The Reading Group
by Elizabeth Noble
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 654)
I really need something light and fluffy now, but this book is giving me ADD. I just hope it turns out to be better than "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons"...
Update: OK -- now I must rant.
Complaint #1: I have nothing against middle-aged or any other kind of chick lit. However, I feel that chick lit by definition should be both light and short. This book was neither. I found the process of reading it slow, and the book was way longer than it needed to be.
Complaint ...more
Update: OK -- now I must rant.
Complaint #1: I have nothing against middle-aged or any other kind of chick lit. However, I feel that chick lit by definition should be both light and short. This book was neither. I found the process of reading it slow, and the book was way longer than it needed to be.
Complaint ...more
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8 comments
Read in July, 2007
I would have said simply, that this is a book best for a summer read, when you've run out of the books that are "serious literature," and that it would be an escape. There are a few laugh out loud moments - a wife desiring that her husband be shanked while he waits outside a gas station bathroom for her. But the other jokes, I don't think are actually intended to be funny - like the way grown womyn over 35 behave and the now cliche dramatization of harried housewives of a certain means...more
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Read in April, 2004
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in April, 2008
When five women convene one Wednesday night in January for their first reading group meeting, they have no idea how their lives will change over the coming year. Polly is a 40-something, divorced mother of two whose boyfriend has proposed, and she comtemplates her desire to get married again while also dealing with the unexpected pregnancy of her single, 20-year-old daughter, Cressida. Susan is Polly's best friend, and her mother is suffering from dementia. Nicole has a perfect house, a perfect ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Grada by:
Found it in the library
I was interested by the book, because the text on the back side of the cover intrigued me.
The book itself was good, but for me not more than the 3 stars I gave it initially.
Somehow, in the course of the story, it became more and more predictable. The daughter of one having an affair with and having the baby of another friend that is unwantedly childless is one.
But, if it is a book about LIFE, why does there have to be a happy or good ending to everything in this book? I think that is t...more
The book itself was good, but for me not more than the 3 stars I gave it initially.
Somehow, in the course of the story, it became more and more predictable. The daughter of one having an affair with and having the baby of another friend that is unwantedly childless is one.
But, if it is a book about LIFE, why does there have to be a happy or good ending to everything in this book? I think that is t...more
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Read in December, 2007
I bought this book in 2003 on vacation in London…now almost 5 years later it was still collecting dust on my shelf. I picked it up for an easy, feel-good read.
The Reading Group follows 5 women through out one crucial year of their lives. From an ailing mother, estranged children, child pregnancy, divorce and true love they all find refuge in the reading group as they have a common bond of womanhood and family life.
It is a stereo-typical chick-lit book for middle age women. Growing cl...more
The Reading Group follows 5 women through out one crucial year of their lives. From an ailing mother, estranged children, child pregnancy, divorce and true love they all find refuge in the reading group as they have a common bond of womanhood and family life.
It is a stereo-typical chick-lit book for middle age women. Growing cl...more
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After the "Jane Austen Book Club" I was a little hesitant to read a book about reading books... but I found this one quite enjoyable. And the England-isms ("creche" instead of "nursery" and the like) are amusing rather than annoying.
Like "Jane Austen," Noble's book is a collection of women and a collection of stories. Each woman responds differently to the books the group has chosen, in accord with her life situation and challenges. Together, they exp...more
Like "Jane Austen," Noble's book is a collection of women and a collection of stories. Each woman responds differently to the books the group has chosen, in accord with her life situation and challenges. Together, they exp...more
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Read in March, 2008
This book took me forever to finish. It was such a slow read for me. I enjoyed the stories, but there were so many characters right off the bat that I had a hard time keeping them all straight. Fortunately there is a character guide in the front, so that helped.
I enjoyed all the subplots. I think that it is a very cleverly written book. It was interesting to read about their reviews of the books that they chose for their book club. There were several books that I'd like to read because of th...more
I enjoyed all the subplots. I think that it is a very cleverly written book. It was interesting to read about their reviews of the books that they chose for their book club. There were several books that I'd like to read because of th...more
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Read in May, 2008
This book is about a group of women who become friends through a monthly reading group. The story is set in the UK, and I what I liked about the book is that the challenges that these women face are those, albeit difficult, are not so over the top that they become farcical and non-realistic.
