impressed about the depth of information that was presented - Grann went all out.I walked away generally liking the book, in spite of its slow points. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"the recipes are easy follow"
]
} | What do you think about recipe? | This is without a doubt one of the best presented Paleo/SCD recipe books. The pictures are amazing, presentation is top-notch, the recipes are easy to follow, the writing is friendly and relateable. It's really a beautiful book to have in your collection. However, there are a some things glaringly missing, while other are provided in a surprising excess.The book has no recipes that include rutabaga, turnips, parsnips, radishes, eggplant, cabbage, beets appear once, and much to my surprise, it's extremely thin on greens (Paleo is supposed to be big on green leaves). Sure, there are a few recipes with spinach, salad greens and bok choy, but these are few and in between. Where is kale, collards, beet/turnip/radish, mustard and so many other greens? In other words, this book seems to be utilizing a few, rather "common" ingredients. Sure, you can't include every ingredient possible on a single book, but some of these veggies are important and nutritious-enough (e.g. kale) that should have been allowed a recipe page. Most of these ingredients mentioned are legal under the SCD, and are definitely all legal under Paleo.The book is rather thin on fish and shellfish recipes too, only including 8. While some faction of Paleo swears on grass-fed beef, there's a newer faction that gives equal importance to wild seafood (and sea vegetables, which are completely missing from the book btw). On top of that, almost everyone knows how to fry a tilapia or sear a salmon, these were unnecessary recipes. But very few know how to do a fish pie (with rutabaga, turnip or parsnip mash for a change, instead of the usual yams/cauliflower/celeriac), or lemon-garlic oysters in butter/ghee. Such recipes would have added more value to the book. Besides, the world is made with more than chicken (which is over-represented), beef, and pork. There's rabbit and game, sheep and goat meat, bird giblets -- all mysteriously missing. As for the biggest Paleo offence: not including a single offal recipe!Instead, we're fed pages over pages of not-so-healthy baking goods. I don't mind to have some recipes about cookies, a cake, some bread or crackers. We're just humans, so sometimes we want to indulge, or we have a birthday coming up. But when these types of recipes take ~1/3 of the book's pages, I think there's a fundamental problem right there. Especially since the author has her own health problems (like most of us who adopted Paleo/SCD because of health problems rather than just because of targeting weight loss), it becomes all the more important to include more wholesome food made with as much variety as possible, rather than having about 60 variations of almond/coconut flour and honey in various sweets. Instead of using so many pages on sugary recipes, I would have liked more actual food recipes with some of the missing ingredients mentioned above. Hopefully this will be corrected in the Second Edition.In conclusion: a great looking book, easy recipes to follow for newbies, but the book could have had more variety that would promote to its readers an even better health. Should you buy it? Yes. Should you use it exclusively? No, it's too myopic for the full range that is Paleo. There's a lot more ingredients to explore on a farmer's market and elsewhere.UPDATE: To make my point clear, there are TWO types of Paleo dieters: those who do it casually, for weight loss, for a small amount of time. This is the majority of people. And then, there are these who do it for health reasons, for a LIFETIME. The second type, is supposed to eat offal, game, fermented foods, wilds, and very few of these baked goods. The book fails on the second type of dieters, which is the one advocated by those who wrote the Paleo diet books. |
{
"answer_start": [
140
],
"text": [
"what all the hype was about"
]
} | Where did the end of this book occur? | Buy this book right now it will keep you hanging every minute of the day. I tried to avoid buying it until November, but then I had to see what all the hype was about. I read the first book and I probably read it eight times by now. Then I read the third book and it is way beyond five stars. If you think your money might be wasted you are very wrong. You will enjoy this book so much, you'll think it was the most expensive in the world. The one thing I noticed was different from other children's books was that its plot was different from any other book I have read in my life, and I've probably read at least a thousand. normal children's books are either a mystery a person solves or something happens in the end to make you put it down. Harry Potter boks are different because they leave you hanging for more. You will savor the thought of reading the unreleased book, and if you read it on a weekend, you will not do any of your chores. You will just curl up with the book and read it until midnight. at times I found myself getting up early to read the book over and over. i hope you make the right decision and buy this book. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"like any work of art or product / commodity"
]
} | How do you like the grasp? | In this age of marketing, advertising and intensive information exchange, superlative adjectives tend to be overused and abused. How can everything be unique or spectacular, for then good would surely be reduced to average? However, certain books (like any work of art or product/commodity) turn out to be true Classics, with broader and broader appeal; they actually improve with age as fine wine.Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, can only be described as a true classic. It is a unique and brilliantly written work that keeps the reader enthralled and entertained throughout. The novel reads better now than when it was first published twenty-three years ago. The first book in a series (now five books total) of stories that revolve around lead character Andrew (Ender) Wiggin, Card weaves a totally believable universe containing two completely incompatible and utterly at-odds interplanetary species. One is the human race and one is a society of creatures known only as the "Buggers" due to their resemblance to insects. Earth society has temporarily suspended international hostilities to join together and fight the alien menace. This international cooperation spawns a worldwide recruiting process to identify, gather and train the best and brightest child minds. The ultimate goal is to mold them into leaders of the future human attack/defense forces against the alien Buggers.Card does an amazing job of relating the thoughts and fears of children in the story, who are almost exclusively the main characters. Also, he provides the characters with passion, strength and emotions that one would expect to see in children pushed to the brink of endurance. Title character Ender Wiggin is unknowingly pre-selected to lead the human forces pending his successful training regimen, and the majority of the novel focuses in the time period Ender spends training in Card's wonderful invention, the "Battle Room". The Battle Room and the "Battle School" are the main reasons this novel is great SF. It combines futuristic scientific applications that seem only just outside of current human reach, such as interstellar travel and control of gravity, plus the wonderfully depicted psychological interplay of a group of the most talented and aggressive youths the planet has to offer.Stylistically, Card is an excellent writer. His dialogue is top notch, and readers become very interested in the characters he aptly portrays. He uses strong, active verbs, that keep you on edge and reading the story way past bedtime. Recently, Card published the fifth novel in the series, Ender's Shadow, which retells the same story from the angle of a different character. Fans already familiar with the series will find the desire to re-read Ender's Game to cross-reference the newest addition to the Ender Universe. Like many great works by Jules Verne, appreciation of the Ender Universe continues to grow as time passes. The exponential increases in current technology in recent years only help bring Card's ideas into sharper focus and greater believability.This is a must read book for all that claim to be fans of the SF genre. However, the story also stands on its own with exciting action sequences and exceptionally likeable and well developed characters. It was both a Hugo and Nebula award winner, which is validaion to give it an automatic read for most SF fans. Do so, you will be glad you did. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Some things were predictable , but that does not make this book not worth reading"
]
} | How was the twist of the story? | This book was amazing from beginning to end. I had a lump in my throat the entire way through and admit that I had to plug my kindle in and sit on the floor because I HAD TO finish it. Some things were predictable, but that does not make this book not worth reading. |
{
"answer_start": [
643
],
"text": [
"Storyline is wonderful"
]
} | What do you think about the story? | My faith was made even stronger by reading this. The adult in me kept wanting to be skeptical but the author kept backing everything up with scripture. If you trust in the Lord and His word then you will notice exact references to what we expect heaven to look like. I enjoyed the fact that the author did not ask his son leading questions and just let him tell what everything was like. Thankfully, you do not have to be a well educated theologian to enjoy this book about a young child's short trip to heaven. God's word even tells us that we must have child-like faith. When will we ever learn to just take the Lord by what He says. Storyline is wonderful. Make sure you keep a tissue handy. |
{
"answer_start": [
39
],
"text": [
"fantasically crafted story"
]
} | How was the detail? | This book was simply amazing. It is a fantasically crafted story that follows the narrator's genetic history from 1920s Turkey through 1960s Detroit to present day Berlin. Equal time is spent describing the lives of Cal's grandparents, parents, and Cal himself. I completely disagree with those that complain that "the real story" (about the hermaphrodite) doesn't start until Cal's life begins in 1960. Each story is so rich, so alive, and so very relevant to the person Cal eventually becomes. I felt so close to the Stephanides family that I cried for Cal, for his parents Milton and Tessie, and his Grandmother Desdemona in the final pages of the book. I did not want this book to end. I believe this book will become the classic it deserves to be. |
{
"answer_start": [
681
],
"text": [
"the plot of course is excellent"
]
} | How is the story line? | When I started the Song of Ice and Fire series a few years ago, I was blown away. The scale of the world and the depth of the characters GRRM has created are unmatched by any fantasy series I've read, and yes, I have read Tolkien.POV chapters for this book are broken up between three different powerful families in the mythical land of Westeros; the Starks, the Lannisters, and the Targaryens. What makes this book so great is that we have sympathy for all of these families, or at least some of there individual members. Weaker writers build two-dimensional sum-of-all-evil characters for the heroes to fight, but not Martin. All the characters are complex and fully formed.And the plot of course is excellent. There's fighting, humor, horror, everything you could expect out a series. He avoids cliche's in favor of great twists and turns.Get this book. Now. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Wow what a book"
]
} | Does the story get better as the book progresses? | Wow what a book. This is one I could not put down no matter how tired I was.The dynamic of the main characters and their relationship is very interesting. |
{
"answer_start": [
165
],
"text": [
"Joe Hill writes a good story"
]
} | Was the story magical? | The novel is a wild, trippy ride through the inscapes of the mind meshed with the story of one woman's struggle to relate to her loved ones and the world around her.Joe Hill writes a good story. I loved the idea of inscapes, and especially the call out to Mid-World from the Dark Tower Series. The overarching story of how Vic McQueen deals with her gift (or curse) and her conflict with the antagonist, Charlie Manx, drive the story.My main criticism is that at times I felt that the narrative could have been tighter, and in fact a review I read on Amazon nailed how I feel:'NOS4A2 is epic in length, but not in scope.'Vic McQueen is the best part of the story. She has a gift or a curse, depending on your point of view, and her life unfolds in response to this gift (or curse). Joe Hill nails the reality of mental illness with his portrayal of the evolution of Vic's character. I felt a great deal of sympathy for her and pulled for her throughout the novel. Vic is the classic tragic heroine.Charlie Manx is a real-life villain. What he does is horrible, but when seen from his point of view you can understand why he does what he does. You understand why he thinks what he does is right. In that way Charlie is not a caricature, but I never sympathized. There are points in Charlie's history where Joe Hill could have tweaked a few events and made Charlie a villain for whom you feel sympathy, thus making Charlie deeper, but that never materialized.Outside of Vic, the real delight is the idea of inscapes--how everyone has their own perception of reality and that each of our perceptions of reality are linked. These perceptions of reality can become separate worlds whose extent are limited only by our imagination. It's a powerful set of ideas that Joe has put out there.Unlike Horns, Joe Hill's previous novel, I was able to set aside NOS4A2 when I needed to sleep--except for the climax. The last hundred or so pages flew by.In the end what makes NOS4A2 a good novel is the sum of the positives. Like I said, the prose could be tighter, but the lead character, Vic McQueen, and the story itself pull this novel together and make it a good read.If you like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere or The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, I think you might like NOS4A2.I will say that after reading NOS4A2 I now want a Rolls Royce Wraith. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"It 's a book with good points"
]
} | What the general advice is pos or neg? | I should have known Real Marriage would be controversial. It is, after all, by Mark and Grace Driscoll, and Mark Driscoll seems to be in trouble a good deal of the time. As I write this I have several friends who almost lose it when Driscoll's name comes up. I have several other friends who appreciate him, even though they recognize his faults. Why did I agree to review this book again?Well, it's too late. I did agree to review the book. I began reading, and it wasn't long before I got to some controversial bits. When Grace cuts her hair short, Mark disapproves. "She had put a mom's need for convenience before being a wife," he writes. Say what? I remember being surprised by my wife's haircut one time, but I'm not sure I would have put it this way. He makes a few statements like this that made me scratch my head.Early on the Driscolls talk very openly about the struggles they've experienced in their marriage. Kudos to them for this. Their openness and honesty is important. This section is pretty raw, though, and it left me feeling a little defensive of Grace. And I've never been sure what to think about Mark's visions, such as the one he has of Grace committing a sexual sin around the time they started to date. Even if you believe in revelatory visions, it's unusual to think of one that is as sexually graphic as this one.Once you get past the first chapter, you're into the best part of the book. The chapter on friendship in marriage is good. The chapters addressed to men and women respectively are also fairly well done. The chapter on taking out the garbage -- dealing with sin and conflict -- is also helpful and important. These chapters are the best in the book.Strangely, the next five chapters are on sex. That's half the book. Sex is certainly a topic that needs to be covered, and the Driscolls do cover some important ground here. They talk about a biblical understanding of sex, and recovering from abuse, and breaking free from porn. Perhaps it takes half a book to deal with this area of marriage because we're all sexually broken, but it is a big part of the book.The most controversial chapter in the book is chapter 10, "Can We ____?" I have no problem with honest questions, and I'm amazed at how well some people answer them. The grid that the Driscolls use, however, is a little too simple, and it never gets to some of the deeper issues that need to be explored. I would use this chapter as a discussion starter, but a lot more needs to be said in answering some of the questions.The final chapter is a simplified guide to setting goals as a couple. It would be a useful chapter to go through as a married couple. The questions are good, and I'm sure they'd start some good discussions.I get why the reaction to this book is so mixed. Some like it, and I can see why. There is lots that's good about this book, and I'm glad the Driscolls tackle tough topics with honesty and candour. But I also get why some struggle with this book. It's a little too hard on Grace at points, a little too harsh sometimes in general. It goes fearlessly into areas that need to be addressed, but maybe a bit of fear would be appropriate.I'm not sure how long the Driscolls have been married, but it seems to be less than twenty years. At this point they have lots to share, and I'm sure their congregation is benefiting. But it may be too soon for a book on marriage.I hate pile-ons, and I really don't like that the Driscolls have become such a target. I appreciate a lot about them and their ministry, and I'm sure this book will prove useful to many. But it's not the book it could be. It's a book with good points, but with too many flaws to ignore. That's too bad, because there's so much to like about this book, but so much that leaves me feeling disappointed. |
{
"answer_start": [
1290
],
"text": [
"that keep this book suspenseful and intriguing"
]
