You are an expert at characterising how a specific human writes online book reviews.

You will be shown 8 examples of reviews written by ONE user, each preceded by the book's metadata. Your job is to write a rubric that captures this user's distinctive style, voice, content focus, and writing patterns -- so that a separate evaluator can use the rubric to judge whether a new candidate review looks like something this user would actually write.

The user's persona:
<|The Start of Persona|>
Demographics:
  age group: Approximately 61 years old (calculated from stating they read 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' at age 14, loved it 46 years later in 2014, with last review in 2015)
  other: Married (mentions 'paying attention to the husband'); has owned cats for 40 years; appears to be an avid, lifelong reader
Interests:
  Historical fiction set in various time periods (early 1900s Brooklyn, 18th-century Russia, WWII Europe, Tudor England, Belle Époque Paris)
  Literary mysteries and thrillers with 'who done it?' elements, as seen in praise for 'Secrets of Eden' and 'The Gravity of Birds'
  Coming-of-age narratives, particularly enjoying 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' as 'a story of love, fortitude, endurance and courage'
  Books exploring slavery and civil rights, calling 'The Invention of Wings' a 'must-read' about 'the evils of slavery'
  Stories with strong female protagonists and complex sister relationships, praising 'riveting tale of the power of sisterly love, jealousy and hate'
  Historical novels with 'clever point of view' techniques, appreciating when stories are told through servants or fictional narrators
  Books about the craft of writing, finding Stephen King's 'On Writing' both 'fun and informative'
  Cat care and behavior, calling 'Think Like a Cat' an 'excellent reference work' after owning cats for 40 years
  Works that combine multiple genres, enjoying 'a literary mystery' and 'fictional biography'
  Books with intricate plots featuring 'twists, turns and intrigue' and 'rich, textured' narratives
  Stories set in specific historical periods with attention to 'period details' and authentic atmosphere
  Reading companion works together, finding it 'fascinating to read' 'The Sun Also Rises' alongside 'The Paris Wife'
Values:
  Appreciates well-researched historical accuracy, praising books 'steeped in history' and those with 'period details'
  Values character development over plot mechanics, criticizing 'one-dimensional' characters while praising 'fully-developed, three-dimensional characters'
  Believes in the power of literature to illuminate social issues, calling books about slavery and war 'must-reads'
  Respects craftsmanship in writing, distinguishing between 'great literature' and 'extraordinary storytelling'
  Appreciates books that explore moral complexity, praising works about 'goodness' coexisting with 'the evils of war'
  Values emotional authenticity, praising 'heartbreaking and riveting' stories and 'deeply moving' narratives
  Believes in the importance of sisterly bonds and female relationships, highlighting themes of 'sisterly love'
  Appreciates innovative narrative techniques, praising 'creative and thoroughly imaginative way to write history'
  Values perseverance and courage in the face of hardship, praising stories of 'endurance and courage'
  Believes books should provide both entertainment and substance, distinguishing 'beach books' from more serious literature
  Respects authors who tackle difficult subjects with 'compassion and tact'
  Values books that 'give you faith in the power of the human spirit'
Communication:
  Uses enthusiastic exclamations frequently, opening reviews with 'Wow! Wow! Wow!' and 'Wow! What a book!'
  Employs vivid metaphors and similes, comparing reading to 'the literary equivalent of eating a whole candy bar'
  Structures reviews with bold, descriptive titles that summarize main themes
  Consistently ends reviews with 'Highly recommended' or similar endorsements
  Uses conversational asides in parentheses, such as '(fill in the blank--cooking dinner, paying attention to the husband, going to bed)'
  Provides specific page counts or Kindle locations to indicate book length, noting '1,000 pages (or just over 17,324 locations for Kindle fans)'
  Balances criticism with praise, noting both 'riveting' and 'boring' sections in the same review
  Uses rhetorical questions for engagement, asking 'Wonder how evil sisters can be to one another?'
  Employs informal language mixed with literary references, mentioning 'Jane Austen, Gabriel García Márquez and William Faulkner'
  Provides reading recommendations and context, suggesting 'read "The Tea Rose" first' or reading companion books together
  Uses HTML formatting like
 tags and " for quotation marks in reviews
  Writes in a teaching tone, explaining literary terms like 'fictional biography (my phrase)' and providing historical context
Statistics:
  Average review length approximately 150-200 words, with detailed reviews reaching 250+ words
  Minimum review length around 100 words (cat book review), maximum around 280 words (historical fiction reviews)
  Frequently uses exclamation points for emphasis, often multiple in succession ('Wow! Wow! Wow!')
  Common phrases include 'Highly recommended,' 'must-read,' 'can't-put-it-down,' and 'what a read'
  Consistently provides star ratings of 4-5 stars, with only one 1-star review (for 'Midnight in Europe')
  Uses structured format with bold titles followed by detailed commentary
  Employs varied sentence structure, mixing short emphatic statements ('Boring! Boring! Boring!') with longer, complex sentences
  Frequently references specific time periods and historical contexts in reviews
  Often compares books to other works or suggests reading multiple books together
  Uses personal anecdotes sparingly but effectively, mentioning 'I remember my mother reading this book' and 'the first time I read this'
<|The End of Persona|>

The user's past reviews:
--- Example 1 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: A Man Called Ove: A Novel
- Subtitle: Paperback – May 5, 2015
- Price: 11.09
- Author: Fredrik Backman
- Description: Review “A charming debut…You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll feel new sympathy for the curmudgeons in your life. You’ll also want to move to Scandinavia, where everything’s cuter.” ― People "In turns moving and funny. . . I wager that you’ll soon fall in love with Ove and be deeply moved by his situation, and after spending time with him, may perhaps gaze at the world around you with a little more empathy than when you turned the first page." -- Eric Larson“Even the most serious reader of fiction needs light r ...[truncated]
- Features: Now a major motion picture A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks! #1 New York Times bestseller—more than 3 million copies sold! Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior th ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
A 10-Star Book! Read. It. Now.: I want to give this book 10 stars. Five is not enough. What happens when a grumpy old man who is intent on killing himself when he believes his life no longer has meaning meets a group of characters who thwarts his every suicidal move--unintentionally, of course? What happens is hilarious. And heart-warming. And poignant. What happens is love. And the power of community.

Ove is 58 and finished with living. And then new neighbors move in--a very unlikely bunch that moves into Ove's heart, too. Yes, it's a feel-good story, but what could be syrupy sentimentality is muted by the quirky, snarky humor and the result is you will laugh out loud more than once. I promise.

This is a 10-star book. Read it. Now. And be prepared to laugh and cry and go buy a Saab. (You'll get that last one when you read the book.)

--- Example 2 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Children's Books->Animals
- Title: Olivia the Spy
- Subtitle: Hardcover – Picture Book, April 4, 2017
- Price: 15.32
- Author: Ian Falconer
- Description: From School Library Journal PreS-Gr 2—Olivia, the long-eared, precocious pig in striped pajamas, decides to become a spy in order to hear her mother's many complaints about her behavior. Unfortunately, she misunderstands a half-overheard conversation and lets her imagination get the best of her, convincing herself that her parents intend to send her to prison. With a trembling lip, Olivia prepares for the worst, only to find herself at the ballet (a different sort of "institution," it seems). Falconer's tra ...[truncated]
- Features: Everyone’s favorite pig is about to have a birthday…but will her penchant for eavesdropping lead to more than presents? Olivia’s birthday is days away. Plans must be made. Who makes plans? Moms! Who simply must know the plans? Olivia, who is NOT above eavesdropping. But when she not-so-accidentally-but-kinda overhears her mom talking about her not-so-squeaky-clean-and-possibly-very-bad-behavior, Olivia’s imagination runs wild…because it sounds like not only will there be no birthday, but Mom might just be s ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
A Delightful Story With Extraordinary Illustrations: Oh, what a delightful book for your favorite precocious child! Olivia eavesdrops on her parents—in her mind she is spying—but only hears part of a conversation that leaves her reeling in confusion and fright. Her parents want to surprise her with a special outing, but because she doesn't have all the facts, her imagination runs wild.

Written and beautifully illustrated by Ian Falconer, this book is a treasure to read. There are funny, subtle messages in the text and illustrations that will keep the adult readers smiling and entertained, too.

I read this aloud to a first-grade class, and they were enthralled—that's the only word to describe it. They listened attentively to the story and paid close attention to the detail in the extraordinary illustrations. Best of all, they asked some very astute questions when I was finished reading.