My favorite part of the book was the monthly book club discussion, although they were brief and the author gives away too many spoilers for those who haven't read the book. Otherwise, the book is above-...more
My favorite part of the book was the monthly book club discussion, although they were brief and the author gives away too many spoilers for those who haven't read the book. Otherwise, the book is above-...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
the english?
This is a book about a womans book club...but quickly becomes the women in the book club.
As a woman in a book club, this spoke to me. I've found in our own book club, that it quickly becomes about the women and not the books. the books are the reason we give our husbands for getting together.
this is an English author and that seems to always be hard for me to get into. i'm so American. its sad, really. However, it finally got good about 140 pages in and i was rolling.
I love...more
As a woman in a book club, this spoke to me. I've found in our own book club, that it quickly becomes about the women and not the books. the books are the reason we give our husbands for getting together.
this is an English author and that seems to always be hard for me to get into. i'm so American. its sad, really. However, it finally got good about 140 pages in and i was rolling.
I love...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2008
This, to me, was your typical beach read. The book was light (as far as writing style), easy to read, had characters that were easy to get into, it didn't get bogged down with heavy themes (some of the events that happened to each character were heavy, but this book didn't get tripped up in them) - everything you would need to curl up at the beach (or on a lazy sunday) and read. The writer is British, so it was fun to read the British english and I liked that it was kept in that style and she di...more
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Read in May, 2008
Slow book to start but a good book to read. It was a little hard to get into at first b/c it is written by a British author and the language was a little hard to get into. I found myself actually reading it with a British accent! Geesh! But it was a good story about these gals all in a book group and how their lives intertwined and how their lives unfolded. It was a nice respite of a book that was just a good story - not a DEEP book but one worth reading for the sheer enjoyment of reading.
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Read in August, 2007
Billed as "the #1 British Bestseller," this is an absorbing read about a group of women who come together in a book club - more about the rich lives of the women in the club. The descriptions of challenges of childbirth and a newborn are right on, and the women in general have genuine voices. Struggling marriages, aging parents, sterility, premarital sex and abortion, it's all here. Always fun to see the British words for things too.
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Read in May, 2008
Really liked this book -- follows a group of British women as they go through their first year of book club and all the various dramatic events they live through. As usual, some events are more likely than others. As they discuss each book, beware that if you haven't read their book of the month and want to? Might want to read IT before you read THIS. Some of them they stay pretty vague, but some they give away big plot points.
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Read in March, 2007
Chick-lit that works for a vacation and not much more...I found it a tad boring.
A group of women of different ages/backgrounds have a monthly book club. The story is an interwoven mix of book club meetings and the different elements of their friendships and life challenges (one woman's husband cheats, another has the perfect marriage but is unhappy, another can't have children...and it goes on).
A group of women of different ages/backgrounds have a monthly book club. The story is an interwoven mix of book club meetings and the different elements of their friendships and life challenges (one woman's husband cheats, another has the perfect marriage but is unhappy, another can't have children...and it goes on).
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This British best-seller chronicles a year in the life of five women, their unraveling lives and the books they read. It takes a bit to sort out who is who, but their stories are interesting, if not unique: lost love, teenage pregnancy, elderly parent, sex, lies and philandering husbands. The best part of the book is the reading list which includes some great classics and new-ish must-reads.
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Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
Angela
All the women in a London reading group deal with contemporary personal and family issues while reading an eclectic selection of novels. The characters were strong women facing a variety of real problems and taking solace in literature and friendship. I wanted to find copies of some of the books they were reading and read them too. Elizabeth Noble is another great British chick lit writer.
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Read in September, 2007
It did take a bit for me to get into this book, but once I did, I became very invested in the characters. The characters of the book are of all ages and at different stages in their life. I liked that aspect, and that the issues they dealt with were so different.
The book also made me want to be a part of a reading group and read all the books that they discussed.
The book also made me want to be a part of a reading group and read all the books that they discussed.
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Rosey by:
my stepmother
This was pure fluff. I found myself despising this book toward the end, but had to finish it nonetheless. Perhaps needless to say, it wasn't worth finishing. The characters were interesting enough and the writing was fine, better than a lot of other writing I used to see way back when when I was reading manuscripts for Doubleday, but the story was stupid. Same old crap. Plop.
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Read in August, 2007
Longer than it needed to be, very predictable, and more drama than I thought I was signed up for (cheating hubby, couple who seems perfect is really not, divorced mom has young daughter who gets knocked up, etc). This was my first book by Elizabeth Noble. I'm going to check out Alphabet Weekends, but if its not fun, I'm going to pass on reading other books by her.
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