Kristi

This was my first McCollough book, so I didn't know what to expect. I am a huge Barbara Tuchmann fan and he writes like her. The story flows with such interest that you forget this is history and are enveloped in the narrative. Nelson Runger was wonderful as the reader.

I read a book about Polk recently and these would be comparable, but I would have to say this one though much longer was that much better.

He has a wonderful voice and becomes the characters he is reading. Love him!

I was very surprised at the depiction of Thomas Jefferson in this book. You would have to call him Adams "Arch Enemy", but they were able to remain in touch until their deaths on the same day.
Jefferson was sneaky, cunning, a real liar and one of the most despicable characters that ever lived and yet, he was human and was also able to write beautifully and helped make our country what it is today.
I don't think I will ever look at him with the hero worship of previous days, but I do plan on reading the Meacham book about him, because he was so complex.
Jefferson made me very angry and it's always hard when someone you admire gets taken off their pedastal. That was my most extreme reaction, that and the tender love John and Abigail Adams had for each other. They really had an ideal marriage.

HBO made a mini series from this book, and I plan on watching it.

I love Stephen King's works and I would definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys a good coming of age story with chills attached.

This book is somewhat like Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked this Way Comes. Both are about a carnival type atmosphere. Bradbury's was a traveling carnival while Joyland is a permanently based one. They are both excellent stories and will stay with you for many years.

He does a fine job of the young college kid who joins the staff of Joyland to earn some money for school while getting over a girl.

I would have loved to listen to this in one sitting but I just don't have the 7 plus hours of attempting something like that. It didn't take me long to listen, a couple of days I think.

Great story of a ghost, a murder, a sick boy, and a young man coming of age. It's wonderful! Can't wait for King's sequel to the Shining coming this fall.

I would if they were interested in the subject. I would not if they just liked history as this book was very dry and fact filled.

This was the first book I have ever read by him. I won't go out of my way to read his books but if the subject interests me, I will check it out.

Cultured, crisp and clear.

I could, but I would hope it would be more exciting than the book. Decatur played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Eaton by Dwayne Johnson. The Bashaw of Tripoli by Vin Diesel. Too many others to go on.

The most exciting part of the book was Eaton's journey across the desert into Tripoli so that the Americans could fight from land and sea. America had it's own Lawrence of Arabia.

I came to a different conclusion than the author on Jefferson's War. When Jefferson was President the war ended with the USA still paying "tribute" to the Beshaw. So why did we fight if the outcome was the same?
After the War of 1812, the US finally had a Navy and Marine Corps that was ready to take on the Barbary Coast. When they fought in Madison's term the US told the Muslims they would no longer pay tribute to them. That was a win!
This is the war that the Marine's Hymn states "By the Shores of Tripoli".

This was an overview of the Popes. I especially liked the information on the way the Roman Catholic Church developed over the years. I was surprised to see that the "infallibility" of the Popes began in the 1800's.
What I liked least was finding out that if the Pope was a good guy, he would probably be killed fairly soon. If he was a bad guy than he would get all his family to become cardinals (even at 12 years old) and would live for a long time.
I was surprised that the corruption of the Church was an ongoing thing, (per this book at least.)

How do you change history? I would have tried to make it less dry and more entertaining for the reader.

Refined, British, and Boring.

It could use an addendum as it ended at Pope Benedict and we now have a Pope Francis.

I may be biased in this review. I only knew two priests well and both turned out to be child molesters. One was the one that married my husband and I and the other was giving my husband instruction in the faith.
I no longer attend church and no longer believe in the Catholic Church.
So please understand my prejudices may shine through. :o)

The words flowing together with the story of an unlikely hero made this book very enjoyable. I don't think I have ever read any George Elliot before but I will continue reading her works.

That everything came right in the end. I realized this was an allegory to the industrial age and maybe that wasn't what I was supposed to get out of this. When Silas returns to his home town with Eppie in hopes for redemption but discovers it no longer exists and therefore he must make his own redemption, I found that very powerful.

The narrator was ok, not great. I don't think he added much to the pace at all.

No extremes, but a few chuckles and frowns along the way.

This story was told simply and straightforward. I liked knowing what the various people in the village were thinking and why they acted the way they did. This story was set in the early 1800's when the industrial age was just taking over in Great Britain. Silas Marner as a weaver on his loom would probably have to work in a factory if he lived much longer as the times were certainly changing especially in the cities.

This was an enjoyable book but not even the best Jane Austen. The story revolves around Anne Elliott and the love of her life Capt. Frederick Wentworth. Anne is "persuaded" to break an engagement to him at age 19 as he is not considered "suitable" enough by her snobbish father and sister.
He comes back into her life when she is 28 and still unmarried. The mistakes and unintentional motives each attests to the other cause much heartache for both, until finally a happy ending can be attained.