Bonus: Most children who read this book will learn several new vocabulary words that are fully and creatively explained by the author. And that's a lesson in and of itself. As I told the first-graders, if you hear or read a word you don't know, ask someone what it means. This is the best way to expand vocabulary.

--- Example 3 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: Water for Elephants: A Novel
- Subtitle: Paperback – April 9, 2007
- Price: 8.39
- Author: Sara Gruen
- Description: Review "[An] arresting new novel. . . . At its finest, Water for Elephants resembles stealth hits like 'The Giant's House,' by Elizabeth McCracken, or 'The Lovely Bones,' by Alice Sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism. . . . Black-and-white photographs of real American circus scenes from the first half of the century are interspersed throughout the novel, and they brilliantly evoke the dignified power contained in the quieter moments of this unusual broth ...[truncated]
- Features: Over 10,000,000 copies in print worldwide #1 New York Times Bestseller A Los Angeles Times Bestseller A Wall Street Journal Bestseller A Newsday Favorite Book of 2006 A USA Today Bestseller A Major Motion Picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz Jacob Janowski’s luck had run out--orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
A Page-Turner You Won't Want to Stop Reading: The Depression. A B-list circus. A beautiful, but flawed performer. A hero. Shady characters. And an elephant? Yeah, not my kind of book. But...wait! It is my kind of book as it turns out. "Water for Elephants" is the story of Jacob Jankowski, a Cornell-educated veterinarian, who jumps a circus train in the 1930s and embarks on the adventure of his life.

It's not often an author is skilled enough to write a page-turner of a tale with characters who seem so real and full-bodied. But Sara Gruen does it extraordinarily well. Filled with vivid descriptions, realistic dialogue that moves the plot and even a few (very!) sexy scenes, this book is one you should save for a long plane ride or an afternoon under a beach umbrella. It's too good to have to stop reading just because your family is expecting you to make dinner.

--- Example 4 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Dramas & Plays
- Title: The Promise: A Novel
- Subtitle: Paperback – May 5, 2015
- Price: 13.94
- Author: Ann Weisgarber
- Description: Review Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Finalist for the Spur Award for Best Western Historical Fiction Finalist for the Ohioana Book Award for Fiction “This second engaging novel from Weisgarber . . . has shades of Willa Cather, Sinclair Lewis, and Conrad Richter, and the prose has a streak of formality that gives the book a period flavor, but Catherine’s first-person narration (and later that of Nan Ogden, the housekeeper at Catherine’s new home) is also appealingly immediate. ...[truncated]
- Features: Over 50,000 sold! From the author of The Personal History of Rachel DuPree (soon to be a major motion picture)! Shades of Willa Cather, Sinclair Lewis, and Conrad Richter.”— Publishers Weekly , starred review Young pianist Catherine Wainwright flees the fashionable town of Dayton, Ohio, in the wake of a terrible scandal. Heartbroken and facing destitution, she finds herself striking up correspondence with a childhood admirer, the recently widowed Oscar Williams. In desperation, she agrees to marry him, but ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
Just One More Page...You Won't Be Able to Stop Reading This Book: Riveting. Captivating. Spellbinding. Entrancing. Get the idea? This short, can't-put-it-down novel by Ann Weisgarber will grab you at page one and not let go. This is the kind of book that will make you forgo sleep, housework and other responsibilities. Just one more page. (Yeah, right...like you could stop after just one more page.)

It's 1900. Catherine Wainwright of Dayton, Ohio has been caught in a horrific scandal of such magnificent proportions that she is shunned by proper society and forced to flee. Even her mother is appalled by her only child's behavior. So Catherine writes a letter to Oscar, a boy she knew as a young girl--a working class boy who left Dayton to build a new life in Galveston, Texas. Oscar had always admired her from afar. It just so happens that Oscar, now a widower with a 5-year-old son, needs a wife. And Catherine needs to escape. A train ride across the country, a quickie wedding by a judge, and the two strangers begin their new life together in Oscar's tiny house on the island of Galveston.

The story is told in the first person alternating between Catherine and Nan Ogden, who was a dear friend of Oscar's first wife and who now keeps house for Oscar and his son. There are a series of storms. The inner storms that Catherine and Oscar suffer individually, the storm of the first days of their hasty marriage, the storm going on inside Nan and finally the biggest storm of all: The September 8, 1900 hurricane that is still the worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States.

Just one more page...and you'll finish this book, wiping tears from your eyes.

--- Example 5 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Reference->Writing, Research & Publishing Guides
- Title: On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft (A Memoir of the Craft (Reissue))
- Subtitle: Kindle Edition
- Price: 12.99
- Author: Stephen King
- Description: Review "A one-of-a-kind classic." — The Wall Street Journal "This is a special book, animated by a unique intelligence, and filled with useful truth." —Michael Chabon " On Writing had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White's The Elements of Style ." —Roger Ebert “The best book on writing. Ever.” — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) About the Author Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes ...[truncated]
- Features: Twentieth Anniversary Edition with Contributions from Joe Hill and Owen King ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL TIME Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.  “Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing . Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestsell ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
A Glimpse of How the Wizard Works Behind the Curtain: How can you not love a book with a second preface that opens with this sentence: "This is a short book because most books about writing are filled b******t." (Yes, there are not only two prefaces, but three! Hey, why not?) Written in easy, conversational style, superauthor Stephen King explains how he does it.

About half the book is autobiographical (King's reaction when he finds out that the paperback version of "Carrie" sold for $400,000--this while he is living with his wife and three kids in a shabby four-room apartment--is worth the price of the book alone), while the rest tells his views on the art and craft of putting words on paper and making a story out of it. It's a fun and informative read. I recommend it for anyone who dreams of writing fiction or any diehard Stephen King fan who wants to get just a glimpse of how the wizard works behind the curtain.

--- Example 6 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Perennial Classics)
- Subtitle: Kindle Edition
- Price: 13.99
- Author: Betty Smith
- Description: Review “One of the most dearly beloved and one of the finest books of our day.” Review “Betty Smith was a born storyteller.” -- USA Today “One of the books of the century.” -- New York Public Library“A profoundly moving novel, and an honest and true one. It cuts right to the heart of life. . . . If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn you will deny yourself a rich experience.” -- New York Times “ A Tree Grows in Brooklyn deserves to be thought of as one of the greatest American novels.” -- The New Yorker “One ...[truncated]
- Features: A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century. From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior—such as her father Johnny’s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality o ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
A Story of Love, Endurance and Courage: The first time I read this wonderful book I was 14. I loved it then, and I love it now--some 46 years later. This classic coming-of-age story by Betty Smith doubles as a historical novel, as it explores not only the angst, agony and joy of growing up, but also the squalor and grit of real poverty in the early 1900s in the tenements of Brooklyn, New York. This is a story of love, fortitude, endurance and courage in the face of unspeakable hardship. It will give you faith in the power of the human spirit!

--- Example 7 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: The Constant Princess (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels Book 4)
- Subtitle: Kindle Edition
- Price: None
- Author: Philippa Gregory
- Description: Review "In her addictive new novel, [Gregory] turns her eye to Katherine of Aragon, a princess who became Queen of England -- all by dint of a well-kept secret."   -- Marie Claire "Gregory's story is as ambitious as its main character...."   -- Entertainment Weekly "Gregory makes the broad sweep of history vibrant and intimate."   -- Kirkus Reviews “The queen of royal fiction.” -- USA Today "Sexy ... Scandalous ... Smart." -- Redbook magazine “Philippa Gregory turns real-life historical royalty into royally ...[truncated]
- Features: From #1 New York Times bestselling author and “queen of royal fiction” ( USA TODAY ) Philippa Gregory comes the remarkable story of Katherine of Aragon, Princess of Spain, daughter of two great monarchs, and eventual Queen of England when she marries the infamous King Henry VIII. Daughter of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, Katherine has been fated her whole life to marry Prince Arthur of England. When they meet and are married, the match becomes as passionate as it is politically expedient. The ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
Oh, How Delicious!: Oh, how delicious! This is historical FICTION. Emphasis on the word "fiction." While it is a historical account of Catalina, princess of Spain who becomes Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife and queen of England, there is liberal artistic license taken.

The facts are the bones of the book; the fiction is the flesh. And author Philippa Gregory, who is one of the leading novelists about this time period, melds the two brilliantly. The book alternates between a third-person story and the first-person thoughts of Catalina/Katherine.

This is the first in a series of novels about the Tudors. The story continues in the next book, "The Other Boleyn Girl," when the Bolelyn family (first Mary and then her sister, Anne) so devastatingly disrupt the marriage of the King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon and set in motion the birth of the Church of England.

