What readers think of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, plus links to write your own review.

Personally I enjoyed the book as I am 66 and know some of what the author is talking about. Also I have been married for 46 years. I can't wait for Anna to out a grandmother's view book as it will be just as amusing.

I have always been a fan of Quindlen’s writing, but I was extremely disappointed in this book. Being a baby boomer myself, I was looking forward to some amusing insights to help with the ageing process, but I found this book to be a collection of random thoughts that were very disjointed and uninteresting. I was so frustrated with it, that I couldn’t even finish it.

I thought this was going to be a thoughtful humorous reflection on a baby boomer wife/mother in her mature years. Instead it is a narcissistic rambling of life lived in wealth and privilege. Not interested.

As a fan of Anna Quindlen, I wanted the pages to jump right out of the book so I could devour them as I have with many of her other books. I wanted to savour each word and grow from all of her hard earned wisdom as I have in the past. As a woman in my late 40's , I could relate to many of the aspects of her life that she was writing about but I didn't find anything earth shattering or fresh, if you will, about what most of us that have lived a little have experienced. It's a great book to reflect on your own life and see where possibly you could grow or change your way of thinking as she did but I wanted more and this book left me feeling a little short changed.

Anna Quindlen's book of memoirs and observations is fascinating. I have always enjoyed her writing and certainly hope there is more on the way. She talks about times and attitudes that I have many times felt but couldn't seem to articulate. The fact that she "had it all," marriage, children and a career is more than many of us can attain, but she lets us know it's possible.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake" by Anna Quindlen. Once again Ms Quindlen has demonstrated her marvelous talent in giving us a book that is spot on with the experiences and thoughts a lot of us have had but have never quite been able to put into words the way she does. Growing older indeed leads to growing wiser as Ms. Quindlen shows us and her talent for showing us that is hard to match. Mature book clubs would enjoy this and be able to relate.

With Anna Quindlen being one of my top favorite writers, I was so eager to read this book. It was not chronologically written but, rather, separated into various core subjects. I was not on her wave length initially, but as the book progressed I got more into the groove. I preferred the latter part of the book because I'm in my 60s and the subjects of aging and assessing life (our own and in general) were most interesting to me. I loved learning more about Anna Quindlen, her viewpoints, and some of her life events through her always intelligent and beautiful phrasing. I prefer her novels, but I'm very glad I read her memoir. Thank you BookBrowse for the opportunity!

I am in my mid 40’s and I really wanted to read this book and think that the best was yet to come. I looked for ideas such as dealing with disappointments (things didn't out as planned), losing those you love, long term marriage skills, and difficulties in late teen/early adult children – to name a few of the issues that I am starting to face. I don’t feel I got much of anything from the book – besides maybe envy of life the author has lead. She has had her struggles working as a female in a male dominated field, which is something that I can relate to and possibly this alone would have made for a more interesting memoir. As far as a memoir on a more personal level, I had a hard time relating to a woman that has two homes, obviously no shortage of money, and seemingly the perfect husband and three perfect kids. I think a very select few book clubs would find this book would spark great discussions.