Nancy Brumback > Recent Status Updates

I didn't think I could go on after my last update, this story of child sex abuse being so horribly gut-wrenching, and the narrator adding to that with his particular style. But we did get through that into parts much less emotionally devastating so that now, I can listen without putting my head under the pillow, and can enjoy the story and the characters.

I finished this audiobook a while ago, so I don't really have anything fresh to say, except that when in the reviews I read that it involved the Triangle shirtwaist factory, and also two poor immigrant lesbian lovers, I thought I knew at least some of what was going to happen. I was right. But never mind all that. This was a very well-written, exciting book which both entertained a d informed.

This was the audiobook. It was wonderful, in my opinion. I love Sharon Kay Penman.

This is another of those books that will just bring you to your knees at the incredible cruelty and savage violence of white southern racists after the end of the Civil War. But, for all that, interesting and well-written.

This is the audiobook, and I don't know whether I will be able to finish. The narrator and the story make me almost unendurably sad. If there is going to be some reason for all this pain, then I must go on. But if it is just sadness for the sake of sadness, then I am going to be very, very angry.

Testing, testing. Last week I wrote my review here and it disappeared.

So far a very enjoyable audiobook, read by the author.

I don't know how I manage to keep reading this book. Black people in this country have been treated so,so terribly badly. It makes me very sad and very angry. What is wrong with whites that they have to treat
blacks so hatefully?

Now we're getting into the history of the civil rights movement. Thank god. The viciousness and all-pervasiveness of anti-black feeling, in the north as well as in the south, is just about beyond belief.

I had to wait 6 months for the audio edition. Once finished, I started over again to make sure I didn't miss anything. Then, I don't know what I'm going to do. I did get on the wait list for her first book. Until then, I might just lie awake and think about the goldfinch, because anything else will seem like crap in comparison.

The histories of the 3 individuals being followed are integrated with what is going on in the country at large. A wonderful device for those who love history but don't like to read it.

So far, I'm thinking that I'm going to have to create a new shelf for this one---more than 4 stars. While it does drag a little in places. But the story itself is so, so engaging

Very satisfying. Well plotted, well written.

I'm seeing why this book won the 2014 Pulitzer. It is mesmerizing.

So far, quite engaging. Moving back and forth in time is expertly accomplished

Did I say this book should be X-rated? Make that XX. . . .

I had to stop listening to this after awhile. I know that the French and Indian war was a big confused mess in the primeval forests of North America, but when you've got Scots, English, Canadians, French, Indians, and Virginians all shooting at each other on the same battlefield, it's too much even for me.

But ah, me lovelies, this book should be x-rated.

So far, very well-written, well-constructed. Turmoil in Tonio's thoughts about self, family, career, schooling, lovers, etc. Like any normal teenager, except Tonio is not a "normal" teenager. Makes you wonder about the role of testosterone in society.

Ann rice is such a good writer even if you don't like all of her topics. But this topic, the 18th c. casterati, is weird enough while not even being supernatural. The writing about music is wonderful. I definitely recommend it to my music loving friends.

Sometimes thrilling, sometimes sad. The hero seems to be luckier than most, but doesn't always follow through on the opportunities he creates for himself. I liked him better as a child; very much enjoyed the sections about his growing up years. Ending comes up too fast.

Here's another that I'm abandoning. It's good at the beginning, the Dutch settlement, but fairly quickly devolves into the heavily religious history of early America. No thank you.

I ask myself: why should I go on with this book? I know what happens at the end-----Lee surrenders. I don't like the writing, and I've certainly given the author a good chance. And, I'm an old lady who should make the most of what reading time is left to me. And, I have 6 or 8 books on my kindle. So. . .

I'm letting this one go. I know the French and Indian war was a big confused mess, but when you've got scots, Indians, English, Virginians, Canadians, and French all milling around on the same battlefield, it's too much for me.

This is getting tedious. Way too much introspection on the part of, well, everyone.

This book is about what happened in the Civil War after Gettysburg, which I haven't seen much about out there. Was initially leery of the writing since Shaara senior did such a great job of in The Killer Angels. And I've tried some of Jeff's ww2 works, with which I was totally unimpressed. So, carrying on, hoping . . .

This one is going into the abandoned shelf. I checked it out because about 20 years ago I read Sarum: a story of England, by the same author, which i thought was quite good. But this other, no. Just too boring. Because it has to do with American history,, there is an emphasis on religion, which if I were reading in print, I could just skip over. But in audio, it seems unbearably pedantic, and boring. So . . .