Rating: 
Summary: A book I would read, if I read books.
Review: An excellent audio book. As a daily commuter, this book was a real stress reliever. All Grisham books have been good, but I enjoyed this one the most so far.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a typical Grisham book, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Review: This isn't your typical Grisham legal thriller, but I found it enjoyable anyway.This book takes you through the life of a small Arkansas farm family as seen through the eyes of a 7 year old boy. Luke tells his tales of cotton picking and daily life in an almost Huck Finn like nature. Although I felt the story left a few lines unfinished the book was still enjoyable and made for an easy read. Try this book out today if you like Grisham, you may be surprised to find he can write something a bit different.
Rating: 
Summary: A Painted House
Review: This is the first non-lawyer Grisham novel I have read. As with most of his books, it was easy to read. But, in the end, he blew it. As others have complained, the ending goes nowhere. He had an opportunity to make a moral statement about the seven-year old boy's concealment of secrets, including murder, throughout the novel. In the end, the only thing the reader is left with is "Small boy lies, gets away with it, and moves out-of-town. Appears to learn nothing about life other than occasionally you can get away with deceit." As with too many post-modern novels, there is, in the end, nothing at all for the reader to contemplate.
Rating:
Summary: A little boy and his secrets
Review: In the autumn of my eighth year, mention "cotton" and "cotton candy" was what probably came to mind. In A PAINTED HOUSE, Luke Chandler picks the stuff - real cotton that is. He lives on a farm in the Arkansas Delta with his parents and his father's parents, Pappy and Gran. Pappy rules the household - until Gran speaks. It's now September and there're 80 acres of King Cotton to harvest, for which job the Chandlers hire the Spruills, a poor family down from the "hill country", and10 Mexican migrant workers. Set in the fall of 1952, A PAINTED HOUSE is a splendid period piece of that time and place. Its enthralling magic is that it's life seen through the eyes of 7-year old Luke, who spends five and a half days each week of the picking season under the hot Southern sun plucking the cotton bolls until his fingers bleed. In the evenings, he and the men folk listen to radio broadcasts of their beloved St. Louis Cardinals baseball team led by the great Stan Musial. On Saturday, there's the weekly bath and the afternoon movie matinee in the nearby settlement of Black Oak. Sunday is for churchgoing at the local Baptist house of worship. Needless to say, this is a coming-of-age story, or a least the very beginning of one. To date, Luke's major worry has been for his 19-year old Uncle Ricky, his father's brother, off fighting in Korea. Now, his mind becomes preoccupied with things he's seen unbeknownst to his elders - two murders, a childbirth, and his first sight of a live and pretty, naked, young woman. Some things are best kept secret from adults, especially the last: "If (the girl) caught me, she'd tell my father, who'd beat me until I couldn't walk. My mother would scold me for a week. Gran wouldn't speak to me, she'd be so hurt. Pappy would give me a tongue-lashing, but only for the benefit of the others. I'd be ruined." And, because of the dynamic that exists between parents and offspring, there's the keeping of secrets because: "(Mother) told me many times that little boys shouldn't keep secrets from their mothers. But every time I confessed one, she was quick to shrug it off and tell my father what I'd told her. I'm not sure how I benefited from being so candid." A PAINTED HOUSE is not a "thriller" in the usual sense, but I couldn't put it down nonetheless. (I usually read two books at a time, one at home and one at work during my lunch breaks. I brought this novel home to temporarily shove aside the second book.) By the last page, I was strongly connected with the members of the Chandler clan and wished them well. Having said that, one of the book's shortcomings was author Grisham's failure to adequately describe the physical appearance of the Chandlers - I couldn't picture them in my mind's eye. Moreover, the storyline eventually concludes with too many loose ends. This begs for a sequel. But since that isn't Grisham's style, my curiosity shall likely remain unsatisfied. Finally, that part of the plot dealing with an unpainted vs. painted house was unnecessary. Grisham probably intended some profound symbolism here, but it was wasted on me.
Rating:
Summary: He doesn't just write good legal thrillers...
Review: I had no idea that this book wasn't the usual legal thriller that Grisham provides. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of the book. Grisham does a great job of developing the characters and making you see through the eyes of a young boy. I hope there is a 2nd part to this book in the future because I want to know more about the characters that I grew to love.
Rating:
Summary: Great Build--No Climax
Review: I'm becoming a little disgusted with John Grisham. This is another book that builds into a great potential story--and then has no climax. Hey John--how about tying up just a few of those loose ends? Where's the payoff?
Rating:
Summary: Written for People with Imagination!
Review: This was a great novel for Grisham. Have you lived on a farm in the South in the 50's? 7 year olds are mature there -- they see more life and death and work harder than most of us reading this book! Farm life, paticularly before mass television and "entertainment" was only routine and boring if you weren't a farmer -- or to us urbanites who are over-entertained by the world around us. The supposed lack of ending is only there to people who do not enjoy using their imagination. Think of all the possiblities that could go on -- think of writing a novel that begins where this one ends from the perspective of Cowboy or the other Mexicans that come to work each summer. Grisham gets our appetities wet to know more -- isn't that what good authors do?
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the Beef?
Review: I loved the book until I found out it has no ending. Don't read if you're the type of person who has to know what happens in the end. What a let down!
Rating:
Summary: Dealing With Life
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. I have read others by Grisham, and one without lawyers, etc. was quite a nice change. This books takes place on a cotton farm told from the point of view of 8-yr old Luke. Through out the book you can't help but become attached to him. It reminds you of the dreams you had as a kid.
It isn't action-packed, edge-of-your-seat-gripper, but defiantly a good read. It takes you back to a time where people got by with the simpler things of life, keeping their pride and heads up when time gets tough, and the neighborly friendliness that is rare today. You feel as though you are right there with Luke, the Mexicans, and the Hill People, picking cotton with the sun beating down on you and blood dripping from your fingers. You feel just as frightened as Luke when he wittnesses a murder on the bridge.
I would recommend this book to anyone who just wants to kick back and have a easy, but interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: A change of pace
Review: In a departure from his tried-and-true legal thriller genre, Grisham this time brings to life the struggles of a family of cotton farmers in circa 1950 Arkansas as seen through the eyes of its youngest member, a seven-year-old boy. I was afraid the subject matter would not hold my interest, but I could not have been more wrong. As always, Grisham does not let us down. In fact, this may be his best work. It certainly is his most moving.
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