} | Is the story in a book? | Living in a dangerous world controlled by a weak, desperate queen, Charlie is harboring a dangerous secret. In her world, classes are drawn and enforced by the language you speak, and it is a crime punishable by death to know a language other than your own. Charlie doesn't just know another class's language--she knows them all. It's a difficult ability to hide, and her life depends on appearing ignorant. But one night, at an underground club, Charlie meets an intriguing young man, Max, who seems different from everyone else. This is quickly proven when she catches him speaking a language she's never heard before. Their encounter isn't by chance, and soon Charlie's world will be turned upside down.The Pledge is a dark and magical book with a very unique concept. Derting's world, which is a blend of dystopia and fantasy, is dangerous and full of hidden tunnels and carefully kept secrets that Charlie is slowly exposed to soon after meeting Max. Her family has sacrificed a great deal to keep her secret safe throughout her life, so she's always cautious, but she soon gets sucked into a conflict much bigger than herself. There are more than a few shocking surprises along the way--people who aren't at all what they appear, long-kept family secrets, and other secret abilities--that keep this book suspenseful and intriguing, and the threat of a queen who will stop at nothing to get what she wants is chilling. The book ends with a satisfying, open ending that will leaves room for a sequel in which hopefully many unanswered questions and unresolved issues will be addressed. The Pledge is an interesting departure from Derting's other work, but it is unique and promising.Cover Comments: I absolutely love this cover! How the girl's face is partially obscured, how the title is displayed, the darkness of it--it's so intriguing and mysterious! I think that this is one that a LOT of people will be drawn to! |
{
"answer_start": [
120
],
"text": [
"am not a conservator person but this book is disgusting and contains not literacy value at all"
]
} | How good is the story? | Not only is this book deeply disturbing, it is horribly written. I don't know how this book became mainstream at all. I am not a conservator person but this book is disgusting and contains not literacy value at all |
{
"answer_start": [
50
],
"text": [
"The writing is horrible"
]
} | What is write? | There is nothing in this book that is believable. The writing is horrible. The only reason I am giving it two stars is because it is a page turner, though you are rolling your eyes most of the time. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This book was n't horrible"
]
} | How did you like the storyline? | This book wasn't horrible, but I just don't get why all the good/great reviews. I read it. It's a good premise for a story, but I thought it was choppy in parts and that the writing wasn't all that great. It did hold my attention somewhat through most parts, but at the same time I wasn't emotionally invested. It just didn't pull me in, I think because the writing was at times choppy and/or too rushed in certain parts. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This novel is really good and takes you on a ride through the museum"
]
} | What novel is great? | This novel is really good and takes you on a ride through the museum. I like the characters and the mystery involved. I also love to read Preston and Childs. Thanks for the journey! |
{
"answer_start": [
194
],
"text": [
"one"
]
} | How many books do you have ? | I love to read, but I'm not really a romance novel kind of girl. I guess this would be considered more erotica than romance, but that's not really my genre either. I gave into the hype for this one, though.The writing is pretty sad. The story is ridiculous. The sex is pretty good, but not realistic at all. I mean, someone who can orgasm as quickly and easily as this chick doesn't need Christian Grey! She could probably drive over a speed bump and get off.It basically comes down to housewife porn. After being in control, taking care of everyone, and making decisions all day, a woman just wants a man to take control in the bedroom. Christian Grey does that....although on a completely different level.If you're curious, read it. But don't expect to be overly impressed. The hype is just that. There's nothing earth shattering here, just sexual fantasy on paper. |
{
"answer_start": [
1087
],
"text": [
"written in an amazing way by an incredible talented author this is it"
]
} | How would you define the incredible talent that this author has? | This is not the first time I stayed up until 5 am reading a book by Tarryn Fisher, she has this amazing way to pull you into the story in a way that even after you finished it it's so difficult to untangle yourself from it.Mud Vein is a crazy ride even from the blurb, it doesn't says much about what the book really is about, but that is Tarryn's way to ask you to jump almost blind into this amazing story and now I can say it makes sense you have to experience it that way, I got so many emotions and a hell of a headache trying to figure it out what I was reading until I decided to just enjoyed one page at the time, this is not a typical love story I wouldn't say is a romance either, yes love is an important part of the story but this is so much more.You'll feel a thousand emotions, I got angry, scared, and yes I cried too, Tarryn always does that to me she makes me feel every word she writes, and she doesn't sugarcoat things she gives you imperfect characters and raw emotions, so if you want a sweet romance this might not be for you but if you are expecting a great book, written in an amazing way by an incredible talented author this is it, it will make yo feel and it will left you thinking about it for a while. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"I got to the end of this book"
]
} | What is the part of the movie? | I got to the end of this book, flipped to page one, and started reading again. You feel like you are researching the history of the vampire right along with the characters. You read the documents they do. You hear the stories they do. These characters spend far more time in the library than they do fighting, and the story is richer, and more exciting, for sake of it. It is a return to great literature. I eagerly await the next book by Ms. Kostova. She's definitely on my list of favorite authors. |
{
"answer_start": [
182
],
"text": [
"But what makes this book unique is that the experienced was from a four"
]
} | What experience do I leave when reading this book? | I received a copy of this book free from publisher through BookLook Bloggers in exchange of review. This is actually the third book I read about real story of near-death experience. But what makes this book unique is that the experienced was from a four-year old child. Considering that it is a child, I couldn't agree more about what Todd Burpo says, "A child doesn't have an agenda. A child isn't contaminated with adult-thinking". Albeit kids can fantasize things, but the scenario where Colton opened about his meeting in heaven with his unborn sister and his Great Grandfather who died a quarter of century before he was even born proved everything that what Colton's experienced is real. And indeed Heaven is for Real.The book gives hope and clarity to those people who has doubt, worries and mourns for their love ones who passed away. I wouldn't say it applies to all, some may be touched with Colton's story others may not because I believe Holy Spirit moves differently in different people. And only those with open heart can fully understand it. But one thing that was promised, great things awaits us up there if we're doing good deeds here in the world that we currently live. For me this book is a piece of puzzle that answers the mystery of life after death.The book is worth reading which doesn't surprise why it hit the bestseller list and was eventually translated into different languages in different countries. And now it is recently in theater, which I will definitely watch though I read the book already. Well at least reading and watching it gives me a taste of what heaven is - as I understand Colton's description, heaven is a paradise beyond comparison. |
{
"answer_start": [
1517
],
"text": [
"The ending was so ridiculous"
]
} | How was the end? | I labeled this a legal thriller although 'thriller' is really too exciting a word to be placed on this book. It's not one of Grisham's best; just an okay read.It's about a young man set to embark on a legal career, so it's a little different from Grisham's norm. Kyle McAcoy has played it safe all his life--good school, good grades, doing all the right things. Should one bad night ruin his whole life? What if that bad night involved something immoral and illegal? Kyle has a chance to become an associate at the most prestigious law firm in Manhattan. But, a college "indiscretion" jeopardizes all that. Soon, the job is the least of his worries as he battles thugs, fights for his life, and is being blackmailed to commit fraud and treason.This book involved an incident that will make you question the main character, at least I did. There are some things for which there is NO excuse and I think Kyle got the consequences he deserved (at the very least), even though he was a passive criminal. His silence was enough. I know many will disagree with me, but he got his just desserts. And, I'm pretty sure Kyle feels the same way as I do about the situation, which made him redeemable enough for me to keep reading about him.The book was both interesting and depressing. It's a look into the life of a corporate lawyer. Is money really worth all that? It was just okay for me. It was not really the gripping legal thriller I was hoping for. It felt very tame and only mildly interesting. The ending was so ridiculous that is wasn't even credible and I walked away feeling a little cheated. Very unsatisfying. |
{
"answer_start": [
262
],
"text": [
"the basic storyline for New Adult novels tend to be the same"
]
} | How enjoyble is the story line of the work? | I've heard good things about this author and saw this book on the bestseller list, so I decided to read it. I am a New Adult fan and read books by other authors of the genre, so going into this I kind of knew what to expect. As other reviewers have pointed out, the basic storyline for New Adult novels tend to be the same - the hero and the heroine both have secrets in their pasts that somehow affect the present. They meet, develop a relationship (or sometimes there is no development at all), get sexual, break up at one point, and then make up and everything is fixed and they have more sex. I'm okay with this because I know this is what I'm getting.In this one, I really felt like the development of the relationship was well done. There are so many books where the love is instantaneous, which is not accurate to real life (not mine anyway). But in this one, even though the initial attraction was there, the relationship developed over a course of months instead of over hours or days. This made the relationship more realistic to me and I appreciated it.This also gave me time to fall totally in love with Cam, which I did. Of course he's gorgeous - that's just the way it is in this genre; all the men are basically photoshopped love gods - but he is so much more than that. He's clever and snarky and compassionate and caring, and he is so patient with Avery while she is struggling along. And maybe it's just me, but I loved how Cam was always turning his cap backwards when he was having a serious moment. I loved that characteristic that really made it seem like he was listening.Overall, the story was great. It was formulaic to the genre, as I mentioned above, but I understand what I'm getting when I buy NA and I'm fine with it. The supporting characters were also enjoyable, and I would definitely read more by this author based on the story.The writing, however, left something to be desired. Or, more accurately, the editing. There were grammar and spelling errors, words left out, words switched around, phrasing issues, and little problems that could have easily been edited that would have made the reading experience so much more enjoyable. I would have gone four stars because I loved Cam so much and I loved the story, but the editing problems were too much of a distraction. I don't mind a few, but when it's every paragraph or every other sentence, I feel like that's too much.Would I recommend? If you like this genre, definitely. I would probably reread this book just because of Cam, but I wish the author would release a better edited version. If editing errors bother you, this won't be an enjoyable read for you. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This book was really good and surprisingly deep"
]
} | Do you have good feelings? | This book was really good and surprisingly deep. The whole thing felt real to me. Sure some of the coincidences were a little far fetched, but what book isn't like that. I wish poetry had really been like that in school. If it had, I might have actually enjoyed that unit instead of the old, highly metaphorical stuff we had to read.The twist toward the beginning threw me off, but it didn't make the book super awkward or anything, so it was okay. I'm looking forward to reading the next book and reading more of Layken and Will's story. |
{
"answer_start": [
454
],
"text": [
"Despite the wonderful experience of reading this book"
]
} | Is the book talk a good story? | In this book, Collins tells the story of Katniss, a young girl competing in "The Hunger Games," a cruel, government-orchestrated fight to the death. The plot is as compelling as it is unsettling.This is a book you can't put down. The writing is excellent and the pacing flawless. The characters in general are nicely wrought. Collins keeps the reader fully engaged, trying to interpret and anticipate the moves of both the gamemakers and the competitors.Despite the wonderful experience of reading this book, I began to feel a sense of unease in the last thirty or so pages, the fear that I was about to be seriously disappointed. I hoped I was wrong. But I wasn't. I hated the ending. It resolved nothing.While I realize this is a series and the action resumes in "Catching Fire" and continues in "Mockingjay," I feel authors of series works owe it to their readers to reward them at the end of each book with some overwhelming emotion, good or bad. In an epic story such as this, there needs to be some sense that the protagonist has come through some major life event that has changed him or her, prompted some sort of growth or... something. The unfeeling, jaded Katniss of Page 1 is pretty much the same girl the reader's left with on the last page. She's likable enough but still self-centered, still terribly immature and self-congratulatory. How much can the reader really care about this character and her relationships with others when, in the end, Katniss herself really doesn't much give a crap? And at the end, the story just... fizzles. I have a strong sense that this book ended at the wrong place. There needs to be some sense of closure, some feeling that the reader has completed a book. And, in the case of a series novel, there needs to be some major driving element that pushes the reader into wanting to read the next book. A bunch of unresolved loose ends, vague questions, and protagonist ambivalence, as we get here, simply is not good enough.The ending here was so BLAH that I was left seriously questioning whether I wanted to invest the necessary time to keep reading the series. I thought Collins and I might have different views as to what constitutes a book ending. What if the difficulty with endings was systemic and I got to the end of "Mockingjay" and was left going, "Whaaaaattt?"No reader wants to be left that way.But I cared about this series. I would love to love it.I decided to check out the reviews for "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" before I went any further with this series. I needed to know whether readers were more satisfied with the endings of "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" than I was with the ending of "The Hunger Games." If they weren't, then I was unlikely to read those books.In fact, I wish I'd checked out those reviews before I started the series.Having completed my review of the reviews, I would suggest that strategy to anyone contemplating reading "The Hunger Games." That way, you'll know what you're getting into before you're where I am now.Eventually, nostalgia may pull me back to the series and I'll pick up Book II. Right now, though, I feel too cheated and disappointed.With just a little more effort on the part of the author and editors, this could have been a phenomenal book. |
{
"answer_start": [
133
],
"text": [
"The writing is excellent"
]
} | Why do I have a positive review? | I was worried that I would constantly be missing all the beloved characters that Rowling has created, but I couldn't be more wrong. The writing is excellent, the mystery compelling and the characters complex. I was almost sad to finish and wishing it was the first in a series. How delighted I was to find that another Cormoran Strike novel is on the way. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"and many of them did n't like the third book"
]
} | Which part of the movie do you like? | I had so many people give me their opinions about this trilogy, and many of them didn't like the third book, so my expectations were quite low. I must say, though, that I LOVED this book. As an editor, I was a bit surprised at some of the things Collins got away with; as a romantic, I would have liked to have seen her spend a little more time on the romance part of the story. As a human being, I just couldn't get enough of this story. It's beautiful and tragic and raw and compelling and just plain phenomenal! Despite a few mechanical and other minor flaws, it's a great book! If you like a book that's wonderfully revolutionary, darkly provocative, and emotionally epic, this is for you. I got teary-eyed several times throughout the novel, but the truth is that I was reading too fast, desperate to see what happened next, to let myself feel the emotion of it all. With all that energy pent up, I read the quiet, understated afterword at the end. And cried. I totally want to read the entire trilogy again. Don't let all the negative reviews out there get you down. If you liked the first two books, you'll love the third. It's an awesome, climatic, mind-blowing end to a story that's shattering on so many levels. Let yourself get lost in it! |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"What a great end to a great series"
]
} | How is the series? | What a great end to a great series. Such a thought provoking book, and I loved hearing more from Four in this one. The entire Divergent series is well worth your reading time. |
{
"answer_start": [
109
],
"text": [
"the original economists were trying"
]
} | How is the word? | The reason I do like this book is simple: the best economics is all about practical theory and applications, the original economists were trying to solve very simple problem such as how to keep people from abusing the common, is there enough food to go around, etc.But, there are several problems with his book:The writing style/prose editing suggest readers with a short attention span, every time I get started on a topic it switches to another topic (the chapters have several subtopics and points seamlessly intermixed). The author's self-awareness of their success from the 1st book is painfully aware in this one, the sequel. For those in the sciences it is well known that a thesis is only as good as the data collected; and much of the authors data is from small sample sizes they go on the claim as irrefutable law (most contentious is the abortion and the crime rate correlation from the 1st book), which makes their hypothesis always...questionable; and for those critical of the Freakonimics series is their main argument against them.In the end the book does what they probably intend, makes economics a philosophy relevant for the masses again. This book presents people with material for conversation and debate after dinner with friends and family. No longer something for government committees and corporations board of directors, economics is back to its practical roots. Bit these books are just that, not necessarily critical study but contrary based investigation of some interesting and important questions, insisting that dialogue and further inquiry of the selected subject matters occur. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"I liked this so much"
