While I Was Gone in Around the World in 80 Books

Aug 08, 2009 Hazel rated it liked it

Shelves: chose-on-a-whim

At first this book captured my imagination and got me reading more than I had recently. I set aside my Sunday morning to finish reading the book and I was left thinking that somehow they had left a chapter out. Nothing was really resolved, or really interesting enough to make you want to think about it after you'd finished it. Quite a disappointment. ...more

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Jun 17, 2013 Lisa rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-adults

Well thank goodness that is finished. Did not enjoy it... should have known when I saw the Oprah label on the front that it was going to be depressing. I didn't like the main character and her yearning for always something more... spoiled... ridiculous. I didn't mind it as much when she was in her hippie stage... but after she was a wife, mother and veterinarian for 20 years you think she would have outgrown it... but she didn't. The book was mostly about her character and not really any interes ...more

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Sep 29, 2020 Kay Green rated it really liked it

This was the second time I read this book - first was probably 18 or so years ago. The main character Jo lives in a Massachusetts town (to me it seemed like Concord) and has 3 daughters. So I loved the locale and the interactions with the daughters. Thankfully here the similarities end - Jo meets up with a housemate she knew after college in Boston and in their shared house there was a tragedy. Now 30 years later much is learned about what really happened. I just loved her writing and the way th ...more

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Oct 30, 2007 Jen rated it it was ok

Shelves: chick-lit, fiction, new-england, zz2010-read, married-life

It wasn't a *complete* waste of my time to read. I was compelled to "see what happens next" while I was reading it, but now that I've finished it and some time has passed, I'm slightly annoyed for having read it.

I'd read the interview with the author at the end of the book, and she'd said that she didn't like the main character/narrator when she started writing it. I think that showed in the writing. ...more

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