Death is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.
Coming home from a Hawaiian vacation with her best girlfriends, Lucy... read full description
Coming home from a Hawaiian vacation with her best girlfriends, Lucy... read full description
reviews
Apr 19, 2010
Warnie B.
rated it: 
It took a little while for this book to hook me; I wasn't sure how much I liked Lucy, the main character, at first, and I didn't feel like the afterlife stuff was all that original. But by the end of the story, I found I cared about Lucy, and wanted to know why things had turned out the way they had for her. I found I even cared about what happened with her ex-fiancee Martin, and her best friend Jilly, and her sister Alice, and her dog Tulip. And even if the afterlife stuff wasn't all that origi
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Apr 05, 2011
Punk
rated it: 
Dippy Paranormal Chicklit. Dental hygienist Lucy Fisher dies suddenly, gets sent to ghost school, and then is returned to earth as a ghost to complete an assignment no one bothers to explain to her. Or us.
I am holding my head here. I don't know where to start. Laurie Notaro writes snappy, sharp humor essays and, apparently, slow, unfunny novels. This is a mess. The writing's repetitious and contradictory. Halfway through, the POV snaps an axle and starts weaving all over the road and More...
I am holding my head here. I don't know where to start. Laurie Notaro writes snappy, sharp humor essays and, apparently, slow, unfunny novels. This is a mess. The writing's repetitious and contradictory. Halfway through, the POV snaps an axle and starts weaving all over the road and More...
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Mar 19, 2010
faeriemyst
rated it: 
Poor Lucy Fisher. Just when she thinks she can go home and relax from a crummy vacation, she finds all her belongings tossed out onto the lawn of the house she shares with her fiance, and to top that off, she then loses her job. The last thing she needs is to be hit by a bus and left to be scraped up by an over-sized spatula (I don't envy whoever has to do that!).
After a slow build-up, the book finally came alive (so to speak) for me at the half-way point, along with the help of her More...
After a slow build-up, the book finally came alive (so to speak) for me at the half-way point, along with the help of her More...
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Jun 09, 2010
MaryKay
rated it:
I enjoyed this book. The story is light-hearted and entertaining. I wasn’t sure that I liked the main characters through the first 1/3 of the book, but I came to like them more as the book progressed. The author’s view on what might happen to people after they die is interesting and entertaining. As a warning, there is too much swearing in the book.
I was sent an advanced copy through the First-Reads program of www.goodreads.com. The backside of the title page warns that my cop More...
I was sent an advanced copy through the First-Reads program of www.goodreads.com. The backside of the title page warns that my cop More...
Oct 19, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
When Lucy Fisher returned from a rather catastrophic vacation in Hawaii, she thought it wasn't possible that things could get any worse. But when she arrived home to find all her possessions unceremoniously tossed out into the yard by her newly ex-fiance and her now-tattered wedding dress in the grasp of a grubby homeless woman, she knew she was wrong. Dead wrong. And now, after losing her home and her fiance, she loses her dog, her job, and, in an unfortunate bus accident, her life. But for Luc
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Jul 27, 2011
This my first time reading anything by Notaro, but after reading this and even her brief bio in the back of the book, I have decided I must read some of her creative nonfiction! I thoroughly enjoyed Spooky Little Girl. It's a fun, fast, quirky read that tells the story of Lucy who dies unexpectedly while her whole life is falling apart. After being instructed on the arts of haunting, she returns to the land of the living to complete an unknown mission.
I'll admit that there were a few plot holes More...
I'll admit that there were a few plot holes More...
May 12, 2011
Ryandake
rated it: 
right at the point where the main character Lucy comes home, finds her belongings on the lawn, and the locks rekeyed, she ends up talking to her dog, who is locked in the house that Lucy is locked out of. and she's talking just like people talk to their dogs, full of slobbery endearments and rhetorical questions. and i laughed so much.
but that was just about the last time.
there are some good moments in this book, don't get me wrong. Lucy is a fairly well-realized character (f More...
but that was just about the last time.
there are some good moments in this book, don't get me wrong. Lucy is a fairly well-realized character (f More...
Jan 05, 2011
dixie
rated it: 
I picked this up on a whim at the book store, thinking it looked interesting. I put off starting it, for one reason or another, but once I finally started it, I couldn't set it down.
