Books as Reviewed by You: The Classics

Here at the Alachua County Library District, we love hearing your honest reviews of the books you check out to read. So many of you are so enthusiastic about sharing them with us - at the returns desk, in the aisles, and online. Recently, we had an idea - why don't we make a blog series to highlight some of our favorite reviews we've received?

These are some of our favorite reviews of all-time classic books we've received. Most of these reviews come from posts made to the library catalog, to Beanstack, or by our teen volunteers, through the digital book review volunteering program. This means all these reviews were, in some way, shape, or form, willingly shared with us. For the purposes of this blog, we've decided not to attach names to reviews, just to help protect the privacy of our review rockstars. If you'd ever like to share your opinions on a book, you can always do so through our catalog, through our Beanstack service, or, for this blog series, by e-mailing cmassre@aclib.us.

All Creatures Great and Small

by
James Herriot

From Beanstack: "This is a very interesting story. Although the story is about a vet, it does not have very much blood."

4.55 out of 5 stars, based on 22 ratings.

Pokemon Sun & Moon, Volume 1

by
Hidenori Kusaka

From Beanstack: "For a PokΓ©mon fan like me this book was the following for me: action just like the anime THE BEST BOOK I HAVE READ! PokΓ©mon is the best."

4.44 stars out of 5, based out of 25 ratings.

The Great Gatsby

by
F. Scott Fitzgerald

From a teen volunteer: "I loved this book. I think that Nick deserved more happiness with Miss Baker. Although Nick was a hypocrite. Daisy caused a lot of drama for all of the characters and essentially got Gatsby murdered. Daisy ran over Myrtle with Gatsby’s car; who does something like that? It was crazy but I think all the characters would have been a lot better if they respected their partners. Nick commonly referenced relationships to horrible endings, and the figurative language in this book was spectacular. There’s at least 2 literary devices used on each page."

From Beanstack: "In Gatsby's world of jazz, parties, & romance, the narrator may note the rotten interior hiding beneath such glamour & wealth; but there's something both heart-rending & inspiring about Gatsby's blind & relentless pursuit of the American dream. Money, hope, falsehood, & class...what's more American?"

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

by
Jeff Kinney

From Beanstack: "I liked this book because it was really funny😜"

From Beanstack: "Great book. It's also Funny.πŸ˜€"

From Beanstack: "a very funny book 5 out of 5 stars"

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

by
Gabriel García Márquez

From a teen volunteer: "In my opinion, reading the book was quite frustrating. I had so many unanswered questions...As more details were revealed, I kept questioning why no one took serious action...However, this aspect also generated more suspense. It was difficult to stop reading."

From a teen volunteer: "I enjoyed the book. Although it is short, it has an amazing story and the way that Marquez set it up, adds a lot of mystery and suspense throughout the novel."

Island of the Blue Dolphins

by
Scott O'Dell

From Beanstack: "I HATE this book! It is HORRIBLE!😠"

4.47 stars, based on 35 ratings.

Blubber

by
Judy Blume

From Beanstack: "πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘"

From the catalog: "I find that this book is a very pleasent book, it all depends on what you're into though; when i first heard about this book, i thought it was just some dumb book that some dumb author wrote..."

By CynthiaM on April 2, 2022