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Summary: Interesting mix of the historical and modern
Review: This was my first experience with Amy Tan's work and I enjoyed listening to it for the most part. The mother's history was fasinating--complete with characters and events that were fresh and moving. The daughter's narrative seemed self-centered and wining by comparison. Perhaps that was Ms. Tan's intention, but I found myself annoyed and almost stopped listening. The narrators were good but again the daughter's portion was less appealing than the mother's part.
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Summary: Not Amy's best
Review: I just read "The Bonesetter's Daughter" because I was waiting for a new Amy Tan novel. This is a story about how a daughter learns to love and appreciate her elderly mother more as she comes to know her life story through tales of the past in tiny villages in China at the turn of the century. To me, the Joy Luck Club and the Kitchen God's wife are still the best. This one had some elements of both but didn't capture the interest quite as well, story not quite as believable, major characters too extreme.
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Summary: Something is missing.
Review: Although this novel has elements of a great story, including good writing, good story and characters you grow to love and care about, there was just something missing. A good editor, maybe? The story begins with Ruth, a 40-something ghost writer whose love life is less than perfect, and whose mother is showing signs of Alzheimer's Disease. Mother-daughter conflicts and painful memories on both sides have their roots in long-buried family secrets. Until the secrets of the past are unearthed, neither woman is able to love herself or others fully. The story really slows down in the middle, when the mother relives her childhood in China, and reading it becomes more like homework than pleasure. Buy the paperback, or better yet, check it out of the library.
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Summary: Definitely an Amy Tan novel
Review: If you have liked Amy Tan's other books, this one will be very familiar and you will probably like it as well. I think this is about my fourth Amy Tan novel, and my complaint is not that it is any less good than her other books. My complaint is that it is exactly the same as her other books. I think all can be summarized as: "Woman in her 30s/40s (the women seem to get older in subsequent books) living in the Bay Area doesn't understand the idiosyncracies of her somewhat demanding mother, but that is only because she is unaware of the difficult time her mother had in her younger days in China because her mother doesn't talk about those times. During the course of the book, the younger woman learns more about her mother's past and finds a new level of respect, understanding, and affection." If this is your first or second Amy Tan novel, read it and enjoy it. If you've read more, be warned that this is more of the the same. My message to the author: Your books are entertaining, but perhaps subsequent novels will be more interesting it you change the format a bit. I am an example of a fan who is unlikely to read yet another novel with the same story.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: If you are at all familiar with Amy Tan then take my word for it she has done it again. If you arent familiar with this author, this book is a good one to start with. This book has a multigenerational dimension that is not only entertaining but touchs a need for connectedness in each of us. Amy Tan opens a window into a world that westerners have never known and helps us to see into the hearts and minds of others and to come away knowing that we are all the same, yet different.
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Summary: The Bonesetter's Daughter
Review: As in other books, Amy Tan uses the stylistic writing of weaving stories from both the past and the present. The Bonesetter's Daughter starts with a short section about a young girl and her nursemaid, Precious Auntie. The two communicate in a silent language understood only by them. The reader then finds that the young girl, whose name is LuLing, now lives in San Francisco with a grown daughter named Ruth. The story then jumps to the present with Ruth. She is a "ghostwriter," one who interprets the words of others and then transcribes them into a written form, of self-help books. As the novel progresses, the reader finds that Ruth has a complicated life. She tries to find care for her mother, who is most likely suffering from Alzheimer's, but at the same time, does not want it to affect her personal life with the man she lives with, Art. In the end, the reader finds that Ruth views are forever changed because of clarifications she has found out in the story.
