definitely enjoyed it more than I thought I would

I’ve read Kite Runner before this and finished this book in 2 days. You just get so into the characters and feel for them: hate, disbelief, happiness, sadness, relief, because it all seems so well written, like it could be a true story. Also, through the story of two women you see what life in Afghanistan can be like, a hell for people who have seen so much death in war, which is sad because it once used to be a peaceful and beautiful place where people felt pretty safe. This story makes me feel lucky that I live in a place where I’ve never had to go through anything like this! The story is indeed bittersweet, and there are many surprises which make you keep turning the pages. I love the writing style, just as I did in the Kite Runner and I really want Khaled Hosseini to come out with something new!

So what I did was go into the movie theater expecting a GOOD movie, one that would keep me awake and not drag on. I love all kinds of movies, whether they’re romantic or horror or drama or whatever, and for this I just wanted to be entertained. It was just too slow and meh for me.

I’ve read the book called “A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night Time” and both that book and this one are written by authors who know how to write from the point of view of a young boy, but the difference to me between the two books is that this one is just not as fast-paced, not quite as interesting because there isn’t quite as much going on and also the main character, Burt, does not seem quite as complete (like another reviewer said) as the boy in the other book. The subject matter is interesting though… I definitely don’t think it’s worth the hype on the back, but I also don’t think it’s a complete waste of time =)

If you’re already quite familiar with verb tenses and grammar and vocabulary in general (intermediate to advanced level), this will help you with the bits that will make you sound more fluent when you speak. I was unsure how I would feel about this book because usually I wait until some people have reviewed something until I consider buying it and I didn’t do that with this.

I’ll go over just some of the things in the book that I liked because really, there are lots of useful exercises/sections and I won’t explain them all =)

You’ll learn how to phrase things in different ways, how to use conjunctions (practicing writing and reading sentences using words like : in spite of, despite, not only.. but also, however, otherwise, since, so, still/yet, therefore, when, while, for, both… and, either…or/neither…nor, besides, although, though, and, as, etc.

There is a section on translating direct speech to reported speech which was helpful(eg. Juan le dijo a Antonio, “No me va muy bien con los estudios”. to “report it” it would be: Juan le dijo a Antonio que no le iba muy bien con los estudios”)

Also a section on some/any and other determiners like when using algunas vs. unas, cualquier(a), poco/poca/unas cuantas, ambos/los dos, todos los dias/cada dia, ningun/ninguna, etc.

There’s a chapter on commands and requests, one on using the passive voice “Juan esta pintando las paredes” becomes “Las paredes estan siendo pintadas” (por Juan)

I liked the section on problematic prepositions including : to and toward (which can be “hacia” or “a” or “para” in different sentences) , into (“en”, “dentro de”), onto, out of, and off, across, over, through, up and down, over, above, below, under, etc.

There are sections on object pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, and omission of subject pronouns…

And the last section has idiomatic constructions or “sayings” that would not make sense usually if you tried to directly translate them to English. (eg. “llover sobre mojado” refers to adding one problem to another problem but literally translated would be in English like, “To rain over wet”.)

As in the other PMP books, there are good explanations and LOTS of different exercises to practice what you learn, which is what I have loved so far in the Spanish Practice Makes Perfect series. Worth getting!

I think to me this book was more “intense” than the first just because crazy limb-chopping Dr. Danco had Deb’s boyfriend and for a while the reader doesn’t really know exactly what will happen to him. (And also you don’t know who will be next and how this guy will be stopped) And once again Dexter himself is a brilliant and likable character and his patience is tested because a certain suspicious sergeant keeps watch over him much too often and Dexter can’t “do his job”. Unpredictable and very entertaining… I can’t wait ‘til I get Dexter in the Dark now from the library, but I think I’ll have to because so many people requested to borrow that book. =(

The events are of course not exactly the same as in the 13 episodes of the first season of the TV show but the characters’ personalities (well, especially Dexter and Deborah) in my opinion are almost dead-on and just like in the shows. (Especially when they talk to each other, I can picture the actors in my mind =]) This book is definitely worth the read – I just got the sequel from the library and I’ve heard good things about it!

I think even if you’ve already gone through another really good verb review book like Dorothy Richmond’s, this one is also worth getting. There are some things one book goes over that the other doesn’t. (goes both ways..) One thing I remember off the top of my head that is shown very clearly in this book that I don’t remember from PMP is the way you use the “passive voice”: How to say things like :

“The food was prepared” vs. “The food was prepared by the chef”
(When it isn’t specifically stated that someone is doing the action, you would use ‘estaba’ for the word ‘was’, and when you include who did the action, you would use ‘fue’), so,
“La comida estaba preparada.” vs. “La comida fue preparada por el cocinero”.

What both books have in common though is that there are LOTS of exercises and really good, clear explanations on all the tenses as well as an answer key in the back.

Both Practice Makes Perfect: Verb Tenses and The Ultimate Spanish Verb Review and Practice are about $10 each on amazon.com. And in my opinion, everyone serious about learning Spanish should get both. It really is a good value for what you learn!

I thought it was almost as good as Angela’s Ashes! I’ll have to read the third book, “Teacher Man”