I enjoyed the talks Anne had with the Admiral and also her "poor" friend Mrs. Smith who lets her know what kind of man her cousin Mr. Elliott truly is. Austen at her best, showing snobs and upper crust people how shallow their lives really are.

I wasn't thrilled with Mr. Page's narration. He tended to make any woman except Anne sound like a dowager matron, even though they could be just a few years younger or older than Anne. I found it especially distracting with her sister Mary. Yes, Mary was a hypochondriac snob who drove her family crazy, but she wasn't 104!

No extreme reactions, but I know what to expect in an Austen novel. There were plenty of smiles and a few chuckles and I was afraid for awhile that one or the other of our loving couple would end up married to the wrong person.

This is a good listen, not too long but lots of fun. Anne Elliott and Frederick Wentworth are a great couple and you will be genuinely interested in their plight.

I enjoyed the Audio version but did not read the print, so it's hard to say. The only problem I had with the audio was some mispronunciation, which could be a cultural thing. I am American and I know the British tend to pronounce words different than I am used to. I listened to this book with great pleasure and thought it quite exciting, I can only say that the print version would probably be the same.

I enjoyed her training in Scotland the most and I also liked the part where she actually had to use her hands as killers when she confronted some Nazi's.

Never listened to her before that I can remember. She did a fine job other than the facts I listed above about some words I would pronounce differently.

When she found out the fate of her beloved husband, Henri. I was as emotionally spent as she must have been.

This is a wonderful book about a colorful woman that I had never heard about before. I would love to see Nicole Kidman make a movie based on this book. She would be brilliant!

The characters were well drawn and very vivid, so that you emphasized with them. I also enjoyed the descriptions of a country I knew very little about. It was an eye opening experience.

This book is similar to Hawaii by James Michener, or Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. They all are sweeping stories of country's histories told thru a few families. The only difference is that The Glass Palace is only telling a few hundred years of history while the others go centuries.

So many characters I loved. I would have to say Dinu Raha was my favorite. As a young boy he is closer to his mother than father, and survives childhood polio. He loves photography and would be what we call today autistic in his singlemindedness. He falls for Alison the beautiful daughter of Matthew and Elsa and against all odds wins her love.
He also becomes the voice of Burma and a political prisoner for a time.
Just loved his character!

I like the name just fine. Don't think there is a better name.

This story really brought the world to me. The narrative is told by the individual peoples and made me realize that Britain and America's love for their country and belief in a "manifest destiny" nearly destroyed the people and countries they conquered.
A very moving tale of the rights of all people to live free in this world.
Highly recommend!

Yes, but only because it's easier for me to listen while I work, than take the time to read the book.

I admired May the most, even though the author wrote her as "someone without imagination". In the long run, May knew exactly what was going on, gave the lovers a chance to go in a different direction, but they refused to go their own way and buck society's rules.

The grandmamma character was well done.

There is a film, but I think it would be
"Can you live your life for love?"

I enjoyed this story of a man who falls in love with a married woman, whom he talks out of divorcing and leaves her with the choice of returning to her husband, (who is hinted as being an abusive man) or living a life of genteel poverty alone. His fear is that she will become the mistress of one man or another and yet he marries her cousin and leaves her behind.
I found the ending very poignant and true. Sometimes we long for something and that longing is more important than the actual fulfillment of the thing you long for. I did do some crying over this one.

Alan Cummings performance was engrossing. I loved the authors way they humanized Macbeth and his wife Skena. The back story they brought to the play was believable and worked to make me feel sorry for their plight.
The weird sisters were also scary and mesmerizing. The fleshing out of these characters made the story other worldly and freaky.

I read Queen Hereafter by Susan Fraser about Margaret of Scotland and her husband King Malcolm. The story features the same people and time period, but although I enjoyed the book I liked Macbeth much more.

His accent was pitch perfect. A lot of the famous lines in Shakespeare's play are here and he delivers them with power.

I wish, but I can't listen for 12 hours straight! I was excited to hear what would happen next and the anticipation was tremendous.

I enjoyed the story especially the discovery of the secret valley. I didn't care much for the dated treatment of women, however this book isn't as bad as some I have read.

The ending was perfect and well worth waiting for.

Mark Bramhall has the perfect western twang to his voice. He doesn't do as good a job as the women, is horrendous for little Fay and sometimes all the men sound the same, but his voice is a good listen.

I would love to find out what happens next, especially to little Fay!

Zane Grey is an icon of western literature and is a great listen for those who love this genre.