]
} | What do you think about odd thomas book one? | I liked this so much on Tuesday that I read it a second time on Wednesday (today). In general, I like a book this smart and good to be a bit longer. A scene in Coeur d'Alene would have been so great. Mal's sisters are probably fun and how darling is he with little blond nieces and nephews? I am feeling as if the ending was rushed by a deadline. But whatever -- I've been waiting for this book since June and it was a fun two days. Five easy stars. |
{
"answer_start": [
475
],
"text": [
"His mother is killed"
]
} | How do you like the life? | Donna Tartt's writing is superb. The Goldfinch turns a piece of art into a talisman that carries more than one life through troubled times. I believe that art is redemptive but Tartt demonstrates this as fact in The Goldfinch. Theo Decker's life has been both tragic and unplanned while also riddled with fortunate turns of fate. This is what makes the story compelling. For instance, at the beginning of the story he survives an explosion in the Meteopolitan Museum of Art. His mother is killed and he ends up walking out of the museum carrying a valuable masterpiece by Fabritius. And if this isn't bad enough for you an alcohol and gambling addicted father shows up to stake a claim on Theo, hauling him off to Las Vegas and essentially abandoning him in a failed housing development where "even Dominoes won't deliver." At least half of my reading time was spent on the edge of my seat and the other half hoping for a break to get this kid/young man out of the hot water he kept pitching into head first. And along comes Boris Pavlikovsky, Theo's best friend and one of the most endearing hoodlums you'll ever meet. Like I said, the book is long but it's one of the best stories I've read. PERIOD! |
{
"answer_start": [
32
],
"text": [
"The timing of finding and getting to read it was perfect"
]
} | How are relationship? | Fastested book I've ever read!! The timing of finding and getting to read it was perfect!! Really enjoyed the love story and all the characters! Such a great book! Thank you for writing this! <3 |
{
"answer_start": [
16
],
"text": [
"This book is HOT"
]
} | How is the one? | Man oh man..... This book is HOT, HOT, HOT and then some..... What a guy Jas is, lucky Noelle!!Characters are awesome - totally alpha males, strong sassy females and loads of action!!Looking forward to the reading Lex & Dallas's story, as well as the rest of the books in the series - have read the teaser 1st chapter to 'Beyond Control' and just know this is gonna be another scorcher of a book!!!I'm sure loads more cold showers will be required... Roll on 19/03/13..... ;D |
{
"answer_start": [
5556
],
"text": [
"Quiet is a book I would recommend to anyone"
]
} | What is the quality of the book? | When I first became aware of Quiet, I knew it was a book I had to read. I've always been an introvert, content to curl up with a book for hours and wary of crowded places and loud parties. Yet, even though I was aware of my introversion, I don't think I really understood it and what it meant. I always saw it as a sort of flexible personality trait that I could change if I wanted to, and I always had the sense that there was something unhealthy about my particular personality type. After reading the book, I feel I have a much better understanding not only of myself, but of how the way American society is structured tends to work against someone like me.Cain uses a blend of some of the latest neurological research and years of psychiatric studies to show why introverts and extroverts are so different, and to lay rest to the idea that there's something broken in people who don't meet the gregarious, outgoing American ideal. The neuroscience she highlights in the book is easily understandable to the layperson, and shows how the brains of introverts and extroverts process stimuli differently. Quite literally, extroverts' brains function in such a way that they are exhilarated and recharged by plenty of social stimulation while introverts need quiet and downtime in order to recharge.Using this research, Cain then shows why so many aspects of modern American life are doing few favors for introverts and, in fact, may be hindering creativity and innovation overall. One of the topics she discusses is the seemingly ubiquitous open-plan workspace. Having spent some years in offices, I could feel myself recoil as soon as she began touching on the topic. The idea behind these plans is that an open atmosphere will create more interaction between employees, thus stimulating creativity and helping to further develop ideas. This goes hand-in-hand with the corporate love of brainstorming sessions and leadership retreats, all of which I've had the misfortune of attending. However, as Cain shows, all of these things actually hinder creativity. People are at their most creative when they have quiet time alone in which to let their mind roam freely. This is a topic of particular interest to me, and there are plenty of sources that support this conclusion. Some companies are beginning to recognize this problem and are starting to design offices that provide spaces where people can retreat for some quiet thought and reflection. This is a boon not only to the introverts, who really need these spaces, but to the extroverts as well because these more thoughtfully designed spaces offer all personality types the opportunity to seek out stimulation when they need it and to retreat into privacy when they need time for quiet thought.Another point that I found particularly interesting was Cain's examination of current educational philosophies. I'm a former high/middle school teacher and the parent of an elementary-aged child, so I've had the chance to see this in action--not to mention the styles and philosophies with which I was presented during my teacher training. There currently is a HUGE emphasis on group work, which I think can be attributed to the corporatization of education. Despite that I am, myself, an introvert, as a teacher, I bought into the idea that kids need to be constantly interacting, but Cain points out the flaws in this idea. Both my colleagues and myself were sometimes guilty of the "Johnny is a great student but so quiet--if only he'd talk more!" syndrome, and this book made me realize how harmful that can actually be. While there is emphasis in modern education on learning styles--the visual learner versus the auditory learner, for example--there is next to no emphasis on how to appeal to various personality types. I volunteer in my daughter's school, and every year the kids' desks are arranged in groupings, so that students spend a large amount of their time working with other students. Still, there is a bright spot in that they are occasionally granted small stretches of time during which they're free to retreat to whatever part of their classroom or the outside pod area they like so they may complete an assignment. Quiet really made me think about how important these opportunities are, and how they need to become a more integral part of the educational system.Most valuable of all, though, this book really made me think deeply about myself and those I love and to think of ways to better interact with them. I have a better understand now of how what seemed pliable personality traits are actually inherent in me, and how I can work with them instead of against them so that I can alleviate stress and avoid feeling overwhelmed and burned out. While the book is primarily about introverts, it also helped me to gain a better understanding about the extroverts in my life and how we can live more harmoniously with one another. The sections of the book that deal with married couples was particularly interesting in this respect, because they showed how our own biases make us judge the reactions of others. Since we tend to see the world through a certain lens, we sometimes have trouble understanding that not everyone thinks the way we do, and that we may be taking their reactions and misunderstanding them. This is truly invaluable because I realize that by taking a more thoughtful approach to interactions with others, I can better understand not only my actions but theirs, which will hopefully lead to a better level of understanding between us.Quiet is a book I would recommend to anyone, regardless of whether you're an introvert or an extrovert. I think that introverts like myself will feel better about our personalities and will see that the way we operate can be a strength rather than a social liability, as many of us have been conditioned to believe. And I think that extroverts can learn that introverts aren't necessarily socially backwards or cold, but people who often feel awkward in our own skins because we see and admire the outgoing traits of extroverts but may have trouble emulating them. This book simply works on so many levels: from the corporate world to the world of education and right on down to a personal level. |
{
"answer_start": [
5
],
"text": [
"this story is simply fantastic"
]
} | How pleasant is the storyline? | Wow, this story is simply fantastic from the beginning. You will cry, laugh and simply fall in love with the characters and the poetry in this wonder YA book. Great job Colleen Hoover and I guess I need to listen to The Avett Brothers. I'll start book two Point of Retreat tonight. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"message is simple , clear and powerful"
]
} | How is the message to the reader? | There is something truly unique about don Miguel Ruiz's "The Four Agreements." While it reads like a cross between a religious text and a science fiction novel, its message is simple, clear and powerful."The Four Agreements" is about simplifying and taking ownership of your life. It's a practical "how to" guide for casting off the social expectations and standards that you've collected and made "fact" over the course of your life. Ruiz coins this web of overlapping societal truths as the dream of the world; suggesting that - just like we have created our own belief system as to what we're capable as individuals - so to have we, as a global entity, created a mass belief that people should act in a certain way and (with rare exception) are only capable of certain things. Ruiz shares that while this belief system is strong (and widely accepted, making it easier to submit to than to challenge) it is invalid and extremely limiting to us as individuals.Ruiz teaches that the way in which we see and interact with the world is entirely created through thousands and thousands of tiny "agreements" - situations we experience, form an opinion on and then solidify in our minds as actual fact. An opinion is not a fact. It is simply an opinion; one way of viewing the world.So, to clarify an important new term here: Ruiz defines an "agreement" as an effective "thought habit"; something you've been told so many times, or repeated to yourself so many times that you believe it to be irrefutable fact.Ruiz hypothesizes that we make and reinforce thousands of these agreements every day and, unfortunately, a lot of them are negative. We have preconceptions and criticisms of individuals, organizations, events or ideas that we allow to color our experiences. As an aside, the film "Traffic" does a great job of exploring this topic Ruiz suggests that while we have been "programmed" by thousands of little agreements we've made with ourselves and society, the active pursuit of mastery of four key agreements can counter balance the lot of them. The purpose of doing so is in creating an "authentically you" lifestyle. Think of the timeless bliss of five year olds in play. Those kids are authentically themselves. They don't know how to be any other way. And they're happy. This is what we're working towards.FAVOURITE TAKEAWAY: Over the course of his smart, quick little book, Ruiz identifies the four key agreements we can make with ourselves that will have the most dramatic impact on the happiness in our lives. Those agreements are as follows: The first agreement is to be impeccable with your word. The second agreement is don't take anything personally. The third agreement is don't make assumptions. The fourth agreement is about the action of the first three: Always do your best.While the agreements themselves are extremely simple in nature, they are also brutally challenging to master. Society teaches us to gossip. To criticize. To cut corners. To exaggerate or outright lie. Mastering these four agreements take time, patience and an incredible strong will. Ruiz's belief, however, is that the effort is worth it. With these four agreements in place, we can learn to "roll back the fog" of our existence and live the life we were truly meant to lead, rather than plod along on the path dictated to us by social programming and peer expectation. While we don't have time to go into all four agreements in detail, here are a couple key thoughts for mastering these agreements."The Four Agreements" is different. While I don't believe this book (and Ruiz's writing style or language) is one that everyone will be comfortable with, I do strongly feel the message is universal and can be lived by everyone. We do submit to societal pressures and expectations. Unconsciously, we conform to what the world tells us we should be and do. We're typically not happy about it, but we end up blaming everyone else for that - our bosses, our parents, our partner - it's always someone else's fault. The message of this book is clear - you need to take ownership for your own life and destiny. You choose the path, and the way you want to live your life. My personal opinion is that the four agreements are collectively a powerful set of tools for setting you down the right path; your path. As I said, not for everyone, but powerful stuff for the spiritually inclined.--Visit ActionableBooks for over 170 summaries, author video interviews and easy ways to implement the concepts for managers and their teams. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"in MY opinion , is NOT a sex book"
]
} | How is the sex? | *For Mature Audiences Only*Ok, I'm just gone get right to it. This book, in MY opinion, is NOT a sex book. A sex book is when 90% of the book is all sex scenes. That's not 50 Shades. While several scenes in the book are graphic, the storyline overshadows them. This is a book of a love story between 2 people who are as different from each other as night and day. I feel the storyline overshadows the sex scenes because I found myself more intrigued with the characters actions, not the characters activities. Again, this book is for MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY and I would not recommend it to anyone otherwise because there is something to be seen past the sex scenes. It was definitely a page turner and I will be purchasing book 2 and 3 this weekend. Each is own but I loved it! |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"For people such as myself who are not religious "
]
} | How is it people ? | Much like Richard Dawkins is an inflammatory character, so is the title of his most well known book. For people such as myself who are not religious, his passion for helping humanity move beyond superstitious dogma so as to allow in a more complex, complete, and exhilarating understanding of the world and universe in which we exist does not appear offensive. However, I can appreciate why people who are of a religious persuasion would feel inclined to steer clear of Dawkins and his writing. Yet, I would encourage those people to cast aside their initial disgust and discomfort with the author and title, because, if one has an open mind this book will provide illuminating intellectual reading, and if one does not yet have an open mind, this is just the sort of reading that may begin to break down the barriers of closed-mindedness.I believe if you are going to get anything out of this book you'll have to read it in order, as skipping around could easily leave you either not understanding things, or upset you to the point of not picking the book back up. If you do choose to read it, and you do read it in order and in full, I don't think you'll be disappointed, and I can almost assure that only the most closed-minded individuals will find themselves upset at what they've taken in.Dawkins will challenge you to think about things in a new way. He'll challenge you to wonder why religious beliefs are not held to the same standards of scrutiny and given more than customary respect. That's the first key. In order to appreciate any of his points you have to be willing to give up the "religious beliefs are not to be questioned, scrutinized, or challenged on grounds that such is disrespectful" attitude. From there you will be challenged to consider the black and white nature with which we have drawn religious arguments. Instead of "believer," "agnostic" and "atheist" he challenges you to rightly think of all people as agnostics, in the sense none of us can know if God is real or not. He'll also try and make you understand that there is a false equivalency pertaining to religious and non-religious beliefs. Religious beliefs are spectacular claims with no supporting evidence, and although they could be true, it's not non-believers job to disprove the non evidentiary based claims of religion, but rather believers job to demonstrate why exactly they say we should believe in these things for which there is no evidence.From there, you will go on a journey of pseudo-evidence. You'll look at all sorts of unscientific claims that religious people hold up as "proof of God." Everything from "the world is beautiful" to "I feel God in my life" to "something so perfect has to be real," to "here's a really smart person who believes," to "our existence is unlikely," etc, etc. Dawkins forces you to think with scientific rationality instead of hopeful dogma. The fact things are perceived as beautiful, improbable, complex, or whatever else doesn't somehow mean that it's more likely for some all powerful deity to exist. We are so conditioned to view anything that is unusually good, bad, confusing, or unknown in both our individual lives and our world, as proof of an arbitrarily presupposed supernatural creator that we never stop to think, "hey maybe things can be really pretty, or really complicated, or whatever else without their being some magical creator."This will transition nicely to when he subsequently talks about how the unknown, which we use as "proof of God," allowed the notion of God to exist in the first place. As a scientist, Dawkins understands that his trade is aimed at finding gaps in our knowledge, and using the scientific method to discover answers to what we previously did not know. Religion is what serves as a placeholder for yet unanswered questions or not fully understood phenomenon. With this understanding in mind, Dawkins proposes that science is viewed as the enemy