This was one of the most off-putting starts to any book I genuinely liked that I can remember. It starts out awfully. I found the writing style so annThis was one of the most off-putting starts to any book I genuinely liked that I can remember. It starts out awfully. I found the writing style so annoying that I nearly dropped the book multiple times within the first few pages. Then I read a few reviews in which people compared Amy to Lorelai Gilmore and I started to get it. Also, I got past the truly terrible beginning in which Amy's family-abandoning husband finally returns from 3 years in Hong Kong and she doesn't swing a baseball bat at his head or call the cops. And those first few letters from Cori to Amy? Cheesy. Terrible. I just didn't get this book at first. Then, it started clicking, and the pages started whizzing past. I think the author could have spared the reader a lot of doubt about this story if she'd been more upfront about John and Amy's relationship to begin with, but that's just me.
Once Amy was in New York and having all kinds of very New York-y adventures (which I adored), the book became a huge amount of fun. I liked the banter; I enjoyed the makeover and the friendships; and the #momspringa was fun and kind of inspiring. By the end of the book, I was tearing up with Amy and Cori in the hospital and genuinely rooting for her to continue her journey of self-love and positive self-awareness (two things moms are terrible at) when returning to real life after such a magical summer.
On a side note, I truly hated the ending - the letters to the editor that Pure Beautiful magazine forwarded to Amy - and wish to God that Kelly Harms had not tacked on this awful post-script to what was such a great ending to the story. This meant - for me - that a story I genuinely liked, which was well-written and populated by fun and zany characters, was bookended by both a lackluster beginning and a terrible ending.
This was mostly wonderful and I will read more Kelly Harms. She probably has a near-perfect romantic comedy/women's lit book in her somewhere....more
I previously read and enjoyed her book The Dinner List, which had its fair share of flaws, but ended up beRebecca Serle does not write perfect books.
I previously read and enjoyed her book The Dinner List, which had its fair share of flaws, but ended up being a fairly emotional and thought-provoking read. It's based on a simple premise - if you could invite any five people to dinner, who would they be? - and then takes off from there into a mix of reality and fantasy.
Similarly, In Five Years has the appearance of being a light read, but digs in much deeper, touching on heavy topics that might have you tearing up. This book, too, starts with a simple premise - where do you think you'll be in five years? - and then proceeds to blow the roof off of what protagonist Dannie Kohan is so certain her future contains.
However.
The execution of this book had me grinding my teeth in frustration. While I admit that I flew through it, helped along by incredibly short chapters (often just 3 pages in an already short book - Serle moves through five years of plot in 250 pages), I found this book to be pretty glaringly upper-middle-class privileged white people of New York material. This doesn't often bother me, and I don't particularly seek out diverse books, but in this book, it did. There is a LOT of materialism in this book, and a lot of it is around food. There is food mentioned on every page. All these people do is eat out and order in, and we hear about every single meal, every item ordered, and all the previous times these characters met and ate in the same place. For God's sake, when her fiance is meeting her in Bryant Park for lunch, we even hear from Dannie about the proximity of two restaurants to the park and why it makes sense that they order from them. There are also ridiculous lines about spending $700 on dinners ("oh well") and buying $3000 wedding dresses within 10 minutes of being in the store (and then fantasizing about ordering a custom Oscar de la Renta wedding dress, no matter the cost). This kind of talk bores me to death. I really don't care where they ate, how much they spent, and how much they earn, how much it cost to renovate their apartment, that their suit was Theory and their boss wore custom Armani, and that they have been sneaking Botox injections behind their fiance's back since the age of 29 (I'm not making any of this up - it's all in the story) - this is all seriously irritating padding. And that padding was a good 15% of the words in this book - that is not an exaggeration.
The food/spending comments are just an indication of the type of people we are talking about. The ones who fly to Paris for a weekend on a whim, and buy apartments in Manhattan while in their 20s. I'm not saying that they do not have substance, because - even if they are a bit cliched - the characters are fine. I just hate that their lives revolve around these cliche New Yorker activities. But then again, maybe they are just that shallow.