If you enjoy the stories of the Tudors--I find it all quite enthralling--then this is a must-read.

--- Example 8 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: The Boleyn Inheritance: A Novel (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels Book 5)
- Subtitle: Kindle Edition
- Price: 13.99
- Author: Philippa Gregory
- Description: Review "Fascinating...harrowing....If only...history books were written so vividly."   -- Entertainment Weekly "The queen of royal fiction."   -- USA Today About the Author Philippa Gregory is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl , and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Many of her works have been adapted for the screen including The Other Boleyn Girl . She graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, ...[truncated]
- Features: From “the queen of royal fiction” ( USA TODAY ) comes this New York Times bestseller featuring three very different women whose fates are each bound by a bloody curse: the legacy of the Boleyn family. After the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII of England decides to take a new wife, but this time, not for love. The Boleyn Inheritance follows three women whose lives are forever changed because of the king’s decision, as they must balance precariously in an already shaky Tudor Court.  Ann ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
A Riveting Story Written With a Touch of Literary Genius: When it comes to historical fiction, I do think the most fascinating time period is the reign of King Henry VIII during the first half of the 16th century. Why? It was such a soap opera! Everything was done to excess—eating, drinking, gossiping, playing and most of all extraordinarily bad behavior. This book, part of the Plantagenet and Tudor Novels series by Philippa Gregory, tells the story of the fourth and fifth wives of old King Henry.

No. 4 was Anne of Cleaves, the only one of his six wives to escape the marriage with her life intact. Henry despised her for many reasons, and only months after what he quickly considered a sham marriage, he caught the eye of 15-year-old Katherine Howard, portrayed in this book as a ditzy, greedy, vain and vapid little girl.

While this fictional story that is faithful to the historical facts may read like a soap opera in the extreme, Philippa Gregory has written this book with a touch of literary genius. Each chapter is told in the first person by one of three people: Anne of Cleaves, Katherine Howard or Jane Boleyn, who served both Anne and Katherine as a lady-in-waiting and was the sister-in-law of the doomed Anne Boleyn. Gregory so deftly and vividly distinguishes each of these three women's personalities and voices that chapter titles are almost not needed. Read a few sentences, and you will know who is the narrator. It is an extraordinary writing feat that adds abundant richness to an already gripping narrative. And face it, that's tough to do when anyone who studied European history in high school already knows the tragic, gruesome and terror-filled ending.

A valuable lesson to learn from this period of history: King Henry VIII may have received the crown humbly in 1509, but he turned into a tyrannical monarch who assumed he had the right to absolute power. He truly believed that whatever he did, no matter how horrific, violent or cruel, was the will of God. There were no checks and balances on his power. To silence his enemies, he killed them—thousands and thousands of them. He stole. He lied (a lot). He was duplicitous. He terrified an entire country. He proved that absolute power absolutely corrupts.

