Sing Them Home - 3/2011

[Andrea, Moderator]

Please join us in reading Sing Them Home.

[Tuğçe]

I finally got my copy of the book, I will be listening this one but I am afraid I ran out of time for March. Anyway read it already?

[Charleen]

I just finished this one the other day. Still formulating my thoughts for a review, but on the whole I thought it was only okay. But I will say this type of fiction (what I call "book club" fiction) is typically hit or miss for me, though, so I am hoping that other people got more out of it than I did.

[Andrea, Moderator]

We have a huge project going on at work so I haven't been able to read more than a few pages. I'm hoping to get through some of it this weekend.

[Gnatalby]

Charleen wrote: "I will say this type of fiction (what I call "book club" fiction) is typically hit or miss for me, though, so I am hoping that other people got more out of it than I did."

I wasn't crazy about it either. I know what you mean about book club books-- there's something self-consciously artsy about the book but, unfortunately the talent isn't there to justify it.

The book would be immensely improved without the Our Townish conversations by dead people, which were the weakest point of the book. Frankly I have no idea why anyone would want to give a shout-out to Our Town-- one of the most overrated and overexposed stories of our time. (And I'm fairly certain it was a deliberate homage with the character of the Janitor in Eli's play being so similar to the Stage Manager in Our Town.)

From a more personal side, I have very strong feelings about cheaters, so I had a hard time being very sympathetic to most of the main characters.

I also didn't love that the only fat person was a compulsive eater.

[Charleen]

I didn't recognize the reference, but I also thought those parts didn't do much for the story. Based on how it started, I'd expected them to play a more significant role throughout.

Curious what others have thought . . . about the dead specifically, or other parts of the book.

[Adriana]

I checked it out from the library at the beginning of March in hopes of finishing it that week. I would pick it up put it down and pick something else up. We are now at the end of March and I haven’t made it passed page 46. This book just hasn’t captivated me. I kept waiting for something to happen and when it finally did it really wasn't all that interesting. As determined as I was to stick with it I just can’t.

[Andrea, Moderator]

Well, you gave it an honest try and it just wasn't for you :)

[Stacie]

I just want to tell everyone that if you haven't read Sing Them Home and would like to, Amazon currently has the book bargain-priced in paperback for $5.98 :)

[Andrea, Moderator]

So far I would have to say that I'm not liking the book very much!...lol I'm going to keep trying though and hope it gets better....