Audio-Bibliophiles discussion

The discussions for this book will start November 1st. Pick up your copy this week so you will be ready to join in.

Please be courteous to others and don't post too many "spoilers" without at least posting what chapter you are on so others know if you are further ahead than what they themselves are. You may even use spoiler tags if you wish.

Most of all...Enjoy the book & the discussions.

I need to check w/my local library to see if they have this one - I hope so. I will start a little later in the month - I am still listening to , it is really good, but long. Then I want to listen to something light, then listen to , I can't believe it took so long for me to get it.

I never did get to Linda. I even own it so I don't have an excuse, other than the fact that the month we were supposed to read it I had just barely started and OMGosh...that book took me FOREVER!!! I needed a couple light, easy reads after that one. I hope to finish the one I'm listening to now within the next few days and then I do plan on starting .

Cool. I'm excited about this book. I will go get it now and hopefully start within the next couple of days. :)

I'm up to Chapter 10 and so far I don't love the book because just when I get interested in a character, it jumps to another. So far there are at least 4 points of view over several different decades, plus a chapter that is supposed to be from a novel and another that is the summary of a screenplay. I expected a lot because of the rave reviews, so I will give it more time to come together. The narration is good, it's the structure of the book itself that I am finding a challenge.

Thanks for the feedback Robin. I haven't started this one yet, but I plan on doing so soon. Sounds like this may be a better read then listen?

I don't know if reading vs listening would matter. The narrator does a good job differentiating characters. I am now on Chapter 13 and still waiting for it to become compelling.

Robin wrote: "I don't know if reading vs listening would matter. The narrator does a good job differentiating characters. I am now on Chapter 13 and still waiting for it to become compelling."

I read this during the summer. I kept thinking I was glad I didn't listen. I'd never be able to keep up with all the different characters and time changing. I was compelled to keep reading but, when I was done, I thought "Oh well". Wouldn't recommend it but wasn't a total waste of time.

I hope to finish up today with the book I'm on now so I can start this one. I'm not too optimistic about it now though :( I hope it's not a total waste of time. Guess I'll have to wait & see.

☻Nikki☻ wrote: "I hope to finish up today with the book I'm on now so I can start this one. I'm not too optimistic about it now though :( I hope it's not a total waste of time. Guess I'll have to wait & see."

I just picked this one up from the library. I knew I wasn't interested in it enough to waste an audible credit. I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised since my expectations are fairly low.

It got rave reviews in many places including Bookmarks magazine and Audible. I now have about 4 chapters left. It's never a good sign when I am counting to see how many are left, not because I want to savor it but because I want to be done. It's not awful, but still nothing special. If there isn't some miraculous ending, I am going to request a return at Audible. Maybe it's just me and you will all love it.

I finished & posted a 2star review. The recording was excellent, the narrator did a great job, but the book just never grabbed me. I found the characters mostly self-absorbed and pitiful (except for Pasquale, but he disappears for a lot of the book). There is redemption for some of the characters at the end but I found that unconvincing. He is a good writer, I just didn't care about the characters. Some people said they didn't like the Hollywood aspect but that was the one part I liked.

I started this today. I'm only about 1 1/2 hours into it & so far I can't say whether I'm going to like it or not. It wasn't keeping my attention the first half hour or so, but I am keeping up with it better now that they are back in present times. Pasquale is just now telling Claire & Shane about meeting the actress. I'm going to hold off on too many comments til I'm further in.

Well, one good thing is that when I posted my review on Audible they offered me a credit back. It seems to me they didn't used to automatically do that, I do appreciate it.

I'm on Chapter 7 and so far I kinda like it. I mean, it's not the most earth-shattering book I've ever read for sure but it's interesting. I'm wanting to find out what happens with Pasquale & Dee. Obviously they don't end up together since he's looking for her years later but I like their relationship so far. I want to know if she is pregnant though. I can't believe a doctor would be so stupid as to immediately jump to cancer but I could see it happening. Some doctors can be stupid (I work in healthcare so I can say I've seen it). I'm still not sure what is going on with Shane. He is right in the middle of pitching his movie. I don't know what his purpose is in the book yet, but hopefully he has one :)

I've got about 4 hours left. I'm on Chapter 14 and can't quite see where the whole book is headed. I agree with you Robin on the characters being self-absorbed. I also like Pasquale but the rest I just have to sit and shake my head. Claire, to be a smart woman is so stupid. Why in the world would she stick with the guy she is with. Michael Dean is a pitiful excuse for a man. I don't dislike Dee but I don't love her either. And what was with Richard Burton?? I'm surprised the author put his character in there. I mean, did the author know Burton? Was he that shallow? Or did he just write it that way to try to make an interesting story??

All that being said, I'm still not hating the book. It's mediocre. As of right now I'd probably rate it 3 stars. I do want to find out what happens, but I will be glad to finish it and start something else.

I never did post my final thoughts on the book. This is a book that I didn't hate but I really wish I had picked up at the library instead of buying it. I really don't know what the main "plot" of this book was. I mean, we follow the life of Dee/Deborah. We find out what happened with her & I guess it had a decent ending for her but I didn't really care about any of the characters. They were all shallow...except for Pasquale, who I did like. The other characters were pretty much filler.

POSSIBLE SPOILER!

I mean, honestly, we are to believe that Claire's boyfriend ends up being redeemable?? Not saying it couldn't happen, but it just wasn't believable to me. I couldn't stand Michael Dean, he was just a horrible character. I still don't know what the point of Shane's character was. He pitched a movie idea & ended up being translator for Pasquale but did we really need his character.

I don't know, when I first finished the book, I was fine with it. It wasn't the greatest book but I was content to finish it. Now that it's been a few days I feel more pessimistic about the story. It sure got a lot of great reviews to be a mediocre book. The narrator was one of the best things about it. He did a very good job. Not enough to fully redeem the book IMO though.

I never did get to this in November. The fact that you didn't totally hate it too Nikki has me thinking I will still plan on listening to this soon. Perhaps even next.

I found this book very disjointed and it felt to me like the author tried to accomplish too much and ended up making me care too little.

Just a "heads up" for those who have read the book. The discussion group Ask Jess Walter has a video where he answers some questions presented by members of the group. This 20+ minute interview is very interesting! Here's the link: www.goodreads.com/group/show/100101-a...