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24th out of 69 books
—
36 voters
The Singles
Take an instantly recognizable social dilemma—attending a wedding alone—add a good laugh (and maybe a cry), and meet The Singles, the warm and witty debut by Boston Globe “Love Letters” columnist Meredith Goldstein.
Beth “Bee” Evans’s first vow as a bride is that everyone on her list be invited to bring a guest to her lavish, Chesapeake Bay nuptials. When Hannah, Vicki, R...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
April 24th 2012
by Plume
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Meredith Goldstein's The Singles, a humorous and often dry look at love and its endless pursuit, is a quick read that anyone forced to attend a friend's nuptials alone will appreciate. When it seems our friends are all coupling up, settling down and leaving us behind, Bee's buddies band into an unlikely group to recall their college friendships, career misdirections and several other catastrophes along the way.
When I started the book, I was initially nervous that Goldstein's debut would suffer f...more
When I started the book, I was initially nervous that Goldstein's debut would suffer f...more
http://www.blue-moon.fr/ecrire/?exec=...
Avis de Callixta
On peut légitimement se demander ce qu’a voulu faire Meredith Goldstein avec son premier roman et quelle idée a piqué Milady de le publier dans une collection de romance car d’amour, il n’est guère question dans ce livre.
Meredith Goldstein s’occupe d’une célèbre chronique du cœur dans un quotidien de Boston et a donc produit ce roman qui présente tout de même quelques failles et qui est peut-être nourri de quelques anecdotes provenant de so...more
Avis de Callixta
On peut légitimement se demander ce qu’a voulu faire Meredith Goldstein avec son premier roman et quelle idée a piqué Milady de le publier dans une collection de romance car d’amour, il n’est guère question dans ce livre.
Meredith Goldstein s’occupe d’une célèbre chronique du cœur dans un quotidien de Boston et a donc produit ce roman qui présente tout de même quelques failles et qui est peut-être nourri de quelques anecdotes provenant de so...more
I was disappointed in this book. I know I'm not the target audience, but I read plenty of books that seem more appropriately targeted to 20-something singles. The characters were unlikeable. There were too many pop culture references, which, in a book about fictional characters, felt more like the author was proving how knowledgeable and "hip" she is (and, of course--she writes for the Globe--I trust her knowledge-base!)
I think this started with a pretty good idea. It had too many characters (f...more
I think this started with a pretty good idea. It had too many characters (f...more
I love Meredith Goldstein! I read Love Letters religiously and she gives some of the best advice around. Smart, rational, balanced advice - I wish we could be BFFs. But I think she's a better writer than this! I enjoyed the premise - single people at a wedding, story of my life - but her characters were selfish, hollow, and sort of boring. I got a little tired of the pop cultural references. A few are great - as I think they form a common bond with author and reader - but too many is oppressive....more
Originally reviewed at Novel Escapes
I enjoyed this lighthearted tale of singles converging at a mutual friend’s wedding. Having been in this position more than once during my lifetime, I could relate to how difficult the position can be. In the promotional material received with this novel, The Singles was likened to the movie Bridesmaids, but I couldn’t see that much of a connection really. It wasn’t nearly as funny, so I might have been a bit disappointed in that respect after reading this co...more
I enjoyed this lighthearted tale of singles converging at a mutual friend’s wedding. Having been in this position more than once during my lifetime, I could relate to how difficult the position can be. In the promotional material received with this novel, The Singles was likened to the movie Bridesmaids, but I couldn’t see that much of a connection really. It wasn’t nearly as funny, so I might have been a bit disappointed in that respect after reading this co...more
****SPOILERS BELOW****
Magen says: The Singles, by Meredith Goldstein, is a novel about several different peoples’ intersecting lives as they all attend the same wedding. It’s got everything you could want from a light summer read--comedy, drama, and characters just flawed enough to keep things interesting.
This is definitely not my usual kind of reading. I’m that person you’ll find scouring the science fiction and classic literature sections in any given bookstore, staying as far away from contem...more
Magen says: The Singles, by Meredith Goldstein, is a novel about several different peoples’ intersecting lives as they all attend the same wedding. It’s got everything you could want from a light summer read--comedy, drama, and characters just flawed enough to keep things interesting.