This book amazed me in a couple of different ways. It's rare for me to review a book with a complete lack of reservation, but I feel almost as if Laurie Notaro climbed into my brain and started writing down everything I feel. Lucy does not dwell on the idea of death, but is focusing on putting her life ba More...
This book amazed me in a couple of different ways. It's rare for me to review a book with a complete lack of reservation, but I feel almost as if Laurie Notaro climbed into my brain and started writing down everything I feel. Lucy does not dwell on the idea of death, but is focusing on putting her life ba More...
Dec 20, 2010
Tonya
rated it:
This novel is definitely big on humor and the wacky kind which at moments kinds of bordered on the ridiculous but usually worked well. I liked this take on death and for the most part it was original while still borrowing from some modern day ghost stories such as the whole cold spots effect and ghost hunters.
There were moments where I felt bad for Lucy's character especially in the beginning because so much happens to her in less than a few days time. Her fiance kicks her out, she lo More...
There were moments where I felt bad for Lucy's character especially in the beginning because so much happens to her in less than a few days time. Her fiance kicks her out, she lo More...
Dec 20, 2010
Doug
rated it:
I found Spooky Little Girl frustrating. It’s not that it’s bad, exactly, but I feel like there’s a much stronger and sharper book stuck inside it. It offers a nifty reversal on a traditional ghost story plot driver: instead of the living figuring out why they are being haunted, Lucy has to figure out why she’s haunting the living. Unfortunately the story is bogged down by dense masses of unneeded exposition and trite imagery (the milieu of the afterlife à la Notaro seems to owe a lot to films li
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Nov 25, 2010
Chibineko
rated it:
I love Laurie Notaro. I mean it. I've been a fan of hers ever since I picked up [[ASIN:0812969014 We Thought You Would Be Prettier]] years ago. She's gifted at writing about her life. I have to admit though... I was a little leery of whether or not she'd be able to write a fictional book. (Spoiler: She is more than able.)
The book follows Lucy, a young woman who is literally having the worst luck ever. First she's thrown out of her house by her fiance without any explanation. Then she's More...
The book follows Lucy, a young woman who is literally having the worst luck ever. First she's thrown out of her house by her fiance without any explanation. Then she's More...
Sep 14, 2010
Karen
rated it:
I love Laurie Notaro and have read all of her books. “Spooky Little Girl” is the first Notaro book that I really disliked. I felt like it was riddled with problems. None of the characters, with the exception of the Dog, Tulip, were likeable. Not only where they impossible to like, but I couldn’t even understand why most of them would be friends. It just didn’t work.
The story centers around Lucy Fischer, a self absorbed dental hygienist, whose Fiancé mysteriously kicks her out of the More...
The story centers around Lucy Fischer, a self absorbed dental hygienist, whose Fiancé mysteriously kicks her out of the More...
Jun 17, 2010
Colin
rated it:
I really like Laurie Notaro's writing. Sure, I am the completely wrong target audience and when I went to her reading at Powells recently, I may have been one of the only few guys in the audience. But Laurie's writing is funny regardless of your gender.
One of the perks of writing fiction as opposed to non-fiction/memoir like Laurie's previous books is that she is allowed to exaggerate the characters she uses in the story. This helps make them more memorable like Nola who is obsessed w More...
One of the perks of writing fiction as opposed to non-fiction/memoir like Laurie's previous books is that she is allowed to exaggerate the characters she uses in the story. This helps make them more memorable like Nola who is obsessed w More...
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Feb 26, 2010
Lucy Fisher returns home from vacation to find her life in ruins. Her belongings are thrown out on the front lawn, her fiance has changed his phone number, and she’s lost her job. Lucy’s life can’t get any worse, which turns out to be the case when a city bus abruptly ends it. Lucy can’t move on however; she instead finds i herself in ghost school, learning to haunt the living in order to complete her unfinished business back on Earth.
Laurie Notaro’s Spooky Little Girl has a great prem More...
Laurie Notaro’s Spooky Little Girl has a great prem More...
