Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple

[Deb]

Goodreads summary:

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle—and people in general—has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

I read this for week Week (The 5 W's or H).

This was a 3 star book for me. I enjoyed it, but the plot got kind of wandering at points where I didn't feel like the story was being moved forward. But I enjoyed the ending quite a bit. I listened to this one on audio which I think actually added to my enjoyment of the book a bit because the narrator was quite good. (It was the actress who played Luke's sister on Gilmore Girls).

[Kathryn]

I enjoyed this book quite a bit too. Not my favorite that I read last year, but I remember it being fairly quick and engaging. I wish I had listened to it on audiobook--I'm a big Gilmore Girls fan and like that actress.

[Brandy]

I listened to this not terribly long after it first came out. I really loved it, actually. But then stories that shift perspective and you see the same things through different characters is always a draw for me.

[Bam cooks the books]

This is my choice for week 14 too--a book I've been meaning to read for ages!

Update: finished and thoroughly enjoyed it. A nice change of pace from heavier books I've been reading of late. Quirky and fun!

[Kathy]

I'm reading this for week 38, a book about an anti hero

Update: I've finished this book and it was very funny. Bernadette is a great anti-hero. I loved this character. 4 stars

[Denise S]

I'm new to the group and playing catch up - I read this book for Where/How/How/When topic. I thought it was a terrific book - very creative, funny and thought provoking. I learned a lot about Antarctica and thought what Bernadette ended up doing was so interesting and unusual - very clever author!

[Angela]

I'm reading this for Week 33: the 16th book on your To Be Read list

[Clare]

I hated this book. It gets one star from me purely due to the facts I learnt about Antarctica by reading it.
This book claims the main character is agoraphobic so I as an agoraphobic person myself was expecting to connect with her in someway and I just couldn't. I found her to be annoying and unlikable with very few symptoms of an illness that it makes a big deal about her having.

[Allison Ann]

I read this for Week 2 - A Book With At Least Two Perspectives. I didn't hate it as much as Clare above me :D but I didn't love it either. It was very self-consciously quirky and as much as I love quirky, I really really hate self-conscious. I did laugh out loud at the reaction to the "inhuman cold" of -13C / 8F. That is sweatshirt weather where I live, which happens to be Canada, hated by Bernadette. Guess what Bernadette, this Canadian isn't too fond of you either. :D

[Jean]

Read this for Week 39 2017 Epistolary Fiction.
I found this book engaging, funny and authentic. I don't often laugh out loud while reading, but this one had me going more than once. This isn't meant to be a serious examination of agoraphobia or serious family struggles. It's supposed to be funny, and in my opinion, it is.

[Maple]

I read this for my Quatre Challenge, a book that takes you out of your comfort zone. I went into this book expecting not to like it; chick-lit (or chick-lit lite) is not my thing, but I fell in love with Bernadette and Bee. They are delightful and vivacious humans that live unapologeticly. That being said, I thought it was a travesty that Bernadette was having some serious mental health issues that her husband chose to ignore; it was difficult to like anything about the husband. What a selfish tool. There was something about the ending that left me unsatisfied for Bee, yet satisfied for Bernadette. It is an odd feeling of unfulfilled and satisfied.

4/5

[Jackie]

Read for Week #41- A book with an unreliable narrator.
Very entertaining, quick read.

[Jammin Jenny]

I used this book for Week 11. A category from another challenge

, read 3/28, 4 stars

I used this book to cover a book with sunglasses on the cover for my BINGO challenge. I really enjoyed this book, and loved the interaction between the mother and daughter in this story.

[Rachel]

I just finished this book for my Women's Prize for Fiction winner or nominee. I really enjoyed it, but I also found parts of it very confusing. I loved the early part of the book which was told through the different kinds of documents, but wasn't as interested in the last third or so.

[Joan]

I read this book for the 2019 challenge prompt #13 - A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks List.

I've been interested in reading it for awhile. It is a different genre than I normally read which it was nice for a break. I liked the erratic thoughts of Bernadette. I found it funny. I liked the characters but some of the parts I just felt went on a little long.