This is definitely not my usual kind of reading. I’m that person you’ll find scouring the science fiction and classic literature sections in any given bookstore, staying as far away from contem...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and devoured it in one day. Granted, the motivation to read it quickly was partially due to the fact that I'd be meeting the author a few days later, but reading it was a treat, not a chore.
The Singles offers glimpses into five peoples' lives who have all RSVP'd as single to a wedding. There's three old college friends of the bride, all in their late-twenties, each of whom has followed a different life path. Then there's the "creepy" uncle of the bride and a fellow...more
The Singles offers glimpses into five peoples' lives who have all RSVP'd as single to a wedding. There's three old college friends of the bride, all in their late-twenties, each of whom has followed a different life path. Then there's the "creepy" uncle of the bride and a fellow...more
Wedding-weekend ensemble piece The Singles suffers from having precisely the wrong level of detail. Meredith Goldstein can't help but force as many song titles, brand names, restaurant addresses as she can. She tries to enrich her world and her characters' interests with all this, but it mostly distracts from the story and dialog. At times I wondered if she wrote entire scenes strictly to include particular minutiae. On top of this, the novel was filled with lines that were supposed to be witty,...more
Apr 16, 2012
Kristin (Kritters Ramblings)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
kritter-reviewed-2012,
ebook
Five single people attending a wedding without a plus one, a bride who is quite unhappy with their decision and somehow all of the singles are separated like 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon! How can you not fall in love with this book? There are five people who decided against bringing a plus one even though the bride insisted - this book is about their stories, why they are single and why they decided not to bring someone to the wedding.
Each character has a few chapters each in their own voice to help...more
Each character has a few chapters each in their own voice to help...more
I liked and identified with this story. I've always gone stag at weddings -- even the Maryland-wedding-after-graduation scenario (twice)! And the Syracuse flashbacks took me right there: house parties with earnestly bad college rock bands, takeout from Alto Cinco and huddling up with your dorm friends for days on end, never seeing the sunlight.
Things that stuck out:
-The way buffalo wing sauce smell clings to clothing, as a device that really gave you a feel for that character, resurfacing at jus...more
Things that stuck out:
-The way buffalo wing sauce smell clings to clothing, as a device that really gave you a feel for that character, resurfacing at jus...more
8/5/2012: I read this book because a friend stood in line for an hour to have it signed by the author--addressed to ME!--the best gift I've received in a long time. (So thank you, friend!) Goldstein writes an advice column called "Love Letters" for the Boston Globe, and The Singles is a great example of "writing what you know". A wedding! And specifically, the complicated and fraught course one must navigate at a wedding if one comes as a single. Five guests, all singles, descend on the fancy an...more
I hadn't really thought about where you seat singles at a wedding. This is Bee's dilemma for her wedding where everything has to be perfect ... she has five singles to fit in somewhere at the supper. Three are the bride's friends from university, one is the son of the groom's mom and the other is the bride's uncle.
