This was really lovely. It's story of Korean and Korean-American families -- how they come together and pull apart -- and art and loss, all done with a true and light touch and no excess sentimentality. Chung has a great ear for language and an eye for nuance, and pulled me in steadily and surely -- by the end of the novel I was a bit surprised at how much I cared about every single character. There's a lot of heart in this book, and nothing overplayed.

A funny, edgy book. The narrator, Alice Ziplinsky, is so perfectly off-kilter - she's both sympathetic and disconcerting, often at the same time - that she lends a slightly funhouse feeling to the story's telling. This dynastic epic of a candy-making family encompasses immigration, assimilation, success, failure, racism, inclusion, and everything you ever wanted to know about the candy business, all skillfully interwoven. And Alice's weird, funny, almost-perfectly-reasonable voice is the perfect medium. You pay attention, because Alice is the kind of narrator you want to keep an eye on, and in the process the story unwinds vividly. This is smart, out of the ordinary and fun - recommended whether you have a sweet tooth or not.

Some fascinating stuff on cat body language at the beginning, and what's probably good advice on introducing new cats to the household. Hopefully that won't be anything I need to think about for a while. Mostly the book made me thankful for all the cat problems we don't have -- litterbox issues, food issues, spraying, or cats who actively hate each other. We have two who are constantly at odds, but I see from reading this that it could be a lot worse, and I might as well just leave them to their skirmishes.

Beautiful little melancholy jewel of a book, with delicate, moody illustrations and a happy ending. I don't read a lot of YA/kids' books these days, so it was a nice change of pace. I forget how much I like pictures in a book, and that read-aloud quality -- I read some of it to the dog in bed last night, and she was appropriately transfixed.

I'm thinking Noir just might not be my thing, although maybe it's just hard to do without falling back on cliches. It was a bit of an uneven collection, with a lot of so-so pieces and a few really good ones. But the good ones gave me an idea of what's to like about the genre, and I'll be interested to try Boston Noir, which is up soon (doing a little cultural exchange program with a Bostonian friend).

Wow, really well done. It took a lot of close reading, and I have to say I was very glad for the Kindle's search function with this one. But the rewards for that were huge. Her writing is so spare, very physical, and she makes the small details matter so much -- aside from being a really solid historical novel, it was a terrific, nuanced portrait of a man. The Booker people got it right this time. Mantel did a hell of a job.

Just terrific. She's a fabulous storyteller.

As a friend said, its heart was in the right place. The tug-of-war between Spain, Morocco, and Algeria for a disputed piece of the Sahara, and the fate of the Saharawi natives, was something I'd never heard about -- so I consider myself enlightened and interested, if not exactly captivated. I get the feeling the translation is partly at fault, although it's hard to tell, but the language just didn't sing and it was hard to follow. I could see this being a hell of a screenplay, though.

That was certainly an experience - annoying and impressive in equal amounts. Things about it just made me gnash my teeth, mostly related to Franzen's EXTREME cleverness. And the names - my god, he must have spent SO much time coming up with those perfect, perfect names. What what made it work for me above and beyond being a very piece of sprawling writing was how Franzen gives you a way into each character, that they're just kaleidoscopic enough to see a bit of your own reflection in them. There was real intelligence about human nature behind it - all those people beating their heads against reality. I can't remember when I last read a more anxiety-producing book, but I enjoyed it.

Really good writing, brings to mind a female, slightly more contemporary take on Breece D'J Pancake's territory. Dark stuff -- the characters are all injured in one way or another -- but very well done. It's all classic and not show-offy in the least. The last story, "Boar Taint," called to mind Flannery O'Connor's "Greenleaf," though with an upbeat ending -- probably the most optimistic story in the collection. Now I'm really sorry it didn't win the NBA.

Interesting take on the dividing line between history and fiction. Aside from what the book is ostensibly about -- the JFK assassination -- it's also very much concerned with what it is to be a historian and researcher, how much of oneself moves in and out of a fixed story. There are a lot of ways to read this, I think, which makes it really engaging. Also the book itself is very beautiful, with a lot of attention paid toward the design and feel, which enhances the feeling of it being an interactive kind of text. This is something I could definitely reread at some point and have an entirely different experience.

Really tightly crafted and structured, like a piece of classical music. Aside from the fact that it was good, compelling reading, the whole infrastructure of it was interesting to follow. With, yes, a major deus ex machina, but Phillips isn't asking us to believe he was anything other than that, so it managed not to grate. Plus he had his counterpart - all characters were carefully but not heavy-handedly twinned - so there was a place for him. And the language was terrific. She's so controlled.

Interesting take on the dividing line between history and fiction. Aside from what the book is ostensibly about -- the JFK assassination -- it's also very much concerned with what it is to be a historian and researcher, how much of oneself moves in and out of a fixed story. There are a lot of ways to read this, I think, which makes it really engaging. Also the book itself is very beautiful, with a lot of attention paid toward the design and feel, which enhances the feeling of it being an interactive kind of text. This is something I could definitely reread at some point and have an entirely different experience of.

Really good reread. Stories about the arcs of people's lives always make me reflect, in this case a lot of fun. In the six years since I last read it I've gotten whomped over the head with a whole lot of 20th-century cultural literacy, and it was pleasing how much more I got out of that angle. Plus I'm older (doh), and you know... the older the grape the sweeter the wine, or whatever that saying is. Not that I like sweet wine, come to think of it. At any rate, though I generally don't reread much, this was a perfect candidate and I'm glad I did.

Sweet and anecdotal, just what I expected and wanted. Bless Ken Foster and everyone who fosters strays... and yes, my dog's stomach does smell like corn chips!

I found this to be surprisingly clunky - uneven dialog that often didn't ring true, and though the premise of the characters was interesting they kept reverting to type and making me roll my eyes. For all that, I'm never lost reading momentum and I actually enjoyed it. The story was good, the ideas were fun, and it never quite scared me off. Makes me really want to read What Was She Thinking?, though, because I've heard such uniformly good things about it -- now I'm curious how that one hit where this one misses.

Liked it; didn't love it as I'd hoped to. There was something slightly flat in aspect. I know Doctorow's a straight-ahead storyteller and not necessarily known for high dramatic tension, but the plot seemed to want a bit more mounting dread. It touched that in places, but the psychological horror that I wanted was missing. I realize that's more about my expectations than the writing, which is quite good.

Maybe it's a matter of form following function: Otherwise innocuous and even beautiful writing, all amassed in one place until it suddenly, unexpectedly, falls down on us. I guess I just hoped for a little more edge. Still -- very worth reading, and well done.

Just terrific -- a strong story, moving in both big and small ways, paired with great, moody pen-and-ink and wash drawings. The narrative could stand alone as a short written piece, and the artwork worked on its own merits as well -- together they make for an edgy but still very compassionate memoir. Really good use of the graphic novel form. Very dark, but worth the trip.

Total muscle-car writing -- a little showy, but good lines and a really entertaining ride all the way through. All gender commonality correctness aside it just feels very male, with this lurking threat of violence or volatility woven into the stories that is not unappealing. Every so often there's a bit of allegory that's kind of hammered home but I think that's more of a young author thing. This is his first collection and in fact it's very tight and well-done.