I really loved the premise of the book, but unfortunately it didn't live up to its promise. I'm a sucker for Sliding Doors-type stories about alternative paths in life, and this one had a great moment when Dannie wakes up, five years into the future, in a place and with a man she doesn't recognize at all. This part was really well done. It was getting to that point in time, five years down the road, that was full of Hamptons summers and endless lunches/dinners that drained the excitement from the story. Dannie is dreading this December 15th date so much that she'll tell you all about the tip they left at the Greek diner on West 29th Street rather than actually put her feet forward and get there.
Once she does get there, the ending wasn't what I was expecting. I don't think Serle got it wrong, but it was much less romantic than I thought it would be. ...more
First of all I knew the perpetrator early on and that was a bit disappointing. As soon as Buckley hid the laptop, she became What the f?
SPOILERS AHEAD
First of all I knew the perpetrator early on and that was a bit disappointing. As soon as Buckley hid the laptop, she became Suspect #1. The little scene with Olivia and the photos in her dad's closet was another hint. But I still wasn't sure exactly how or why she did this. Because why pin all of this on her father, the only family member she has left?
I still don't buy this and Alafair Burke frustratingly does little but speculate in one paragraph Buckley's motives in the last pages of the book. How the heck did she get the gun? Why did she stash it in her father's picnic basket, pointing all fingers back to both Jack and herself? Even if I could understand why she shot Malcolm Neely, why shoot and kill Tracy and the homeless guy as well? Tracy honestly wasn't that big a threat - she was a 20 year old girl, not a blackmailing mastermind. Couldn't they have dealt with her some other way than public mass murder? Geez.
It honestly didn't seem like Buckley hated her father so much as to create this elaborate plot to murder people in public and set him up as the fall guy. Even if she was dead-set on murdering Neely, why drag her father all the way to the football field at the exact hour unless to completely pin the blame on him? Buckley's a freaking criminal genius. So if she plotted and executed all this, then she definitely intended to hug her father and transfer the gun residue to him. But throughout the book, you just don't even get a glimpse into this maniacal hatred she bears for Jack. So is she a total and complete sociopath?
Another thing is the obvious parallel to Todd Neely. Todd and Buckley are essentially the same: 15 year olds who carried guns into public places in NY and opened fire. After all of the book's ranting about Neely's bad parenting, Jack's daughter ends up being even more of a psycho and Jack takes the fall for her? For God's sake, the whole book was about how Malcolm Neely was to blame for not seeing the warning signs and preventing his son from opening fire at Penn Station. That's what the whole lawsuit is about. But Jack lets Buckley walk off scot-free from her own public triple homicide? Hypocritical up the wazoo!
No. It's very, very convoluted and there are too many unexplained loose ends for me to rate this higher. I did enjoy the book, but, again, I have to ask... WHAT THE F?...more
Leilani has a great writing style that I'm going to call pointy. It's sharp and often uncomfortable; it jabs and it also takes fast turns as 2.5 stars
Leilani has a great writing style that I'm going to call pointy. It's sharp and often uncomfortable; it jabs and it also takes fast turns as she veers from one excellent sentence to another. However - I did not enjoy this book and that's due entirely to the plot itself (1 star for the plot). About a third of the way through, when lead Edie loses her job and moves into the suburban home of her married lover, together with his wife and adopted daughter, things get weird (and not in a good way). Overall, this is a very disjointed work.
So what've we got here? - A narrator, Edie, who's 23 years old and pretty difficult to stomach. She's lost her job because she violated every HR rule in the book (for no apparent reason and it's never explained). Rather than head to the nearest Duane Reade or Gap to make ends meet, she wallows in self-pity and moves into the suburban home of her married lover (because that is preferable to working a cash register?). She spends hours smoking joints, killing cockroaches, playing video games, scrolling social media, taking trains, and also handouts from her lover's wife, Rebecca, and spends months in this limbo being used by everyone in the household. And if that wasn't enough of a turnoff, there's also an incredibly long, boring and bizarre stint at the New York Comicon at the end of this yellow brick road.
