Though I have to say that I thought this book would be more about birds than it was (and I was looking forward to reading about various species of birds and how the sisters in the book took care of them and treated them), The Bird Sisters
As a writer myself, I am spellbound by books that are written in such a different voice than I could ever write – it totally amazes me and makes me feel smaller and more insignificant as a writer because I feel sometimes like, “Wow. I could never write this.” And that humbles me. In a good way. I sometimes have a hard time reading books that sound too much like my own voice or books whose characters and voice I identify with too much or wish that I could sound like – sometimes that just makes me depressed because I either feel like, “I could do that! Why am I not published yet.” Or alternatively, “Wow. I could never do that but I wish I could.” But with The Bird Sisters
One thing that bothered me a little bit – but I always feel this way in books that I read that don’t necessarily have “happy” endings – was that I wished I could have changed the ending. Perhaps widowhood/spinsterhood suited the sisters. Like I said above, perhaps for them – their choice was “freedom” – but the choices that they made could also be interpreted as creating “a cage of one’s own.” I was bothered by the ending, I wanted a different life for them – but I guess if the novel hadn’t bothered me so much it wouldn’t have stayed with me as much as it did – and that is what we want from good literature – to be challenged, to be bothered, to think.
I’ve been participating in a book club discussion of this book over at TNBBC on Goodreads. Check out TNBBC’s blog for more book giveaways and discussions. Thanks so much to Rebecca Rasmussen for participating in a discussion of the book – she has been busy traveling the country promoting her book and you can find out all about her and her book at http://www.thebirdsisters.com/.
. I found 
less shocking, but no less eye-opening and enjoyable. I felt like I was introduced and transported to a completely different world and found it intriguing and vivid and real. Jeanette Walls is truly a talented storyteller. The book is hailed as “Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults” and while I see no reason why the Little House books are not for adults, I certainly agree with that assessment. Life on the prairie, on ranches, learning about the nitty gritty details of the lives of real ranchers and cowboys was not a topic I ever thought that I would find enjoyable or fascinating and yet in this book, they were both. In truth, it is a good idea to read the books in tandem, as Half Broke Horses explains a lot about Rosemary by way of Lily and in turn, Jeannette as well.
tremendously. Not only is it well written, but the unexpected story told by Marianne and how unreliable both his narration and hers become. It is at once a psychological thriller, a moral novel, a love story, a novel about art and sculpture, about religion and faith, a fantasy, historical fiction, a story about addiction and recovery and a story about hope – but more than all of these combined – an extremely well written novel.
tremendously because John Updike is simply a master of the English language – and I found myself marveling at his stunningly constructed sentences more than I did at the plot. I feel like perhaps, has someone else written this same novel I would not have liked it as much because nobody could have written it like Updike has. Many reviews criticize the plot and the fact that perhaps Updike capitalized on post 9-11 politics and sentiments to write this novel, but I personally feel that it is only natural for every person to seek to make sense of the world around us and the experiences that we undergo and that while someone else may do this by speaking to a psychologist or coping in some other way, novelists make sense of the world around them by writing. 
is not only one of the best books I’ve read in a long time, but also one of my favorites. I wanted to read the book in one day, but decided not to because I didn’t want the book to end. This book has everything: mystery, suspense, history and fantasy! And on top of all that, it’s well written, intellectual, literary and engaging. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait for the next one! 
because I found the first few chapters pretty slow – but once this book grabbed me, WOW! I couldn’t put it down. I basically read the book in one sitting except for those first few chapters. The book has a happy ending even though the characters all go through some pretty terrible things in their lifetimes and you know what? I like happy endings. A lot. Especially when they are unexpected. Especially when people can find a way to forgive and a way to love and a way to hope and move on and find redemption against all odds. 
was any different, but to a certain degree I found a certain redemption of the genre in this novel. The main character, who, typical of Roth has been married three times, cheated on all of his wives, is not a religious man, and perhaps not a very nice man at all – comes to a point that he is dying and realizes that he has not had a very meaningful life at all. That perhaps he shouldn’t have slept around as much as he did, that he should have been a better father to his children and a better husband to his wives. 