of religion precisely because it is indeed the thing that kills religion. When you understand how things work, when the question is answered, then the answer can no longer be, "God." He fully acknowledges how some people view science as merely "revealing" the ways of God, but he heavily implies that this is illogical, as the ways of God that religions talk about are very different indeed from the actual answers science ends up providing.Yet, aside from the "filler of holes" concept, Dawkins challenges you to consider where religion comes from. In my opinion he does a poor job of answering this question, which might be explained by the fact he is an evolutionary biologist. He works with how life has evolved, rather than how it started (that will ultimately be the job of chemists as opposed to biologists as he points out). Thus, he makes some very good insights into how religion has spread and why it persists (sort of the evolution of the perpetuation of religion), but he fails to come up with, or really even attempt to come up with, a theory as to where the human desire to create the religions it did originates from. As for how it is perpetuated he talks about the role of parents and other social institutions enforcing religious beliefs as truths in impressionable young minds, such that it becomes cyclical and immune to analytical, scientific reasoning.After considering all this (that religion should be challenged like anything, that agnosticism is false equivalency, that the "proofs" for God are not actually evidence in any kind of scientific, logical, or intellectual sense, and a consideration of where religion came from, with its basic function) the rest of the book focuses on a refutation of religious apologies. Basically, Dawkins points out the obvious (that there is no evidence for God and that it's beyond unlikely one actually exists), but he acknowledges that whether or not God is actually real or not is the improper question to ask of most people. For most people it is not "is God real?" but rather, "ought we believe in God, real or not?" He'll talk about morality and how so many people assume it takes religion to instill and enforce a sense of right and wrong in people. Yet, he understands that scientifically this is not so, due to his background in evolutionary psychology. He understands that what we know as right and wrong is a byproduct of the sort of personality traits that were chosen during the course of sexual selection to help our intelligent, social species better survive. In other words, people who are alive today had the ancestors whose personalities saw right and wrong in the way most all people today do, and they survived because their social moral codes worked out best for humans. Ironically, this concept of "natural law" (i.e. we all have this fairly uniform sense of morality) is often used by religious people as proof of God. (basically, hey if we all have this sense of right and wrong there must have been a deity that put this sense in all of us....you can see why creationists and people who understand and accept the science of evolution have such problems with each other) The implications of our morality coming from our DNA rather than from an adherence to religious texts is, to Dawkins, (and to many such as myself) the sort of proof that, yes, everyone will be just as good without religion.Expanding off of this concept, Dawkins will go on to describe how social memes (basically the zeitgeist) evolve in an inevitably progressive direction over time (overall, as there can be temporary setbacks along the overall progressive trend). It is for this precise reason, he asserts, that more and more of things like the Torah, the Bible, and the Koran are no longer adhered to today. Our morality exists because of evolution, which also means it's always evolving (it's why we have the evolution of the zeitgeist). Of course, this, despite making very good sense, is a problem for religious people, as social memes become more progressive as humanity grows and matures with evolution, despite religious writings remaining fixed in the less mature, less progressive times they were written. A conflict erupts between those people that want to continue to adhere to larger amounts of various religious writings based on a whimsical assumption they are a sort of absolute truth with a capital T, and the rest of people who will allow our moral evolution to continue to improve with time and experience as a species. As impolite as it might sound (since we are accustomed to giving religion such high levels of respect and insulation from scrutiny) belief in the perfection of scripture creates an obstacle for the evolution of humanity's moral progress.To really drive home the point that our morality comes from ourselves rather than some scriptures attributed to some deity, Dawkins talks about how things we today see as the "good parts" of something such as the Bible, like "love thy neighbor" or "thou shall not kill," are actually just as misleading as something like "we the people" in our Constitution. Things like thou shall not kill were meant to say "thou shall not kill Jews" much in the way "people" used to mean only white male property owners. Yet, today religious people interpret these Biblical rules to be more inclusive and tolerant. They do this not because the meanings of the Bible suddenly changed, but because the people reading them did. We evolve, our morality evolves, and it improves. Which is precisely why it is ridiculous that we hold up a book like the Bible that talks about ritual human sacrifices, stoning of women, killing people who work on Sunday, giving your daughter's virginity to as retribution to save a man from being anally raped, etc, etc, as some sort of "code of our morality." The fact we can pick and choose the "good" and "bad" parts is demonstrative that it's been us, humans, not some divine intervention all along.From there, Dawkins will talk about what he perceives as the damage religion creates. He basically subscribes to the idea that good people will be good and bad people bad with or without religion, but only with religion will good people do bad. I and others aren't so sure of that, although there is a strong circumstantial case to be made. However, I do regret that Dawkins goes on such a lengthy, albeit incredibly well articulated bashing of his perceived horrors of religion, as I feel it will turn too many otherwise open intellectual, scientifically minded people away from the larger message of the book, which is that freedom of thought should always trump dogma. Obviously he jumps into the homosexuality thing, as it really is one of those things no one would be against if not for religion. Yet, I find this part of the book, at least given what the book's larger objective is, to be rather unnecessary. The discussion of the religious objection to abortion is more interesting; although still not something I would have gone after if I were attempting to do what Dawkins was. The notion of consequentialism (what are the consequences of permitting or not permitting this action) vs. the notion of absolutism (this action shall be permitted or not permitted based on an absolute, predetermined labeling of the thing as "good" or "bad" based on my religion) is a riveting one, but I think it is only such if you are already intellectually enlightened prior to the picking up of Dawkins' writing. I further believe he makes a mistake in demonizing "moderate" religion, and nearly suggesting that it is as much not a real thing as "50/50 agnocisticsm" is. Moderate religious belief may not be any less scientifically implausible and ridiculous than extremist religious belief, but if we are truly asking ourselves if we ought to be militant atheists or atheists with a religiously libertarian attitude to the unenlightened world, I think a consideration of the lesser damages of moderate religion should be better considered (he seems to view people like Ted Haggard as "moderate" by American standards, perhaps a disillusioned view of the extremeness of American religiosity coming from a Brit that thinks we are worse than we really are)After taking this detour to talk about the bad of religion, Dawkins comes back to a far more convincing "ought we to" argument. The question is whether we ought to raise children religiously (which is basically a form of indoctrination, no matter how mild the upbringing may be). He points out the absurdity of labeling kids by their parents religion (you would never do that with their parent's political or economic opinions). He also points out that while physical abuse is horrible, abuse of the mind leaves far longer lasting scars. I think the way in which he makes the point is very sloppy and perhaps even unknowingly offensive, as he compares the Catholic priest scandal to indoctrinating of minds and calls the latter worse (as well as discussing the story of a woman who said she had been more traumatized as child by thinking her dead friend was burning in hell for being the wrong religion than she was by being sexually abused by a priest). Overall, I'm not sure I can come to think of any form of religious indoctrination as worse than sexual exploitation of minors, but I can appreciate that even when a household is open minded and intellectual and the parents fully accepting of whatever their children end up believing later on (as was the case with mine) being raised religious still leaves you with a nasty feeling that you've done something wrong, that you failed your parents, that they'd be happier if they you had turned out as they intended, or even that somehow you are indicating to them you don't think of them as good people since you ended up believing in different things than they did.On a tamer note, Dawkins goes on to make the distinction between teaching about religion and teaching religion. Much as we learn of Greek and Roman mythology so that we may understand the literary gems of the day, Dawkins asserts that we do need to explore contemporary western religious for literary purposes. Yet, he couples this with a harsh discussion of how trying to teach religious dogma in place of or in refutation of sound science is perhaps the worst form of intellectual child abuse.The book concludes with an examination of the most powerful "ought we" question. Even if it's beyond unlikely there is a God for which there is no sound evidence, ought we to believe in it, or at least socially protect the belief in such, not because it will save our morality, or because it fails to harm, or because parents should be left to teach their kids as they choose (religion does not make our morality, it's not without harm, and parental indoctrination is, in fact, one such harm), but rather because it provides an ability to comfort, console, and inspire humanity? In trying to answer this question Dawkins first concedes that the notion of God does comfort, console, and inspire people. By doing this, he appears to unknowingly answer the question he earlier failed to answer (from where does religion come?). Religion, it would seem comes from adults who couldn't give up the security of an unconditional, loving, helpful friend that always has time to be there for you. In other words, as impolite as it sounds, religion allows adults to have that imaginary friend when times call for it. Dawkins speaks of a story of a woman who says she had an imaginary friend as a child who she later had a dream about as an adult where the friend (a sort of Barney-like purple creature) was giving her advice as to how to navigate a crisis in her life. He quite profoundly postulates that this adult extension of childhood friends is at the essence of belief in deities.So, then the question becomes whether or not we can be consoled and inspired while acknowledging that our adult imaginary friend known as God is just as unlikely to exist as any childhood imaginary friend. He suggests we most certainly can and invokes quantum mechanics and an unnamed reference to biocentric perception as the reason why. Basically, we evolved to perceive the world as we do because that's what we needed to perceive in order to successfully navigate it. Yet, there is much in this universe, and other proposed universes that is far too small, too large, too fast, too slow, and whatever else for us to perceive let alone understand. The world we see is such a tiny bit of reality and such a limited understanding of all there is to understand. With science, we can discover realities in which we do not exist and come to understand all the things within our reality that we do not perceive. He uses the amazing analogy of a woman in a burka with only the slit where her eyes are being exposed. He instructs us to imagine that the woman and the burka covering her are miles upon miles tall/long. Because modern science has begun to discover both how long the burka of reality really is and also figuring out ways to understand the rest of the burka, the tiny slit humanity has previously been confined to perceive things from is rapidly opening up. Thus, it becomes apparent to us readers that we can very much be inspired by all these new components of vast, vast reality that there is to be investigated, and we can very much be comforted by increasing our understanding of this vast reality. We can obtain this inspiration and comfort by using science, which yes, does destroy old superstitious dogmas we found comforting in the face of uncertainty from the slit of the burka, but what there is to find, in exchange for giving up the comparatively smaller comfort and inspiration that was the religious placeholder, is so, so much greater than what we got from our delusions. |
{
"answer_start": [
2236
],
"text": [
"This book has great mystery"
]
} | How is the mystery? | I first became aware of this series when I won an autographed copy of the first Infinity Ring book (WooHoo), which was written by James Dashner. Then, once I heard that The Maze Runner was to hit the big screen I was reminded that it was floundering somewhere in my to-read list. So, finally after much delay I brought it.When I first started reading it I was reminded of a book from my school days, Lord of the Flies. I was a tad concerned that it was going to be along the same lines because it was ’required reading’ at school rather than ’my choice’, I wasn’t really keen on the thought (even though I can’t really remember the specifics of LOTF).But, I’m pleased to say that after the first few chapters I became captivated by the story and its characters. Thomas is our main guy, he’s sort of been mysteriously embedded into a settlement (The Glade) populated by other boys his own age. He has no memory of who he is or where he came, which he soon finds is common for all ’greenies’ that arrive in the Glade.The Glade is a sanctuary of sorts, which is at the centre of a huge maze that changes its shape every day. We follow Thomas as he works through the many struggles of adapting to his new life and learns about the ways of the Glade. He finds that every kid has a role, and every role is just as important as the next. Life in the Glade can be quite tough, but the Gladers have created a society that has rules and runs well.Every day, a team of Runners enter the maze to try to find a way back to the real world. But, the maze is full of hidden dangers and all runners must return to the Glade before the huge doors close at the end of each day. Anyone unlucky enough to be trapped in the maze overnight is in big trouble.Soon, the arrival of another mysterious ’greenie’ sets the wheels in motion for Thomas and the other Gladers to go for broke, and try and find the answers they all long for. Who are they? Where are they from? How do they escape? Who can they trust?There’ll be no more details on the plot from me. I’ll just say that this is an exciting book, so I suggest that you grab a copy and read it for yourself.My bottom line: This book has great mystery, action, and likable characters. I can honestly say that this is a series that I’m keen to keep reading. I’m looking forward to getting into the next book …. and the movie too.PS: I’d put this book and movie in the YA category rather than MG.Note: I don’t claim to be a pro-reviewer, I am a reader. My reviews are based on my personal thoughts around the story that the book is trying to tell. I try to focus on the story (which is the reason I read) rather than dissect the book and pass comment on typos, writing style or structure. |
{
"answer_start": [
412
],
"text": [
"This is a rare accomplishment"
]
} | How is the meaning compared original verb? | This book is profound and offers the reader much to ponder. Viktor Frankl's intellect is evident as well as his compassion. The spritual nature of the work is quite moving. This book offers an insightful view into a place and subject impossible to comprehend. I thank Dr. Frankl for his wisdom and sharing. Through this book, he has been able to bring deep meaning out of incredible suffering and tragedy. This is a rare accomplishment. |
{
"answer_start": [
17
],
"text": [
"the story picks up with Tris in trouble and Evelyn in control of the city"
]
} | What story do I tell you? | After Insurgent, the story picks up with Tris in trouble and Evelyn in control of the city. Soon, Tris, Four and some others choose to leave Chicago and pursue the meaning of the Edith Prior video. Most of the remaining story takes place inside a special facility a short drive from Chicago, where we find out what the story is about Chicago and the factions, as well as what it really means to be divergent. Three-quarters of the way into this story, I was very disappointed. It felt like the author was just going through the motions, and frankly, the story was boring and dull--lots of talking and philosophical introspection, but not much plot movement. The last quarter of the book salvaged things for me and raised the story from one star to 3.5. No, like a thousand others, I didn't like the ending, and I didn't think the ending was necessitated in any way by the story arc. It seemed almost as if the author realized the story about to crash and burn, so she tossed in this ending to slap us in the face. HOWEVER, the ending was well done and beautifully written, and it was quite evocative. I thought the writing went from passable and average to excellent and gripping. BUT, I'm only at 3.5 stars because the ending doesn't really fit the overall trilogy IMO. So, for those that want a 'they all lived happily ever after' ending, don't read this book. Stop with Insurgent and think up your own ending. For those of you, who--like Tris--aren't afraid to jump off the roof into the net below, you should read it and experience the pain. I just wish the first part of the book was written nearly as well as the ending. Yo, Tris, you...well, you know what i mean. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"If you are looking for steamy sex scenes that rival those of 50 shades"
]
} | How is the attraction? | If you are looking for steamy sex scenes that rival those of 50 shades, this book is for you, 5 stars for that! I had to take away a star because I just got so irritated with Jocelyn, she had so many issues and the entire book she did not let anyone in and shut everyone out, she had such nice people surrounding her, Braden was a real stand-up guy and her friend Ellie was so supportive of her, yet she did not open up to anyone until the very end. While the sex was great, it would have been better if she had opened herself up emotionally and accepted her feelings for Braden so the love would have been more mutual for a bigger part of the book. Also, she sees a therapist and they put way too much of that dialogue in the book -- those parts were bOOOring! |
