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What Members Thought
Oh my GOSH I loved this book SO MUCH. For me it's a 10 hour roundtrip drive to my parents' house, so whenever I go home I try to do an audiobook. But it's such a flat, boring drive that I need something really good to hold my attention or else I get bored and switch to music. This was GREAT, the kind of audiobook that had me anxiously putting the next disc in as soon as I could. Really funny narration--I especially loved her voice for Bee, the teenage narrator.
When I saw that Maria Semple had wr ...more
When I saw that Maria Semple had wr ...more
This story follows former famed architect and current recluse Bernadette Fox, who is preparing for a family trip to Antarctica, a reward trip for her plucky, intelligent daughter, Bee. But Bernadette has been secretly outsourcing all errands and familial tasks to a remote assistant in India, and before the big trip, an incident occurs that leads to Bernadette’s disappearance. It’s up to Bee to solve the mystery of where her mother went and try to salvage her family dynamic.
I really enjoyed this ...more
I really enjoyed this ...more
Well. Enjoy flying through this guy anyway.
"The brain is a diminishing machine."
Also so many brand name drops they are rendered meaningless, so this is a great reference for your graduate semiotics thesis. The structure at the top is delightful. This is beachy-read-y for a brain-ball and very enjoyable. I felt like I was listening to "O Holy Night" right along with her and/or visiting Antarcitica.
I read the acknowledgements and had confusing feelings because she thanked Mia Farrow? Semiotics. ...more
"The brain is a diminishing machine."
Also so many brand name drops they are rendered meaningless, so this is a great reference for your graduate semiotics thesis. The structure at the top is delightful. This is beachy-read-y for a brain-ball and very enjoyable. I felt like I was listening to "O Holy Night" right along with her and/or visiting Antarcitica.
I read the acknowledgements and had confusing feelings because she thanked Mia Farrow? Semiotics. ...more
I honestly don't get the hype on this one. Interesting structure, but I didn't laugh once. Maybe a snicker or two, but it just wasn't my sense of humor. Overall, a little too clever for it's own good with a few decent moments. Pretty forgettable.
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I saw that the movie based on this book was coming out this spring so I always like to read the book first (nerd alert, also the books are almost always better) - so here we are. I read Maria Semple's other book last year and didn't love it so I was a little reluctant to read this one. However, it was delightful. The quirkiness of the writing and style worked with the story and I love a book that's done with fake letters, transcripts etc. I knocked it down a star for being too precious at times
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Worthy of a beach read
Will my friends still talk to me if I call this a cross between Gone Girl and Eat, Pray, Love?
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Feb 05, 2014
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Sep 14, 2015
Alvin
marked it as to-read
Dec 04, 2015
Christie
added it
