The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic: A Novel
by Emily Croy Barker | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0143125672 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0143125672 Global Overview for this book
Registered by SpedBug of Wilmington, Delaware USA on 8/30/2014
This book is in a Controlled Release!
This book is in a Controlled Release!
1 journaler for this copy...
From the back cover:
"A wholly imaginative and witty debut novel ... mind candy for those of us raised on Harry Potters!" - Sara Gruen, author of WATER FORE ELEPHANTS
_________________________MY GOODREADS REVIEW____________________________
Nora Fischer is a graduate student who goes out for a walk in the woods while attending a friend's wedding. She becomes lost and somehow steps through a portal to another world completely. In this world there are fairy-folk, magicians, and all sorts of magical beasties. Sounds good, right? It was. But . . .
I finished this book slightly confused about my feelings toward it. On the one hand, I never wanted to stop reading it. I was truly interested in and by the main characters. I was truly interested in and by the plot and subject matter. On the other hand, there were times I'd be reading it and think, "This book is going on and on about nothing. Get to the frickin' point!" because it was L O N G - nearly 600 pages L O N G and not all of it was edge-of-your-seat, page-turning type writing. Even when it was plodding, though, it was interesting, informative plodding (if that makes any sense).
I also finished TWGtRM with that same slightly confused mix of ambiguous feelings. That is how Barker decided to finish it? Really? After all that? Then I read a few reviews by other readers and saw that the author has more to say about this character and more books are to be expected. On the prospect of reading more of the same, I have no ambiguous feelings: this will be the last in this apparent series that I'll be reading. It was interesting, but not that interesting.
If I could give it 3.5 stars for being well-written and containing some really interesting information about daily life in a medieval setting, I would. It would get the extra .5 stars for featuring the novel Pride and Prejudice so prominently in its plot, too. But, alas, I cannot - so three stars it is.
"A wholly imaginative and witty debut novel ... mind candy for those of us raised on Harry Potters!" - Sara Gruen, author of WATER FORE ELEPHANTS
_________________________MY GOODREADS REVIEW____________________________
Nora Fischer is a graduate student who goes out for a walk in the woods while attending a friend's wedding. She becomes lost and somehow steps through a portal to another world completely. In this world there are fairy-folk, magicians, and all sorts of magical beasties. Sounds good, right? It was. But . . .
I finished this book slightly confused about my feelings toward it. On the one hand, I never wanted to stop reading it. I was truly interested in and by the main characters. I was truly interested in and by the plot and subject matter. On the other hand, there were times I'd be reading it and think, "This book is going on and on about nothing. Get to the frickin' point!" because it was L O N G - nearly 600 pages L O N G and not all of it was edge-of-your-seat, page-turning type writing. Even when it was plodding, though, it was interesting, informative plodding (if that makes any sense).
I also finished TWGtRM with that same slightly confused mix of ambiguous feelings. That is how Barker decided to finish it? Really? After all that? Then I read a few reviews by other readers and saw that the author has more to say about this character and more books are to be expected. On the prospect of reading more of the same, I have no ambiguous feelings: this will be the last in this apparent series that I'll be reading. It was interesting, but not that interesting.
If I could give it 3.5 stars for being well-written and containing some really interesting information about daily life in a medieval setting, I would. It would get the extra .5 stars for featuring the novel Pride and Prejudice so prominently in its plot, too. But, alas, I cannot - so three stars it is.
Left this and two other books after my yearly physical as a 'thank you' to my thoroughly thorough, intelligent, and amiable nurse-practitioner. Happy reading!