{
"answer_start": [
78
],
"text": [
"adapting to the dizzying change going on around us and finding how to best contribute in this new world"
]
} | What point does the book make clear? | I give this two stars instead of one because it does have a valid point about adapting to the dizzying change going on around us and finding how to best contribute in this new world.However, the undeniable fact is that there is a lot less cheese than there used to be. The corporate CEOs, the crooked bankers, the defense contractors, the Walton family, and others have grabbed trillions of dollars worth of cheese from the rest of us. So, when we go in search of cheese, most people will find only inferior cheese--and much less of it.The moral of the story is that if we are suffering due to lack of cheese, it is our fault. It's the mean-spirited, idiotic ideology preached by Herman Cain, who told America, "Don't blame Wall Street. Don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself." Yeah, right.BTW, if you're wondering where the cheese was moved, it's in the Caymen Islands and other offshore tax shelters. According to Forbes Magazine, the super rich have stashed $21 Trillion in "cheese." Maybe one day the people in our government will get some balls and make them bring it back.[...] |
{
"answer_start": [
788
],
"text": [
"the story was decent"
]
} | How did you like the storyline? | I was given a strong recommendation for this book. I was warned about an epic twist, and that even though the protagonist was a YA, it wasn't a YA book.I have to say I wasn't massively impressed. The plot twist (assuming I have the right one, I'm trying to avoid spoilers) was predictable, I called it before the epic encounter. I felt the plot lines with Ender's siblings was for the most part useless (maybe it has some importance in sequels). I really felt it was written to make the reader feel sorry for the put upon kids, which I explained to the person who recommended the book to me I was not interested in reading. And it would be nice to have at least an explanation of the device that could communicate over light-years, the physics there was pretty weak.That being said, the story was decent. Characterization was good if predictable. I liked how the author essentially predicted tablets (the tables the kids used), and the influence of anonymous writers on the Internet.Overall, a decent sci-fi read. I don't see it as awesome as the public perception seems to be. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This book was beautifully written "
]
} | What do you think about the concept of the serie? | This book was beautifully written and I recommend it to all. The plot is incredibly unique and unpredictable. I was as when I was over |
{
"answer_start": [
176
],
"text": [
"The writing was enjoyable and easy to follow"
]
} | What is write? | This book definately had some unexpected twists and turns. The first part seems pretty straight forward, then really unmasks the characters. I enjoyed that aspect of the book. The writing was enjoyable and easy to follow. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"book was incredible These books are great"
]
} | How is the book? | I think that this is my second favorite HP book! I loved Hermoine's side story and that Rowlings kept leading us to beleive something was happening with Hermoine but there was so much going on with the rest of the book that you really didn't have time to figure out what it was. The way everything culminated at the end of the book was incredible. I raced through the end so fast that I had to go back and re-read it. These books are great! |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This is a great book on slow cooking"
]
} | How is the book? | This is a great book on slow cooking. It has a ton of tips and tricks that only apply to slow cooker cooking. I thought that the book was well worth it just for these targetted slow cooker tips.At the same time, I will say this....slow cookers does not equal "automatic cooking." I think that's the biggest mistake that people make - thinking that you throw in all the ingredients and walk away "set it and forget it" doesn't work with crockpots. I have found that crock pots are a great and important part of cooking. For example, I love to make ropa vieja (an old cuban dish) but it's really hard to make it in a crockpot in one step. Rather, I slow cook the meat in the crock pot until it falls apart and then I spend 30 minutes mixing it with green peppers and the other ingredients in a skillet to finish the dish. The crock pot saves me a ton of time but it's not always a one stop. If you learn to put the crock pot in its place, you'll be that better off.At the same time there are some receipes that are fool proof and work great right out of the crockpot. This book has over 200 receipes and you can pretty much tell which ones are "set and forget" vs ones where you'll need extra work.So what is the premise of this book? Well there is a group in Vermont called the "test kitchen" where basically they set up a bunch of crockpots (literally a whole line of them) and they proceed to test and tweak receipes until they collect a few hundred good receipes tha they have fine tuned. So, the knowledge that comes is first hand and they taste test all of the receipes in the book. Of note, the receipes are mostly "crock-pot" rather than crock-pot + additional work.....but they do share the tips.They're also careful to note which receipes might benefit from a final step like broiling for a few minutes in the oven or some other similar step. I think this is wonderful that they realize that not everything can be a one stop shop. Also, they are clear to note which cuts of meat are best for crockpot cooking.The book is very "tip centric" so they talk about:- things you might have to do after you cook something in a crock-pot- flavor enhancers- picking the right cut of meat- placement of meat (upside down chickens to keep breasts moist) etcOverall, they're trying to pass along all the tips and tricks that they learned and gathered in their "test kitchen."Overall, a very neat concept - this test kitchen thing.Anyway - I love crockpotting --- I hope you do too. This book really does help. |
{
"answer_start": [
2997
],
"text": [
"what happens"
]
} | How is none? | "'Nice to meet ya, shank,' the boy said. 'Welcome to the Glade.'"I enjoyed readingThe Maze Runner (Maze Runner Trilogy (Hardback))during a lazy Sunday. It is a very easy read, recommended and fit for kids of all ages. Dystopian novels are hit-or-miss for me, and The Maze Runner is a hit. Not a homerun, but a hit nonetheless. I've seen it compared to "The Hunger Games," but not having read the Suzanne Collins series I cannot validate the comparison for the time being. Because the storyline captivated me enough to read it in one sitting, I gave it four stars instead of three.There were some "Lord of the Flies" undertones, although Dashner was obviously not as disillusioned with human nature as was Golding. An underlying theme is the conflicting impulses between civilization and power struggle, rules and anarchy, peace and discord. There were some hints of the infinite battle between conformity and individuality, between logical and emotional reactions, between morality and immorality, and how different people feel the influences of these.The book maintained a detailed and absorbing storyline that kept me interested. Dashner's writing style is clear and uncomplicated. The ideas and situations are unique and, at times, verge on magical simplicity (well, without the magic).A boy wakes up in the darkness, not knowing anything about himself except for his name, Thomas. He is in some sort of metal lift, ascending slowly with no idea where it is going, except up. When the lift stops and opens, Thomas is pulled up out of the metal box and into the Glade; a large square courtyard surrounded on all sides by extraordinarily high rock walls. Also surrounding him are about fifty boys no more than 19 years of age. Like Thomas, the gladers (as the boys refer to themselves) each came to the Glade in the very same manner. They have no memory of their former lives, and they do not understand their purpose in this current one.What they know is that every 30 days, a new boy arrives in the Glade through the same lift. They also know that every morning at sunrise the walls surrounding the Glade open onto an elaborate series of passages referred to as "the Maze", every night the walls close tight, and it is not a good idea to be stuck in the maze after the doors close. Thomas quickly realizes that the Maze is a dangerous place, a haven for horrifying creatures called the Grievers. Everyone has a role in the Glade hierarchy. Everyone spends their days and nights fulfilling their roles in the confines of the Glade. Everyone, except for an elite group of boys, the Maze Runners, who brave the perils outside the Glade and explore the Maze each day, running back before the walls close at night.Thomas learns that the boys have been living this life in the Glade for two years before his arrival. They believe that "the Creators" have condemned them here, and that solving the Maze will lead to the way out. Although the gladers had expected Thomas' arrival, what happens the very next day is unexpected in many levels: the lift delivers another newbie, a girl, who is unconscious yet delivers an impending message of "change" and "doom". The pace quickens, the Maze Runner is off and running, and we follow Thomas on his flight to figure out his past, his purpose in the Glade, and the way out of this place. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"After falling in love with Will and Lake in Slammed"
]
} | How to know if it is love? | After falling in love with Will and Lake in Slammed, I was happy to get more of them, but not so happy knowing they were going to face all sorts of trials as a couple. One of my favorite things about this book was the point of view. While Slammed was from Lake's point of view, Point of Retreat is from Will's. As much as I loved being in Lake's head, I loved being in Will's ever more. I got to see some of my favorite Slammed moments through his eyes, which was huge.The biggest plus about seeing everything from Will's eyes was learning first hand how sincere and deep his love for Lake was. While Lake might have been the one pursuing Will in Slammed, in Point of Retreat it was Will holding them together. He did everything and anything in his power to be there for Lake in her time of need. I really felt that changed the whole tone of the book. Lake spent most of the book withdrawn and angry. She never really left the relationship, but there was a strain on it, and Lake wasn't emotionally able to deal with it. Will really stepped up and I adore him for it.I loved seeing Kel and Caulder again. Those two boys are just as mischievous and adorable as they were in Slammed, maybe more. I still wanted to give them big hugs and tell them to never change. Of course I didn't get my wish 'cause the guys started to notice girls, but one of the swoon/laugh moments I had was finding out why they were suspended from school. I think it spoke highly of how Will and Lake were adapting to their new roles and raising their brothers. There were also new people introduced in this book. I don't think the book would've been the same without Sherry and Kiersten. Both brought a gravitas to the book that elevated it to a totally different level.Of course poetry is an important part of this book, but it wasn't as big a focus as the first one. Of course one of my favorite lines from this series come from a poem used at the end. Once again Colleen's poetry is moving and flawless, just like this book. I honestly thought I was going to have a problem writing a review for this book, but it just basically wrote itself. For me, Point of Retreat will forever be a book that evoked so many emotions, touched my soul, and made Colleen Hoover one of my must buy & must read authors. Honestly, you'll feel the same after reading any one of her books. |
{
"answer_start": [
328
],
"text": [
"What happens when good people choose expedience over right"
]
} | What is your favorite book? | Tom hopes the isolated life on the lighthouse island will insulate him from the post-war demons that haunt him. He dedicates himself to his new bride and embraces the keeper's job as a sacred responsibility. But, he finds life is full of the unexpected, the unsummoned challenges that define a life, and carve out consequences. What happens when good people choose expedience over right, when they persuade themselves that an accident of fate is not a chance occurrence but a miracle intended to allay their private sorrow? As the story unfolds with a gripping pace, the reader will confront deeply personal questions. Given similar circumstances in their own lives, what would they choose? Will their moral compass illuminate an integrous path, or will they succumb to the desire of their soul to have that one dream fulfilled? This book will stay with you, not only for its power but also for the lyrical writing. |
{
"answer_start": [
170
],
"text": [
"In this book Bosch seemed not as knowable"
]
} | How many twist does the book have? | The storyline is good but the characters did not seem as rounded as they usually are. Every Bosch book up until The Black Box had a really approachable main character. In this book Bosch seemed not as knowable. It seemed to me that his personality was glossed over. |
{
"answer_start": [
5
],
"text": [
"AMAZING"
]
} | How would you describe the story? | OMG. AMAZING. this book was so captivating and filled with twists and turns. I liked both Dark Places and Sharp Objects. But I looooovvvvvvveeeeeee Gone Girl. The twisted minds of the two main characters Amy and Nick are just, indescribable!!!!!!! Never a dull moment in this book. From the beginning to the crazy surprise end!!!!!!!!!! |
{
"answer_start": [
258
],
"text": [
"This novel is not only a gem among"
]
} | What do you think about this movie including the dialogue? | I'm struggling to recall a time other than this where I wished--to the fullest extent--that a relationship was real instead of part of a book. And the inner romantic in me was wishing that I could clone Lucas for myself and lock him away in my room forever. This novel is not only a gem among contemporary romance novels under the mature young adult genre, but it is a sparkling diamond among indie writing. This is a book that any romance lover cannot afford to miss. It'll be twelve dollars well spent because the story hidden in its pages is worth even more.Jacqueline was dating the golden-boy, future politician at her old school. She gave up her dreams of going to a prestigious music school to follow him to college, only to have Kennedy eventually dump her with one of the stupidest excuses in the history of the world. Days later, his friend and enemy attempts to rape her after a party to get even. Lucky for her, a mysterious and tortured stranger shows up and saves her. She finds herself falling for him, just as she becomes flirty with a class tutor that's trying to help her save her grade that she let drop due to the initial devastation of her break-up. With the creepy stalker occasionally turning up at the worst times, Jacqueline begins a journey of self-discovery and strength while finding what it truly means to be in love. This novel will undoubtedly pull at your heart-strings and keep you flipping the pages like there's no tomorrow. I had no problem finishing it in a single day.This novel left me with a huge sense of power when I finished reading. It's as if I found my inner strength right along Jacqueline. It stresses that everyone has freedom of choice and it also shows that we cannot dwell on the past, but look forward to the future and always keep ourselves open to possibilities. I feel as if these lessons are strong ones to learn in life, and they're one of the countless reasons that I loved this book.But the main reason that I loved this book was the amazing plot that slowly put Jacqueline and Lucas together. Everything about their relationship and the progress of them getting to know each other was not easy, even if the simple act of being together was. They had secrets, worries, and their pasts holding them back. They took this journey together and learned so much more about themselves, making all the obstacles that they put in their own way disappear. Lives that they unintentionally made so hard and burdensome became easy with the other by their side. Jacqueline--musical, intelligent, strong and driven. Lucas--quiet, brooding, artistic, and hard to figure out. Together, they will go on a journey that will tug at your heartstrings and make it skip a beat, only to have it explode with joy or a multitude of other strong emotions seconds later.5 stars to this novel because it will not disappoint. My only disappointment is that this book is indie published. While it is a huge gem, the bookish nerd in me prefers hard-covers, and I so badly want to see this baby in a hard-cover. It deserves it. This story will stick with you for a while and will give you so much hope for your future.Be aware, that this book tackles huge subjects such as rape, intimidation, and forceful attempts to silence victims. Don't worry, none of it is detailed, but it is certainly mentioned and you can tell what is happening. It is a prevalent undercurrent throughout the novel. Despite it tackling such heavy topics, the book is overall light-hearted. I don't like any of the aforementioned topics, and even then I understood their importance to the book and found it quite easy to handle them. All Jacqueline needed was a little girl power to get her by. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"appreciation of history will enjoy this work of non fiction and look forward to reading more by this author"
]
} | How author passion is reflected in the book? | This is an exceptionally well written, well-researched book about two events that were intertwined, the Chicago World's Fair and the crimes of a serial killer in late nineteenth century Chicago. The book is rife with period detail and highly descriptive passages that give the reader a taste of what living in Chicago was like at that time.The book provides a fascinating look at the enormous work and planning that went into creating the Chicago World's Fair, making it into one that was truly remarkable for its time, given some of the problems that the architects had to overcome. It also provides a fascinating look into the lives of some of the key players involved in its creation.Meanwhile, an enterprising and charismatic killer was also at work, his story being tied into that of the creation of the Chicago World's Fair itself. His story, however, is the weaker part of the book, as it lacks the detail that is evident in the other segment of the book. Still, it provides an interesting look into the life of a serial killer who seemed to go about his grisly business with impunity, as well as a look at crime, law enforcement, and the state of criminal justice in late nineteenth century Chicago.The photographs that were included in the book are excellent and illustrative. The only problem is that there are not enough of them, as the few that are included simply make the reader desire more of them. Still, those with an appreciation of history will enjoy this work of non-fiction and look forward to reading more by this author. |
