Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: The stories in this book are thought-provoking and beatiful. The characters are richly drawn. You will care about these folks. Thank you for such a wonderful novel. I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightening
Review: I must admit I almost stopped reading this book. I have read 3 of her other novels and loved them - especially Pigs in Heaven and the Bean Trees. The plot was not grabbing me, but I rarely stop reading a book before I finish it and I'm glad I finished this one. Not until the end do you realize that plot isn't everything - in this case, theme is - the fact that everything in nature is connected, that nothing is, including humans, solitary. Being a big city girl, I loved all the interesting biological and environmental facts in the book. However, I don't think this book would appeal to everyone. ....
Rating: 
Summary: Bland
Review: Barbara Kingsolver is a talented author with a niche for narrative. Her words are beautifully put together and her characters area alive with emotions and feelings. I'm amazed by the amount of time and energy she put into researching for this novel. However, finishing the novel left me with a feeling of dissatisfication. I didn't like the ending. It left too many things unsettled and did not seem to relate to the rest of the novel. In fact, finishing the novel made me think, what is she trying to get at? Because that's how I feel. What did she want me to get out of the novel. What's her point? However, the novel is a good one and the narrative is outstanding. The plot is a bit shaky and perhaps it is because she introduced too many characters into it.
Rating: 
Summary: Lecturing is not literature
Review: I have never read a Kingsolver novel before and was told by a number of her fans that her books are excellent. Perhaps it was my misfortune to start with this one. From the opening chapter I felt that Kingsolver was forcing the story to fit into a lecture on the environment. Her agenda is so obvious that the characters and the stories of their lives are stilted and secondary to the lecture. Ms Kingsolver seems to have decided that she is a messenger for nature. She has clearly chosen to regard her audience as one which needs to have sex, heat and lust thrown in to make the sermon easier to digest. A boring book which fails to do anything other than annoy the reader. There are far better books which use the backdrop of the environment in danger as a setting for characters which capture the reader's attention.
Rating:
Summary: Pilgrim in Appalachia
Review: Although a great fan of Barbara Kingsolver's previous works, I almost didn't pick this one off the shelf after all the vaguely dissatisfied reviews I'd read. What a treat I almost missed! I enjoyed it hugely, and moreover found it profoundly resonant of so many threads in my own life, starting with the opening poem, "Prothalamion," which I have been enjoying for years on Judy Collins' "Whales and Nightingales." I am surprised, also, that no one has made the obvious (at least to me) comparisons with Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" or A. S. Byatt's "Morpho Eugenia". "Prodigal Summer" evokes both Dillard's spiritual, meticulous (Pulitzer-prize winning!) nature study and Byatt's sensuous lepidoptery and weaves in more enjoyment with elements of genealogy and modern farming issues ... not to mention a few good love stories. Maybe it IS a woman's book, but as a woman I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: 15 hours of pure pleasure
Review: I was given this book as a get well gift and it did its job in lifting my spirits. This is my first book by Barbara Kingsolver and I truly enjoyed following the three different stories of Appalachia: "predator"--tells the story of a woman forest ranger who lives alone but is touched by love one summer, moth love--of a "bug scientist" who experiences loss but finds unexpectedly a new life and "old chestnuts" of an 80 year old crotchedy old man dedicated to a solitary life growing a blight free chestnut tree. I hesitate to write more detail on these stories for fear of spoiling them for you. All stories start independently but happen in the same valley and eventually do touch each other. The prose was gorgeous and it really made me think about how connected we are to one another in a big ecosystem and the tragic consequences of upsetting nature's balance. Save this as a treat for yourself. The audio version will make a long car trip or a daily commute a real pleasure
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to Kingsolver's usual standards
Review: Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors, but this book is proof that even the most talented author can write a mediocre book once in a while. If you are new to Kingsolver, read another one of her books first. This one is not her best effort.
Rating:
Summary: you'll look at the world with a little more respect...
Review: Prodigal Summer is really three books in one. It illustrates a young woman coming to terms with the death of her husband, while trying to carve a place for herself in his family. It also tells of how a bitter old man learns to let go of his premonitions about women, society, and the best way to run a farm. And of middle aged woman finding a dangerous new love. Not only was this a great read (one of those books you stay up late to finish), but it really takes a good, hard look at widespread ignorance in our society about wild animals, spirituality, and the backwoods culture. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: A great audio book - love "Old Chestnuts"
Review: I listened to the unabridged audio tape. The narration was excellent. I agree with some of the criticism about nature facts, but nevertheless really enjoyed it. It's a long tape, so it took about a month to hear it all. But I never forgot about the characters or the plot line between listens. Birds were a little loud, but the reader (forgot her name, and loaned my copy to a friend) really brings life the the story. Old Chestnuts was the best.Worth it!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting...yet unsatisfying
Review: A friend of mine lent me this book and I was excited to read it as I absolutely adored Bean Trees. This book started out slow, got interesting and then ended pretty abruptly. I was left wondering, why did I read (much less, finish) that book??? If you have absolutely nothing to do and you have run out of other books to read, then read this book.
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