February Book 2: The Poisonwood Bible

I picked this book based on three of my blog readers recommendations. Two of Scott's cousins Jessica and Heather, and Rachel who said the author was one of her favorites. So here goes my review.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Genre: fiction/drama

Overview: This book is about a family that goes to the Congo in Africa in 1959 to bring Christianity to the people there. The family consists of a crazy religious father, his submissive wife, and four young daughters, ranging in age from 16 to 5. They come and experience a life very different from what they have known in their hometown of Bethlehem, Georgia. They girls grow into very different women as they experience things from starvation, religion, prejudice, and death.

The Review: Anyone who knows me really well probably knows how I feel about movies that are over two hours long. I have a short attention span, and I look at long movies as if they are a chore rather than entertainment. It is not always the case that I don't enjoy a long movie, I just don't like sitting through one for that long. This book felt a little like a two hour movie to me. Which I hate to say, since I had three of you recommend it, but it dragged a little bit. I'm not saying I didn't like the book because I did. I loved how it was narrated by all the girls with their different personalities and how the writer was able to convey those differences with her writing. I think that would be a difficult thing to do, and she did it beautifully. I also thought that the general story was enjoyable and interesting, and I was always wondering what would happen next. That being said, I thought it was TOO LONG. The last 100 pages just dragged on for me. I also found a couple of the characters annoying. I thought one of the twins was too darn serious, and the oldest was annoying to me in many ways (which I think was intentional). I liked the other two daughters and found the chapters narrated by them much more enjoyable.....unfortunately one of them only was able to narrate for a short time (I won't say why, but it seems rather obvious) and that was disappointing that I no longer had her chapters to look forward to. Anyway, all in all it was a good book, and I did like it. I just need to work on my patience I think.

I'll give this book a 6 or 7 out of 10, and for marde who needs a grade, c+. But Marde, This is the grade I would give it, and I think if you read it, you would probably grade it a b+. I think you would enjoy it more than I did.