optimaggie's review against another edition
4.0
Anne Lamott writes as though she has lived a hundred lives, as though she can feel what everyone around her is feeling, think what everyone else is thinking. She writes as though she is a psychotherapist, a preacher, a best friend, a spouse, a stranger, and a narrator for the world. The plot of this book is a weak one, but Lamott doesn't need a gripping plot to do what she does best. She draws you into an ordinary world, with ordinary lives. This book could be about any one of us. She could stop a person on the street and ask them to tell her their hopes, their fears, their dreams, their regular day-to-day lives and then she could write a book that any person with a beating heart would want to read. This book isn't as good as Joe Jones (which is just so, so good) but once again she writes about friends and family in such a real and beautiful way that it makes me want to nurture those relationships in my own life. And she made me miss my best friend. Wish desperately that she lived anywhere near me. That we could stop in to share a meal, a cozy reading night, to pick the other up when they are down. The other wonderful thing about this book is that she reminds you of what she wrote in the first book about the Ferguson's (which she wrote ages before this one) without it feeling like she is trying to remind you of what happened. I hate when books either leave you totally in the dark (seemingly expecting you to have just read the prior book) or bang you over the head with obvious reminders. She balanced this perfectly. Anne Lamott writes with humility and wisdom.
dorhastings's review against another edition
4.0
"Oh, we're all crazy, honey. But most of us don't have your style."
I read this book right after finishing Rosie, and both were actually kind of hard to get. (I'm so used to easily getting ebooks or library books.) I'm not sure the choice of reading them back-to-back was a great idea, because this book has a shift in tone and writing that I found a bit jarring at first. This is to say that Crooked Little Heart has its own pace with the same familiar writing and feeling, and I really like it. I had to get adjusted a little, but it made sense.
I remember reading the flap of the book and thinking "this makes no sense; why would Elizabeth now be upset about Andrew?" But of course, it all works out and makes sense. The time flow from one book to the next is quite easy to follow. The characters are just as rich and flawed and interesting as they were in the previous book, and if anything, you see more of Rosie as she grows. The sheer honesty of the characters is what makes this series so fantastic for me. The language is colorful and bright. I'd hate to rush through the pages, because the sentences are so beautifully crafted.
Highly recommended.
I read this book right after finishing Rosie, and both were actually kind of hard to get. (I'm so used to easily getting ebooks or library books.) I'm not sure the choice of reading them back-to-back was a great idea, because this book has a shift in tone and writing that I found a bit jarring at first. This is to say that Crooked Little Heart has its own pace with the same familiar writing and feeling, and I really like it. I had to get adjusted a little, but it made sense.
I remember reading the flap of the book and thinking "this makes no sense; why would Elizabeth now be upset about Andrew?" But of course, it all works out and makes sense. The time flow from one book to the next is quite easy to follow. The characters are just as rich and flawed and interesting as they were in the previous book, and if anything, you see more of Rosie as she grows. The sheer honesty of the characters is what makes this series so fantastic for me. The language is colorful and bright. I'd hate to rush through the pages, because the sentences are so beautifully crafted.
Highly recommended.
maethereader's review against another edition
4.0
Another lovely Anne Lamott book. Some gems in here as always. :-)
egleasonpresby's review against another edition
3.0
Last night, as I was sleeping
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
Here inside my heart.
and the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
From my old failures. -Antonio Machada (from Times Alone)
The excerpt above is in the preface of Crooked Little Heart. I enjoyed the first Anne Lamott I picked up, but the second, for whatever reason, I didn't finish. I haven't picked one up since. Then, as I was finishing my last exam and requesting piles of books from my stored lists in my library account, I came across this one. The title caught my attention and I thought I'd give Lamott another try. This is a novel, the first of hers I've read. It was a fast read I finished in a couple days and I was quickly drawn in.
The characters are messy, imperfect, human. At times I wanted to reach through the pages and shake them to their senses for one reason or another. It's the honesty with which Lamott paints the characters that makes the story. Their faults, but mainly their redemptive qualities, capacity for forgiveness, and subtle, but obvious love for one another.
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
Here inside my heart.
and the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
From my old failures. -Antonio Machada (from Times Alone)
The excerpt above is in the preface of Crooked Little Heart. I enjoyed the first Anne Lamott I picked up, but the second, for whatever reason, I didn't finish. I haven't picked one up since. Then, as I was finishing my last exam and requesting piles of books from my stored lists in my library account, I came across this one. The title caught my attention and I thought I'd give Lamott another try. This is a novel, the first of hers I've read. It was a fast read I finished in a couple days and I was quickly drawn in.
The characters are messy, imperfect, human. At times I wanted to reach through the pages and shake them to their senses for one reason or another. It's the honesty with which Lamott paints the characters that makes the story. Their faults, but mainly their redemptive qualities, capacity for forgiveness, and subtle, but obvious love for one another.
csheehan72's review against another edition
4.0
I read Traveling Mercies first and this is basically the fictionalized version of that book. It's an interesting family/teenage drama.
falconerreader's review against another edition
4.0
This is a rare book in that it didn't have much of a plot, yet I loved it. I enjoyed it much more than its sequel--I seem to be reading the trilogy in reverse order. Another oddity is that my single favorite part of this book were the fights. "From Bosnia to Paris in 24 hours" muses Elizabeth after reconciling with her husband. I've always preferred Lamott's nonfiction to her fiction, and it's her honesty that makes it great. She says out loud things I barely let myself think. That's how it felt reading about the fights as well--that mortifying yet satisfying sense of recognition. I also loved how the scary lurker turns out to be something completely different. And while Rosie is over the top, foreshadowing the nonsense she gets into by the next book, her struggles with light and darkness are true to adolescense. (But injuring yourself with your own tennis trophy? It's like cutting, which I also never got.)
pelachick's review against another edition
3.0
Book had some interesting point - especially about letting go. Nice beach read.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/780262.html[return][return]A rather heartwarming novel of adolescence, grief, sexual awakening, and tennis set in the Bay Area of California. Definitely enjoyed it.
kevinhendricks's review against another edition
4.0
When Anne Lamott talks about writing, she often talks about magpies, of collecting scraps of this and bits of that, and weaving together a story. That's what this book feels like, a collection of wonderful sayings and observations, all wrapped around a real story of teen angst and motherly depression. It reads a lot slower than I remember, but about halfway through it picks up momentum.
catdamage's review against another edition
3.0
i lied. didn't finish this book. it was too depressing.