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Summary: The best book I've read in a long time!
Review: Told in first person vignettes by a succession of members of the somewhat kooky Walker family and friends of Thornton, Garnet Parish, Louisiana, this book was truly captivating. The stories paint an often hysterical, sometimes bittersweet, always entertaining picture of growing up Southern and Catholic in the 60's. I took this book on vacation with me and read by the pool -- I realized people were staring at me because I was laughing out loud! I regretted having to put the book down, and at the same time balked at reading it straight through, because I didn't want it to be over! I am looking forward to other books by Ms. Wells.
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Summary: How Could You NOT Enjoy This Book?!?!
Review: I remember being in sixth grade, wanting to be a writer so very badly. I wrote a paper displayed at Open House, saying that each chapter of my first novel would be from a different character's point of view. I was thrilled to see this happen in Little Altars Everwhere! It was easy reading, and there was so much emotion squeezed into that small book. Wells painted a vivid picture of those childrens' bumpy lives, and it made me feel like i was one of their neighbors. I laughed, i cried, i wanted to pounce on their mother. I can not wait to read The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood!PS: I saw Wells on Rosie, and they are making it into a motion Picture. I have mixed feelings of this as it often disappoints me to see novels become movies. But i am sure we all feel this way. (O: But I will still be thrilled to see it Dahling! (O:
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Summary: As Vivi might say, "Mahvelous!"
Review: I simply could not put this book down! There was so much genuine humanity packed into this novel! I cried, I laughed, I made my (imaginary) mascara run, and I nearly wet my pants! Rebecca Wells, you are a dahling, and I hope your next book isn't too far away!
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth my time.
Review: I did not like this book. I didn't find any of the characters to be very appealing. The fact that the mother sexually abuses her children gives me absolutely no motivation to read about her life and friendships in the second book, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Why glorify an alcoholic child-molestor?!!
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Summary: Its no "divine secret" this doesn't quite measure up
Review: I was dissapointed in this book, having read the YA-YA Sisterhood first. This just can't compare, while some of the background is interesting, having the narrator change with each chapter was too distracting, IMHO.
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Summary: Excellent!!!
Review: What an awesome book!!! It made me laugh. It made me cry. A very easy read. I highly recommend it. Way to go Rebecca Wells!!!!
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Summary: Glad I read "Divine Secrets" First
Review: I expected "Little Altars" to be another laugh-out-loud story with some touching,tender moments like "Divine Secrets".. But there was nothing to laugh at with this story, which centers around child abuse and alcoholism. Also, I wasn't a fan of the format of the book, in which each chapter was told from the point of view of a different character ....It read more like character sketches than a story. There was too much disfunction in "Little Altars" - and I almost didn't finish it.
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Summary: you may become friends with the family in Little Altars
Review: "little altars everywhere" is indeed a suitable title for a work dealing with the rich, religious culture of the deep south. i wish i could be friends with siddalee and talk to her about her past, and remain friends with her as she divulges the divine secrets of the yayas. i would recommend reading little altars, first, then go and read divine secrets. little altars gives you the background of the lives of an entire family. then when you read divine secrets and meet sidda as an adult, it's like talking to a friend whom you've known your entire life, grown up with, shared secrets with, and now you enjoy drinking tea together and recalling past hellish experiences with a smile, a dunk, and some more sugar.
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Summary: Life, love, God, excess, family, redemption--in So.Louisiana
Review: For a first novel, Little Altars Everywhere, packs a punch that we don't often find in contemporary literature. Rebecca Wells combines humor, abuse, alcoholism, love, religion, fear and tragedy in a novel that shakes our complacent foundations and wakes us up to what parents do to their children whether they realize it or not. And along with that, we learn how the children deal with parents whom they love above all but whom they come to realize are far from the perfect parents they once envisioned. Rural Louisiana is the scene, and it is rich with imagery of live oaks and Spanish moss and the colorful culture that accompanies life in Louisiana. The mother, Vivi Walker, and her childhood friends, the Yaya sisters, live, love, drink and play cards while the children at times lead charmed lives in their presence and at times are subject to abuse as result of their mothers's excesses. Each chapter is told by a different character so that we are able to know the perspective of all the people--adults, children and the notably perceptive viewpoint of Willetta and Chaney, the Black couple who live on the Walker's property and work for them. The contrast between the two families, so close yet so very far apart, is interesting and a moral foil that exposes the excesses of the priviledged class in a not very flattering light. Overall, Little Altars Everywhere is a great read whether one chooses to delve into the deeper realms or simply enjoy it as a novel of family and relationships rich with humor and life. Read it, and then go ASAP to The Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood, a charming and entertaining book about Vivi and her friends and all their children that will keep you laughing and crying from beginning to end.
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Summary: Semi-dark and disturbing, NOT the Ya Ya's...
Review: I read this book after the Ya Ya Sisterhood and it changed my perceptions of that book too. Vivi was way more disturbed than you were lead to believe. If you loved the Ya Ya's Don't read this dark explanation of their lives.
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