Rating: 
Summary: This book is the best!!!
Review: I bought this book yesterday and finished it this morning, and the entire time, I was telling myself, slow down, make it last, but I just couldn't do it. The story is just too interesting! Mary Beth & Leeann pulled me into their lives and I felt like I was right there with them each step of the way. They are both such great characters! I rank them both right up there with Susie in The Lovely Bones. In a lot of ways The Song Reader reminds me of The Lovely Bones. For one, I found out about both of them in Seventeen magazine. . .but deeper in, they're both told from a girl's point of view, and told as the girl looks at the rest of her family. Also they both have a lot of sadness but also lots of hope. I can't imagine anybody not being touched by what these two sisters go through, and the love they have for each other.It's a great story, and it also has the song reading!! A double treat when you pick up Tucker's novel. How did she think up something as unique as song reading? Everyone who hears about it tells me they have to get this book! I highly recommend this book to every man, woman, and child (over 12 or 13, not for language or graphic sex but just to understand it) in America. Buy The Song Reader, I know you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Original, wise, thought provoking
Review: I didn't pick up The Song Reader expecting a deep novel. The cover seemed "hip girl," and the idea of song reading, interesting enough, but deep? Yes. Deep is the word, along with other words like original and even profound. The relationships between the people in The Song Reader are developed with a sensitivity and nuance and wisdom that is unusual in any novel, and astonishing in a first work. Each character is utterly unique and yet as familiar as some part of ourselves. Leeann is the wise eye of the book, watching over her family, wishing she could protect them, and understanding them in ways they can't understand her. Henry, the father, is as odd as any fictional character I've encountered, and yet Tucker makes him make sense, quite an achievement. Mary Beth, the song reader and ostensible star of the book, a hero because of her ability to help others, is both larger than life and completely vulnerable. This is what makes the story so fascinating, watching what happens when a gifted woman like Mary Beth, a woman with a big heart and a big soul, collapses under the weight of her own charity--and knowing, tragically, that her greatness and her grief are so entwined that to starve one would be to starve them both. This is a great first novel.
Rating:
Summary: Impossible-to-put-down page-turner!
Review: I hate to compare such an original voice as Lisa Tucker's to other authors, but there fans of LOVELY BONES and DEEP END OF THE OCEAN will pounce on this debut novel. This is the kind of book that becomes a huge word-of-mouth hit because whiule you're reading it, you'll want to read passages aloud to friends and when you're nearing the finish, you'll be biting your tongue to stop yourself from revealingthe secrets and plot twists to friends who havent read it yet. Once you've finished it, you'll want to recommend it to everyone you know just so you can talk about it and enjoy it all over again. The idea of reading people's future (and past and present) via the songs that are stuck in their heads, is a wonderful invention. It's a clever and thought-provoking idea. But the novel is much more than just that idea: it's a compelling and moving (and funny) tale of family secrets, grief, sacrifice and salvation. You won't forget this novel! I cant wait for Tucker's next novel--SHOUT DOWN THE MOON--to be released in April, its already gotten a great review from Pat Conroy's wife, the novelist Cassandra King, who calls it "a true miracle!"
Rating:
Summary: Flat Out FANTASTIC!!!!!
Review: I just finished reading this incredible novel about a week ago, and I still can't get it out of my head. While the story has an unusual premise, this is more about the trials and tribulations of relationships, most notably of family. Mary Beth and her younger sister Leeann are two of the strongest characters I have come across in fiction, and I truly cared for what they went through, along with the help of their friends and the deep love of both of their boyfriends (I agree 100% with one other reviewer here who states they enjoyed the support of strong male characters...I especially loved Ben, who kept on loving Mary Beth, no matter how much she tried to push him away). Lisa Tucker is an amazing gifted writer who lets you share the inner most thoughts of her characters, both good and bad, and makes you really root for their happiness in the end. I loved "The Song Reader", and it goes without saying that I will recommend this book to anyone who wants a great story with a believable cast. I look forward to reading Lisa's newest book, "Shout Down The Moon", and will avidly watch for all of her new works in the future..in short, she's an author NOT to be missed!!! :-)
Rating:
Summary: Flat Out FANTASTIC!!!!!
Review: I just finished reading this incredible novel about a week ago, and I still can't get it out of my head. While the story has an unusual premise, this is more about the trials and tribulations of relationships, most notably of family. Mary Beth and her younger sister Leeann are two of the strongest characters I have come across in fiction, and I truly cared for what they went through, along with the help of their friends and the deep love of both of their boyfriends (I agree 100% with one other reviewer here who states they enjoyed the support of strong male characters...I especially loved Ben, who kept on loving Mary Beth, no matter how much she tried to push him away). Lisa Tucker is an amazing gifted writer who lets you share the inner most thoughts of her characters, both good and bad, and makes you really root for their happiness in the end. I loved "The Song Reader", and it goes without saying that I will recommend this book to anyone who wants a great story with a believable cast. I look forward to reading Lisa's newest book, "Shout Down The Moon", and will avidly watch for all of her new works in the future..in short, she's an author NOT to be missed!!! :-)
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written and a great read!!
Review: I love this book! Mary Beth and Lee Ann have inhabited my soul. Their story is beautifully written by Tucker, but the book is also a great read. I found myself stopping to treasure a lyrical phrase or a challenging idea and then wanting to race ahead to find out how Lee Ann (or if Lee Ann) is able to pull herself and her family out of the situation that they find themselves in. I won't say more because I am encouraging every person I know to read this wonderful work. The Song Reader will live in my heart and in my head for a long, long, time.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT a 5-star book by any means!!!!!
Review: i ordered this book based on its 5star rating...it most certainly is NOT a 5-star book. the plot, if that's what it could be called, is silly, contrived and pointless. i expected much more focus on the actual songs and their lyrics; instead, we get a rambling, whining diatribe on depression. if the townsfolk loved mary beth so much, why would they be so quick to turn on her? and if everyone knows holly's dad is a total creep, why would everyone be so quick to jump on his side. this novel, while readable, is total mush best suited for a day on the beach. it has zero literary merit and will get under your skin solely because it is annoying.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic read
Review: I picked up this book at the airport, planning to read it on vacation. I finished it the first day! Talk about a book you can't put down. I had to find out what would happen to these two sisters and their father. The book has many great characters you can really sympathize with. The story is unusual and yet totally believable. I wish I had a song reader to help with all the music rattling around in my head! I'm very eager to read Lisa Tucker's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming
Review: I was first interested in this book by the title and the other reviews I read here on Amazon.
Music has always had meaning, for me, and I thought it was really cool that someone wrote a book about how songs may affect people.
What I liked most about this book is the strength of the characters. The relationship between the two sisters is unshakable, even during the most trying times.
This book is about love and the ways it changes us or makes us look at things differently. Even about the seemingly stupid and regretful things we will do in the name of love. It also explores family dynamics and how any member(s) of the family unit can affect the entire system with even a simple decision.
I recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read this year (and I read way too much)
Review: I was hooked by the premise: songs that reveal secrets about yourself, but it stayed in my "to read" stack for a long time. Once I picked it up, I couldn't set it down and literally read until 4 a.m. this morning. The characters were so well drawn I felt I knew them and the secrets surrounding her father made me want to read more, more, more... Loved the portrayal of very loving men in their father and both Leeann & Mary Beth's boyfriends. Wish I had written it.
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