BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo

Genre: Juvenile LiteratureISBN: 0439250722How Acquired: BookCrossingReading Began: June 23, 2005Completed Reading: June 27, 2005Overall rating: Nine out of ten
Recommendation to others: This is one of the sweetest, most touching stories I’ve read in many, many years. It deserves great attention and should be read by adults as well as children.
Why I chose to read this [...]

GOOD GRIEF by Lollly Winston

Genre: Fiction and LiteratureISBN: 0385722206How Acquired: BookCrossingReading Began: June 8, 2005Completed Reading: June 20, 2005
Overall Rating: Eight out of ten
Recommendation to others: Interesting take on the stages of grief involving a character who becomes more and more relevant as the story progresses.
Comments: Though the book jacket proclaimed this story to be “hilarious”, I found it [...]

BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS by Dai Sijie

Genre: Fiction and LiteratureISBN: 0385722206How Acquired: BookCrossingReading Began: June 3, 2005Completed Reading: June 5, 2005
Overall Rating: Seven out of ten
Recommendation to others: This slight tome brings plenty of punch with interesting characters and an engaging story.
Why I chose to read this book: Another great critical review, though I forget where I first heard of it.
Comments: [...]

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB by Karen Joy Fowler

Genre: Literature and FictionISBN: 0399151613How Acquired: BookCrossingReading Began: May 29, 2005Completed Reading: ABANDONED after one chapter
Overall rating: not worth a rating
Recommendation to others: I cannot recommend this book. It was somewhat pretentious with uninteresting characters whose lives did not interest me, and it began with yet another instance of women falling victim to men. I [...]