Jul 19, 2011
Melki
rated it:
Though I'm a big fan of Laurie Notaro's comic essays, this book, her second novel, was disappointing. I'm thinking she fell asleep watching "Beetlejuice", and dreamed up this plot. Like the Tim Burton movie, Notaro's book features bureaucracy after death, classes in "how to be a ghost" led by a sassy old broad and disgruntled spirits with their knickers in a twist due to the atrocious redecorating schemes perpetrated on their beloved homes by the thoughtless "living"
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Feb 19, 2010
Ann
rated it:
Adult (teen interest? Maybe, but not a first pick)
A scant eight weeks before her wedding, slightly-flaky dental hygienist Lucy Fisher comes home from a horrible Hawaiian vacation and discovers a homeless lady on her front lawn, trying to stuff Lucy's wedding dress into a garbage bag. In fact, all of her belongings are outside of the house that she shares with her bland fiance, Martin. The next day, Lucy's Umbridge-esque coworker Nola gets her fired. With nowhere else to turn, Lucy l More...
A scant eight weeks before her wedding, slightly-flaky dental hygienist Lucy Fisher comes home from a horrible Hawaiian vacation and discovers a homeless lady on her front lawn, trying to stuff Lucy's wedding dress into a garbage bag. In fact, all of her belongings are outside of the house that she shares with her bland fiance, Martin. The next day, Lucy's Umbridge-esque coworker Nola gets her fired. With nowhere else to turn, Lucy l More...
Jun 13, 2010
Cindy
rated it:
The most creative and imaginative book I've ever read. I have to say, I was a bit scared to read this book. The title "Spooky Little Girl" made me wonder if it would be about a girl who died and came back to haunt people. I thought I would end up getting nightmares when I sleep, especially because I always read right before I go to bed. But in fact, this book was far more interesting than that. Notaro was so humorous and funny at explaining things, especially when she described a group
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Jul 27, 2011
Donna
rated it:
If you're looking for a quick, entertaining read, with a side of quirky humor Spooky Little Girl will very probably suit you well. This is Laurie Notaro's second work of fiction and, in my opinion, an improvement over her first. I have been a huge Notaro fan since page 1 of The Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club and have repeatedly "laughed 'till I cried" over her various true tales but I will admit the first fiction novel was a bit of a let down. However, in Spooky Little Girl she move
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Apr 06, 2011
Laura
rated it:
Lucy Fisher is having a very bad day. She's just returned from her dream vacation in Hawai'i (which was actually more like the vacation from hell) and finds her dog locked in the house and the locks to the house changed. Her fiancé isn't answering his phone and, oh yeah, the front lawn of her house is littered with every single one of her possessions. Including her wedding dress, which Lucy has to wrestle out of the grubby hands of a passing bag lady. Finding a temporary refuge at the home o
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Nov 03, 2010
A.
rated it:
This was my first Notaro. Being drawn to funny and supernatural, I thought it would be a perfect introduction, even though I understood that it would be different from her "essays." Overall, Meh.
The book is good enough, interesting enough, and original enough to keep you reading, and pretty quickly. It did not, however, in any way impress me. But it was enough to pass the time.
The book starts with Lucy, the protagonist, who has a terrible day and then, to top it More...
The book is good enough, interesting enough, and original enough to keep you reading, and pretty quickly. It did not, however, in any way impress me. But it was enough to pass the time.
The book starts with Lucy, the protagonist, who has a terrible day and then, to top it More...
