The Reader

Rating:
Summary: Medicore writing
Review: I think the topic could be interesting, but I agree with many who said that the characters were just too sketchy. I didn't have much of a feel for either of them.

Rating:
Summary: This book was definitely an easy read, but somewhat boring!
Review: This book was educational in raising issues about the Holocaust. Other than that, it was boring.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting.
Review: The story wasn't bad but I never felt connected to the main character. The story moves along at its own pace and you are not pulled into it in depth. After figuring out what Hanna was hiding it then just rambled to the end (and not a good one either). I would check it out at the library instead of buying it.

Rating:
Summary: Bad Selection
Review: This book was easy to read, but it was sort of boring. I only finished it because I bought it.

I've been reading Oprah's pick since "I Know This Much Is True", and they have been good for the exception of "Jewel" and "The Reader".

Rating:
Summary: Curiously interesting book
Review: I enjoyed this quick read. I've lent it to others and want to know their thoughts the whole way through. My opinion of Hanna and her behavior changed regularly. I expected the ending but hoped for different end to a curious ?love? story.

Rating:
Summary: It could have been so much more!
Review: Once I started it I finished it merely on principle. I thought the story was flat and lacked development and interaction between characters. It could have been so much more. There was absolutely no spark to this story. I think that too many of Oprah's book choices are zoomed up the best seller list strictly because of her name and not for the enjoyment factor of the story. I think this choice really misses the mark.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: I learned a new perspective on the Holocaust by reading this book. I thought it was an easy read.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing & Entertaining
Review: This book is thought-provoking. It's an easy read; can be done in 2 nights. You won't be able to put it down. I really enjoyed it. The author raises many social issues while interjecting the reality of human emotion. This is the 1st Oprah Book Club pick that I have read, & I'm looking forward to reading others.

Rating:
Summary: Moving, morally painful
Review: Schlink brings the reader to the moral fibers of the human soul, the soul of Hanna. Obviously, Hanna was a prisoner of her own burden, illiteracy, which guided her moral compass in the path she took. That path brought her to make "prisons" for others, especially the seduction of the young man, Michael. Even more complex are her burdens of her SS past which makes her tragic in the horrific actions she placed upon others. Complex, but simple. Mr. Schlink has created one of the best novels of the Holocaust.

Rating:
Summary: UGH
Review: Felt like I was going to have to do a book report on this book. I only finished it to say I read it. If you're going to read it, don't buy it, get it at the library!