A very nice story of how The Wizard of Oz came to be written. Good imagery and character development. Seemed a bit slow to me so I wasn‘t driven to spend hours at a time with it as I do with other books, but still a good read. I feel sorry for the treatment of Judy Garland in the movie‘s making (also, I just watched that movie about her and this book reiterates). 4/5 stars

5/5 This beautiful story just took my breath away. It did not make me laugh...there was nothing light hearted or amusing. It did make me cry. This cold-hearted woman/mother certainly had a reason for it (at least for her)...survival and guilt. When at last she was able to tell the story of her life to her daughters, they understood, and what a story it was. Her childhood and life as a young woman under Stalin‘s Russia. Terrific writing! Awesome!

4.5/5 stars. A story of a boy and a girl, both going through very hard teen-aged years for different reasons, come together and give some new meaning to each other‘s lives. There is beautiful and artistic prose, deep thoughts, vivid emotional pain along with all the usual crap involved with high school. I didn‘t know this was a YA book when I bought it (or I wouldn‘t have), but this one will stick with me. Tears definitely involved. 💗

Started slowly and with shallow characters. About halfway through it did become interesting. I think it is supposed to be suspenseful, but not to me. And then, it became disturbing. I don‘t want to give it away, but not a good topic for entertainment...more than murder. I didn‘t like it nearly as much as a lot of other reviewers did, and I love a good murder mystery/suspense story. 3.5/5

#thoughtfullythursday 1. Lock Every Door...I‘m 40% in and it‘s taking too long, just interesting enough to keep pushing through. 2. Any of my small grand babies fill my heart with joy. Also my darling Cavalier. 3. I love/all travel. The happy place we return to again and again is Catalina Island.

In the genre of a child living off the grid with a parent, it is a pretty shallow accounting, without soul, beauty, fear, any higher thinking. After having read The Great Alone and Where the Crawdads Sing it was maybe a “meh”. I was so hoping for at least a satisfying ending!

A story that was painful to read...beautifully written, emotionally believable portrayal and easily followed. A boy, born as a prodigy painter/artist into a family with no artistic understanding or any desire for it, actually repelled by it and both encouraged and discouraged in his formative years, culminating in devastation. I was raptly attentive throughout, heartbroken in many ways about his childhood and at the end. 5 stars!

The story of an old, dying man reliving the life he‘s lived and how he chose to live it.He faces what‘s he‘s done, mostly the bad stuff, reliving the anguish but admitting to himself that he probably would have done the same things even as he‘s sorry for the pain he‘s caused.The writing is very good...quite vivid, even if there is way too much about fishing, and he was not made a very sympathetic or likable character. It ended up being very good.

I liked this book a bit, it kept my interest. I disliked the characters...really, all of them. It didn‘t turn out to be very believable and I probably won‘t recommend it to anyone to read.

Just finished this wonderful story of love, family, loss, betrayal, evil forces, self-discovery and a bit of magic. I loved every minute of it and it left me feeling good. 😊