Songs in Ordinary Time

Rating:
Summary: Troubling, difficult, very real
Review: This book has so much to offer anyone with an IQ in the triple digits. Sorry, but people who only want to read about "interesting" people are too shallow to enjoy this book. The character development is astounding and, while you don't care about all the characters, none of them are simple. They are complex and complicated like all of us. You may not want to be in Marie Fermoyle's company for too long, but any of us who have gone through a period where we have struggled and lived one day at a time understand her raw desperation. She looks for hope in all the wrong places and so do many of the other characters. Hope in Omar is tragically misplaced but understandable from the perspective of a woman who believes he will may be the very thing to get her through another day. I am rushing out to get Morris' other titles!

Rating:
Summary: Loved it, but the ending was not satisfying.
Review: I found myself deeply involved with most of the characters and could hardly wait to turn each page in order to find out what would happen. The author nailed everyday situations and emotions and I knew that these were real people, not just characters to tell a store. This book ended, but there was not ending. Although I was entertained every minute of the read, I was dissapointed and unfulfilled at the ending.

Rating:
Summary: There must be a sequel!
Review: I enjoyed this story, the little town, the well developed characters, but what happened in the last chapter?? My first thought was that the author's agent knocked on her door and said hand me the book -NOW! There must be a sequel coming right? Say it's so - Mary!!

Rating:
Summary: A Great American Novel
Review: I realize that people have different tastes in literature, but in reading some of the reviews that totally trash this book, I can't help but wonder what it is that these people actually like to read. This is a wonderful, touching, heartbreaking and brilliant book! It was sad, yes, but I like books that affect me and move me and this book certainly did. As long as it was, it wasn't long enough. Some people should stick to Bodice-Rippers.

Rating:
Summary: not worth the time
Review: I just think that you can spend your time reading other books that are better written, more enticing, smarter and much more moving. I was simply bored.

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT AMERICAN CLASSIC
Review: Morris has nailed it! Marie Fermoyle is destined to take her place among the great characters of American fiction. Warning!! This is not a book for the casual reader. It demands insight, concentration, empathy, a sense of humor and a willingness to crawl into the guts of a Vermont town and all of its people in the mid-20th century--just when America is about to explode on itself. If you love deep and wonderful literature then run and read SONGS. Don't miss it. If you want a quickie then head to your local supermarket and grab a bodice-ripper 'cause this ain't for you.

Rating:
Summary: Awful, long, boring, and awfully long and boring
Review: Probably the worst book I've read since in a very long time. No ending, no characters to care about, everything is negative, sad, sorry or dead. Too many loose ends for too many characters with no connection to the story (Joey? The judge? Why?) Lord save me from any more of Oprah's book club choices. And 740 pages? Why? Why on earth? All I can ask is why? Why did I read it? Why did I waste my time? I could've written my OWN book in the time it took to read and get over this abomination.

Rating:
Summary: Just one more disappointed reader
Review: I cannot recommend this book to anyone. I didn't like a single character. At best the characters are weak and pathetic; at worst, they're vile. I kept hoping that someone in the book would grow into a person I could admire. By the end, none of the characters has grown. They're all still pathetic people that I would never want to know in real life. This book was a thorough waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: The best description is zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Review: I admit, I read to escape, I read for entertainment. Oprah's books are full of the most dysfunctional people ever. Such depressing charactors. Songs just adds to her litany of boring, depressing stories full of dysfunctional people. I never thought it would end, but was glad when it did.

Rating:
Summary: Was any of her other novels any good??
Review: There is so much information to soak in, the characters, their individual personalities, their relationships, that had me anticipating an exciting ending. Needless to say that did not happen ... Did she run out of ideas??