The specific book this user is about to review:
<|The Start of Book|>
**User Amazon store: Kate Morton (Author)   Format: Kindle Edition**: - Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: The Forgotten Garden: A Novel
- Subtitle: Kindle Edition
- Price: 13.99
- Author: Kate Morton
  KATE MORTON is an award-winning, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author. Her novels - The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Lake House, The Clockmaker's Daughter and Homecoming - are published in over 45 countries, in 38 languages, and have all been number one bestsellers around the world. Kate Morton grew up in the mountains of southeast Queensland and now lives with her family in London and Australia. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and harboured dreams of joining the Royal Shakespeare Company until she realised that it was words she loved more than performing. Kate still feels a pang of longing each time she goes to the theatre and the house lights dim. "I fell deeply in love with books as a child and believe that reading is freedom; that to read is to live a thousand lives in one; that fiction is a magical conversation between two people - you and me - in which our minds meet across time and space. I love books that conjure a world around me, bringing their characters and settings to life, so that the real world disappears and all that matters, from beginning to end, is turning one more page." www.katemorton.com www.facebook.com/KateMortonAuthor https://instagram.com/katemortonauthor Keep up-to-date on Kate Morton's books and events by joining her mailing list: www.katemorton.com/mailing-list
- Description: Review “A long, lush, perfectly escapist read.” — The Daily News (NY) (The Daily News)“Morton whisks the reader into scene after vivid scene, sometimes frightening us, often perplexing us, and always providing us with a great deal of entertainment.” — Star Telegram (Fort Worth, TX) (Ft. Worth Star Telegram) About the Author Kate Morton is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of The House at Riverton , The Forgotten Garden , The Distant Hours , The Secret Keeper , The Lake House , and The Clockmaker’s Daughter . Her books are published in thirty-eight languages and have been #1 bestsellers worldwide. Born and raised in Australia, she holds degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and now lives with her family in London and Australia. Visit her online at KateMorton.com or on Facebook and Instagram at @KateMortonAuthor. From the Back Cover A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, a maze, an aristocratic family, a love denied, a mystery - The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, ghosts, family and memories from best-selling author Kate Morton.Thirty-eight year old Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything known and dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family. Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace Rutherford - the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century - as well as a cliff-top cottage on the other side of the world, Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell, on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Amazon.com Review Amazon Best of the Month, April 2009 : Like Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved classic The Secret Garden , Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden takes root in your imagination and grows into something enchanting--from a little girl with no memories left alone on a ship to Australia, to a fog-soaked London river bend where orphans comfort themselves with stories of Jack the Ripper, to a Cornish sea heaving against wind-whipped cliffs, crowned by an airless manor house where an overgrown hedge maze ends in the walled garden of a cottage left to rot. This hidden bit of earth revives barren hearts, while the mysterious Authoress's fairy tales (every bit as magical and sinister as Grimm's) whisper truths and ignite the imaginary lives of children. As Morton draws you through a thicket of secrets that spans generations, her story could cross into fairy tale territory if her characters weren't clothed in such complex flesh, their judgment blurred by the heady stench of emotions (envy, lust, pride, love) that furtively flourished in the glasshouse of Edwardian society. While most ache for a spotless mind's eternal sunshine, the Authoress meets the past as "a cruel mistress with whom we must all learn to dance," and her stories gift children with this vital muscle memory. -- Mari Malcolm Read an excerpt and the reading group guide for The Forgotten Garden . Amazon Exclusive: A Conversation with Author Kate Morton Q: The Forgotten Garden has some marvelous parallels with Frances Hodgson Burnett 's The Secret Garden , and Burnett even makes an appearance in your book as a guest at a garden party. Did her book inspire portions of your story? A: The Secret Garden was one of my favourite books when I was a little girl. Along with stories like The Faraway Tree and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe , it's one of many classic childhood tales in which children escape from the adult world to a place in which their imagination is allowed free rein. However, it wasn't my intention to reference The Secret Garden when I first started writing. In fact, The Forgotten Garden (which was called The Authoress until the final draft!) began with a family story: when she was 21, my grandmother's father told her that she wasn't his biological child. Nana was so deeply affected by this knowledge that she told no one until she was a very old lady and finally confided in her three daughters. When I learned Nana's secret, I was struck by how fragile a person's sense of self is and knew that one day I would write a story about someone who experienced a similar life-changing confession. When I began to write about Nell, I knew that her mystery was going to lead her to an English cottage, but the other details were hazy. It was while I was auditioning English locations for my book that I came across mention of the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. My interest was piqued, and I began reading everything I could find about this place: a grand country estate with astounding gardens that had been locked and forgotten after its gardening staff were killed during the first world war and the owners moved away. When it was rediscovered in the late 20th century, nature had reclaimed the estate, but the bones of the garden lay deep beneath the overgrowth. This story really fired my imagination and I knew that I'd not only found my location--Cornwall--but that I would also need a forgotten garden in my story! I was also eager to play with 19th-century gothic conventions in The Forgotten Garden . I adore books like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights , and I wanted a gloomy old house, wicked aunts, secretive servants, hidden identities, mysterious whisperings--the lot. But when my garden grew walls, I suddenly remembered The Secret Garden , and with my theme of fairy tales and storytellers and the vital role that such things play in a child's imagination, I couldn't resist introducing parallels (including a walk-on role for Frances Hodgson Burnett). It was a way of referencing my own childhood influences-- Enid Blyton and the Famous Five get a couple of nods throughout, too!--and was a lot of fun. <a Q: Both The Forgotten Garden and The House at Riverton , your first novel, celebrate the imaginative lives of children, and the role that books and family legends play in inspiring their creative life. Which books fired your imagination as a child? Do you think fairy tales play a role in preparing children for life's harsher realities, and giving them courage? As children spend more time being entertained--by TV and video games--and less time inventing their own entertainments and exploring the natural world, what are we losing? A: I read voraciously as a child, and the more I write the more I realize that an essential part of my character (and certainly my inner writer) was formed in those early years. Enid Blyton was my first and my favourite ( The Faraway Tree , The Enchanted Wood , The Secret Seven ), sparking in me a lifetime love of English countryside, dark, creepy woods, and hidden mysteries. I also loved Anne of Green Gables , The Railway Children , Roald Dahl , and fairy tales of all description, and had a mighty impressive collection of second-hand Trixie Belden books (collected when my mum, an antique dealer, dragged us to second-hand shops with her). I agree that fairy tales teach children about life's harsher realities. They are our society's fables and, in their true form, often contain messages that aren't easy to hear. There's something compelling about their simple (sometimes brutal) honesty though, and their heightened style creates a narrative distance that sets them apart from more realistic children's fiction so that the events depicted are understood to be taking place in a world that is not our own. I think we sometimes underestimate the ability of children to recognize and process intelligent concepts, and sort the literal from the fairy tale. Q: Both of your first two novels leap between the present and past, with much of the story happening in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, in the lead-up to World War I. What fascinates you about that particular period? A: The early decades of the 20th century fascinate me because they describe a moment of immense social, political, and cultural transition, and because change ignites conflict (on a large scale, as in the culminating war, but also on a much smaller inter-personal level), which makes it excellent fodder for a writer interested in stories about people. Sociocultural expectations of women and the lower classes were changed indelibly as a consequence of the first world war, so a person who was 18 in 1912 had a markedly different perception of their place in the world as compared to a person who was 18 in 1922. I'm particularly interested in the way the past is tethered to the present: that is, I like to write about the past insofar as it is a place to which we are still connected in some way. I have a rather gothic insistence on the refusal of the past to remain dead and buried! The literary gothic (particularly that of the 19th-century novel) is a genre for which I bear a special fondness. I wrote my masters on Tragedy in Victorian Novels and my PhD topic concerns the use of gothic tropes in contemporary fiction. My interest isn't so much in the supernatural aspects of the gothic (apparitions and the like) as much as metaphorical ghosts--the haunting of the present by the past; guilt; memory; identity issues; twins and doubles; the complicated ties of family; anxieties over technology, etc. I think the gothic resonates strongly in our technological time, not least in matters of identity. Computers and the surfacing of social networking sites have changed the way we represent ourselves and interact with other people; medical advances mean we are able to alter our appearances in ways we never could before; we are even beginning to manipulate genes and use science to aid and affect conception. This is all fertile ground for a fiction writer! Q: Your next novel, The Distant Hours , will be set in World War II England. Can you reveal any other details? A: Not a lot, I'm afraid--I'm superstitious about speaking too much about my people when their stories are still unfolding!--but here's a little tiny taste: The Distant Hours is set in 1940, during the period in which the English were worried that the Germans might land on the beaches any day. It takes place in a castle in Kent (with a medieval tower and a huge ancient wood!), where the unexpected arrival of a stranger causes ripples in the household that trigger a tragedy.... --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Forgotten Garden ONE  LONDON, 1913 IT was dark where she was crouched but the little girl did as she’d been told. The lady had said to wait, it wasn’t safe yet, they had to be as quiet as larder mice. It was a game, just like hide-and-seek. From behind the wooden barrels the little girl listened. Made a picture in her mind the way Papa had taught her. Men, near and far, sailors she supposed, shouted to one another. Rough, loud voices, full of the sea and its salt. In the distance: bloated ships’ horns, tin whistles, splashing oars and, far above, grey gulls cawing, wings flattened to absorb the ripening sunlight. The lady would be back, she’d said so, but the little girl hoped it would be soon. She’d been waiting a long time, so long that the sun had drifted across the sky and was now warming her knees through her new dress. She listened for the lady’s skirts, swishing against the wooden deck. Her heels clipping, hurrying, always hurrying, in a way the little girl’s own mamma never did. The little girl wondered, in the vague, unconcerned manner of much-loved children, where Mamma was. When she would be coming. And she wondered about the lady. She knew who she was, she’d heard Grandmamma talking about her. The lady was called the Authoress and she lived in the little cottage on the far side of the estate, beyond the maze. The little girl wasn’t supposed to know. She had been forbidden to play in the bramble maze. Mamma and Grandmamma had told her it was dangerous to go near the cliff. But sometimes, when no one was looking, she liked to do forbidden things. Dust motes, hundreds of them, danced in the sliver of sunlight that had appeared between two barrels. The little girl smiled and the lady, the cliff, the maze, Mamma left her thoughts. She held out a finger, tried to catch a speck upon it. Laughed at the way the motes came so close before skirting away. The noises beyond her hiding spot were changing now. The little girl could hear the hubbub of movement, voices laced with excitement. She leaned into the veil of light and pressed her face against the cool wood of the barrels. With one eye she looked upon the decks. Legs and shoes and petticoat hems. The tails of colored paper streamers flicking this way and that. Wily gulls hunting the decks for crumbs. A lurch and the huge boat groaned, long and low from deep within its belly. Vibrations passed through the deck boards and into the little girl’s fingertips. A moment of suspension and she found herself holding her breath, palms flat beside her, then the boat heaved and pushed itself away from the dock. The horn bellowed and there was a wave of cheering, cries of “Bon voyage!” They were on their way. To America, a place called New York, where Papa had been born. She’d heard them whispering about it for some time, Mamma telling Papa they should go as soon as possible, that they could afford to wait no longer. The little girl laughed again; the boat was gliding through the water like a giant whale, like Moby Dick in the story her father often read to her. Mamma didn’t like it when he read such stories. She said they were too frightening and would put ideas in her head that couldn’t be got out. Papa always gave Mamma a kiss on the forehead when she said that sort of thing, told her she was right and that he’d be more careful in the future. But he still told the little girl stories of the great whale. And others—the ones that were the little girl’s favorite, from the fairy-tale book, about eyeless crones, and orphaned maidens, and long journeys across the sea. He just made sure that Mamma didn’t know, that it remained their secret. The little girl understood they had to have secrets from Mamma. Mamma wasn’t well, had been sickly since before the little girl was born. Grandmamma was always bidding her be good, warning her that if Mamma were to get upset something terrible might happen and it would be all her fault. The little girl loved her mother and didn’t want to make her sad, didn’t want something terrible to happen, so she kept things secret. Like the fairy stories, and playing near the maze, and the times Papa had taken her to visit the Authoress in the cottage on the far side of the estate. “Aha!” A voice by her ear. “Found you!” The barrel was heaved aside and the little girl squinted up into the sun. Blinked until the owner of the voice moved to block the light. It was a big boy, eight or nine, she guessed. “You’re not Sally,” he said. The little girl shook her head. “Who are you?” She wasn’t meant to tell anybody her name. It was a game they were playing, she and the lady. “Well?” “It’s a secret.” His nose wrinkled, freckles drew together. “What for?” She shrugged. She wasn’t supposed to speak of the lady, Papa was always telling her so. “Where’s Sally, then?” The boy was growing impatient. He looked left and right. “She ran this way, I’m sure of it.” A whoop of laughter from further down the deck and the scramble of fleeing footsteps. The boy’s face lit up. “Quick!” he said as he started to run. “She’s getting away.” The little girl leaned her head around the barrel and watched him weaving in and out of the crowd in keen pursuit of a flurry of white petticoats. Her toes itched to join them. But the lady had said to wait. The boy was getting further away. Ducking around a portly man with a waxed moustache, causing him to scowl so that his features scurried towards the center of his face like a family of startled crabs. The little girl laughed. Maybe it was all part of the same game. The lady reminded her more of a child than of the other grown-ups she knew. Perhaps she was playing, too. The little girl slid from behind the barrel and stood slowly. Her left foot had gone to sleep and now had pins and needles. She waited a moment for feeling to return, watched as the boy turned the corner and disappeared. Then, without another thought, she set off after him. Feet pounding, heart singing in her chest. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Review “A long, lush, perfectly escapist read.” — The Daily News (NY)“Morton whisks the reader into scene after vivid scene, sometimes frightening us, often perplexing us, and always providing us with a great deal of entertainment.” — Star Telegram (Fort Worth, TX) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Review This debut page-turner...recounts the crumbling of a prominent British family as seen through the eyes of one of its servants...Morton triumphs with a riveting plot, a touching but tense love story and a haunting ending. --Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Booklist In 1913, a little girl arrives in Brisbane, Australia, and is taken in by a dockmaster and his wife. She doesn’t know her name, and the only clue to her identity is a book of fairy tales tucked inside a white suitcase.  When the girl, called Nell, grows up, she starts to piece together bits of her story, but just as she’s on the verge of going to England to trace the mystery to its source, her grandaughter, Cassandra, is left in her care. When Nell dies, Cassandra finds herself the owner of a cottage in Cornwall, and makes the journey to England to finally solve the puzzle of Nell’s origins. Shifting back and forth over a span of nearly 100 years, this is a sprawling, old-fashioned novel, as well-cushioned as a Victorian country house, replete with family secrets, stories-within-stories, even a maze and a Dickensian rag-and-bone shop. All the pieces don’t quite mesh, but it’s a satisfying read overall, just the thing for readers who like multigenerational sagas with a touch of mystery. --Mary Ellen Quinn --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more
- Features:
From the internationally bestselling author of The House at Riverton , an unforgettable new novel that transports the reader from the back alleys of poverty of pre-World War I London to the shores of colonial Australia where so many made a fresh start, and back to the windswept coast of Cornwall, England, past and present A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book -- a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and with very little to go on, "Nell" sets out on a journey to England to try to trace her story, to fi nd her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. At Cliff Cottage, on the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, Cassandra discovers the forgotten garden of the book's title and is able to unlock the secrets of the beautiful book of fairy tales. This is a novel of outer and inner journeys and an homage to the power of storytelling. The Forgotten Garden is filled with unforgettable characters who weave their way through its spellbinding plot to astounding effect. Morton's novels are #1 bestsellers in England and Australia and are published in more than twenty languages. Her fi rst novel, The House at Riverton , was a New York Times bestseller.
- Details:
  Publisher: Atria Books; Reprint edition (March 13, 2009)
  Publication date: March 13, 2009
  Language: English
  File size: 6362 KB
  Text to Speech: Enabled
  Screen Reader: Supported
  Enhanced typesetting: Enabled
  X Ray: Enabled
  Word Wise: Enabled
  Sticky notes: On Kindle Scribe
  Print length: 561 pages
<|The End of Book|>

