Rating: 
Summary: Good story
Review: I normally try to avoid the Oprah pics because I found that they have a tendency to be very depressing. But I found this one at a second hand bookstore and since I was desperate for a book to read, I decided - why not? And I was pleasantly surprised. This turned out to be a really nice story of a woman coming to terms with her HIV status and finding a new life. The characters quickly became my friends and I read the book in a day!
Oprah fans or not, you should read this one!
Rating:
Summary: 1998 Oprah Pick is still good today
Review: Well, it took me a while to read this book, since it was on Oprah in 1998. But it was a great book. At 240 pages, a quick read too. It would make great summer reading. I especially enjoyed the characters. It had some characters you love to enjoy and some you love to hate. She did a good job too of putting you on the inside of someone's head you has AIDS. Got me thinking....
Rating:
Summary: A great read! Well worth it!
Review: I will tell you the truth...I am totally turned off by a book that has that little "O" seal on it, but Oprah was dead on with this book. It is a true to life book about living with HIV. It doesn't dwell on it or give you that "Oh Me Oh My" feeling. It's about a normal life of a not so normal gal. I really got into it and I think you will too!
Rating: 
Summary: Well written
Review: I enjoyed this book. A refreshing outlook on the world of living with HIV. The characters were true to life and the honesty of Ava's personal thoughts was well portrayed. A great book with interesting insight
Rating:
Summary: Don't Let the Oprah Book Club Seal Scare You
Review: I know that some people (ok, people like myself) can sometimes be turned off by a book that has gotten Oprah's seal of approval. I've read several of her picks, both before and after she picked them, and while I've never actually hated any of them, there is a sameness to what she recommended that made it feel as if I were reading the same book over and over again. Knowing this, it took me a long time to make myself read What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day. I wish that I'd done this sooner, because this book is amazing. It is not depressing, despite its serious subject matter. I really did wish that there was more, because it felt wrong that there wasn't any more to Ava's story. This book was both fun and informative, which is not a combination that many authors can do well. Pearl Cleage has created a very entertaining book, and I recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: An honest, thought provoking look at HIV
Review: This book gives one the feel of finding someones diary and secretly reading each page. Thoughts, feelings, and ideas are expressed candidly and as such, beckons the reader to want to know more about this character. This is an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: REQUIRES PATIENCE
Review: GOOD BOOK BUT IT REQUIRES PATIENCE. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T APPRECIATE THIS BOOK BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE IT TAKES TO GET INTO THE FLOW OF THE STORY LINE.
Rating: 
Summary: second time around
Review: This is my second time reading this book, and I still don't like it. I feel that serious issue was made a mockery of the whole book. I don't feel that Joyce, being a Chrisitan was teaching the girls the right things. I just didn't get this one.
Rating:
Summary: Great listening
Review: "What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day" wasn't the story I expected from reading the package blurb; it was better. I checked it out of the library because it looked like it might be a decent listen while I went about my daily activities. Usually I find modern novels disappointing, but this one hooked me and kept me interested from the start. The story is told in the first person by Ava, whose hair salon begins to fail after she is "outed" as HIV+ and nervous customers stop coming. She sells the salon with the intention of moving across the country to San Francisco. What happens when she drops in to visit her sister Joyce, a community activist, in a small Michigan town before making her big move is the substance of the book. The dialogue and many aspects of the characters rang true, which is one of the great pleasures of a novel for me. Okay, Eddie may be a bit too wonderful to be real and the reverend's wife perhaps a bit too evil. And there were a couple of situations where it seemed that in order to advance the story Cleage didn't let the characters think of obvious solutions to their dilemmas (leaving me to mentally yell at them things like "Call the police!", but that didn't greatly detract from my enjoyment. Some of the action is horrifying to hear, but not in a horror-story way; more like a shake-your-head way -- at things you know people actually do. My main criterion for evaluation a book is how much I enjoyed it and whether I want to hear something else from this author. Since I was sorry to come to the end of the tape, I give this five stars. Ironically, it was only after I had almost finished listening that I realized (from reading the box) that I was hearing an abridged version of the novel. The abridgement was not at all obvious to me, so I think it was well done, but of course I wish there had been more story to listen to.
Rating:
Summary: A COURAGEOUS MAN
Review: Not many man out here would've done what Eddie did. I admire him for his courage. After all, Ava is still a human being who has feelings,and needs love just like anyone of us. I personally didn't think this novel was just a simple love story based on someone with a terminal illness. I think it was educational,also a wake up call for some of us who tend to forget that this disease is still out there. Thanks to the great effort of our scientist,and the people who support them with there donation, people like Ava can live with this disease almost like any other long term illnesses. Ms. Cleage, you are in a class by yourself. I have never read any story similar to yours. Also, I would like to know why Ava was not mentioned in: I Wish I Had a Red Dress.
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