Rated of 5
by R Leslie The Gang Worthy of the briefest visit.
My attention was captured briefly by the confessions of a compulsive thief who is slightly redeemed by her compassion for one of her many victims. But after plodding through a copse of characters sketched thinly enough to make them almost immediately forgettable, and trying skipping about on a bit of a scavenger hunt for meaning (for me) - finding none I closed the book without looking back.
Rated of 5
by Lynn A Visit from the Goon Squad
A Visit from the Goon Squad interpolates characters that are struggling with the process of aging while at the same time figuring out their paths and direction in life. Although the book was well-written with each chapter an engaging short story of its own, I did not like the book as a whole. The lack of plot and depth of the characters drained my focus from the book, although as previously said the chapters themselves were easy to read. Throughout the book Egan uses different voices to express her characters, even featuring a fifty page powerpoint presentation near the end of the book. The various writing views makes the book more intriguing, but once again I feel that the book doesn’t capture the depth of the characters personalities and doesn’t show the change that the characters made in time, it just plots their events throughout the years. Also, make note that before you read this book, there are a huge number of characters. I suggest to not spread out the reading, but rather try to read it consistently. I had to keep referring back to earlier passages in the book to remember who all the characters were and what their relations to other characters were as well. The number of characters made it hard to keep up with what exactly was going on in the chapters, but eventually you can piece together the relations and events. As a whole, I would not place this book as a “must-read” and it is definitely not a “relax, sit back, and enjoy” one either. As previously said, I did not like it, but different people have different literature tastes, so I can see how one would like it. However, I am not going to be recommending it.
Rated of 5
by K heada A visit from the goon squad
I finished the book the whole time thinking when will this grab my attention. Very confusing each chapter a different character at different stages of their lives. Not alot of substance. A waste of my time. Would not recomend. It was book club book to read & discuss. Not a lot of discussing on my part.
Rated of 5
by The Shirl What am I misssing?
After reading all the critics, I thought that this would be a great read to suggest for one of my book clubs. I'm 3 qtrs of the way through the book and would drop it except that we chose to read it in a book club. The charcters are all dysfunctional with few redeeming qualities, they are unable to connect with others in a significant way, they lack depth, and are totally self absorbed. I haven't found one of them to be interesting enough to care about what happens to them and right now I just can't wait to get done with this book.
Rated of 5
by Anne What's wrong with me?
The critics adored this book! In fact I never read such accolades: "extraordinary", "dazzling", etc. I couldn't wait to purchase it and begin reading. I'm reading it...and reading it.....but where's the good part? These people are uninteresting and unlikable. As a psychotherapist I was drawn in by the first chapter which takes place in a therapist office. Yes, I understand they were on a journey of aging (I wouldn't say growing), but there was no reason for me to care. Three-quarters of the way in, I just gave up. Left it on a plane so maybe someone else will find it and enjoy it. I wouldn't give it to any of my friends. To tell you the truth, I feel misled. Money wasted.
Rated of 5
by Pepper Not up to the hype
I hoped to like this book and gave it several chapters before closing it for good. I'm very surprised to see it get the rave reviews. I found it confusing, bouncing around with characters I could not recognize in their many incarnations, past, present and contrived future; and never enough to care about.
Also, for all its forward-thinking, there are parts of this book that cannot be read on a Kindle.
A very large book - in number of pages and in content - and every page worth reading. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and her first book on the...
read more
Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great...
read more
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Judge rules unused Borders gift cards to be worthless(May 23 2013) Borders owes nothing to holders of roughly $210.5 million of gift cards that had not been used by the time the bookstore chain shut down, a Manhattan federal...
Full Story
of 5
by R Leslie 
of 5
by Lynn 
of 5
by K heada 