This book had both positive and perhaps only one negative aspect. Firstly, this book has dominantly simple vocabulary, so it is not difficult to understand. Another one of the positive, interesting things found in books by Amy Tan is how the events skip from time period to time period, yet they can be put together in the end and make sense. Tan also has to skill to create images in the mind that made one think deeply about what was going on in the novel. For example, when LuLing was in China and about to venture on a journey, she said, "[Her] heart wobbled, but [her] mind was firm." This one phrase made me think for quite a while about what kind of feeling this could be. Another aspect I like in this novel is Tan's inclusion of Chinese culture, such as superstitions of marriage and thoughts of the afterlife. The best part about his novel, to me, is how Tan reminds us to appreciate those we have in our life; that we should not reject them or ignore them because they are older or senile. Memories and experiences in life should be remembered because they help guide us in future experiences and situations. The only parts which I did not like about this book, though, was how at times the reading became slow and interest was lost. Other than that though, I would highly recommend this book, especially with readers who have an interest in Chinese culture or enjoy the other novels of Amy Tan, such as The Joy Luck Club or The Kitchen God's Wife.
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Summary: The ever-present past
Review: This novel tells the story of two women whose pasts can never be separated. Ruth Young is a middle-aged self-help writer living with her boyfriend and his teenage children. Between appointments, car rides and other tasks that clutter her day, Ruth finds herself trying to make sense of the muddled and conflicting past of her Alzheimer's-stricken mother, LuLing. One day, Ruth uncovers her mother's painstakingly clear memoirs, written before the disease had begun to take its drastic toll on her mother's frail and childlike frame. Through a translator, Ruth learns of LuLing's childhood and the life she never knew existed. Little by little, LuLing's arcane past is revealed to an astonished Ruth, unveiling a part of her that she had not known was there.
In this book, both LuLing and Ruth are struggling with the relationship they have with their mother and how they fit into each other's once-distant lives. Their forgotten past commingles with the future and, in turn, defines their present moments spent with each other in hesitant and eloquent remembrances. I found this relationship between LuLing and Ruth to be so beautiful and touching- their care for each other surpasses words, yet in order to overcome the many obstacles they have set over the long years, they must learn to communicate in any way they can. As the book progresses, the compelling accounts of Ruth and LuLing are both personal and historical. I enjoyed this mixture because it allows the reader to really be present in that brief moment in time, not only witnessing a slice of history, but the toll it took upon these characters and what they were to become. In addition, the story of these two women is set in the magnificent city of San Francisco. However, instead of focusing on the all-too typical tourist locations that put this city on the map, Amy Tan gives us a glimpse of the everyday, the idiosyncratic neighborhoods that make this unique city what it is.
Overall, I found this book to be very fulfilling to read. I had originally taken on this book as a school assignment; however, I found myself reading late into the night in order to learn more of the powerful story of Ruth and LuLing Young. Through these characters, we can learn of the importance that the past has in our lives, a past that can never be left behind.
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Summary: Lasting Value
Review: Amy Tan makes you care deeply about the characters in this book from the first pages. The story of Ruth, the daughter, is told in the third person and the story of her mother, Lu Ling, is told in the first person. Some reviewers have been critical of this form, but I thought it brought the story together beautifully. As soon as Tan introduces a character to the story, the image of that character stays with the reader through the whole story, so skillful is she in her descriptions. Little things give insight to the main characters. For instance; Ruth is trying to decide if she should buy flowers at the grocery store and if she does, what kind should she get? She agonizes over this decision and finally decides to buy flowers that have "lasting value". Tan obviously chooses each and every word she uses with great care. It makes reading every sentence a true joy. I seldom read a book more than once, but I'll keep this one and read it again. It has lasting value.
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Summary: The Bone Collector's daughter
Review: I thought this book was big trouble in little china. i hated it
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Summary: Adeline Falling Star
Review: Adeline Falling Star was a really good book; it kept you wanting to read more. This book is about a girl that was biracial; she was half Indian and half white American. That was very hard for her. She was treated badly and didn't get any respect. When her father, Kit Carson, a famous explorer and guide, went away from home to work she was left with her aunt and uncle. They didn't approve of her race. They treated her like a slave. Adeline had to do something about it. So, she did. This book was intriguing, and showed you that you can do something about your problems. Adeline was courageous and persevered. Finally, she got what she wanted most in life, her father.
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