Where'd You Go, Bernadette: General Discussion *Spoiler Free*

[Winter, Group Reads]

This month we will be reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Bernadette Fox has vanished.

When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces--which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where'd You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter's love for her mother.

[Chantal]

Looking forward to this book

[Ilona]

Chantal wrote: "Looking forward to this book"

Me too! :)

[Ashleigh]

I'll be doing this group read via audio book. Won't be starting until mid-May however, around the 17th as that's when I can get the book! Not really my go to genre, but I do like stepping out of my comfort zone every so often!

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

I started this early because I needed an audio book. I just finished it today. Really good audio production.

[Lei]

Reading, my friend said it was not good, might be due to translation, but I found it was a fast reading and interesting.

Edit: Not love it at the end.

[Chantal]

Lei wrote: "Reading, my friend said it was not good, might be due to translation, but I found it was a fast reading and interesting."

Sometimes a translation can really kill the book.

[Feli]

This book was on my to-be-read-list so this gives me the perfect reason stop procastrinating and start reading this book!

[Fallon]

I’m excited to start this book! I should be able to start in a few days! 👍

[Lei]

Chantal wrote: “Sometimes a translation can really kill the book."

Really, but my English reading is too slow.

[Jen from Quebec :0)]

I started this book, got 28% into it, lent it to a friend, and got it back just in time!! --Jen from Quebec :0)

[Judith]

I had never heard of the book but thought I would give it a try. I like challenging my usual reading choices. It is easy to read and has me interested. Looking forward to the discussion.

[Torissa]

This book is okay so far, only 90 pages in, but I'm not a fan of this style of writing. With the narrating through emails I feel like I'm bouncing all over the place and cant get a good picture in my had.

[Ashleigh]

Will be downloading the book tomorrow and hoping to smash through it while my maternity leave begins (because I haven't touched my paperback book in over a month... oops)

[Carol-Anne]

Starting this today on audio book - hoping not to be confused by email/letter narration as others have said!

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Carol-Anne wrote: "Starting this today on audio book - hoping not to be confused by email/letter narration as others have said!"

I did not think the audio was confusing at all. The narrator does a great job speaking differently for each character and each document is "announced."

[Ashleigh]

so I didn't get very far in the month of May with this book sadly :( will have to finish it in June!

[Tessa]

Just finished (took forever to get it from my library). I'm glad I did the audiobook version. I think if I had to read all those emails back to back I would have lost my mind, but the narrator did a great job.