First, PREDICT the substantive review THIS user would most likely write about THIS book, using their persona + past reviews + this book's context. Then turn that prediction into a rubric.

Write 8-12 numbered criteria that a judge will use to check whether a CANDIDATE review COVERS THE KEY POINTS this user would actually make about THIS book. Ground every criterion in the user's likely CONTENT, not surface style:
- Their likely OVERALL STANCE / verdict on this book (would they like or dislike it, and why), inferred from their taste and this book's genre/premise/themes.
- The SPECIFIC aspects they would most likely comment on here -- name concrete elements from THIS book (particular plot points, characters, themes, pacing, craft, comparisons) that a reader like this user reacts to.
- Their characteristic OPINIONS / reactions (what they would praise or criticize here) and the direction/strength of sentiment.
- Any content they habitually include (recommendation, audience, warnings, comparisons).

Write the criteria to match HOW the candidate will be graded (coverage of the user's real review minus a penalty for extra content):
- Each criterion should reward COVERING a specific likely key point, checkable in a short review.
- Make them DISCRIMINATING: a candidate that writes a generic or merely on-topic review WITHOUT the user's specific likely take must score LOW; only a candidate that hits the user's actual likely points and stance scores HIGH.
- Include at least one criterion that PENALIZES speculative, hedging, off-target, or padded content not central to what this user would say.
- Do NOT reward surface formatting.

Output ONLY the rubric:
<rubric>
1. <criterion>
...
</rubric>


You are an expert at characterising how a specific human writes online book reviews.

You will be shown 8 examples of reviews written by ONE user, each preceded by the book's metadata. Your job is to write a rubric that captures this user's distinctive style, voice, content focus, and writing patterns -- so that a separate evaluator can use the rubric to judge whether a new candidate review looks like something this user would actually write.

The user's persona:
<|The Start of Persona|>
Demographics:
  age group: late 20s to mid-30s (based on being stationed in Iraq in 2004 and officer status)
  location: United States
  occupation: U.S. Army officer (explicitly states 'current US Army officers should read this book' and mentions being 'stationed in Iraq')
  nationality: American
  other: Military veteran with Iraq War deployment experience; Clemson University sports fan
Interests:
  World War II military history, particularly D-Day operations, Eastern Front combat, and Pacific Theater campaigns
  Post-WWII war crimes trials and military tribunals, as evidenced by detailed review of Dachau trials book
  Modern military operations and Iraq War firsthand accounts, having read blogs 'while stationed in Iraq'
  Naval warfare history including convoy operations and Civil War commerce raiding
  Strategic bombing campaigns and their effectiveness, with critical analysis of morale bombing theories
  Military leadership philosophy and command decision-making processes at various levels
  Tactical doctrine and operational planning, particularly armored warfare and urban combat
  Historical methodology and archival research quality in military histories
  Sports broadcasting and Clemson University athletics, particularly football and basketball
  Proper military terminology, rank structure, and organizational understanding in historical writing
  Memoirs and firsthand accounts from soldiers and commanders across different conflicts
  The intersection of military history with broader political and social contexts
Values:
  Historical accuracy and factual precision, frequently criticizing books for errors like 'the tide was rising one foot every 8 minutes, when the tidal range on Omaha on D-Day was 18 feet'
  Scholarly rigor and comprehensive research, praising works with 'thorough archival research in the United States, Britain, and Germany'
  Proper military context and understanding, noting frustration when authors 'constantly refers to General Lucien Truscott as Lieutenant Colonel'
  Balanced critical analysis that acknowledges both strengths and weaknesses, consistently providing 'fair job with both tasks but excels at neither' type assessments
  Skepticism toward unverified claims, as shown in detailed debunking of 'The Long Walk' as 'probably not a true story'
  Respect for military service and sacrifice while maintaining objectivity, praising 'professional competence of the American soldiers'
  Importance of proper organization and structure in historical writing, criticizing 'poorly organized' and 'disorganized' narratives
  Value of firsthand accounts and primary sources over secondary interpretations
  Appreciation for maps and visual aids in military histories, noting 'no military history book can have too many maps'
  Recognition that flawed works can still have value if they cover neglected topics
  Belief that military professionals should study historical leadership lessons, recommending books 'for all current U.S. Army officers'
  Intellectual honesty about limitations and gaps in historical knowledge
Communication:
  Writes lengthy, detailed reviews averaging 500-700 words with some exceeding 1000 words, providing comprehensive analysis
  Employs consistent structure: opening thesis statement, detailed analysis, specific criticisms, and concluding recommendation
  Uses formal but accessible academic tone with phrases like 'this book is a worthwhile read' and 'despite these weaknesses'
  Integrates military terminology naturally including acronyms like 'SHAEF,' 'REMFs,' 'FOB,' and 'UNAMIR'
  Provides specific textual evidence including page numbers ('two paragraphs on page 381 of 390 pages') and direct quotations
  Organizes thoughts into distinct, well-structured paragraphs with clear topic sentences and supporting details
  Balances praise and criticism systematically, typically acknowledging strengths before detailing weaknesses
  Uses comparative analysis, referencing other works like 'In the spirit of Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day"'
  Employs transitional phrases like 'Despite these shortcomings,' 'Although,' 'However,' and 'Furthermore' to guide readers
  Includes personal anecdotes when relevant, such as 'I ran across the blog while stationed in Iraq'
  Uses rhetorical questions to engage readers: 'But if you're only looking for an overview...?'
  Maintains professional objectivity even when strongly disagreeing with authors or their conclusions
Statistics:
  Average review length approximately 550 words, with minimum around 150 words ('A Sailor's Admiral') and maximum over 1200 words ('To Destroy a City')
  Frequently uses evaluative phrases: 'well-researched' (3 times), 'poorly written' (2 times), 'worthwhile read' (4 times), 'does a good/fair job' (5 times)
  Consistently employs 'I would recommend' or 'I recommend' construction in conclusions (8 of 13 reviews)
  Uses 'Despite these' or 'Despite this' to introduce balanced criticism in 6 reviews
  Employs military acronyms and terminology in 9 of 13 reviews, demonstrating professional military background
  Structures reviews with 4-8 paragraphs typically, with clear topical organization
  Uses comparative references to other books or authors in 7 reviews to provide context
  Includes specific page citations or numerical details in 8 reviews to support critiques
  Rates books 3-5 stars with mode of 4 stars, showing critical but generally positive assessment tendency
  Uses parenthetical asides frequently to add context or clarification without disrupting main narrative flow
<|The End of Persona|>

