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Here we'll discuss the December group read. I'm eager to find out why there's been so much buzz about this book - it seems everyone is talking about it!
Any many thanks to my GR Knitters for all the new nominations for 2014s group reads - pop over to the open nominations thread and keep them coming!

I listened to this recently and loved it so I'm looking forward to what everyone thinks of it.

Same here. I loved the book, especially the narrator (but I can't remember her name). After listening to it, I thought it might be hard to read in print because of the way it's presented. I'm interested to hear what everyone thinks, too.

I just started listening to this book today. It is one that you really have to pay attention to because there are so many different voices. I am enjoying it so far.

I'm reading it and only a hundred pages in so far, but I'm very amused!

Really enjoyed this book---and I was also highly amused.

For some reason I'd been resisting even thinking about reading this book. Maybe it was because I felt overwhelmed by holiday gift knitting. Anyways, I was at the library, needing some reading relief and thinking about something light to read while knitting. Bernadette was staring at me as I walked in the door, from the Top Bets shelf...

Since I live in the Seattle area, I'm very familiar with and critical of these Microsoft people. In particular, a relative worked as a contractor for Microhard (snicker) and was appalled by how he was treated by his snooty co-workers who were staff, and considered him the dirt under their feet for "only" being a contractor.

So the humor of this book is not lost on me. I love it.

I stumbled across this book at the recommendation of a friend and also, like several others above, loved it! I read/listened to it via the Audible/Kindle Whisper Sync which was like a best of both worlds. I got to see the quirky formatting of the correspondence and also enjoy the well suited narrator for the Audible version. Like Kathryn, the humor about Seattle and the Pacific Northwest was quite apt after growing up in a small town outside of Eugene, Oregon and then living in Seattle for 7 years before settling in San Diego. I was particularly struck by the mother/daughter dynamic between Bee and Bernadette. Hope others enjoy this selection as much as I did! (Well worth the time spent away from holiday knitting!)

I absolutely loves this book--couldn't put it down! (Fortunately, it was a quick read.)

LoveD, darnit. (Although i'd loves to read something similar)
;0)

This is a quirky, funny book. I'm about 1/3 of the way through.

This is a quirky, funny book. I'm about 1/3 of the way through. Dying to find out what the blackberry abatement guy is going to do. AND whether he gets paid!

I'm listening to this and just got to disc 8 (I had to rent it from the library) and it's soooo good! I absolutely love the narrator. She does a great job, especially with all of the different things she has to somehow read.

Alexa wrote: "I'm listening to this and just got to disc 8 (I had to rent it from the library) and it's soooo good! I absolutely love the narrator. She does a great job, especially with all of the different thin..."

I thought the same thing! I wonder if I would've liked this as much to just read it. She added so much to each of the characters.

Mardy wrote:

I don't think I would have liked it as much. She makes the story so easy to follow with her different voices. I loved when she sang Silent Night, it was so much better than just reading the song.

I agree with all the comments about the audio version. I was so impressed with Kathleen Wilhoite's narration. She is an actress with a very distinct and recognizable voice, and yet I kept forgetting that it was only this one woman behind all the characters. Each was brought alive with full-on distinct personality. I think I would have still loved this novel, but not as much, had I just read it and not listened to the audio version.

Writing wise, I loved the story. It was quirky and fun and at times heart-rushing. It was one of my favorite books of 2012, and I liked it more than anything I read in 2013. I thought the epistolary format was perfectly suited to the telling this story.

I was just checking out what other books members here have read that I, myself, have read too and wanted to add to this discussion.

I thought this book was really entertaining! My favorite parts were when Bernadette had to interact with some of the Moms - I REALLY related with her! I live in a fairly upscale neighborhood myself and my child's school career has been FILLED with these types of parents that Bernadette had issues with. I was especially loving these parts of the story! (And no - my family can't "compete" with all the "haves" around us - we were just fortunate to buy when our area was in a "down" economy.) I couldn't relate tho, with Bernadette's high IQ but loved the relationship between the parents and daughter. Great writing - funny story!

I might be the only person here who didn't like this book! I did the audio version and loved the narrator. I did not like any of the characters so I just didn't feel very invested in what happened to any of them. I did like the descriptions of Seattle folks (I'm live in Washington).

Alexa wrote: "Mardy wrote:

I don't think I would have liked it as much. She makes the story so easy to follow with her different voices. I loved when she sang Silent Night, it was so much better than just read..."

Yes! That was surprising how well she sang! I wonder if they knew she had a great singing voice when she was selected to narrate the book?