Feb 07, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
I liked Laurie Notaro's memoirsThe Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life and We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive, which are witty, sarcastic, confessional and silly. I don't think her style translates to novel format as well. That being said, I still enjoyed this, but I think that Notaro doesn't show so much as tell, and her character's backgrounds are told through a series of reminisces and tangents that sometimes c
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Jan 23, 2011
Bree
rated it:
Lucy Fisher has just returned home from what was supposed to be a dream vacation to Hawaii with her two workmates. It didn’t turn out that way at all and she’s just looking forward to getting home – however when she gets there, she finds all her belongings outside the house, stacked up in her truck and on the lawn. She has to fight a homeless person to get her wedding dress back. Confused, she tries her key in the lock and discovers that it doesn’t work. Her fiance Martin is no where to be found
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May 07, 2011
Djinnjer
rated it:
A fun but not amazing read. I liked Lucy much better after she kicked it -- for the first couple chapters she comes across as super self-involved and hard to connect to. (I suspect that's partly a side effect of the author's attempt to hold certain facts back to give the book some suspense.) Lucy's grandmother is hilarious, and the book truly hits its stride once she enters the story. The author's excellent grasp of the ridiculous (and the recommendations of the book club) makes me want to g
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May 16, 2010
Talia
rated it:
Lucy Fisher is having a bad week. First, she comes back from a crappy vacation to find all of her stuff on her front lawn and the locks changed: her boyfriend has broken up with her. Then she wrongfully gets fired for cocaine consumption. Broke and with no place to go, Lucy visits her sister, hoping to make a fresh start with her life when… she gets hit by a bus and dies. But that’s just where the story begins. Lucy is in limbo, where she has a mission to fulfill before she can cross over to th
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Jul 19, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
I loved this book from the beginning! I have seen some people give this book a bad rating but for me I thought it was great.
Lucy Fisher spent all of her inheritance on a trip to Hawaii with 2 of her good friends and coworkers. When she returns she finds a bum carrying off her yet to be worn wedding gown and all of her other belongings thrown out in the yard of a home she shares with her fiancé Martin and her dog Tulip. Once she realizes she’s been thrown out of her house and her k More...
Lucy Fisher spent all of her inheritance on a trip to Hawaii with 2 of her good friends and coworkers. When she returns she finds a bum carrying off her yet to be worn wedding gown and all of her other belongings thrown out in the yard of a home she shares with her fiancé Martin and her dog Tulip. Once she realizes she’s been thrown out of her house and her k More...
Apr 14, 2011
jv
rated it:
Sometimes I feel like the proverbial square peg.....a short, squat, square peg in a world of tall, lithe, gorgeous, country-club super-moms. Those are the times I reach for a Laurie Notaro book. Reading her short-essay books is almost as good as having drinks with your very best girl-friend....you know the one that will say anything, do anything and is always having a blast....Laurie must be that person.
While this is a novel, rather than the hilarious, yet often sweetly sentimental More...
While this is a novel, rather than the hilarious, yet often sweetly sentimental More...
Dec 20, 2010
Kathy
rated it:
Laurie has always had the magic touch when it comes to storytelling. This is her best effort yet. It is themed around death, the afterlife, ghosts and unfinished business. But this isn't your usual haunted story - it is presented "Laurie-style" - which means plenty of laughs and clever, unpredictable action. But what I loved the most is that it has so much heart in it. Anyone who has ever lost a loved parent, grandparent, sibling, friend, even a pet will feel comfort and lightness afte
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Feb 21, 2010
Trin
rated it:
Oh, this is bad. Familiar, old-fashioned, college creative writing course bad. The plot makes no sense, the characterization is thin or muddled, and the prose ranges from workmanlike to borderline incompetent. For example, here is one page (p. 239) of dialogue attributions:
Isis explained
Nola gave in
Nola said sharply
Isis investigated (this one’s totally my favorite!)
Isis continued
Nola confirmed
the psychic requested
Nola replied
Isis querie More...
Isis explained
Nola gave in
Nola said sharply
Isis investigated (this one’s totally my favorite!)
Isis continued
Nola confirmed
the psychic requested
Nola replied
Isis querie More...
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Jun 08, 2010
Bewitched
rated it:
Laurie Notaro has written mostly memoirs, which are laugh out loud hilarious. When I saw that she had a novel coming out, I preordered it without hesitation. I really love her writing style and the humor/strange situations she injects in her memoirs and fiction. In Spooky Little Girl, Notaro introduces you to her version of what happens when you die. And this version is not your run of the mill, you die and go to heaven or hell, sequence of events. Her characters are very vivid and likeable, and
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Dec 31, 2011
Mary
rated it:
As this was an "impulse grab" (I had ~10 seconds to grab a book before the library closed), I was not expecting too much. I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a pretty good "chick lit" story. The plot involves a young woman who dies shortly after her life falls apart (loses job, boyfriend dumps her, etc) and after a short "training period" in the netherworld, remains on earth to finish her "assignment" (which is not known to her) before she can go
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