The user's past reviews:
--- Example 1 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Christian Books & Bibles->Christian Living
- Title: Simply Christian
- Subtitle: None
- Price: 18.15
- Author: N. T. Wright
- Description: Review “Readers will welcome such ready access to one of the fine teachers of the church.” (Walter Brueggemann)“Simply Christian is an amazing testimony to the vitality…of the Christian faith—and to the skill of N. T. Wright.” (Will Willimon, Bishop, North Alabama Conference, United Methodist Church)“[No one] has done more to clarify what [...] Christianity looks like in our day than Tom Wright.” (John Ortberg, teaching pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church)“Fresh, engaging, and highly readable…Simply Chri ...[truncated]
- Features: “Wright offers us a genial, intelligent view of Christianity, and [ Simply Christian ] invites us to compare his work with C.S. Lewis’s classic in the same vein, Mere Christianity .” — Washington Post Though originally published in 2006, N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian has already reached the status of a classic of biblical scholarship. Wright, Bishop of Durham for the Church of England, has been called “the world’s leading New Testament scholar” by Newsweek , and Simply Christian an “outstanding” treatise o ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
Simply and Well Put: Bishop N. T. Wright's "Simply Christian" is an elegant and readable explanation of the basic tenets of the Christian faith.  In the spirit of C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity," this book attempts to and succeeds in describing the role of God and Jesus Christ in our lives.

Wright starts off by examining mankind's yearning for justice, spirituality, and beauty, and then proceeds to explain how the existence of God explains these yearnings.  Wright describes how God interacts with our world, refuting those who claim that God is distant and hands-off or that the meaning of life is in self-exploration and self-fulfillment.  He then builds on this to portray an over-arching picture of Christianity.

This is an excellent short discussion of the Christian faith.  Anyone wanting to understand their own faith better or interested in exploring a personal relationship with God should read this book.

--- Example 2 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Politics & Social Sciences->Politics & Government
- Title: Somebody's Gotta Say It
- Subtitle: Hardcover – February 20, 2007
- Price: 5.59
- Author: Neal Boortz
- Description: About the Author The host of radio's The Neal Boortz Show , syndicated in nearly two hundred national markets, Neal Boortz is the author (with Congressman John Linder) of the New York Times bestsellers The FairTax Book and FairTax: The Truth , and author of The Terrible Truth About Liberals . He has been nominated twice for the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Award and divides his time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Naples, Florida. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Someb ...[truncated]
- Features: I've come to the conclusion that roughly 50 percent of the adults in this country are simply too ignorant and functionally incompetent to be living in a free society. You might think I'm off base, but every day around half the people in this country go out of their way to prove me right.—from Somebody's Gotta Say It Think you've got it all figured out? Think again. Neal Boortz—the Talkmaster, the High Priest of the Church of the Painful Truth—has been edifying, infuriating, and entertaining talk radio audie ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
Somebody's Gotta Say It -- and Neal Boortz Did: Neal Boortz's "Somebody's Gotta Say It" is an entertaining look at Neal Boortz's world of political philosophy and social commentary, sprinkled with a dose of personal stories from Boortz's personal life.  For those who don't know, Neal Boortz is an extremely successful conservative/libertarian talk show host  out of Atlanta whose radio show is syndicated across the country.

Neal brings his on-air personality to the page in this book, and he doesn't mince words or worry about offending anyone.  Neal gives his views on government, abortion, religion, individuality, government schools, and many other topics.  The book is also sprinkled with amusing emails from listeners (or former listeners, as many claim in their emails that "I'm not going to listen to you anymore").  This book is a light, easy read - not deep political philosophy - but Neal's insight still shows throughout the book.

Whether you're a huge fan of Boortz or an occasional listener, whether you disagree with him or agree with him, whether you take him seriously or just like to laugh at his antics, this book is an easy and entertaining look into the mind of Neal Boortz and would make a good read for anyone who has any interest in current politics and has enough of a sense of humor to enjoy Boortz's style.

--- Example 3 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: Red Sky in Morning
- Subtitle: Paperback – July 28, 2009
- Price: 6.87
- Author: Patrick Culhane
- Description: Review “A compelling and shameful piece of American history...gripping...(a) glimpse into a largely unknown period and a segment of the Greatest Generation that deserved more respect then and still does.” (Associated Press)“No one can twist through a maze with the intensity and suspense of Max Allan Collins.” (Clive Cussler, praise for Black Hats)“Collins masterfully blends fact and fiction into a compelling tale that transcends the historical thriller.” (Jeffrey Deaver)“No one can twist through a maze with ...[truncated]
- Features: A World War's being fought in 1943, and Lieutenant Peter Maxwell wants in on it. But his assignment to the Liberty Hill Victory is not what he had in mind. An ammo ship commanded by racist officers and crewed by largely untrained and inexperienced African American sailors, it is a volatile floating powder keg in more ways than one. In the wake of a deadly explosion and subsequent mutiny in San Francisco's Port Chicago, the Liberty Hill Victory puts out to sea—as Maxwell and his new ally, former Chicago "Bla ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
Clichéd and predictable: Patrick Culhane`s "Red Sky in Morning" is an historical novel set on the West Coast and in the Pacific in World War II.  Culhane tells the story, based partly on his father's wartime experiences, of a junior Navy officer's service aboard an ammunition resupply ship crewed by black crewmembers.

Unfortunately, Culhane fails to tell an interesting and convincing story.  The love story is canned and irrelevant to the main plot.  The main characters are clichéd with a small-town Midwestern football star as the protagonist.  His circle of friends includes a Jewish Hollywood writer, a rich East Coast Ivy Leaguer, and a police officer.  The captain is of course prejudiced and over-bearing.  And the story of prejudice, homosexuality, and crime on the ship is predictable and not very engaging.

Finally, this book fails to make the reader feel that this story takes place on a World War II US Navy ship.  Unlike Wouk's "Caine Mutiny," the atmosphere of "Red Sky in Morning" is unconvincing and never evokes the feel of a wartime ship.  In the end, I found little redeeming in this novel.

--- Example 4 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Politics & Social Sciences->Politics & Government
- Title: War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism
- Subtitle: Hardcover – March 1, 2008
- Price: 5.47
- Author: Douglas J. Feith
- Description: Review “Indispensable. . . . The best account to date of how the administration debated, decided, organized and executed its military responses to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Much of what makes War and Decision so compelling is that it is, in effect, a revisionist history.” (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal)“Extraordinarily frank and persuasive. . . . [O]ur first in-depth look at the inside of the Bush administration’s national security top leadership from one who was there. [Feith] has been criticized ...[truncated]
- Features: In the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, journalists, commentators, and others have published accounts of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism. But no senior Pentagon official has offered an inside view of those years, or has challenged the prevailing narrative of that war—until now. Douglas J. Feith, the head of the Pentagon's Policy organization, was a key member of Donald Rumsfeld's inner circle as the Administration weighed how to protect the nation from another 9/11. In War and Decis ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
The Pentagon Strikes Back: Douglas Feith's memoir "War & Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism" is a fascinating and enlightening account of Feith's stint as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in Rumsfeld's Pentagon from 2001 through 2005.  Feith provides a candid look at the inter-agency process in the US government as it responded to the 9/11 attacks and then prepared for and fought wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Feith's account challenges the conventional wisdom of the media's stories during this timeframe and responds to many of the other books about this period that have been released.  Because of this, "War and Decision" is one of the most important books, if not the most important book, yet to come out on the government's response to 9/11 and the beginning of the Global War on Terror.

Feith is a policy wonk, and he writes about the inter-agency policy disagreements in the US government (mostly between Defense, State, and sometimes CIA).  He tries to set the record straight on many things that, according to him, have been mis-reported in the media and in recent books (especially Tenet's memoir, Bremer's memoir, Woodward's books, "Cobra II," and "Fiasco"), including: Pentagon planning for post-war Iraq, his office's Special Plans Group, the Future of Iraq project, and the Free Iraqi Forces.  And to help set the record straight, the book includes over a dozen declassified policy memos and briefing slides in the appendices to back up his assertions.  Feith's website also includes a larger collection of official documents supporting his assertions.