- Her adultering lover, Eric, is absolutely unappealing in every sense, including looks and personality. He's an archivist in his late 40s who's looking for a thrill with a 23-year old. Boring enough for you? This relationship is just bizarre. It doesn't seem like either Edie or Eric particularly like one another, and when there is voluntary choking and abrasive smacking across the face, this union becomes even more baffling to explain, and Leilani does not do a good job of helping us understand why they're together. This is dark, loveless and kind of sick.
- His wife, Rebecca, who's a doctor who performs autopsies. She also gardens and occasionally strips down and moshes at death metal concerts.
Need I go on?
No amount of great writing could have saved this disaster of a plot, which - after the first third - becomes completely repetitive and boring. The end is predictable. The perspective of the 23-year-old narrator is unsurprising and I don't think it's very enjoyable for adults to read about (I'm not even 15 years older than this narrator, and I still read the occasional YA book, but her neediness and self-destruction were unbearable to read).
I might read Leilani's next book, but if the plot stinks of weird power sex plays between completely vanilla men and insecure 20-somethings, and a lot of artful language around killing cockroaches and playing video games, then I'll pass, thanks....more
I totally get that Lisa Ko was trying to write an Important Novel about Things We All Need to Know, and she did succeed in doing that. There2.5 stars
I totally get that Lisa Ko was trying to write an Important Novel about Things We All Need to Know, and she did succeed in doing that. There isn't anything wrong with this book - it's well-written, it's carefully presented and the plot and characters are well-drawn and complex. I just didn't enjoy it. It feels unfair to the author not to round up to 3 stars, but honestly for me it was a "just OK" reading experience, and this is mostly because of Deming's character, whose actions and voice comprise 80% of this novel....more
Not my favorite book, and not the most enjoyable reading experience for me. It was well-written, and, while I could appreciate the author's talent, itNot my favorite book, and not the most enjoyable reading experience for me. It was well-written, and, while I could appreciate the author's talent, it didn't all come together for me. I found myself bored throughout much of my time spent within these pages....more
I'm so surprised by how much I enjoyed it after having previously been so turned off by Eileen. This book is immensely enjoyable, subtly humorous, darI'm so surprised by how much I enjoyed it after having previously been so turned off by Eileen. This book is immensely enjoyable, subtly humorous, dark (but nowhere near as dark as Eileen), thoughtful, and perfectly written. 100% perfectly written....more
There was SO MUCH self-indulgent, materialistic, paranoid-neurotic, upper-middle class, white-people-problem bellyaching in this book. My yoga retreatThere was SO MUCH self-indulgent, materialistic, paranoid-neurotic, upper-middle class, white-people-problem bellyaching in this book. My yoga retreat, my Hamptons mansion, my kids' private school ($40 grand a year per kid), my income (>$4 million), my rich friends, my rich friends' parties. There was so much griping in this book that I was beyond rolling my eyes. I felt sick.
Yet.
Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a firecracker of a writer. She's just so good. And I'm glad that I stuck it out (because I did think several times about quitting, and there was a super boring jaunt through Toby's first half during which I ended up skipping several paragraphs of his paranoid-neurotic stream-of-conscious). There are conclusions throughout, little blips where the text goes macro instead of the horrifically self-absorbed micro, that are brilliant.
I do not think that the conceit worked, that these three friends - Seth, Toby, Elizabeth - had shared one semester overseas in Israel and reunited in their 40s as close friends, and that Elizabeth was telling Toby's story. I didn't buy it. I didn't understand the point of Seth's character, and the conceit - which was the whole purpose of the narrative - seemed forced and irritated me. Elizabeth just kept sticking her own life experience and random "when he met me"'s throughout that were jarring. This is the author (a magazine writer herself) inserting herself into the book.
