Hilary

What a listen! So well read! I found myself becoming more and more antisocial because of this book. This book was written with such understanding and compassion that it is hard to believe that it is not true. Regardless, the characters are so carefully crafted with so many authentic, human faults that you can't help but love them or, at the very least, their struggle. What a gift of a novel. Thank you!

The Good: great narration.... Despite the fact that the book cornered characters into a restricted range of behavior- the narrator made the best of it. He was truly impressive and I believe I kept listening due to his prowess.
The Bad: this morality tale hiding behind the guise of a mystery becomes tiresome. If the concepts of forgiveness, the psychology of cutting, or the sticky web of family had ever been truly scratched I would have been satisfied; however, to speak the name and think that you have given the subject due diligence is just a shame.
The Ugly: how many times can a girlfriend lose her cool, slap her boyfriend, say "I'm sorry, but you left me" before you begin to yawn or at least reach for fast forward OR How many times can the angry young man act like THE ANGRY YOUNG MAN before you as the reader begin to say "okay leave" or "okay kill him" or "okay, but please go see a shrink?" Listening to this book was like wading to your ankles in the shallow end.

Pollan's book was informative and researched. There's little manipulation here just the facts. As a vegetarian, I believed that I was making the "right and ethical" decision by eating what I could not kill. Pollan's book made me rethink everything with an eye towards sustainability and nature (would chickens as they are now be found in nature?). This book has truly changed my views on marketing, cooking and eating. The narrator is just perfect, too.

"Under the Banner of Heaven" is a novel which truly examines the roots of a new religion. This book could be about any of the world's religions, but since the Mormon religion is so new and so well-documented it is easy to understand how Krakauer chose Mormonism to write about. Interesting to remember the religious fervor is not relegated strictly to folks outside of the US borders. A great narration and read.

Frankly, I don't know what was more interesting- the improbability and final construction of the Chicago's World's Fair (you'll appreciate Ferris Wheels in a new way) or the audacity and inherent evil of the serial murderer that Larson describes. Well read and a wonderful account of a moment in history. Check out the pictures on the internet of Chicago's World's Fair- it was really grand.

This book truly reminds you of the need for instant gratification our society cultivates and the price (which we rarely investigate) that need wreaks on our lives. An eye-opening book that calls into question the ethics of capitalism gone wild and the complacency of our consumerism gone out to pasture- who is running the show here? Essentially, we're much like those doe-eyed cows going into slaughter- never questioning the product or the production. Kudos to the author- this book was informative, well-written and provocative.

I thought I would get something more than the narcissistic ramblings of the author. I kept hoping it would get better, but with a good hour spent on her and her husband's spinning class, it was truly a waste of time. Trust me, the time listening to this book would be better spent working out.