Feith's biggest criticisms are of the State Department (especially David Armitage) and the CIA, although he is at times critical of Condoleezza Rice as the National Security Advisor.  He lays broadside after broadside at State's failures, including how it pushed its own agenda, it failed to follow the President's directives, it failed to truly support the Global War on Terror, how Powell insisted on stressing WMD stockpiles as the reason to attack Iraq, and how State completely repudiated the Iraqi exiles (especially Chalabi) as potential leaders in post-Saddam Iraq.  Feith attacks the CIA for their bad analysis of Iraqi capabilities and stockpiles - especially for not being up-front about their limited intelligence - and for their politicization of intelligence by CIA members who didn't support the President's policies.  He argues that all of these missteps, especially State's and CIA's repudiation of the Iraqi exile leaders, contributed greatly to the problems the US had during the early occupation of Iraq.  And he slams these agencies for their failure to cooperate, for the poorly functioning inter-agency process, and for their willingness to use media leaks to push their own agenda.

Because Feith was a deputy (the #3 man at the Pentagon, under Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz) who did not work on every issue, he does not cover everything in this book.  He tries to stick to issues that he had first-hand knowledge of and relied heavily on his own notes and documents.  At times, he readily admits when there are holes in his knowledge because he was not privy to some meetings or issues.  Because his focus was policy and not operations, he did not participate in much of the actual planning for the invasion of Iraq, so he barely mentions the issue that many critics of the Iraq war planning have laid at Rumsfeld's feet: inadequate forces during the invasion and during the immediate aftermath.  Feith also barely addresses many of the issues surrounding the interrogation/torture policies at Guantanamo Bay, although according to many press reports he was involved in formulating this policy.

Feith stubbornly stands by many of his positions, admits errors on some, and admirably corrects the public record on many others.  He believes that the US would have been much more successful in Iraq if we had worked closer with the Iraqi exiles (especially Chalabi) and had turned Iraq over to a transitional government within a couple of months of Saddam's overthrow.  He believes that Bremer's disbanding of the Iraqi Army was the correct move, although he criticizes most of Bremer's later moves.  He is a fervent admirer of his old boss Rumsfeld, although he didn't always agree with Rumsfeld's decisions.  Feith also supported most of President Bush's policies but criticized the Administration for not always getting its message out - he says that ultimately the Global War on Terrorism will look better to historians than it does now because the Administration has not done a good job selling its successes.

This book is a surprisingly easy read considering it was written by a policy wonk, and it is clear that Feith is a brilliant thinker.  While you may not be convinced by all of his arguments (I wasn't), you can appreciate that many of the Pentagon's policy positions weren't as caricatured in the press and by some writers since.  Instead, they were all well thought-out, practical policies and positions, not radical proposals by a bunch of neocons who hijacked the American government.  This book is a must read for anyone who wants to learn more about our government's real actions in the early years of the Global War on Terror.

--- Example 5 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->History->Americas
- Title: Legends , Lies & Cherished Myths of World History
- Subtitle: Paperback – Illustrated, January 1, 1990
- Price: 12.31
- Author: Richard Shenkman
- Description: From the Back Cover Whistleblowing historian Richard Shenkman skewers the nonsense we were all taught about the world’s revolutions, religions, heroes, and inventors in a whirlwind tour of history. Queen Victoria may have usually worn black, but she loved to drink and party. The English were conned during World War II. Winston Churchill’s famous “finest hour” radio broadcast was not delivered by Winston Churchill but by Norman Shelley, an actor hired to be Churchill’s stand-in. Marie Antoinette did not say, ...[truncated]
- Features: “Was there really a valiant little Dutch boy, a protesting Lady Godiva, a fiddling Nero, or a prudish Queen Victoria? No, says Shenkman ….No person, event, or thing is safe from Shenkman’s corrections.” — Booklist Founder of George Mason University’s History News Network and bestselling author of Presidential Ambition and One Night Stands with American History , Rick Shenkman is an historian, a rebel, and a myth debunker par excellence. In Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of World History , he explodes some ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
Bad History + So-So Humor = Not Worth Reading: Richard Shenkman's "Legends , Lies & Cherished Myths of World History" is an entertaining and light-hearted attempt at dispelling popular misconceptions about world history.  However, because Shenkman is more interested in debunking than educating, it is also full of contrarian viewpoints and odd interpretations, and ultimately this book falls flat on its face.

Too many of the "myths" that he "debunks" are done so based on faulty reasoning, minority viewpoints, or skewed perspectives.  For instance, he argues that the Munich Agreement wasn't really "appeasement" because Britain wasn't prepared to go to war.  To support that, he describes in depth the state of the British military.  However, in doing so, he completely ignores the French military (which at the time was stronger than the German military); and he ignores his own arguments later in the book about how weak the German military was even in 1940.  He also "breaks the news" that the German Army used 2.7 million horses in World War II.  But anyone with any knowledge of the Eastern Front in World War II knows that the Germans relied heavily on horse transport, so this isn't an earth-shattering revelation.

One other episode reveals the weakness of this book.  When discussing Lord Nelson, Shenkman takes delight in reporting that he had an adulterous affair.  Again, this is another one of those "secrets" that almost everyone knows about.  He also points out that Nelson died while standing upright on his quarterdeck during the Battle of Trafalgar, an act that Shenkman describes as "Stupid."  But Shenkman gives no context to Nelson's actions and fails to tell the reader that a captain's (or admiral's) expected place of duty was on his quarterdeck, standing upright to inspire his men; had Nelson refused to do something so "stupid," he never would have even been a captain, let alone the most famous and beloved British hero of the century.

Shenkman also discusses some of the historic aspects of Christianity and Judaism.  Unfortunately, he wanders into some controversial theological discussions, which further weakens the book.

At times, this book reads like a Dave Barry column or book, which, while funny at times, isn't necessarily a compliment in a book that is supposedly informative.  Often, he says that the myths and lies arose when "some historians decided" or "some textbook writers got together and said," which doesn't really explain how these myths and misconceptions arose.  Shenkman delights in poking holes in the conventional wisdom, but unfortunately his history is weak or biased at times and the book isn't very informative.  The book's humor is its only redeeming quality.

--- Example 6 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Biographies & Memoirs->Leaders & Notable People
- Title: Patton: Genius for War, A
- Subtitle: None
- Price: 19.15
- Author: Carlo D'Este
- Description: Review "A major biography of the famous battlefield general by a superb historian of the Army where Patton rose to fame and fell into infamy." — Washington Post Book World "Remarkably good. . . . D'Este presents a picture that neither beautifies nor damns his subject. This is revisionism at its very best." — New York Times Book Review "An instant classic. Never before has General George S. Patton, Jr. sprung back to life in all his heroic and complicated glory as in this first-rate biography." — Douglas Bri ...[truncated]
- Features: "Biography at its very best. Literate and meaty, incisive and balanced, detailed without being pedantic. Mr. D'Este's Patton takes its rightful place as the definitive biography of this American warrior." —Dallas Morning News A comprehensive biography of General George Patton draws on hitherto unavailable letters, diaries, and memoirs, uncovering many new facts to create an insightful and definitive portrait of an American military hero. Fifty years after his death, General George S. Patton Jr. remains one ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
Comprehensive and Even-Handed: Carlo D'Este's "Patton: A Genius for War" is the definitive biography of one of America's most well-known generals.  George Patton was both a military genius and an unmatched personality, and D'Este successfully shows the many facets of Patton in this long (800-page) biography.

D'Este draws both from primary sources (quoting extensively from Patton's letters, especially those to his wife) and second sources, often quoting an earlier Patton biography.  One of D'Este's themes is how Patton's undiagnosed dyslexia affected him through his life - and how he was able to learn so much despite his dyslexia - so the long quotations from Patton's letters are especially illuminating.  These also shed light on how Patton's moods could go from being deadly serious to light-hearted to downtrodden so easily, and how fragile his ego really was.

One of the strengths of this book is that D'Este puts the historical Patton in the context of the public Patton - the Patton that is known (mostly) from the 1970 movie.  D'Este explicitly discusses some scenes in the movie and undercuts many of the myths that resulted from the movie - for example, D'Este believes that Patton and Montgomery admired each other as professionals, did not have a bitter personal rivalry, and only in the last few months of the war in Europe did Patton really begin to dislike Montgomery.  D'Este is also very critical of Bradley, who despised Patton and was able to, as the primary military advisor on the movie "Patton," to unfairly inflate his own role as the reasonable of the pair at Patton's expense.

This is a great, comprehensive biography of Patton, but it does have some flaws.  At times, D'Este borrows too much from previous Patton biographies and other histories, and, despite its length and depth, glosses over some incidents that deserved more - such as the battle of Troina and the controversial relief of Terry Allen in Sicily.  D'Este also, despite clearly being an admirer of Patton, fails to appreciate and explain Patton's technical understanding of war and Patton's understanding  that good staff work and good planning are required to turn Patton's "L'audace, l'audance, toujours l'audace!" into military success. And finally, at times D'Este jumps around in time to keep his narrative theme going.