In spite of what amounted to quite a few problems for me, overall it was worthwhile once I'd plowed through the beginning and it definitely came together in the end....more
The One That Got Away is like a little black dress. I don't want my romances to be like relics from my 2002 prom, all tulle and sequins and hope. I alThe One That Got Away is like a little black dress. I don't want my romances to be like relics from my 2002 prom, all tulle and sequins and hope. I also don't want them to be too slutty, like that bandage dress with the mystery stain that last saw the light of a nightclub sometime back in college. But I do want my romances to be a little bit more provocative, a little bit more intriguing, and a little less run-of-the-mill than this LBD.
While reading, I found myself engaged with the story but not swept away. If it was a song it would have played in the background while I did something else. Good, but not one of those dresses that instantly earn their place in the closet hall-of-fame, the ones that I wore on those unforgettable nights and keep around for nostalgia's sake....more
This was a 2-star book until the last fifty pages or so. The whole time I was reading it, I was mystified by how little Mary Beth Keane had s2.5 stars
This was a 2-star book until the last fifty pages or so. The whole time I was reading it, I was mystified by how little Mary Beth Keane had succeeded in making me feel anything for these characters. I didn't understand why I was reading this book, this story, about these people.
There was nothing wrong with this book, but nothing exciting about it. The writing? Fine. The story? What could have been a very moving story was told too dryly to move me at all. The central problem was that I didn't buy the premise. What was so terrible about Peter and Kate being friends? What was wrong with Peter? What was wrong with Kate? I didn't see anything that happened that warranted the extreme reactions of their parents, and thus kept trying to understand this Big, Bad Thing they had done by being childhood friends while growing up next door to one another.
At many times throughout, I thought about giving up on this story. I felt reeled along pointlessly, endlessly, dragged through the water behind this story that barely managed to generate a wake. While the end lifted slightly, I still think this was just OK. ...more
Elizabeth Gilbert writes astonishingly well. Though this book is over 400 pages, it goes by very quickly because of Gilbert's flowing prose.
While I adElizabeth Gilbert writes astonishingly well. Though this book is over 400 pages, it goes by very quickly because of Gilbert's flowing prose.
While I admire the writing, something about this book never clicked with me. I found the gimmick of Vivian telling her life story to Angela to be annoying. Also, by the end of the book, I also thought that the end didn't justify the means. I just didn't buy Vivian and Frank's relationship (nothing about it made sense to me or gelled with what I understood to be Vivian's character), and I didn't buy that Vivian would be sharing her journey in such glaring detail with his daughter, Angela.
The beginning, when Vivian moves to New York and becomes immersed in the world of the Lily Playhouse, was vital and immediate. I felt like I was there with Vivian, living through these times; the rest of the book, however, felt more like showing than telling, which was fine as well, though not as captivating.
My biggest issue with the book was that I didn't much like Vivian. I didn't like how she behaved at the age of 20; I didn't understand why Gilbert had to bang so hard on the promiscuity drum. Instead of telling the story, she kept driving this point home again and again, to the point where I felt I was being preached to. I guess she herself had a hard time believing a 20-year-old from the Morris family would move to New York and within two weeks have not only lost her virginity (in the most uncomfortable sex scene I've probably ever read), but also have slept with a horde of men (none of whom sound the least bit appealing, and all of whom seem to have been used simply for their ability to buy a decent meal). I found Vivian's return to New York and her life at L'Atelier to be anti-climactic, and then the whole conceit of the book, and the relationship with Frank, was not convincing or authentic. All in all, I think Gilbert tried too hard and, in the end, didn't really succeed, with convincing the reader (and therefore herself) that Vivian Morris was this person who lived this life and loved these people.
It's a shame because, wow, what a voice she has....more
- 2 stars - I was sorely disappointed by A Certain Age after really loving A Hundred Summers by the same author. That book was fast-paced and fascinat- 2 stars - I was sorely disappointed by A Certain Age after really loving A Hundred Summers by the same author. That book was fast-paced and fascinating, while A Certain Age is hampered by a dragging-its-heels first half, an unclear plot twist (view spoiler)[that Octavian actually grew up in the same Greenwich, CT house in which Sophie's mother was murdered (hide spoiler)], and then a very muddled yet admittedly faster-paced second half in which the plot twists arrive frequently, yet contribute nothing but confusion, until whatever you thought this plot was becomes so unraveled that arriving at the end of the story is a wholly dissatisfying experience. It's a complete mess. The only thought left in my head was, "What did I just read?"
