Babes with Brains Book Club

0 Loved It
0 Liked It
5 Neutral
3 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• I could not get into the writing style. It was trying to give too many perspectives that made it feel like it was not saying anything. At least it was short. – Sarah
• Not sure if I like the writing style. I did not feel attached to any characters mentioned, very vague. – Vicki
• It was an easy read. It is a period in history I don’t know much about – and I still don’t. – Melissa
• It used a writing style that I didn’t like and so it seemed like a non-start about totally ordinary non-characters. – Shannon
• Easy to read, but no one to connect to. Don’t feel like I know anymore about them than I did before. – Carrie
• It was a quick read, but I thought it could have been written so much better. The amount of info I got about the wives could have been done in a magazine article. I would have liked to get to know individual wives better. – Kerry
• I really disliked the writing style! I missed character development. – Steph
• It was very hard to get past the writing style. I felt like I got a good picture of the environment and general feeling of the women but because there was absolutely zero character development, it was hard to care. – Danica

Conclusion: The consensus was that because of the writing style, there was a massively missed opportunity for some good historical fiction. To call this a novel is a bit of a stretch.

2 Loved It
1 Liked It
1 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• I really liked the book and was very impressed with the writing style. I was amazed that someone from his humble beginnings could be so articulate. It does not happen so much like that nowadays. It did get a little repetitive at the end. – Sarah
• I loved this book and feel that this should be required reading for everyone living in this country. It was heart breaking, triumphant and thought provoking, he is an American hero. I wish that his actual escape story was documented and added as an addendum but I am not sure that it was ever told. Skipping the foreword and some of the speeches at the end make this a better read. – Danica
• I enjoyed parts of this book. I did not like the writing style, thought it could have developed differently. Opening and ending was repetitive and dry. Though very interested by the biography. – Carrie
• This book made a tremendous impact on me when I read it in college, and I found it equally enjoyable this time around. Douglass is an amazing writer, especially given his start in life. I particularly love a first person account of history, and there aren’t too many of those from former slaves. – Marlo

Conclusion: Although most didn’t get through it, we all could participate in the discussion which was great and lasted quite a bit.

0 Loved It
1 Liked It
2 Neutral
1 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• This book was not as good as some of his other books, although it was short. – Sarah
• What I like about Malcolm Gladwell books is you always get food for thought. I liked it. -Kerry
• I argued with the book – every page for the 50% that I got through. – Steph
• Although this wasn’t as solidly good as some of his other books. There were chapters that I really liked and others I could have done without. I love how I always think about his ideas months and years later. – Danica

Conclusion: While not as liked as some of his other books that we have read, we did have a lively conversation about certain chapters, so I would call that a success.

0 Loved It
2 Liked It
2 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• It was OK. I could not really get into it and am not really sure why. It was a little unbelievable that it ties up with a bow and everyone lives. – Sarah
• I wasn’t able to finish, but enjoyed the little boy point of view, and the mixture of child-like innocence and cunning survivalism. – Kerry
• I picked this because I really loved the movie as a child. It was not quite what I expected and I had a hard time rooting for any one character. There were elements I did enjoy but it felt like a real slog to get through. – Danica
• I wanted to read this, but wasn’t able to get into it, didn’t get past the first few chapters. – Carrie
• I liked the writing style and how he showed the horrors of war – but in a peripheral kind of way. – Steph

Conclusion: It felt really long for most, our discussion was quick but we did talk mostly about the parts we did like as opposed to the elements we didn’t.

0 Loved It
5 Liked It
1 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• So far, I’ve enjoyed it. – Melissa
• It was very whimsical. I liked the story and the relationships between the characters. – Sarah
• The fairy tale concept was fun, and I enjoyed the Grimm element. However, I actually thought it would have been a better book without the happy ending. – Marlo
• It was an easy read, but the story didn’t really impress me. – Carrie
• I was torn. There were elements that I really enjoyed and others that could have been really interesting but weren’t exploited. – Danica

Conclusion: Overall, this was liked and we spoke about a few elements about the book but it didn’t spur any big philosophical conversations.

2 Loved It
5 Liked It
1 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• I really enjoyed this book. Loved the legal dialogue and twists/turns in the storyline. And oh the ending! – Rachelle
• I’m not done yet… but liking it so far. – Melissa
• Really easy read. Different than most mysteries. Interesting twist at the end. – Carrie
• This was definitely a page turner. I really enjoyed some of the morality questions that it explores. – Danica
• I enjoyed this book! It brought up a lot of questions and issues, and was definitely food for thought. I wished the ending had delved into some of the issues raised throughout. – Kerry
• I really enjoyed the first few chapters. However, after that when it got to the trial everything felt very contrived and unrealistic. – Sarah
• I couldn’t put it down! I thought it was a good read. – Steph
• I really enjoyed it! I didn’t expect the ending and was sad when it was over. A lot of stuff to talk about. – Tami

Conclusion: We had a really great conversation and it seemed like everyone got caught up in this quick read.

1 Loved It
3 Liked It
2 Neutral
0 Disliked It
0 Hated It

Comments:
• The story was short which was nice. It was not scary at all. – Sarah
• I am enjoying it and will finish it. – Tami
• I had never read Stephen King before. I now understand the following. I am a fan! – Melissa
• I really enjoyed this book. It was fast and an easy read. Could really visualize the characters. – Carrie
• I liked the style and the book was easy to read. I didn’t like the story that much – not very rich. – Steph
• This is the first Stephen King book that I have ever read. On a whole, I enjoyed the characters and story. There were a few pages here and there where he mentioned modern day pop culture and politics, that pulled me out of the story and felt unnecessary. – Danica

Conclusion: Most enjoyed the book although we didn’t have a whole lot to talk about except for clearing up a few questions about happenings from the story.