Rating: 
Summary: Hopeful, energetic, informative
Review: One of the most fun parts of this audio book is that it is read by the author herself. Her voice is warm and witty. She is so convincing that I had trouble separating her from the main character.Although I am sure that the written version of the book was good, I wonder if the audio version isn't the best way to experience Cleage's message. Because Cleage brings out the language and the culture with no holds barred. She understand the message she is trying to get out and she does it magnificently. Cleage presents HIV in a way that we need to understand it: i.e. something that happens to people we love. And then she shows us the way to cope and live hopefully.
Rating:
Summary: A STORY SO TRUE TO LIFE!
Review: I read this book from a recommendation of a friend not knowing the underlying reason why she wanted me to read this. I could not put this book down from beginning to end. I felt that I had a friend for the few days it took me to finish this book. It was so nice to read a fiction book about AIDS that was so true. I thank Pearl Cleage for such a nice message to people like me living with AIDS. If I didn't know better I would think she was also infected because it was so real in its feelings. A great, excellent, wonderful book!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Reminds me of "Pearl" by Tabitha King
Review: A sort of feel-good story of a woman who is HIV+ and stops by to visit her sister in a small town before making a major move from Atlanta to San Francisco. But things happen that change her mind about leaving... Has the usual small-town strange characters and finding-love-in-all-the-wrong-places theme. Motivating and happy.
Rating:
Summary: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day
Review: I loved this book. I first read it over 2 years ago, gave it to a friend and never got it back. Several months ago, I just kept thinking about the book and wishing I could read it again. Several weeks later I stumbled across it at a book outlet and bought it again. I recommended it to our Book Club at work and all our members loved it too. I originally bought the book after reading the first page in the bookstore. Ava's description of watching the TV talk show in the airport and the way she described her feelings about being HIV positive reeled me in immediately. I continued to be pulled into her life throughout the book by her honest descriptions of events in her life. You'll never look at life quite the same way after reading this book. What a powerful little book!
Rating:
Summary: Witty and real
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and had me smiling to myself as I turned the page and even laughing out loud. The author was humorous and raw but smoothed her edges enough to bring you into the heart of the characters, some of whom were so similar to people in my own life, there were questions about how fictional these characters really are. A great read for someone who wants to knock out an entertaining book in a short time -- I read it over a weekend. Can't wait for her next novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but just not what I expected
Review: This was a good novel all in all but, being that I heard so many good things about it I just expected too much. The character's were well developed and I like the story line about how after living a crazy life she came back home to see her roots and remember where she came from. But the fact that see still had sex after see was HIV postive was chilling to me. Even though see used protection I just could'nt get in to that whole scene. This was a good book, but just not what I expected.
Rating: 
Summary: Anti-climatic
Review: Well written, good story, disappointing ending -- i.e. there wasn't one.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! A lot of power in a little book
Review: I have recommended this book to MANY friends. A quick read but a deep story. It started slow for me- ("oh no, a depressing AIDS story")but how quickly it all turned around into a "what's going to happen next" novel! All the characters are rich in this book. (Eddie is the kind of guy most of us would like to take home and keep). I'm reluctant to tell potential readers too much more about this little jewel so as not to spoil the story. Just know that Love Prevails and you're definitely going to cry happy tears. This is a must read. Bravo, Pearl.
Rating:
Summary: I never cried as much in sadness as in joy...over a book.
Review: To say I was caught by the book in the beginning would be a grave understatement. I would have finished it all at once had I not been confronted by such foul beasts as work, and sleep. Though, the timing I exercised in finishing it did make it a relished literary desert of sorts. I truly felt the pains Ava, the main character, goes through as she returns to the place of her upbringing, the town she fled from in a sense as she grew into her new life, yet still came back to in order to find happiness. What she finds at home is what we all both fear and dream of. She found that things might never change except for the way you look a them, or accept them. Though, once she came home, her life changed immensely, and the ride undertaken to the end of the book was worth it in my opinion. Happiness through a bit of trauma, a bit of pain, life. Anyone whom wishes to find a book that will touch you inside as well as out need look no further. If you are a wandering soul on your own way "home", or you are running from something and need a temporary shelter from it, open the book, and digest it. You might come back a little bit more secure in your beliefs at hope, and you may well come back smiling for no other reason than the fact you enjoyed the book.
Rating:
Summary: What would be Crazy would be NOT reading this book!
Review: I have never been one to buy in to the "Oprah Book Club" thing, so my purchase of this book was purely chance. In the airport with more time that I planned on my hands, I decided to purchase a book - preferably one by an African American author. "What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day" fit the bill. This is an amazing book! I had never heard of Pearl Cleage, but this book proved how talented she is. The story of Ava, Joyce, Eddie and the town of Idlewild is so realistic, that it could very have taken place in my own hometown - in all actuality - it probably is taking place. Ava's struggle with her health issues... Joyce's struggle with the passing of her husband and the Sewing Circus... Eddie's struggle to get Ava to see beyond her issues and into their potential future together... All of these things collide to make an amazing and touching story. This is an easy, enjoyable read - 2 thumbs up!
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