Gretchen SLP

Zero Depth or Reflection

Revisado: 06-28-24

I’ve loved Betty White since my childhood, so I was expecting a real treat here. It’s definitely Betty, but feels like an outline for a book rather than the book itself. There’s just no real FEELING expressed here, no sadness, no sense of loss, no worries, no anger, no highs and lows…just a whitewashed “We went here, we did this, then my father died, then we did that” type of verbal timeline. White’s (justifiable) anger at the network for how they treated Bob Newhart at the end of his career was almost the only really relatable human emotion expressed.

Then again, it’s Betty White, and I did learn a few things about show business.

Grade: C

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Great Scientist; Poor Writer

Revisado: 03-18-24

This book introduces the reader to some interesting ideas, and, at the end, some important scientific principles. But it’s kind of a jumbled, stream-of-consciousness mess, and it’s written so poorly (as if a first draft) that you’ll wish the author had bothered to hire a ghostwriter. One example: About halfway through the book (which I only read because it was this month’s Book Group pick), it dawned on me that if I had a dollar for each time the author used the vague phrases “and other stuff like that,” “and so on, and so on, yada yada,” or “etcetera, etcetera,” I would have a nice pile of cash by the conclusion of the book, as a consolation prize for all this sloppy vagueness. And if I had ten bucks for each time a woman is referred to as a girl, I’d be able to rent a nice beach condo for a weekend!

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Preposterous Plot but Entertaining Enough

Revisado: 11-22-21

This was our Book Club pick for October. If it hadn’t been, I probably wouldn’t have chosen it, because I’m not one of the people who finds weddings inherently interesting and affecting. I think with this book, it would really help to go into it with at least a modicum of the stereotypical reverence and awe for “the bride’s special day,” because then the reader’s shock and horror would be greater when something happens to f*** it up in the worst possible way. Overall three stars: Sufficiently entertaining that I finished it; most narrators (except for one mildly insufferable male narrator) on the continuum from okay to good to very good, but plot twists too unbelievable to earn five stars. What are the odds that the victim would turn out to be the villain in EVERYONE’S personal secret tragedy, by sheer chance in some cases? Recommend only if you want a mystery entertaining enough to draw you in, keep you guessing (at least halfway through the book), give you a minimum of one to two sympathetic characters, and keep you listening until the end, This book does all that.

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😤 Argh

Revisado: 09-28-21

Yuck. Don’t. Just don’t. That’s my advice. This was easily in my Worst Five Thrillers list. The heroine and almost every single character are either loathsome or insipid, the motivations of all characters completely unbelievable, the plot twists preposterous, the whole story not just improbable but completely absurd. Narrator: B Plus. Overall Story Grade: D Minus.

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Loved it

Revisado: 03-29-21

This was the perfect book to turn to when we had finished all available seasons of the Crown and wished for more. Now to look for the companion to Season 4, if it exists....

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What Confederate Statues Commemorate

Revisado: 09-23-17

This is a truly riveting play, unique and constantly surprising. I've never heard anything quite like it, and will be thinking about it for a long time. Be cautious about listening while driving if you're squeamish, however; there are one or two very troubling scenes. The acting is excellent; the older man in particular is astonishingly good. Grade: A+

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas