This is a form of contemporary fiction I'm calling social commentary fiction. It tells a story to tell you what’s right and wrong about society. BetteThis is a form of contemporary fiction I'm calling social commentary fiction. It tells a story to tell you what’s right and wrong about society. Better social commentary is not overly didactic and allows you to draw your own conclusions. The more common form is very preachy and tells you how to think about what’s going on. I’d give this a 3.5. The beginning of the book is fairly ordinary as it sets the stage � a complex one � for the main story. We have smart, well-meaning parents Scott and Maureen, who are noveau riche, living in a tony part of Orange County, overlooking the sea where they’re raising their three kids. He’s a software developer, she worked when they met but now is a full time mom. They’ve fallen on hard times because Scott lost all their savings on a bad investment and they’ve let go their nanny and gardener but retained their housekeeper, the protagonist, Araceli. An annual party led to her replacing their high maintenance jungle garden with a desert garden with quite mentioning the specifics of this to her husband. A fight ensues in which he pushes her away from him, she falls into a glass coffee table, and they both retreat to different parts of the house, not their bedroom. She goes to sleep on the floor next to her 2 yo daughter. Each of them then steals away with nothing but their wallet, and Scott takes his phone. He stays local, she takes the youngest child, the daughter, to a spa in the desert. Each thinks they’ve left the other with the two boys. It takes half the book to get to this point. Then it gets interesting. After four days alone with the boys, with no idea why she’s alone, Araceli has had it. She’s fed them and been protective enough to sleep on the floor outside their bedroom so she can tend to the younger son’s fears when he wakes in the night, but she isn’t emotionally attached to them. She can’t get ahold of either parent. Scott isn’t at work and she doesn’t seem to know his cell phone number. Maureen left her phone in the bedroom, which she didn’t go in because she thought Scott was sleeping there. Araceli decides to take the children to their paternal, Mexican grandfather, at a house in LA, the address of which she found on the back of a photo that’s clearly very old. We know from the extensive introduction, that Araceli was an art student in D.F., that she isn’t particularly fond of children, and she has a fairly gruff exterior. TBC...more
Pretty good storytelling. Interesting reviews of other people who have had similar out of body experiences. Good reviews of the cases against. Fairly Pretty good storytelling. Interesting reviews of other people who have had similar out of body experiences. Good reviews of the cases against. Fairly well balanced between believing and not believing. It’s hard not to be biased toward whichever side you fall on. Once you’ve spent time in the Oneness, it’s hard not to think it’s real. Hard to discredit it. Why should you? If it’s not there, it doesn’t hurt to think it’s there. If it’s real, why deny it?...more
Life Health Nursing Home ownership Gay life Near death Being vulnerable
Written like a poem but more importantly, it explains poetry at least a little biLife Health Nursing Home ownership Gay life Near death Being vulnerable
Written like a poem but more importantly, it explains poetry at least a little bit Just read it ...more
3.5. Off beat. Lots of literary references. He could have left out reading the publishers on the audiobook. It made it tedious. I love his storytellin3.5. Off beat. Lots of literary references. He could have left out reading the publishers on the audiobook. It made it tedious. I love his storytelling and descriptions of people and place. It was an odd story with deep insights. I might read everything he’s written. ...more
Warning: not for vegetarians. I really wanted to like this book. Paris + food + a coming of age story. What’s not to like? It was 100% predictable, evWarning: not for vegetarians. I really wanted to like this book. Paris + food + a coming of age story. What’s not to like? It was 100% predictable, even the eventual love interest. A few interesting characters, mostly the cameos of real people were fun to read about. Otherwise it was trite and patronizing. Barely a step above YA. Blah. ...more
Yorkville book group pick. I don’t love Groff’s writing. She tries to represent the thinking of women in early history and it doesn’t resonate for me.Yorkville book group pick. I don’t love Groff’s writing. She tries to represent the thinking of women in early history and it doesn’t resonate for me. I find her offbeat prose (and unwittingness to use quotation marks) forced and annoying where others find it moving. It was a good bit of history and probably based on some real things but no one in the group went digging for it so not sure. ...more
A good, straightforward piece of historical fiction set near Highgate Cemetery in London at the beginning of the twentieth century. The cemetery is thA good, straightforward piece of historical fiction set near Highgate Cemetery in London at the beginning of the twentieth century. The cemetery is the center of the story. Enjoyable characters. The suffragette movement and the plight of women are main themes. A good solid listen, although the last third or so got sentimental and a bit sappy. It’s beyond belief that there are women who think they want to return to a subservient status. ...more
I really enjoyed this. There’s a time twist in it that’s pretty unique and mostly worked. The writing isn’t great but isn’t bad either. The history leI really enjoyed this. There’s a time twist in it that’s pretty unique and mostly worked. The writing isn’t great but isn’t bad either. The history lesson was excellent. Overall, better than I expected and improved a lot with the first time quake. ...more
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