It is well-written - no getting around the fact that Beatriz Williams is immensely talented. She does, however, have a tendency to overwrite. Here is an example: “I don't understand,” he says, in a voice like the spray of fine gravel at the apex of a crescent-shaped driveway. That grated on my nerves.
Chuck in a cast of unlikable characters, annoying "Twenties-isms" and dialogue, a title which has zero connection to the story itself, and an extremely unconvincing insta-love story (view spoiler)[between Octavian and Sophie (hide spoiler)], and what you're left with is a gorgeous cover and a handful of potential that was frittered away on a senseless and confusing plot....more
A well-paced mystery. The writer is Romanian writing in English so there are a few oddities and strange expressions, but nothing to detract from the bA well-paced mystery. The writer is Romanian writing in English so there are a few oddities and strange expressions, but nothing to detract from the book. If anything, they lend atmosphere to the story. Nothing to blow your mind, but quite thoughtful and enjoyable....more
Great view into Greenwich Village circa the 1950s and Italian immigrant life in New York. Simple, elegant and engaging, but never cold. Adriana TrigiaGreat view into Greenwich Village circa the 1950s and Italian immigrant life in New York. Simple, elegant and engaging, but never cold. Adriana Trigiani's books are full of heart, warmth, family and lines of wonderful truisms without being preachy. "Talent is a gift, but perseverance is its own reward."...more
The best thing about this audiobook was the narrator, Bahni Turpin. She turns in a truly incredible performance.
The book itself was a bit too long andThe best thing about this audiobook was the narrator, Bahni Turpin. She turns in a truly incredible performance.
The book itself was a bit too long and repetitive. It doesn't really go anywhere. And while I enjoyed Mary's voice and her story, the last chapter sunk this from a 3 to a 4. I'm not even sure what the hell happened... allegedly....more
2.5 stars - Extraordinary stories that exemplify the strange powers of the brain and how physical interference with neurological processes has the pow2.5 stars - Extraordinary stories that exemplify the strange powers of the brain and how physical interference with neurological processes has the power to amplify everything from mathematical calculation to art to music, to the extent even of completely changing the personalities of those affected by such disorders.
Some of these stories are very interesting and are warmly told. However, others are extremely clinical and even boring in the way Sacks conveys them, though the stories are objectively fascinating.
Overall this is a wonderful book, in the sense of containing astounding marvels of the human condition, but due to the collection's uneven telling and overuse of medical jargon and explanations, it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. There were a few times I almost fell asleep while reading it - it was that boring....more
This book was nowhere near perfect, but by the end I had tears in my eyes and realized that I'd come to feel something for these characters, Sabrina aThis book was nowhere near perfect, but by the end I had tears in my eyes and realized that I'd come to feel something for these characters, Sabrina and Tobias. It did read more like a movie script than a novel (apparently the author is a YA writer and also a screenwriter), but that meant that the (short) chapters flew by like the kind of scenes you see with a tub of popcorn on your lap.
While the book gets off to an abrupt start as Sabrina arrives at her dinner list dinner completely unaware, it moves with a sense of urgency as Sabrina realizes that, like Cinderella, her fantasy will turn into a pumpkin come midnight. The flashbacks to the past were more interesting to me than the dinner party scenes, which were oddly paced and had too much going on (Robert, Conrad, Audrey). For anyone who has ever been in a long-term relationship and wondered if it was going anywhere, the tidal coupling between Sabrina and Tobias will be familiar. They first meet at 19 and the dinner celebrates Sabrina's 30th, so a lot happens in the intervening 11 years. With taut pacing and teasing peeks at Sabrina and Tobias' highlights reel, ominously regaled under an impending sense of doom, I found myself caught up in the melodrama, wondering why it ended. The reason left me in tears.
While it seems light and fluffy, this romantic comedy has gravitas. It's perfect for fans of The Light We Lost....more
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