Rating: 
Summary: i'm sure i'd love it if i didn't have to read it for school
Review: I think the subject says enough. I'm sure I'd love it if I didn't have to read it for school. I only dislike this book because I have to write an in-class essay for it tommorrow. it's too annoying and i hate the point of view because it's something to be discussed. I'm ure I'd love A Seperate Peace if I didn't have to write an analysis of Finny and Gene's relationship. damn school.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I really enjoyed this book and never wanted it to end. I had never read anything by Kaye Gibbons, but plan on reading her other books.
Rating:
Summary: Charms for the Easy Life
Review: gibbons weaves a compelling, influencial novel about three generations of women and the lives they lived and their impact on one another. detailed first person through Margaret birch's eye, this story tells of margarget's coming of age during world war 2. the book tells of margaret's mother (who constantly strives to be young and stylish and concequently is quite irresponsible)and her grandmother (a self-proclaimed doctor who always seems to have the right answer as well as unconditoinal love for her grand daughter) with whom she lives. in a dramatic ending, margaret realized that she has to move on from her sheltered home-life and must learn to face the world on her own two feet.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointing read.
Review: This book started off well and you really got a feel for this wonderful and special older woman who was a healer and the central character. As the book progressed it became a struggle to read because of the other characters and their inter-relationships. It simply never came together for me.I have, however, enjoyed other Kaye Gibbons books.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful and Powerful !
Review: I have read several Kaye Gibbon's novels and found this to be a wonderfully passionate and emotional novel. Charlie Kate represents a forward thinking woman who was not afraid to care for sick and desolate people of that era. I found much substance in the novel. I am in the medical profession and felt that Kaye Gibbons did her homework regarding herbal remedies and medical treatments that seemed appropiate. Take time to read this novel it is worth it!
Rating:
Summary: A lovely book
Review: I have seen negative reviews of this book, but I loved it. My teenage daughter's margin notes made it even more special. While the story may be unrealistic, it is fiction, and why do we read fiction? I read it for escape, and this book "escapes you" to a place where women are strong, where your grandma can tell you everything you need to know, where there are some bad, lost, and abandoning men, but not all men are bad, where life is full of hope and magic is possible. It is literate, with references to many authors we should all read. There is some social commentary, some sadness, some things everyone should know (papaya tablets for digestion, aloe for burns, etc.) Charms for the Easy Life ("depending on your definition of easy" should have been a subtitle) was wonderful. I will be reading more of Kaye Gibbons books in the future. A lovely novel.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't want it to end
Review: This is a perfect example of excellent writing. I could not put this book down and simply fell in love with the characters. They were so real and so alive.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read.
Review: Contrary to some of the reviews I have read for this book, I found it believable and enjoyable. Just because you come from a rural background does not mean you cannot develop an appreciation for fine literature or are unable to rise above your origins to make a better life for yourself -- college education notwithstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Charlie Kate was an inspiration and reminded me of similar older people who I grew up with here in the much-disparaged rural state of South Dakota. Most of the people living in the 1930s had no other resources besides themselves. They had to rely on their own ingenuity and that of their neighbors, to pull them through. I think that was very well-illustrated in Gibbons' narrative. The main reason I enjoy Gibbons' books is because in spite of all the trauma her characters go through, they rely on humor to deal with it. That is one of the most valuable lessons that can be learned whether you live in urban America or not.
Rating: 
Summary: Flat
Review: A friend of mine gave me this book to read telling me how wonderful it was. I didn't share in her enthusiasm after I had finished it. I don't think that there was some hidden greatness to it that I somehow missed, I think that this is the type of book that you have to have a very specific taste to enjoy. While the relationships were interesting, I felt that they lacked certain emotions or realities, which alienated me as a reader. As a whole I found it to be an easy read, but flat. I felt that it ended just as Ms. Gibbons was beginning to enjoy herself with Charlie (main character) and it left me feeling indifferent. Unless you enjoy sweet, simple but unoriginal stories, I don't recomend this book.
Rating:
Summary: I Loved It!
Review: I cannot get enough of Kaye Gibbons! I thought this book was a sweet story and although I read it some time ago, the relationship of the grandmother and granddaughter has remained a lasting memory. I recommend the book as an enjoyable read. If you are looking for something intellectual and deep this is not the book for you. It is a story, entertaining, and reminiscent.
| 
