Ashley Schultz

Ashley SchultzI enjoyed this book much more than I expected to in the beginning. It is definitely not the most well-written book, but the story is sweet and the characters are like-able. Plus, who doesn't love a magical ending every once in a while?

Ashley SchultzA word of advice, don't listen to this as an audio book. It was hard to keep track of characters and hang on to the story line.

Ashley SchultzI may have to revisit the 5 stars in a few days, but hours after devouring this book the first time around I almost want to start from the beginning and savor it. Eric Weiner is a gifted writer, and a wonderful storyteller. I found his take on happiness incredibly refreshing and very interesting. Plus, I love a good travel memoir, especially when written by someone as astute and observant as he is. His accounts of these countries (especially Iceland, Thailand, and India) nearly made me book a plane ticket. Although I freely admit that is not a difficult feat. For someone who describes himself as a grump, I thought this book was optimistic and full of moments of pure joy.

Ashley SchultzI wish I could put my finger on exactly what it was about this book that didn't have me completely hooked. I did find it to be an incredibly moving and thought provoking story, but I felt there were pieces missing.<br/><br/>I really wish the narrator would have been written in the 3rd person and that we as readers would have been privy to some of the other characters' thoughts and feelings instead of trying to infer them through the lens of Amir's guilt. The characters didn't seem very well fleshed out to me. With the possible exception of Amir's father, who was just on the cusp of demonstrating that he had his own inner life without ever letting the reader really see it, none of the characters developed beyond their specified role in the story. I also felt there were a few too many coincidences in the book (the homeless man who worked with Amir's mother?), but some made sense to me. I've seen a lot of reviewers complaining about how unlikely it is that Assef was the Talib who held Sohrab, but I actually found that reasonable. Hassan stood up to Assef, obviously not something he was used to, so it seems logical that he would use his power within the Taliban to have Hassan killed, and also that he would seek out Hassan's child to torture as well. He seems like a guy that is capable of holding a hefty grudge. <br/><br/>I did think that Hosseini dealt very well the the emotional themes in the book. I almost felt sick to my stomach with guilt throughout the entire novel because of how well Amir's own feelings are portrayed. I've read other books that deal with guilt/human-ness/redemption in a much more nuanced way, however for a first novel I think Hosseini did a remarkable job of this. I also enjoyed the glimpses into Afghani culture. Unlike other reviewers, I actually enjoyed the sprinkles of Farsi in the book, it felt authentic that he'd be using his native language to communicate with other Afghani people.<br/><br/>Although I can't say I LOVED the book, I didn't get that "completeness" feeling that comes with closing the back cover of something truly great, I did like the book and I'll probably pick up Hosseini's follow-up efforts.

Ashley SchultzI'm not convinced this book was worthy of all of the acclaim it got. It was an entertaining read and it kept me engaged in the story, but I found it fairly predictable. While the ending wasn't what I expected from the first page of the book, I was usually able to predict Flynn's next step. I also found the characters to be pretty stereotypical - the cheating husband who isn't good with emotions, the girl who falsely accuses a boyfriend of rape, or pretends to be pregnant to get her way. While they were layered personalities, they weren't new characters and they definitely did not seem like real, living, characters to me. <br/><br/>I listened to this as an audio book and I will say that the woman who reads Amy's sections did a fabulous job! She was really good at changing her voice to reflect Amy's different states.

Ashley SchultzThis is exactly my kind of novel. I love stories of ordinary lives and ordinary people and the beauty of the everyday. I think I'd give this five stars if A tree Grows in Brooklyn wasn't my favorite book. They deal with the same themes in remarkably similar plot and character arcs but Smith does it more lovingly and vibrantly.