Thursday, March 21, 2013

12 Books That Rate A 4.5 - Out Of A Possible 4 - How Can That Be?

I just finished The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  I will review it in a later post.  But here's what I discovered:  I liked this book so much that I felt it was better than a 4.0.  That got me to thinking (surprised?).  How many books have I read that I would rate a 4.5.  I came up with a total of 12 - 12 out of 3000-4000!  Are you kidding me?  So, here they are - in alphabetical order (I know, I'm becoming predictable):

Baldacci, David - Wish You Well
Clavell, James - Shogun
Conroy, Pat - My Losing Season (non-fiction)
Conroy, Pat - South of Broad
Diffenbaugh, Vanessa - The Language of Flowers
Follett, Ken - Pillars of the Earth
Follett, Ken - Winter of the World
Haley, Alex - Roots
King, Steven - 11/22/63
McMurtry, Larry - Lonesome Dove
Michener, James - The Source
Walls, Jeanette - The Glass Castle (non-fiction)

There certainly may be others, but I did go through my 5 FFTNFR lists.  And let's not forget that there are many 4.0's that are darn good.  But I have to say that these 12 appear to be the cream.  Who agrees (and disagrees)?

10 comments:

  1. I've only read 3 of those books, but have been meaning to pick Lonesome Dove up - it was one of my dad's all time favorites.

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  2. Do you agree or disagree with me on the 3 you did read?

    Lonesome Dove is a 1000-page book that had very little action, but I was disappointed when it ended.

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  3. Here is bermudaonion's response.

    "I've read THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, 11/22/63, and THE GLASS CASTLE and I loved every one of them."

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  4. Several that may be of similar quality; Consilience, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Fencing Master, Genghis Lords of the Bow, and The Evolution Man.

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  5. I've read 4 of those, The Glass Castle was my favorite, but Roots was a solid 4.5-5 for me. I liked Pillars a lot but didn't love it and I read Wish You Well forever ago and don't really remember much about it so I guess I didn't love it :)

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  6. Thanks for feedback, Stacy. Despite the somewhat mixed results, you won't go wrong with The Language of Flowers.

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  7. Definitely agree with you on Language of Flowers. I loved the book but it was not quite a five for me. The ending wrapped up a little too quickly. If forced to round up or down I would go up to a five. The only other book I've read from your list is 11/22/63 and I give that a solid five stars.

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  8. Wish You Well is a little like Language. It's the story of 2 young children from the city who become orphaned and are sent to live with their grandmother in the backwoods of West Virginia. Not everybody loves this book like I do. It's just one of those that really resonated with me, like Language did.

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  9. I haven't read any of those but now you've made me excited to read Follett's Century Trilogy. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  10. I'll look forward to reading your reviews.

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