Abigail Bok > Recent Status Updates

. . . out of ca. 800 pages in my edition. Finally I am fully engaged and unable to wait for the next page.

. . . out of ca. 800 pages in my edition. Still in the wandering-in-the-wilderness phase of the novel, though about chapter 20 it starts to gain some focus. But I remember from reading it in college that it eventually gathers itself together and takes on momentum, turning itself into an unstoppable freight train of a masterpiece—so I’m trying to get to that point.

Did not finish. I didn't love the characters (they seemed pretty ’70s-modern, sexist and grumpy in ways stereotypical of that please-let-me-forget-it decade), and the relish with which the author detailed gruesomeness was over the top. Just not in the mood.

Not entirely to my personal taste, but really, really good. Best of the series so far!

That's 160 pages out of 672 in the edition I'm reading. It's really starting to pall.

Way overwritten, but I have to confess I'm loving it! Trite, over-the-top, seductive—in a word, camp!

not to my taste, I'm afraid.

Loving this! Very clever and laugh-out-loud funny, with believable dialogue.

Interesting but I think the author overstates things and tries too hard to link biography with story elements in the novels.

I continue to find this work troubling. The less I know a species being discussed, the more interesting I find it. When I'm familiar with a bird he's talking about, his observations do not tally with mine.

I like all the quotes from primary sources. The book is a bit idiosyncratic in the topics it covers, more a collection of essays than a comprehensive study.

What the--? It's early days yet in my reading, but I'm finding this book full of weird errors. Mockingbirds live only on the East Coast? The author goes on about spotted towhees, but he lives in California; where are the brown towhees? Etc. Also, it's very repetitive.

Very well written, muscular and energetic language.

A little under-documented, but a gold mine of information on rural England in Georgian times.

Pretty well done.

I dunno, having trouble getting into it. The characters don't interest me much. And a dead dog in chapter 1? Not for me

I love the groundedness of the heroine--and the belated groundedness of the hero. Not to mention the minor characters, especially the dog.

Gorgeous, evocative, touching stories. Like jewels in the mud.

About halfway through my umpteenth reading. This time, I really didn't engage with the characters till the beginning of the second volume; then it picked up steam.

Only 2 stories into this collection, but I have to say: READ THIS! These stories are jewels—vivid, surprising, insightful. I am blown away.

Only 2 stories into this collection, but I have to say: read this! These stories are jewels—vivid, surprising, insightful. I am blown away.

She's no Jane Austen, but the book gets better as it goes along. Hard to maintain momentum, though.