{
"answer_start": [
145
],
"text": [
"very exciting"
]
} | What do you think about story? | For me, Angles and Demons, The DaVinci Code and The Lost Symbol were all much, much, much better than Inferno. The story was predictable and not very exciting. The characters were shallow and not very believable. Reading was slow and difficult. And I had to force myself to get through the last half of the book. This was my 6th Dan Brown read...and my least favorite. It seemed so un-Dan-Brown like, I wonder if he really did much of the writing himself. I DO NOT RECOMMEND it to anyone. |
{
"answer_start": [
5
],
"text": [
"catcher"
]
} | How many pages has the new pra? | "The catcher in the rye" is the story of some days in Holden Caulfied's life, as he tells it in the hospital where he was taken after his "meltdown". In his own words, "I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out here and take it easy".The plot is quite simple, mainly what happens when a particularly sensitive teenager gets kicked out of school, and decides to travel alone a little bit instead of just telling his parents what happened. However, even if the main premise is common enough, the way it is delivered is what makes this book so special that it has become a classic. Salinger makes us get to know Holden, giving the reader interesting insights into his musings, likes and dislikes (yeah, generally mostly dislikes).You want some examples?. For instance, and regarding teachers, he says that "You can't stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it". Or when he starts to think about the things we say over and over again, without giving them any actual meaning: "I'm always saying `Glad to `ve met you` to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though".Holden's views are interesting, and different readers will interpret them in diverse ways, specially if their age isn't the same. To teenagers, Holden reflects the highs and lows they have to deal with, and their struggle with the "phony world" of adults that sometimes seems so weird, so wrong. To adults, Holden is a part of themselves that they somehow lost with the years, the innocence and the shock before things they have grown accustomed to with time.There are quite a few symbols in this book, but you will able to understand it even if you don't know a thing about symbology (or aren't interested in it). Despite that, I'd like to share with you a specially important symbol, the catcher in the rye that gives this book its title. Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye when he grows up: "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going. I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be." . He doesn't know why, he just wants to come out from somewhere and catch little children before they fall from the cliff. In a way, that shows how much he wants to preserve their innocence, against a phony world that tries to corrupt them...I really liked this book, and I found it engaging and very easy to read. I'm not from USA, so I didn't have to read it as obligatory reading material for school, but I ended up reading it all the same mainly out of curiosity because many of my American friends recommended it to me. After reading "The catcher in the rye", I must say that they were right, and I would like to recommend this book to you, if you haven't read it yet. And if you are forced to read it for school, please JUST GIVE IT AN OPPORTUNITY. I know it is hateful having to read something merely because someone says so, but in this case that will work to your advantage... What can I say?. This book, unlike so many others, is really WORTH YOUR TIME.Belen Alcat |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"their strengths , weaknesses , faults , triumphs , and fears"
]
} | Is pug have his own problem? | Have you ever come across a book that is so powerful and so touching you know from the very beginning that it is going to pull you in and keep you there until the very end? It will keep a piece of you when you are finished with it? You will never forget the characters, their strengths, weaknesses, faults, triumphs, and fears? A story that is so real it makes you want to do something greater in your life? One with characters who steal a piece of your heart because their story was so touching? A book that consumed you from the very beginning to the very end and you know that you will never forget the words you read from page 1 until the acknowledgments?Left Drowning is by far hands down the greatest book I have read this year, maybe even ever! Blythe, Christopher (Chris), Sabin, Estelle, Eric, Zach, and James those characters will never be forgotten in my mind. I can clearly close my eyes and picture them and who they are inside. Jessica Park wrote such a beautiful and consuming storyline you can't help but fall in love with all of them. They aren't perfect characters, they all have their demons, their insecurities, their fears but that's what makes them real. They are all so very beautiful even in their imperfections in life. Their story may not be roses and sunshine but it's their story and to me it's beautiful because it's real.--They, and mostly Chris, are saving me. Or teaching me to save myself. He is my port in the storm, and that's why I feel comfortable with what I'm going to do. Chris is going to have to be strong, but I have hope that the story I'm about to tell him will help me, free me even. He is the one person with whom I will remember what I have forgotten. - Left DrowningBlythe and Chris are the main characters in this story. You will learn the all the ugly that happened in Blythe's life and all the beautiful that occurred too. For everything she went through and had to endure I was surprised at how well she survived. She is still missing something, someone and fate will step in and give her what she needs. But what happens when Blythe learns to truth about everything, is it something she can forgive and bounce back from? Or will the past and the truth leave her drowning in depression and loneliness?Chris has seen his fair share of the ugly in the world, growing up without a mother and having to basically take care of his 3 younger siblings, didn't leave him with much time to enjoy his childhood. Growing up he learned to survive the bitterness and the abuse that was placed upon him, but he is only surviving, he isn't living. He lives to take care of Sabin, Estelle, and Eric and will do anything for them to make sure that they have the best life they could have. A chance meeting with Blythe will forever change Chris and the connection between the two is something so strong it can't be explained. When Blythe lets her guard down towards Chris and shows him her demons will he stick by her side and start living or will it prove too much for him to handle and send him running in the opposite direction?"Why does it still hurt so much?" he asks. "Why can't we just move on and deal?"--There is no set pattern to grief, despite what every stupid psych text has told me. There is no time frame that dictates when and how you'll feel and what you feel. You get to deal with hell however, and whenever, it hits you. - Left DrowningAside from Blythe's and Chris' story and accepting and moving on from their pass you will meet the other Shepherd siblings. Estelle is the younger sister of Chris and is a beautiful and free spirited character. She is a believer, when everyone around her has given up any type of faith in God or fate or destiny she holds true to her faith. For me it was almost like her security blanket. Sometimes I felt like she didn't believe in herself so she wanted to hold onto what she did believe in whether everyone else around her thought she was crazy or not.After meeting Blythe you will meet Sabin next. He is a character, honest to a fault, crazy country boy who loves to have fun and loves women! Deep down is a kindhearted and deep soul. Sabin will do whatever he can to put a smile on your face and was such an easy character to fall in love with. Deep down though he is damaged with what he saw growing up and he never learned how to channel those feelings leaving them bottled up inside him until he snaps. Out of all the characters he was like a teddy bear for me, someone I would run to if I had a problem - almost like a big brother!You will also meet James, Blythe's little brother, who attends a different school than Blythe and they don't see much of each other. They have a very complicated and broken relationship due to their past. Guilt and blame is passed between the two and they have never been able to overcome their pasts and have a better relationship. Hopefully over time when secrets are revealed these two can find their way back to each other as brother and sister and be a family again.Eric the other shepherd is Estelle's twin and is such a sweet, shy, and quiet character. He doesn't say much but when he does everyone listens to what he has to say. He is strong and determined. You will be introduced to his boyfriend Zach and the love Zach has for Eric is contagious! They truly are a beautiful couple.The whole Shepherd clan is such a tight knit family! They all attend the same college so they can look after one another and make sure everyone is happy. After learning what they went through as a family growing up they showed me how strong siblings need to be and how you need to stick beside your brothers and sisters no matter what and help them through anything. This is what they do from the very beginning of the story until the very end. They cheer for each other, they suffer heartaches with each other, they love each other with every ounce of their beings and no matter what at the end of the day they only have each other so they don't take anything for granted."You are the great love of my life that I'm never going to have."Okay I want to get back to Chris and Blythe because I will never forget this couple. Everything that they went through before and after they met touched my heart. I was rooting for them from the very beginning. I laughed and I cried. Things went just the way I wanted them to and some things, not so much. There were times when I wanted to hold Blythe's hand and cry with her and then there were times when I wanted to celebrate with her. All anybody ever wants is to be loved but sometimes that type of love can be scary and in some cases it's easier for someone to push that love away instead of embracing it and having it consume them."You said something last night that was completely wrong. I could never touch anyone the way that I touch you. And I will never regret falling in love with you. Don't forget that."And that is how we say good-bye.Jessica Park will have you learning new things about Blythe and Chris until the very end. Their story continues to unravel throughout the entire book. Little by little you will hear their story and learn how one person can endure so much, you will too fall in love with these characters and want them all to get their happily every after. Left Drowning is hands down the best novel I have read this year if not to date. It gave me everything I was wanting in a story. It made me feel and fall in love with the characters and their story. It was deep and meaningful and so different than what I usually read and that was a breath of fresh air. Left Drowning is the first book that I have ever read of Jessica Park and if this is the type of story she is capable of giving us well than I am an instant fan. I don't want to do this book injustice and rate it by stars because for me there aren't enough stars in the sky to give this book and what it meant to me. I read a lot of books and sadly even the ones I enjoyed overtime I tend to forget sometimes the characters names and their story but with this one I don't think I ever will forget the story of Blythe, Chris, Sabin, Estelle, Eric, James, or Zach because their story touched my heart and warmed my soul."I will always be in love with you, even though you'll never love me back. You have been my sanctuary this year. You saved me. Do you know that? You saved me. And I wish that you would let me save you." |
{
"answer_start": [
85
],
"text": [
"gave it a shot since free seems to be the best price"
]
} | How much does the book cost? | I LOVE THIS BOOK AND THIS SERIES!!! I was hesitant to read this book at first, but I gave it a shot since free seems to be the best price. I do not regret it at all! I love,love,love this book! I read a lot of Young Adult paranormal/supernatural romance books so this book was absolutly perfect for me. I really really recommend that you read this book. I finished the entire thing in a couple of hours when I should have been studying for midterms becuase I have been addicted. Since then, I have purchased the entire series and am on the third book. I usually do not write reviews on the books I read however, I decided to write one to hopefully encourage more people to read this book. You will not regret it, and even if on the off chance that you did not like this book, there was never any harm because it was FREE! Love this series! |
{
"answer_start": [
112
],
"text": [
"It was so good"
]
} | What do you think of that movie? | I was completely Hunger Games ignorant. Out of a desperate need for entertainment I chose the movie on Netflix. It was so good. I was complaining about the ending on Facebook because it felt so incomplete. A number if friends informed me that it was a three book series. Whaaat? I had no idea. They also assured me that the books were better.I bout he trilogy. It was awesome. The movie stayed very true to the book with a few inconsequential differences. This is an awesom, if not short book. It seemed fairly speedy to me for the length of the trilogy, I probably should have checked it out at the library and returned it in 4days... That being said, now it is a part of my personal library and one of my top four go to vacation books. It is a great read. |
{
"answer_start": [
299
],
"text": [
"These books have become very unsatisfying"
]
} | How is the write? | I've spent 5 months reading these books. Each book after the first becomes slow and tedious then bursts into fireworks. The big show in the last two books have not been worth it. We are introduced to too many minor characters and the characters we've come to know simply disappear, Sam for example. These books have become very unsatisfying. I don't think Martin has a clue as to how he's going to end this so he's endlessly dragging it out. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Even the side characters are three - dimensional"
]
} | How much of the talent of Christie is seen in her novels? | I have to admit, I was embarrassed to buy this book because the title and the cover looked so...cheesy.But I'm a writer myself and my own YA novel "pushes limits" on things like sex and I wanted to see what was out there in the market.The plot is fairly weak, a framing device to push the characters closer or to heighten tension. But what McGarry does in between those little nudges takes us on a journey from darkness to light, confusion to understanding. The character descriptions aren't even that unique but there's a strong and definite arc that is believable and is well-supported by the events in the story.What is most impressive about the writing, and the reason why I fell in love with the book, is that McGarry is able to give distinct voices to Echo and Noah as they alternate chapter POVs. I could hear them, practically see them in front of me. The depth of what they are feeling, thinking, and doing, felt so real and honest. It's a coming-of-age story fraught with the complicated nature of becoming independent from your parents and learning to cope with tragedy and the inexplicable nature of life. Even the side characters are three-dimensional and jump off the page. Little details help flesh out what could be a smarmy teen drama.So it's almost an injustice to break the book down into a description of parts, because the way it comes together is beautiful and satisfying and even cathartic.The story follows Echo and Noah, two teenagers who have experienced recent traumas that have sent them from normal to outcast. Echo disappeared before the end of her sophomore year and when she returned junior year, she was wearing long sleeves and completely introverted. She wouldn't say what happened and rumors ran rampant that she was a cutter or tried to commit suicide. To top it all off, her older brother had gotten killed while serving in Afghanistan in the same time period.Noah is new to the school but carries a huge reputation as a ladies man and stoner. Only a couple of people know that he's also a foster kid.Enter Mrs. Collins the new guidance counselor who is also a "clinical social worker" and is intent on gaining their trust and helping them help themselves to better their situations.In an attempt to support Echo's grieving process, Mrs. Collins sets Echo up with an after-school tutoring job to help fund a repair of the dead brother's car. The student in need of tutoring? You guessed it...Noah.They are terrified as they realize they are falling in love with each other. Love is something they both lost and are still missing, and they don't trust it in each other.You'll have to read it to find out the rest. It's worth it! |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Sissy Spacek takes one of the great American southern novels"
]
} | How is the novel? | Sissy Spacek takes one of the great American southern novels, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee to an even more sublime level by perfectly becoming the narrator of the novel, Scout Finch. Scout is only eight years old and the Great Depression is ongoing in Maycomb, Alabama. Her father, Atticus, is a pivotal man in their town as he is the fairest lawyer in town. Spacek does all the voices of these remarkable characters and they come even more alive for us. The Finches are fortunate in this town as they are making it through the Depression in genteel if not affluent fashion. The town is made of people like the Finches; and then what would be known today as poor white trash; and finally the blacks who still have decades to wait for racial equality to appear. However, small town America provides certain basics in the 1930s. No one starves or is homeless yet vivid inequalities exist. Also, disabilities are kept in your own home, shuttered up so that other people can't see your differences. Boo Radley is one of these different, disabled people and Scout is fascinated by him as the Radleys live on her street. Boo will come to intersect with a terrible legal injustice which occurs in the town, a rape trial with a black man as the defendant and a poor white trash girl as the accuser. Atticus Finch is the black man's lawyer. But this novel is about so much more than a trial. Lee and Spacek nail the universal frailties and strengths of all of us as human beings in her novel. Those haven't changed one iota between the Great Depression and present day. I enjoyed the movie and the novel when I was a kid and I did not revisit the work until recently as this audiobook. It was a wonderful way to experience it all again in a new medium. If anyone who resists reading needs to learn this book for school, this audio version could be the perfect solution. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"I know everybody at this point has read SHATTER ME"