For anyone interested in an in-depth, even-handed look at the man Patton, this is the best biography of the most famous and controversial general in the 20th century.

--- Example 7 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Literature & Fiction->Genre Fiction
- Title: Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
- Subtitle: Paperback – May 8, 1998
- Price: None
- Author: H. R. McMaster
- Description: Review "Lately [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General] Shelton has been closely reading a book called Dereliction of Duty. Its thesis: that the Joint Chiefs of Staff lost the Vietnam War by failing to stand up to civilian leadership."-- "Newsweek "Four star generals do not normally consult the writings of junior field grade officers for advice about career decisions. But it was widely reported that when Air Force Chief of Staff General Ronald Fogelman decided to resign in 1997, he did so at least in part on ...[truncated]
- Features: "The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C."  —H. R. McMaster (from the Conclusion) Dereliction Of Duty is a stunning analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-crea ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
How we stumbled into the Vietnam War: H.R. McMaster's "Dereliction of Duty" is an excellent account of the Johnson Administration's run-up to - and failures preparing for - the Vietnam War.  McMaster (a U.S. Army major when he wrote the book, now a colonel) details the decisions and actions of President Johnson, Secretary of Defense McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other presidential advisors from 1963 to 1965.

McMaster methodically recounts this story in painstaking detail, describing almost every meeting or memorandum produced on the escalation of Vietnam.  McMaster used declassified national security files, oral histories, and personal interviews to tell this story.

McMaster's thesis is that all of the individuals involved failed in their duties and made critical mistakes leading America into the Vietnam War.  These were all brilliant, but misguided, people.  The politicians did not trust the military, were too concerned with the politics and the Great Society, and believed that the enemy would respond to "graduated pressure" in Vietnam by backing down, instead of escalating, the fighting in South Vietnam.  McNamara and his "whiz kids" brought a new mode of thought to the Pentagon and were more interested in systems analysis and body counts than on listening to the military's voice.

On the other hand, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were often too divided by inter-service rivalries.  During his tenure as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Taylor, a great general during WWII, did all he could to push the President's agenda and prevent the rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from delivering pointed military advice to the President.  The Joint Chiefs of Staff failed to make their voice heard and, once it was clear that America was going into Vietnam, failed to offer viable strategies to succeed in Vietnam.

But the biggest failure was that no one in the administration had a vision or cogent plan to win in Vietnam - they just stumbled into the conflict.

In telling this story, McMaster effectively repeats his thesis and calls attention to every failure by every participant.  He almost beats the reader over the head by repeatedly pointing out each mistake.  This is a fantastic work and should be read by anyone interested in American history, American politics, or military history.  Colonel McMaster's successful Army career has continued since he wrote this book 10 years ago, but I wish he had continued telling this story through the entire war.

--- Example 8 ---
Book:
- Category: Books->Biographies & Memoirs->Historical
- Title: Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe
- Subtitle: Paperback – Deckle Edge, November 2, 2004
- Price: 21.4
- Author: Laurence Bergreen
- Description: Review “A marvelous piece of scholarship” (New Zealand Herald) From the Back Cover Ferdinand Magellan's daring circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World , prize-winning biographer and journalist Laurence Bergreen entwines a variety of candid, firsthand accounts, bringing to life this groundbreaking and majestic tale of discovery that changed both the way explorers would henceforth naviga ...[truncated]
- Features: The riveting story of Ferdinand Magellan’s historic 60,000-mile ocean voyage “Prodigious research, sure-footed prose and vivid descriptions make for a thoroughly satisfying account... it is all here in the wondrous detail, a first-rate historical page turner.”— New York Times Book Review Ferdinand Magellan's daring circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World , prize-winning biographer and ...[truncated]

Review by this user:
How Narrative History Should be Written: Laurence Bergreen's "Over the Edge of the World" is a great example of how narrative history should be written.  He takes a very interesting but overlooked story and breathes life into it.

In most history books Magellan's first circumnavigation merits a few sentences or paragraphs, but that brief mention conceals the rich story underneath.  Magellan was a Portuguese man who sailed under the Spanish flag, and of the five ships that began the voyage, only one completed the circumnavigation.  Magellan died during the voyage, but not before facing two mutinies and countless other hazards.

Bergreen does an excellent job telling this story.  He explains the nautical terms and shipboard conditions of the early 16th century, and he puts the story into its proper political and cultural context - in a time when the Inquisition was still a powerful force in Spain and the Age of Exploration was changing Europe.  My primary criticism is that the book should have many more maps; it only included one map (displayed twice) of the entire world inside each cover.  My only other criticism, as others have pointed out in the reviews, is that Bergreen sometimes seems not to understand -- or explain -- concepts like the International Date Line.

This history book reads like a novel.  Bergreen brings out the human suffering, triumph, and failings during this voyage.  It is a great read for anyone with any interest in history.

The specific book this user is about to review:
<|The Start of Book|>
**User Amazon store: Tore Janson (Author)**: - Category: Books->Reference->Words, Language & Grammar
- Title: Speak: A Short History of Languages
- Subtitle: None
- Price: 4.84
- Author: Tore Janson
  Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
- Description: Review `Review from previous edition Don't be deceived by the small format, the catchy title, or the attractive cover - this is a serious work, which will pay close attention.of the development and transformation of languages' www.worldwidewords.org About the Author Tore Janson was born in 1936 in Stockholm, Sweden. He studied Classics at Stockholm University and received his Ph.D. in Latin in 1964. He has held various teaching and research positions at the University of California, Los Angeles; Stockholm University; the Swedish Research Council for Humanitiesand Social Sciences; and at Göteborg University, where he has been first Professor of Latin, and then Professor of African Languages. He has published several books and a large number of articles in the fields of Latin, general linguistics, phonetics, and African languages.
- Features:
This book is a history of human speech from prehistory to the present. It charts the rise of some languages and the fall of others, explaining why some survive and others die. It shows how languages change their sounds and meanings, and how the history of languages is closely linked to thehistory of peoples.   Writing in a lively, readable style, distinguished Swedish scholar Tore Janson makes no assumptions about previous knowledge. He takes the reader on a voyage of exploration through the changing patterns of the world's languages, from ancient China to ancient Egypt, imperial Rome to imperialBritain, Sappho's Lesbos to contemporary Africa. He discovers the links between the histories of societies and their languages; he shows how language evolved from primitive calls; he considers the question of whether one language can be more advanced than another. The author describes the history ofwriting and the impact of changing technology. He ends by assessing the prospects for English world domination and predicting the languages of the distant future.   Five historical maps illustrate this fascinating history of our defining characteristic and most valuable asset.
- Details:
  Publisher: Oxford University Press (January 15, 2004)
  Language: English
  Paperback: 312 pages
  ISBN 10: 0199263418
  ISBN 13: 978-0199263417
  Item Weight: 9.6 ounces
  Dimensions: 4.75 x 0.75 x 6.5 inches
<|The End of Book|>

First, PREDICT the substantive review THIS user would most likely write about THIS book, using their persona + past reviews + this book's context. Then turn that prediction into a rubric.

Write 8-12 numbered criteria that a judge will use to check whether a CANDIDATE review COVERS THE KEY POINTS this user would actually make about THIS book. Ground every criterion in the user's likely CONTENT, not surface style:
- Their likely OVERALL STANCE / verdict on this book (would they like or dislike it, and why), inferred from their taste and this book's genre/premise/themes.
- The SPECIFIC aspects they would most likely comment on here -- name concrete elements from THIS book (particular plot points, characters, themes, pacing, craft, comparisons) that a reader like this user reacts to.
- Their characteristic OPINIONS / reactions (what they would praise or criticize here) and the direction/strength of sentiment.
- Any content they habitually include (recommendation, audience, warnings, comparisons).

Write the criteria to match HOW the candidate will be graded (coverage of the user's real review minus a penalty for extra content):
- Each criterion should reward COVERING a specific likely key point, checkable in a short review.
- Make them DISCRIMINATING: a candidate that writes a generic or merely on-topic review WITHOUT the user's specific likely take must score LOW; only a candidate that hits the user's actual likely points and stance scores HIGH.
- Include at least one criterion that PENALIZES speculative, hedging, off-target, or padded content not central to what this user would say.
- Do NOT reward surface formatting.

Output ONLY the rubric:
<rubric>
1. <criterion>
...
</rubric>