Though written in third person, each chapter focuses on one of the singles. Hannah is still getting over Tom, who will be at the wedding with his new girlfriend, Rob doesn't go to the...more
Though written in third person, each chapter focuses on one of the singles. Hannah is still getting over Tom, who will be at the wedding with his new girlfriend, Rob doesn't go to the...more
ever been to a wedding as a single? yeah, it sucks. all those happy couples celebrating THE HAPPY COUPLE while you sit at a table full of people you don't know, don't want to know, know but don't want to admit knowing...drinking as fast as you can while the bar is still "open" listening to some lame d.j. calling out for all the SINGLE LADIES to get out there for the bouquet toss. i've done it plenty of times and this book was dead on about the whole ordeal. it's written by meredith goldstein of...more
I liked the book but didn't love it. It was a quick read and I really liked the characters but I wish the author had gone deeper with them. I could feel the missing conversations and there were too many open ended stories for the characters involved. It's too bad because I think this is a really great start and could have been fantastic but it just didn't go far enough with the character development. It did remind me a lot of sex and the city at times and I couldn't help but laugh when the autho...more
Full Review @ http://bit.ly/MT0Wmr
There were numerous things that drove me crazy about the book. First off, what could have been a pretty hilarious almost a Bridezilla story simply fell flat to me. I just thought that the book didn't have any bite whatsoever and was read and finished as part of a challenge. I will often read "chick lit" to break up heavier reading and that is why this book was sought out, but it didn't even accomplish that goal for me. Second, it was told in multiple person pers...more
There were numerous things that drove me crazy about the book. First off, what could have been a pretty hilarious almost a Bridezilla story simply fell flat to me. I just thought that the book didn't have any bite whatsoever and was read and finished as part of a challenge. I will often read "chick lit" to break up heavier reading and that is why this book was sought out, but it didn't even accomplish that goal for me. Second, it was told in multiple person pers...more
I wanted to start the summer off with something light and girly. And Goldstein's Singles was perfect. It was just the right blend of pop culture, personal crises and single-girl drama that I needed. But also, it was surprising. We get glimpses into a small group o singles' lives at a wedding, both men and women. See that we're not the only ones at a wedding who are struggling to keep it together. And see them all have their own brand of fun and self-realization. I love stories with multiple char...more
Won from Firstreads
Review first posted at www.apprentice-writer.blogspot.com
Premise: A wedding causes five single invitees to evaluate their lives.
Cover: Title - Simple, direct, effective. Art - Very pretty and reflective of content, with the gold metallic lettering cleverly calling to mind the rings (i.e., life partners) that the novel protagonists don't have. The theme of social pressure for people to couple up literally forms the centre of attention.
Overall, well done and attractive.
First Se...more
Review first posted at www.apprentice-writer.blogspot.com
Premise: A wedding causes five single invitees to evaluate their lives.
Cover: Title - Simple, direct, effective. Art - Very pretty and reflective of content, with the gold metallic lettering cleverly calling to mind the rings (i.e., life partners) that the novel protagonists don't have. The theme of social pressure for people to couple up literally forms the centre of attention.
Overall, well done and attractive.
First Se...more
I love chick lit books that are centred around weddings but don't necessarily focus on the wedding itself. These (usually lavish) events provide such excellent self-made drama, which is probably why I like them so much. Weddings are one of the most emotional events that the general public attends regularly. In this book we don't really learn a whole lot about Bee, the bride, other than what's revealed in flashbacks. We know even less about the groom. I'm not even sure I could tell you his name!...more
After reading "Treasure Island!!!" (see my review to understand my chagrin), this book was a warm hug. "Welcome home, Elyse, Chick Lit is here." I used to be embarrassed about reading chick lit, but I am a chick and I do like reading. I don't feel dumb reading it because 1. I know I'm not, and 2. if people ask I will let them know that I do hold a Master's Degree. Anyway, this book wasn't your quintessential chick lit read after all. It tells the story of a young woman's wedding and the five gue...more
As one of the perpetually single, I knew that I had to read this book. I've barely been in a relationship, and certainly not in a long-term, plus-one to events type one. Without a doubt, I am approaching the age where I will be grouped into the socially awkward, not paired off group known as the singles. Of course, I'm only 24, so most of my best friends are still unattached as well. But, I know the time is coming - we all do - when people will start dropping like flies into marriage and babies....more
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2 1/2 stars. Decent little fluffy chick lit. Premise is the "singles" showing up at a a wedding solo. Chapters rotate thru the singles telling their perspective of the wedding and surrounding festivities. They are mostly connected on one level or another. Cute enough. Neatly tied up, mostly. Some of the people's lives were a little sad. Even the description of the bride and groom's relationship came off as a little sad too. One scene that could have been left out, maybe should have been. All in...more
Bee Evans is determined to invite everyone to her wedding with a plus one. But when five people–Hannah, Vicki, Rob, Joe, and Nancy all decline the option to bring a date–Bee is completely flummoxed (not to mention frustrated). She ends up calling them the “singles” and allows them to drift into the rest of her perfectly planned seating chart.
