The Air We Breathe: A Novel Audiobook

" ok. -- better than what I thought it was going to be when I read it. It just takes awhile to get going but it does sum things up with characters that you truly like and those that you do not. "

" Not a bad read, but I definitely wanted more action/conflict. "

" Historical fiction is a favorite of mine and I was very drawn in by the topic and the sanatorium setting. I appreciated the unfortunately timeless theme of the injustice that results when prejudice and patriotism are stirred. The use of the collective "we" as the narrator was problematic for me. At one point I was trying to figure out who would have known about conversations between Naomi and Eudora, or Miles and Dr Petrie, and the final paragraph didn't really help significantly. It was slow. the group sessions were somewhat pedantic and the box that drove the main action was a contrivance that I just couldn't credit. "

" Set in a TB Sanitarium during World War II, enjoyed the flavor of the times. Quick, interesting read. "

" It's coming out in October... Andrea Barrett is a fantastic writer, and all of her stories and novels follow the same galaxy of interconnected characters. Yet they're all readable on their own, too. This book takes place in an upstate NY sanatorium for mostly poor immigrants. America is just about to get involved in World War One, and the sanatorium and nearby town becomes inflamed by hatred and nativism that rise to the surface as Americans go off to fight overseas. "

" This book is about the TB-cure camps in a fictional town called Tamarack Lake in the Adirondacks, about the patients, the new inventions (X-Ray), what they do to keep their minds engaged -- and what happens when war or disease causes people to become suspicious of other people, especially foreigners. When WWI starts, the thrust to ferret out "the enemy" could remind you of other times in our history, even up to "Homeland Security". The subject matter is something I didn't know about -- the characters are good -- and I really liked this book. "

" I should really like this book - public health history! - but it's kind of predictable. "

" This book bored me to pieces. I put it down. No interest in picking it up again "

" I liked the period and setting of this Adirondack town organized for people getting a TB cure in the days preceding and during our entrance into WWI. However, I just didn't enjoy two of the main characters, Naomi and Miles. "

" This was a hard book to get into for the first 50 pages or so, but then I was hooked and I enjoyed reading it. "

" I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it enough to read again. At times I felt that things were moving too slow. I did like the perspective the book was written from, and the narrator's voice, however. "

" This book was pretty slow for the first half, but the characters finally started developing and things picked up a little in the second half. It was an interesting perspective on the war. I also gained a few insights on tuberculosis and what is was like to live with the disease. "

" I started enjoying this book when I reached the last third, but it wasn't enough to make up for the dry beginning. There weren't any characters that I got attached to and for me, that is must to really like a book. "

" What I learned: The scrounge of TB around the time of WWI, tenement housing and public health, sanatoriums and "rest cures" defined by class status, and the beauty of Adirondacks. Barrett's research is meticulous. She reacreates the time,place and feel of the affliction. "

" Great historical fiction, but poor mystery. I was kind of confused because the mystery didn't seem like a mystery at all to me. The romance was also a little cliche. But still, a good period piece - onset of WWII "

" kind of slow so far... "

" I never was that interested in the characters and I felt the book was a little dull. "

" I love Andrea Barrett's books. This isn't her best, but I enjoyed the setting and the piece of early 20th century history that she's never written about. The characters are interesting. "

" I really enjoyed this book. Very interesting history about TB and WWII. Well written and thought-provoking. "

" Has the historical sense of place and time that I love pitch perfect, interesting perspective and engaging characters. Very ethereal. "

" Set in a TB Sanitarium during World War II, enjoyed the flavor of the times. Quick, interesting read. "

" This was a hard book to get into for the first 50 pages or so, but then I was hooked and I enjoyed reading it. "

" I loved this story, a great mixture of passion and historical fiction, with racism and women's lib thrown in! I listened to it on audio and it got me all the way to NJ! "

" Readable, but not enjoyable. Perhaps only readable becuase I was trapped on an island that I could walk around in 30 mintues, with no other available reading material. "

" While I really liked the story I thought it lacked a good ending. I thought the subject matter was very interesting and look forward to discussing this at book club. "

" Not my favorite book by this author. The last section read perhaps the best of the story. "