I was a bit disturbed that I could appreciate this book. While I have liked a lot of Kingsolver's other work, this particular book is centered around the sort of seriously damaged character that usually turns me off to a book. And had I read this in high school, or college, or maybe even grad school, I'm fairly certain I would have disliked it tremendously.And yet... having read it when I did, I was able to identify with some elements of the what the character was experiencing, even if I didn't

The book was interesting light reading, easy to read; not very demanding. Overall, however, I found it disappointing.An essential quality of a novel is its ability to take us into the consciousness of another person. In that respect Kingsolver succeeds. Codi is a feminine, anti-hero. Kingsolver takes us into all of Codi's doubts and misgivings. We experience the broken and the whole moments of her life. Unfortunately there are unexplored and incomplete elements in Codi's life that are not fully

This book was captivating. Kingsolver has a rare gift of painting emotion with every word. She does not spend pages writing detailed descriptions of a character's face; she spends a novel intertwining characters personalities. You can feel the passion, the heavy sadness; you can see the world in which this story lives. She wrote so beautifully of Native American life, modern city life, loss in many ways (loss of body, mind, feeling, family) but also of gaining all those things back in a true-to-...

This book wrecked me.When I first read the 30% of the book I had absolutely no feelings for the main character, even though it was written in first person.I just read it because I loved the way Kingsolver took time to creat and portray her environment, as well as setting. The last 30% of the book was massively different from the first one. And I think that's when my perspective on this novel changed.It's a brilliant piece of work, that needs to be read slowly and cherished fully - to finally gra...

It's been nearly thirty years since I've read this, and it's amazing which details linger.Their old shoes were in the attic, arranged neatly by size in a row. As if they'd ever need them again.

This is only the second book that I've read by Barbara Kingsolver, and I'm very interested in learning about her writing process. She has this infectious, cultural curiosity that drives her to learn anything and everything about a place and its people...even if they only exist in her mind. She creates an entire world of history, geography, lineage and folklore. And every character is filled with so much wisdom and humor that I feel like I was given a sneak peak into Kingsolver's personality. Eve...

This is the 7th book I've read by this author. She falls between 3 and 4 stars for me, but this book was a solid 4 stars for me. I think it's my favorite one so far. I loved the writing more than the actual story. She is great at linking the past with the present. She is also quite expressive with her ideas and with her the descriptive strokes. Some of this was beautifully written and some of it was humorous. The story line was a little too perfect with a lot of convenient coincidences, but I en...

Picked this one up for next to nothing at a garage sale in September along with Sol Yurik's "The Warriors" and S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders". The pretty woman in her early 40's refused to sell it to me, instead wanting me to take it for free. I insisted and gave her a buck for all three. She lives in a tiny little pink and turquoise casita around the corner and up the street from my flat which I have always lovingly admired. Now having read the book I feel like there was some sort of "Never Endi...

In a letter to Codi, Hallie writes, "'What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive.'" This is not a love story as the back of the book may have you believe. Sure, people fall in and out of love within its pages, but this book is really about understanding oneself amid a lifetime of memories and secrets...the risks we take not only when we cheat ourselves, but when we find ourselves, too. I read this for the first time two y...

My memory, like Codi's, is for shit. I have very few memories -- from childhood through this week -- that aren't factually suspect, and thus justifiably subject to correction by others. This is either sad or liberating, depending on my mood and motivation, and provides both impetus for and against the writing down of Real Life. Sometimes the only proof I want is the emotional residue. But sometimes that, too, is inaccurate -- like the blinding "pop" in Codi's recurring dream, even the subconscio...

This is my favorite Kingsolver novel, and I've re-read it several times, not because it's the best "literature" but because I loved several the characters and some of the imagery... I even named my cat after the main character's sister. Sort of. Anyway, it's readable in a day or two; it's a little preachy and the plot is contrived, but of great sentimental value to me. And the scene of Cody's aging father developing black and white photographs meant to resemble completely unrelated objects reall...

I stayed up late tonight finishing this book. I just bought the book 2 days ago at a used bookstore. This was an uncharacteristically fast read for me. I read like I eat - slowly and often distracted. I've been sobbing (not crying, SOBBING) through the last half of the book. I'm just getting over a nasty cold and it definitely wasn't pretty. Kingsolver writing is so earthy, playful and gorgeous at the same time. She weaves in these metaphors about globalism and environmentalism (in the most non-...

Like this story. Could have done without stereotypical white woman falls in love with super hot native guy because he shows her the meaning of life with his native knowledge or something. I too would like to go back to my hometown at 35 and have a super hot native guy waiting there to fall in love with me and put up with all my whining about how no one understands my pain. Other than that I enjoyed the story.

Let's say you are a completely unlikable medical-school-dropout who's had a somewhat unpleasant but not exactly trauma-worthy childhood who has returned to your hometown to teach biology to a group of poverty-stricken high schoolers while watching over your dad who is slowly sinking into dementia. That would essentially be the perfect time for hanging out at your best-friend-from-high-school's house all day, enjoying the company of her droll children, flirting with your inexplicably devoted Nati...

I found this at Brattleboro Books, the used bookstore in town, and thought that if I actually bought it, maybe I would finally read it. I've checked it out of three different libraries now at least five times, but somehow have always been too distracted to get into it. I have paid enough library fines because of this to have paid for my used copy several times, I'm sure. But ohhh my. This was perfect. My (early-)mid-winter desert escape.How do these things find us just when we need them? I think...

Protagonist Codi Noline returns to her small hometown in Arizona, after fifteen years, to help her aging father, the town’s doctor, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Codi felt like an outsider growing up. She and her father are not close. She is hired to teach biology at the local high school and is staying with a friend. She is concerned about her younger sister, Hallie, who has relocated to Nicaragua to assist with agricultural education, at a time when the Contras are engaged i...

I was surprisingly happy with the ending of this book, but the problem was the rest of it. Throughout, I found myself feeling like there was something missing about Codi. Or at least something *I* was missing. I understood that she was troubled, but I couldn't figure out if I liked her anyway. I understood that she was working through her issues, but I couldn't decide if she was taking too long or not taking long enough. I understood that she loved her sister, but I couldn't tell if the relation...

Animal Dreams is a story of loss and blindedness, community and homelessness, family and rejection, passion and hopelessness, set against and in the war in Nicaragua and a man-made disaster set to devastate the small town of Grace, Arizona. Kingsolver is nothing if not ambitious with her themes.Despite the variety of themes – add on falling in love, self-discovery, belonging, etc. – I never felt lost. Instead, I wanted to move to Grace, where a motherless child could discover that she had 50 mot...

Barbara Kingsolver has a gift that allows the reader to identify with the land that she is writing about. This story is as much about the main character, Cosima Noline, as it is about her hometown Gracela Canyon, where she grew up and moves back to as a thirty-something. As with Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible, this story has the characters reflect on their place in the world as individuals as well as in their family, community and workplace. The writing is moving and beautiful. And although I rea...

An all-around good book. A little heartbreak, a little hope, a little humor, and none of it overdone. Easy to read, but by no means brain candy. There are some very valuable observations woven into the story, nicely understated. Codi's little journey reminds us that the way we remember things may have nothing to do with actual events, and that little things we do for others and for the earth can be important for both the doer and the "doee." The main character is a tall female like me, and I lov...