Told in alternating perspectives of the five characters who chose to attend Bee’s wedding solo, Meredith Goldstein’s novel The Singles is a funny, charming...more
Told in alternating perspectives of the five characters who chose to attend Bee’s wedding solo, Meredith Goldstein’s novel The Singles is a funny, charming...more
This is the story of the Annapolis wedding of Bee Evans and Matt Fee (yes she will become Bee Fee) and the five guests who despite receiving a plus one invite come solo to the wedding. Hannah, a college classmate of Beth’s is a bridesmaid. She dreads the wedding as she will need to confront ex boyfriend Tom who dumped her. She is hoping that Rob a college friend and old boyfriend will attend the wedding with her, but Rob the flakiest of the five solo wedding guests stays in Texas to support his...more
This was a solid book, nothing special but good. I did find it interesting that each chapter was about one of the different single people in the book (that would be attending this one wedding) but in the end it kind of worked. I will say that I felt that there were a lot of holes in the story and the ending threw me off. I felt like the book ended very abruptly with no real wrap up to the story which bothered me a little bit. I almost think this would have made a better movie than a book and I r...more
If you are or were single and part of a mixed group of friends in college, I could see some of this happening....especially the scenario where the ex-boyfriend is coming and how to react. I had some of that with my own bridesmaid at my wedding. I have to say I felt sorry for the group of "singles". I don't know if this was the authors intention. I'm sure there are "singles" out there who are very happy to be that way. It would have been nice to see the author developed the characters and plot.
I'm going to be hard on Meredith Goldstein, whose 'Love Letters' column is thoroughly enjoyable and for whom I had high hopes with this first novel. C'mon, Meredith, you're a better writer than this! Great concept, single folks caught up in the shallow couple-dom of an overly lavish wedding, but too many stereotypes get in the way of decent character development. I am reminded much too much of the world of Emily Giffin, and for that I am sorry. Better luck next time for Goldstein!
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Meredith Goldstein's characters are passionate, smart, headstrong and lonely. But they only admit to the first three. Goldstein leads the reader down unexpected paths as her characters likewise travel routes they hadn't anticipated. There is a merry-go-round of narrators that contributes to the dramatic momentum and romantic confusion as Goldstein subverts the traditional conventions of romantic comedy while simultaneously providing an extraordinarily satisfying one.
This book focused around "the singles", the handful of people that did not bring significant others to a wedding. Each chapter was told in the perspective of one of the singles. I don't usually read books with that type of style, but when I wrote books, that was the style that I like to write in. I like the background stories of all of the characters, and how they all fit together. It's a cute, quick, read. For anybody who likes the chick lit genre, I think you'll enjoy it.
This book is amazing, light, and fun! Bee is getting married, and she’s allowed all of her invitees to bring a guest to avoid the sorrow of attending weddings alone. Five of her guests, however, much to her chagrin, have elected to come solo, anyway. The story follows the five of them, explaining their choices and seeing where that leads them. It deals with some serious scenarios, but all with a light attitude. It’s a great book to ease your way into summer beach reads!
Of the four books I've won from Goodreads so far, this was the one that I was looking most forward to reading. Based on the summary, it sounded like the type of book that I enjoy.
And it didn't let me down. The story had me hooked, the characters were interesting - they had their flaws, but they weren't obnoxious. I really liked how this book was a chick lit novel, but without the cheesy predictability. And I really liked the ending.
((I won this book for free from Goodreads!))
And it didn't let me down. The story had me hooked, the characters were interesting - they had their flaws, but they weren't obnoxious. I really liked how this book was a chick lit novel, but without the cheesy predictability. And I really liked the ending.
((I won this book for free from Goodreads!))
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| Book Giveaways: Win The Singles by Meredith Goldstein! | 2 | 11 | May 04, 2012 11:52am |
Meredith Goldstein is an advice columnist and entertainment reporter for The Boston Globe. Her column Love Letters is a daily dispatch of wisdom for the lovelorn that gets about 1 million page views every month on Boston.com. Love Letters appears in the Globe’s print edition every Saturday. Meredith also writes about questionable dresses, fake rock stars, former boy banders, female werewolves, sel...more
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