]
} | How long did it take to write that movie? | I know everybody at this point has read SHATTER ME. I'm probably the 1% of the book blogging community who hasn't yet. I know, I know. I'm SO behind! I've been meaning to read this book for almost a year now. One thing or another happened and this kept getting pushed back on my TBR list. But fear not, my fellow book loving friends. I've come to my senses and have finally fallen into Juliette's world.After being kept in a prison cell for almost an entire year, Juliette is thrown into the hands of the one group of people she despises the most: the new government called The Reestablishment. Warner plans to use Juliette and her ability to kill people with a single touch for his own selfish desires and to make sure that people know their place in his domain. Juliette has no desire to kill anyone and is desperate to get out of her new confinement. Adam, the boy she sort of grew up with, is her only hope. The two of them go on a heart pounding mission to get out and stay safe.What I first noticed about this book was the writing. It was a bit weird and extremely repetitive. Sentences were crossed out and phrases, or just a single word, were repeated a couple of times in a row. I know this was to show we were truly in Juliette's mind and to allow the reader to see how much solitary confinement has affected her, but this stream of consciousness was kind of annoying. I thought it was unnecessary and happened far too often. I know she's been traumatized. Mafi's writing is so poetic, I think the novel would have still made as big an impact without the repetitiveness. Mafi has a way with words that makes you sit back and really just envision what she is writing. The way she describes the weather for example is beautiful and unique.One thing that made me start to really enjoy this book is Juliette. She goes from this fragile--even though she can literally kill someone in an instant--girl to being able to stick up for herself and not be so afraid to show everyone who she is inside. It's amazing what some sunshine and decent clothes does for her. She was so timid in her cell. Now that she is under Warner's control, she lets her feisty attitude start to peek through. She's let people run over her her entire life, she's not going to be someone's pet anymore. She's inspiring.I loved Adam and Juliette's budding romance. From the moment he stepped into the scene, Adam is this gentle and kind person who you can tell just wants to know Juliette. Yes, he may be working for Warner, but you can tell he's completely different from all of the Reestablishment crazies. Mafi did a great job with letting the reader slowly discover their history together. We get the details piece by piece which made me root for them even more. What I loved most was how Juliette reacted to him. You know she is scared because of her abilities but it's heart warming to see her open up to somebody and to learn to trust them. Adam makes her realize she isn't someone to constantly be feared.SHATTER ME, while not the most climactic, is a great start to a series I know will get better with each book. As Juliette starts to come into her own, I can only hope she learns to appreciate who she is and discover she isn't the monster everyone thinks she is. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"rendition of Jesus 's life"
]
} | What is the book about? | I was fascinated by Bill O'Reilly's book on Jesus's life and death. Part 'straight from the Bible' and part 'straight from the history books', this rendition of Jesus's life and the convoluted and trumped up explanations for that brutal death (and yes, this book pulls no punches about exactly how brutal and horrifying the crucifixion he suffered was) is not for those looking for an easy read. I won't say I "loved" this book, because that would dilute its power and honesty. I will say it's one of the most memorable and visceral renditions of Jesus's life and death that I have ever read. However, the reader must be aware of exactly what kind of old world 'justice' this is about. Do I recommend it? Oh yes! But know what you're getting into. |
{
"answer_start": [
73
],
"text": [
"The writing is excellent"
]
} | How do you like the write? | I'm not really sure how I stumbled across this book, but I'm glad I did. The writing is excellent, the story is compelling and entertaining, and I was sorry when it was over. |
{
"answer_start": [
132
],
"text": [
"Written in the first person"
]
} | How is the writing style of story on this book? | Donna Tartt has written a novel, a tome, that is as much about love, life and beauty as it is about nihilism, catastrophe and death.Written in the first person, 12 year-old Theo Decker's life is divided into before and after his mother's death. Together, he and his mother are on their way to his school for a conference to discuss some unknown behavioral issues of Theo's. On the way, due to bad weather, they stop at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. While there, some terrorists bomb the museum and his mother is killed. As Theo searches for his mother, he meets a dying man named Welty who gives him an antique ring that he asks him to deliver to someone named Hobart. He also meets a girl named Pippa to whom he forms a lifelong obsessive attachment and love. When Theo finds out that his mother has died, he is devastated. His father has walked out on them over a year ago and is a mean drunk and a gambler.Most importantly, when Theo leaves the museum, he walks out with a small masterpiece under his arm. It is entitled The Goldfinch and the artist is Fabritius. Painted in the latter 1600's it is one of only a few of Fabritius's work that has survived. For Theo, it represents something stable, a way of holding on to something that was meaningful to his mother, and thus a part of her.The novel takes us though Theo's life into his twenties. We first go with him to the Barbour family that takes him in after his mother's death. Their son Andy has been a friend of Theo's for a few years. Both are outcasts in their middle school and are prone to being the brunt of bullies. The Barbours are very rich and enjoy Theo but are not demonstrative. Mr. Barbour has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital and his behavior is somewhat odd. The Barbour children, other than Andy, resent Theo's presence. Despite this, however, Theo likes it there and would like to remain with them. His only remaining relatives are his father, whereabouts unknown, and his paternal grandparents, unloving and not wanting to take Theo in.Out of the blue, Theo's father appears with his girlfriend Xandra and they take Theo with them to Las Vegas. There, Theo meets Boris who becomes a lifelong friend. Together, they get into hardcore drugs, illegal activities and drinking. Theo's father is living well due to a good gambling streak but things start to fall apart and it is not long before Theo is back in New York City where he finds shelter with Hobart (Hobie) in his antique store. Theo's life is a mess. He is heavily into drugs and constantly blames himself for his mother's death.All the while, Theo holds on to the Goldfinch like a talisman. He keeps it wrapped up most of the time but unwraps it now and then to look at it and revel in its beauty and personal meaning. He knows he should return it but he keeps putting that off.The novel is longer than it needs to be. Ms. Tartt, who can write beautifully, often goes into tangents and philosophical discussions that are unnecessary. Characters come and go who are like red herrings. Despite this, the book has its brilliant aspects. The characterization of Theo is superb and his despair and longing is brought out in depth. The symptoms of his post-traumatic stress disorder are clinically accurate. I enjoyed this book immensely but I wish that the editing had been tighter. |
{
"answer_start": [
22
],
"text": [
"action filled urban fantasy post"
]
} | What about action ? | This was a fun, dark, action filled urban fantasy post-apocalyptic thriller. Not for the faint of heart, lots of bloody gore, ripped body parts, cannibalism etc. A plot fueled with high octane, once you start reading it's hard to put down. I would not call this a YA book, because of the violence, older teens yes. The writing is amazing, excellent editing and an extremely engaging plot.Fantastic book! |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This is a book you ca n't put down"
]
} | What is your feeling about this book ? | In this book, Collins tells the story of Katniss, a young girl competing in "The Hunger Games," a cruel, government-orchestrated fight to the death. The plot is as compelling as it is unsettling.This is a book you can't put down. The writing is excellent and the pacing flawless. The characters in general are nicely wrought. Collins keeps the reader fully engaged, trying to interpret and anticipate the moves of both the gamemakers and the competitors.Despite the wonderful experience of reading this book, I began to feel a sense of unease in the last thirty or so pages, the fear that I was about to be seriously disappointed. I hoped I was wrong. But I wasn't. I hated the ending. It resolved nothing.While I realize this is a series and the action resumes in "Catching Fire" and continues in "Mockingjay," I feel authors of series works owe it to their readers to reward them at the end of each book with some overwhelming emotion, good or bad. In an epic story such as this, there needs to be some sense that the protagonist has come through some major life event that has changed him or her, prompted some sort of growth or... something. The unfeeling, jaded Katniss of Page 1 is pretty much the same girl the reader's left with on the last page. She's likable enough but still self-centered, still terribly immature and self-congratulatory. How much can the reader really care about this character and her relationships with others when, in the end, Katniss herself really doesn't much give a crap? And at the end, the story just... fizzles. I have a strong sense that this book ended at the wrong place. There needs to be some sense of closure, some feeling that the reader has completed a book. And, in the case of a series novel, there needs to be some major driving element that pushes the reader into wanting to read the next book. A bunch of unresolved loose ends, vague questions, and protagonist ambivalence, as we get here, simply is not good enough.The ending here was so BLAH that I was left seriously questioning whether I wanted to invest the necessary time to keep reading the series. I thought Collins and I might have different views as to what constitutes a book ending. What if the difficulty with endings was systemic and I got to the end of "Mockingjay" and was left going, "Whaaaaattt?"No reader wants to be left that way.But I cared about this series. I would love to love it.I decided to check out the reviews for "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" before I went any further with this series. I needed to know whether readers were more satisfied with the endings of "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" than I was with the ending of "The Hunger Games." If they weren't, then I was unlikely to read those books.In fact, I wish I'd checked out those reviews before I started the series.Having completed my review of the reviews, I would suggest that strategy to anyone contemplating reading "The Hunger Games." That way, you'll know what you're getting into before you're where I am now.Eventually, nostalgia may pull me back to the series and I'll pick up Book II. Right now, though, I feel too cheated and disappointed.With just a little more effort on the part of the author and editors, this could have been a phenomenal book. |
{
"answer_start": [
3409
],
"text": [
"I would have liked to have seen what their reaction to Pippa and Cross was"
]
} | Do you like his role? | ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER is the second book of Sarah MacLean’s Rules of Scoundrels series.I will make a confession before I begin the review of ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER. I read this book for the first time four months ago and I’ve read it at least 6 times since then. It is already one of my favorite romance books of all time. The book makes me laugh and makes me cry. I absolutely love the characters and while I understand the complaints that some have about the plot or the motivations of the characters, I don’t agree.To me the romance between Lady Philippa (Pippa) Marbury and Jasper Arlesey, Earl Harlow aka Cross is magnificent. I love how Cross is just baffled by Pippa. She is a unique character and he is enthralled and bemused by her. Their first meeting, Pippa arrives at Cross’ office while he is asleep and she proceeds to inspect his books and criticize his calculations is so amusing. Pippa is “odd” and Cross is simultaneously fascinated and horrified by her.Cross is a wonderfully tortured hero. He is a man who was a second son who was happy living dissipated life; a young man who did not take anything seriously. He is tortured because his older responsible brother is killed in a carriage accident while traveling to an event that Cross at first promised and then reneged on attending. Cross then gains his brother’s title. Cross, however, believes that he should have died instead of his brother and thus refuses to take up that life because he does not feel worthy of it.Pippa is amazing. She is clever and strong and quirky. She is a scientist and looks at the world in a curious manner. She is engaged to marry an earl (who is nice enough but no match for Pippa’s intellect) because she is settling because she believes that no one could really want her because of her odd nature.I love this book. The dialogue is the best part. The conversations are so fascinating that I could just continue to read them again and again. Cross and Pippa are both intellectuals and they discuss things in such an unusual manner. I am both fascinated and amused by their conversations. I especially like the fact that Cross is so bemused in Pippa’s presence. He is a man who has denied his passions and yet has such incredible passion inside him.MacLean always has such vivid characters, but I find Pippa and Cross to be incredible examples of her expertise. They are unusual people and I understand their motivations because MacLean does such a great job of bringing the reader into their minds. I know that Cross’ actions are the subject of some confusion and criticism by some readers. I feel, however, that Cross has made a life for himself of denying himself. He refuses to be happy because he feels unworthy. Eventually, he concludes that he is not worthy but that he is enough of a scoundrel to take what he wants anyway. Thus, the HEA. It doesn’t bother me when characters make swift changes in decisions because I find that realistic in that Cross is so used to denying himself happiness that he does so by habit until he is shaken from his routine.I also really enjoy all the secondary characters. Chase and Temple have important roles in the story and I enjoy the interaction between the partners. My only small complaint is that Penelope and Bourne only have a small role here. I would have liked to have seen what their reaction to Pippa and Cross was, and I missed that payoff.While you don’t have to read A ROGUE BY ANY OTHER NAME first, the story certainly gains from having the background from that story – plus, any reader of ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER must read the Epilogue of A ROGUE BY ANY OTHER NAME where Pippa and Cross meet. While their meeting is summarized in the first chapter of this book, the Epilogue is so amazing that for me I always read that before I start to read ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER.I recommend this book highly! |
{
"answer_start": [
19
],
"text": [
"is a wonderfully written tale set in the future where children are pitted against each other in gladiatorial like games"
]
} | How is the quality of the concept on the story? | "The Hunger Games" is a wonderfully written tale set in the future where children are pitted against each other in gladiatorial like games. At face value, the book, which is a highly entertaining read, seems destined to become a classic. The author does an amazing job conveying the main character's thoughts and emotions as she is thrown through one terrible ordeal after another.The problem with the book is that the storyline did not end with any major surprises. I kept waiting for a plot twist that never occurred. The storyline ended almost exactly where I thought it would. Worse, the ending was abrupt and incomplete. That said, the book is part of a series, and presumably the storyline is not over. I was also dissatisfied that the book did not provide me with any deeper insight into humanity nor did it force me to look at the world differently. If there was a moral or point to the story I failed to understand it.To summarize, the author of the book did everything right. Perhaps that is the problem with the book. Because the author did everything right, the story feels too synthetic, too manufactured. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"The ending while appropriate was slightly flat"
]
} | How is the end? | The last surviving work of a Dutch master is stolen by a child, a terrorist bomb, a coming of age in New York & the lost suburbs of Las Vegas, the good & shady worlds of antique furniture restoration & the underground market for stolen & fake art are the ingredients of this intriguing novel. The characters are well drawn, but for this reader "The Goldfinch" suffered from the weight of expectations that book reviewers have piled on it.The book moves at the pace of a slow Sunday afternoon. Less would have been more. The ending, while appropriate, was slightly flat. Not in my top for for 2013. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Its told from the view point of an autistic teenager when he decides to investigate the mystery of who killed his neighbours dog in the night This book presents a rather alien point of view , but conveys a mindset so different from \" normal \" that you feel you have been given a window into a different world"
]
} | Was the perspective had by the main character, according to the reviewer, one that is special? | I don't recall ever reading another novel quite like this one. Its told from the view point of an autistic teenager when he decides to investigate the mystery of who killed his neighbours dog in the night.This book presents a rather alien point of view, but conveys a mindset so different from "normal" that you feel you have been given a window into a different world.This is far from you normal mystery novel and its format is different from any other mystery novel I've read - but I'm glad I took the time to sit down and read this book. Its a quick read, but well worth it if only see a world you wouldn't normally have access to. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"the action is super fast paced and action packed"
