John Kenneth Galbraith's classic study of the 1929 Wall Street crash is an exhilarating read. Galbraith combines a fluent, witty style with a detailed breakdown of the build up to disaster,
It is interesting to note how most of the experts - journalists, academics, businessmen, bankers and politicians didn't have a clue what was going to happen and thought that the good times would carry on rolling.
My 7 year old son loves audio books and we have lots! He likes King Arthur tales but they can often be quite difficult to read and understand. However this is read brilliantly and we have both been gripped. Admittedly I have quite often had to pause it and explain parts but it is read in chapters which gives you convenient places to recap. We have listened travelling to and from school and for 3 nights we sat in the car on the drive listening to see what happens. This is a great next step if they are getting a little to old for 'Stories for 5/6/7 year olds" audio books. It really is great. Buy it!
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Mr. Stephenson just doesn't get it. I mean - I have read, like, ALL his books now and this is just another one that went on sooooo long it ate up like three contiguous days of my entire life! First of all there are not enough explosions. Ok - sure there are some - but where is the specially modified 747 with super cool secret agent stuff? Where is the stubbly faced hero charging across the desert in search of Incan gold? Hah! There isn't one! Instead all we get is a monk - who lives in a "concent" (which is like, a monastery! - but Stephenson obviously realises his book is boring and short of explosions [and exclamation points!] so he has to come up with a totally impenetrable language of his own where "sib" is a relative and "jeejaw" is a mobile phone - it ... Read More:
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I've read a lot of the other reviews posted and this book seems pretty divisive - not what I expected. I personally loved it - I sobbed through the final chapters. It delivered on everything I expected. I'd call it truly an epic, one I will go back to read again and again. The different strands of the story are very carefully and patiently woven together. The characters are very skillfully portrayed - I felt so much tenderness for Leo's father. In all, this story was so very moving and beautifully written. Those 1 star reviewers must have hearts of made of granite!
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The book THE HOST is a lot like Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT saga in the fact that the whole point of the story is that love is the most important thing. What's different though is (obviously) the storyline. Yes, that is right - this story has nothing to do with vampires; instead, aliens have taken over our planet.
The time is somewhere in the future and our world is not as we know it. Instead of mass murders making headline news, there are articles on the best type of flowers to plant. The most disturbing article is that the bridge near Maple Avenue is due for a repainting. The world is full of peace and love. No one argues, no one fights, and there is not even a hint of violence in this bizarre world.
It took me a little while to get use to the format of this book. It's written through emails, letters and instand messages. It turned out to be a fantastic read, couldn't put it down. To be honest, it's not as good as PS, I Love You but still worth reading!
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I loved this book, I just wanted it to go on and on.
Having moved over to Guernsey 8 years ago, this also made it really interesting, it made me laugh and made me cry.
I do agree it took a bit of time getting to grips with all the different characters but was worth it I then couldn't put it down.
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The best football novel ever, also, one of the greatest sporting books. It may be fiction but this vivid portrait of Brian Clough's doomed 44 days in charge of Leeds United succeeds in capturing the essence of the man far better than so many of his biographers. Meticulously researched and ingeniously constructed it's a brilliant study in obsession, paranoia, and genius.
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I thought this book was cleverly written, from the view of a 9 year old boy - it is only because we have historical hindsight of the events that are being described by the boy, who does not understand, that the full story plays out in your imagination as the story unfolds.
I did not expect the story to end the way it did. I was gripped.
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