This is a charming little book that shows how a woman copes by baking cakes. In fact, the "safe" place she goes in her mind when under stress is inside a nice warm cake. Ha! The plot is fairly predictable, but it's a nice little story about coping with middle-age and family life. The characters are all lovingly flawed, although exceptional human beings. It's a fun read.

I was disappointed after all the hype. This seemed like a Robert Ludlum type of layered plot. It had some good mystery, and some exciting escape sequences as the hero and heroine connected and tried to evade capture while figuring out the mystery. However, it all seemed so contrived to me that I had a hard time accepting it, especially the religious underpinnings. If you aren't too critical, you might enjoy the adventure, the romance, and the mystery.

This is a powerful story about the hardships of a white woman who is rejected by her own clan, but who marries a black man and tries to fit in with the Black culture. Everyone is flawed, but the emotional connections run ever so deep because of that. An inspirational story that serves as a reminder that we all share the human condition.

This is a strong message book - with the message being that even teenagers have to have moral character and live or die by their word. It's a story that is timeless, but is told like a folk tale, with country aphorisms and speckled with crusty old timers and real life problems. A good book for all ages, but particularly appealing to teenagers who should be able to relate to the problems of the teens in this story.

A lovely, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable little story about a middle aged woman and middle aged man with grown children from separate marriages who fall in love. let the family wars begin!!

This is a powerful story about a war veteran who is nearing the end of his life and is trying to tie off loose ends, one of which is the letter he took from an enemy soldier. He has a complex relationship with his son, and exploring this helps the reader see how this elderly soul is battling his own desire to bury emotions with his desire to reach closure on some unresolved issues. The author is a fairly young man who writes eloquently about older people in most of his works. This is a great story on all levels: adventure, biography, and human affairs.

This is a love poem to all that's good about the Ozarks, with humble, caring people, mixed with provincial narrowness and a greater faith in nature than in people. It portrays the loves and times of several characters and shows their interconnectedness with the earth, moths, trees, and wildlife.
I listened to the unabridged audio edition, and Ms. Kingsolver's voice is straight from the mountains, soothingly soft and evoking exactly the right emotional response - much like Annie Proulx did with her spare text in Shipping News.

Gladwell is one of the best writers and analysts out there who explore the human condition. He reads, and cites, pyschological studies to develop propositions that explain behavior. He has a keen eye for discovering plausible explanations, although I have a hard time seeing how to use this knowledge in a predictive manner. It does exlpain a lot, and this book is interesting in its scope and approachability. I think Gladwell is a genius, but I'm not sure how to put this to practical use.

A woman in an unhappy life takes the opportunity to partake in a government program to pacify American Indians by sending 1000 white women to be their wives. She falls in love with a military officer involved in delivering the women, but grows to learn about the pride, strength, and dignity of the "noble savages" and is caught in between the white and Indian cultures. The characters are not wholly realized, but the emotional touch points are all there.

This is a believable and compelling story about the violent and dangerous life of East German agents, recruited under pressure; threatened and beaten to carry out their assignments. The assignment of this guy is to spy on a friend, and later to be a courier in disguise in Newport, R.I. (smuggling things to and from a Russian submarine). This is where he is when the Wall comes down and has to decide what the heck to do when stranded in a free country with a fake ID. Everything about this caught me by surprise.