]
} | Does its contains a lot of action? | Like all Dan Brown's Robert Langdon books, the action is super-fast paced and action packed. His works remind me a lot of Alistair McLean or Desmond Bagley books in their formula.As mentioned, I thoroughly enjoyed this book right up until about the point, where I couldn't put it down for fear of losing the thread of all the different plot lines. It just got too busy.Great book, but it could have done with 1 or 2 less twists.This is another great book from Brown, but some advice? When to go to read it, I'd really suggest you clear a day and just go at it. It deserves your undivided attention.Basic premise - Langdon wakes up in a small Italian Hospital with no knowledge of how he got there and just get's swept along in his struggle to make sense of it all. SPOILER alert:What he finds is that some madman or group is planning to poison the world population in some misguided save the planet type environmental mission. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"This book is amazing"
]
} | How is the quality of the novel? | This book is amazing! Those words seem so inadequate to describe how I feel. It reached in and grabbed my heart and didn't let go the entire time. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it drew me into a different side of a much told story. It was a side I hadn't experienced and I loved it.I took this book everywhere with me, just in case I might have a spare moment to read.At first I thought I was drawn to the story because, like the character, I had difficulty learning to read properly. And now I'm a huge book lover. But I don't think that was the reason. The author has the unique ability to draw someone in and before they realize what has happened they are hooked.The story begins with the narrator telling the reader how he knows the main character. I don't recall him mentioning his name, but I'll tell you. His name is death. And he tells about the first time he met Liesel when she was just a little girl. Death comes to claim the souls of the people as they die and that is where he meets her for the first time. It's also when she steals her first book.The time is set at the beginning of Hitler and takes you to the end of the war and through the journey of Liesel, the book thief.This book isn't just about a war or books. It's about the complexity of humanity.We can be so evil and so cruel. But we can also be so warm and beautiful.I think the words of Death at end sum up so much -"I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and it's words and stories so damning and brilliant.None of those things, however, came out of my mouth.All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I say it now to you.I am haunted by humans."I don't typically like war books and I hate to cry. But this was both for me and I loved it. So please don't let those things stop you from reading this book. You won't be sorry. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"THE NAME tells"
]
} | What you can infer about life from this story ? | Innkeepers abound in fantasy novels.Very rarely, though, do we get to see things from their point of view.THE NAME OF THE WIND tells two stories at the same time. In the present, there is the innkeeper named Kote, our main character who is asked to share his past with another who is willing to write it down, word for word.The vast majority of the book takes place in the past, covering Kote's youth and education at the University--as told by Kote himself.One of the first things you will notice about this book (besides how thick it is) is the insane amount of praise that has been heaped upon it by other famous authors. Is this book worthy of such praise? Will it chase Lord of the Rings off your bookshelf?No, it won't. But it IS a good book.Good, not great.Here's why:PROS:Interesting characters: The character of Kote/Kvothe is really mysterious. Just what sort of things has he done in his past that he has to take up the occupation of innkeeper in the middle of nowhere? Denna is also interesting since she is so unpredictable--like the wind itself.The University scenes remind me heavily of the White Tower scenes in Jordan's WHEEL OF TIME series. A University is not an action-packed setting, but it was fun to read about Kvothe's education nonetheless. It was just as entertaining as reading about Hogwarts.The author's style is eloquent without being florid. He won't beat you over the head with the customs of a dozen different nations and how every bolt of cloth looks.Dragons. Again. Like we haven't seen that before! But I found the dragon scene very refreshing, believable and even humorous. Easily one of the best dragon scenes I've read, next to Bilbo's talk with Smaug in THE HOBBIT.CONS:Kote's recollection of his past is really long-winded. I found it hard to believe that someone would listen to that much dialogue in one day, much less write it down.The map is pointless. If you're going to bother putting a map of the land in your book you should at least populate it with most (if not all) of the places mentioned in the book.OVERALL: If you like the "youth goes to magic school" storyline, then this is definitely a book for you! Easily one of the best in this vein, right next to HARRY POTTER, although a bit more mature and adult. |
{
"answer_start": [
239
],
"text": [
"The story was so touching"
]
} | What do you think about the story? | Wow. just wow.I had no idea what to expect when starting this but I knew I had to read it right away because I absolutely loved Slammed and Point of Retreat. It exceeded any expectations I had. Easily one of my favorite books of the year. The story was so touching and had me guessing the entire time I was reading. I was almost positive I knew the way the story was going to play out and was proved wrong with a seriously shocking and great twist. This book was written with so much emotion it was literally jumping off of the pages and consuming me. I am so glad this was released early because I was already having a hard time waiting for this!5++ stars. Another success by Colleen Hoover. |
{
"answer_start": [
6
],
"text": [
"this book was a wild ride and it kept me on the edge of my seat"
]
} | What is the story of the book? | Wow - this book was a wild ride and it kept me on the edge of my seat. In an effort to avoid spoilers, let me just say that the characters are fascinating and surprising. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and found most of the story entirely plausible. The few plot holes that appeared are forgivable in exchange for the great ride. In summary, people can be freaky, but I like reading about those freaky people rather than meeting them. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Although the story is obviously fiction , it is interesting and almost believable that this storyline could happen in the future"
]
} | How was the story line? | This book has great descriptive writing. Although the story is obviously fiction, it is interesting and almost believable that this storyline could happen in the future. I like the fact that the author intertwines romance with a story of survival. I can't wait to read the next book. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"I enjoyed this book . A bit hard to keep the characters straight"
]
} | Does this book have an interesting story in terms of character development? | I enjoyed this book. A bit hard to keep the characters straight, but the author is very good at helping you to. Like my best friend said " oh, the ending..." She was right, just keep going! |
{
"answer_start": [
6
],
"text": [
"obvious from the very beginning why children"
]
} | Do you know the book? | It is obvious from the very beginning why children are so enthralled with the Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowling has the most vivid and wonderful imagination and has created a world of pure fantasy that any child who ever dreamed of putting a spell on the school bully would love to visit. In this second entry of the series all of the fantasy of the first book returns along with a house elf, a flying car, a whomping willow tree, a deathday party for a ghost and a diary that writes back. Even more impressive than this author's imagination though is her writing ability. Despite the fact that this is purely fiction it is written in such a brilliant manner so as to make it seem like the author was really there and has come back to our dull world to take us all back with her to this enchanted place called Hogwarts.What is not so obvious at first however is why so many adults have become such die hard Harry Potter fans. As I read this book though an idea came to me and now I think I understand a least part of the attraction so many adults feel for these books. With her wonderful writing style the author brings this story to life in such a vivid way that it takes many adults back to their school days. We are able to identify with Harry, Ron and Hermione as they attend classes and do homework. We can relate to the fun and comradeship that these children have with their classmates and it brings back fond memories of our own childhood. Most all of us had one or two very best friends and we understand the bond between Harry, Ron and Hermione. Most all of us had teachers like Snape who were ill tempered and went out of their way to catch us at something. Most all of us did at least a few things that we didn't want to get caught doing and finally most all of us had our little crushes like the one Ron's little sister has on Harry. For adults this book is not only a fantastic voyage into a world of fantasy but it is also a trip back in time.There isn't much that can be said about the plot of this book without giving too much away but the basic premise of the story revolves around an old Hogwarts legend. Supposedly one of the four founders of Hogwarts only wanted the school to be open to pure bloods and when he lost that fight he left the school but he left behind a hidden chamber that could someday be opened by his heir unleashing a terrible curse on the students not of pure magic bloodlines. Well the old legend seems to be coming true and once again Harry and his brave comrades are caught right in the middle of the situation and Harry is even accused of being the one who opened the chamber.This book contains several cleaver scenes that were left out of the movie including the fantastic sight of the Weasley's garden gnomes. If you have seen the movie don't think that you have the whole story. You should really read this book and believe me, it is such a wonderful book that you will finish it in no time. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"Demonstrates how the little things that one may do for others ,"
]
} | How is the meaning compared original verb? | A fable that addresses the meaning of life, and life after death.Focusses on a character named Eddie who dies. Eddie goes to heaven, where he meets five people who were unexpectedly instrumental in some way in his life. While each guide takes him through heaven, Eddie learns a little bit more about what his time on earth meant, what he was supposed to have learned, and what his true purpose on earth was.Demonstrates how the little things that one may do for others, can in turn have a profound effect on others' lives. |
{
"answer_start": [
790
],
"text": [
"I did not much care for Holden or his problems"
]
} | Can you solve the whole problem? | I read this book in my teens, and just now re-read it 20-plus years later. The only part I remembered from before turns out not to be in the book, to tell you the truth. Hmm... (maybe it was Midnight Cowboy"?). I'm really crazy, the craziest guy.Anyways, this guy Holden Caulfield is a whiney loser prep-school expellee and all, and walks around NYC for a few days complaining about everything and everybody, he really does. Funny that the way the book is written you know, in the sort of phoney realistic manner that some notorious writers use, is pretty good and all, but Holden can't really put together a grammatically correct sentence, although he was supposed to be good at English, at least he didn't fail that at school.Anyway, I did like the book a little - I really did, but I did not much care for Holden or his problems. I suppose this book would have been better in the fifties when it came out. The notorious "cursing" - oh, my! - is tame. Mostly GD this and GD that, and only gets into the F word at the end.I would not recommend it, but I would not keep anyone from reading it. Sort of like Holden, he takes both sides. |
{
"answer_start": [
178
],
"text": [
"The book is funny and witty"
]
} | How is the author is amusing? | Bernadette is not your ordinary mom. But then, none of the characters in this book can pass for normal. Bernadette checked out long before her family wondered where she went. The book is funny and witty, but it doesn't manage to hide some significant heart peeking from underneath.Told from daughter Bee's point of view, the crazy parts of the world seem saner than they should. There are also lots of notes and lists and correspondence with Bernadette's personal assistant Manjula, quite a story in itself. Then there's Microsoft and Antarctica.I listened to an audio edition narrated by Kathleen Wilhoite. Her voice was dynamic, enthusiastic, even screechy when necessary, and altogether right for this book. It was easy to tell when she switched from Bee's voice to one of the emails or other non-narrative sections.Quite entertaining and fun. |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"it is hilarious to all who read it Enjoy"
]
} | How do you like the story? | There are so many things that can be said about this book. It's funny, ridiculous, weird, confusing, and VERY much on drugs. I'm sorry... Did you just ask me to eat a mushroom? The many drug references, however, are extremely amusing, and add to the story very much.Alice is asleep and dreaming up a crazy world. The characters she meets are all eccentric, strange, and frightfully funny. Whether we're thinking of the Mad Hatter, the rabbit, or the Queen of Hearts herself, this book is truly a child's happy adventures through a completely ridiculous fictional land (unless you are firm in your belief that this book is completely about drugs, but even then it's still funny and ridiculous).Even though this book is known as a children's book, it is hilarious to all who read it. Enjoy! I just hope you remember to breathe while gasping with laughter. |
{
"answer_start": [
398
],
"text": [
"I absolutely love the characters"
]
} | Do you like his role? | ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER is the second book of Sarah MacLean’s Rules of Scoundrels series.I will make a confession before I begin the review of ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER. I read this book for the first time four months ago and I’ve read it at least 6 times since then. It is already one of my favorite romance books of all time. The book makes me laugh and makes me cry. I absolutely love the characters and while I understand the complaints that some have about the plot or the motivations of the characters, I don’t agree.To me the romance between Lady Philippa (Pippa) Marbury and Jasper Arlesey, Earl Harlow aka Cross is magnificent. I love how Cross is just baffled by Pippa. She is a unique character and he is enthralled and bemused by her. Their first meeting, Pippa arrives at Cross’ office while he is asleep and she proceeds to inspect his books and criticize his calculations is so amusing. Pippa is “odd” and Cross is simultaneously fascinated and horrified by her.Cross is a wonderfully tortured hero. He is a man who was a second son who was happy living dissipated life; a young man who did not take anything seriously. He is tortured because his older responsible brother is killed in a carriage accident while traveling to an event that Cross at first promised and then reneged on attending. Cross then gains his brother’s title. Cross, however, believes that he should have died instead of his brother and thus refuses to take up that life because he does not feel worthy of it.Pippa is amazing. She is clever and strong and quirky. She is a scientist and looks at the world in a curious manner. She is engaged to marry an earl (who is nice enough but no match for Pippa’s intellect) because she is settling because she believes that no one could really want her because of her odd nature.I love this book. The dialogue is the best part. The conversations are so fascinating that I could just continue to read them again and again. Cross and Pippa are both intellectuals and they discuss things in such an unusual manner. I am both fascinated and amused by their conversations. I especially like the fact that Cross is so bemused in Pippa’s presence. He is a man who has denied his passions and yet has such incredible passion inside him.MacLean always has such vivid characters, but I find Pippa and Cross to be incredible examples of her expertise. They are unusual people and I understand their motivations because MacLean does such a great job of bringing the reader into their minds. I know that Cross’ actions are the subject of some confusion and criticism by some readers. I feel, however, that Cross has made a life for himself of denying himself. He refuses to be happy because he feels unworthy. Eventually, he concludes that he is not worthy but that he is enough of a scoundrel to take what he wants anyway. Thus, the HEA. It doesn’t bother me when characters make swift changes in decisions because I find that realistic in that Cross is so used to denying himself happiness that he does so by habit until he is shaken from his routine.I also really enjoy all the secondary characters. Chase and Temple have important roles in the story and I enjoy the interaction between the partners. My only small complaint is that Penelope and Bourne only have a small role here. I would have liked to have seen what their reaction to Pippa and Cross was, and I missed that payoff.While you don’t have to read A ROGUE BY ANY OTHER NAME first, the story certainly gains from having the background from that story – plus, any reader of ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER must read the Epilogue of A ROGUE BY ANY OTHER NAME where Pippa and Cross meet. While their meeting is summarized in the first chapter of this book, the Epilogue is so amazing that for me I always read that before I start to read ONE GOOD EARL DESERVES A LOVER.I recommend this book highly! |
{
"answer_start": [
0
],
"text": [
"The writing is clear , concise , descriptive and captivating"
]
} | How were the details described in the book? | I am not even sure how I came about the Wool series. But, I am glad that I found it. The writing is clear, concise, descriptive and captivating. The story will keep you reading and make it hard to put down. I would like to point out that it is also a simple story with few characters, and that is a compliment.I understand that this is a self-published work. If true, its even more impressive as the writing, as others have noted, is pure, concise, grammatically correct and just plain well put together. I recommend it highly. |
Subsets and Splits