Play Book Tag discussion

I will admit it. I had pegged Elizabeth Gilbert as a chick lit writer. I hate chick lit. I had written Elizabeth Gilbert off. I would rather stick pins in my eyes that read Eat, Pray, Love. And then a friend whose opinions about books I hold in the highest regard told me that this book was wonderful, and that despite its girth she read it in two days. She has never failed me.

I was looking for an audio book at the library as I had not yet received my Audible credit for the month. There were slim pickings, and then I saw this. And boy am I glad I decided not to let the 26 hours put me off.

What a wonderful, ambitious, sprawling novel. The Signature of All Things is the story of Alma Whittaker, daughter of Henry Whittaker, a self made man of immense wealth who made his fortune selling a bark with pharmaceutical properties. Alma inherits his inquisitve mind and ultimately becomes a botanist herself. The novel follows her life, spanning across a century, and manages to touch on an extrodinary amount of topics while maintaining beautiful prose. Love, loss, grief, ambition, the quest for knowledge, being female in a male world, beauty, abolition, homosexuality, the list goes on and on. Boy can that woman write.

I was absolutely captivated by the audio, read by Juliet Stevenson, from start to finish. I totally disagree with those who have said that it could have used some heavy editing. I hung on every word. I would rate this up there with the best audiobooks I have had the pleasure of listening to. I laughed, I cried, I held my breath, and I felt totally invested in the story of Alma and the vast array of characters that I met along the way.

Reading and loving this book affirms for me what book clubs are all about. The dear friend that I mentioned above is from my face to face book club, and Amy here also encouraged me to give this a go. Had it not been for them I would have missed out on a wonderful reading/listening experience.

I loved this book as well.

Susie wrote: "I will admit it. I had pegged Elizabeth Gilbert as a chick lit writer. I hate chick lit. I had written Elizabeth Gilbert off. I would rather stick pins in my eyes that read Eat, Pray, Love. And the..."

I really need to get to this as it is, and NOW, I really, really need to get to it.

I actually liked Eat, Pray, Love despite some obvious flaws. However, I saw Gilbert speak in person and fell in love with her. She was nothing like the person described in EPL - - she was so disarming and self deprecating and FUNNY.

So I've been meaning to read this book, and it just keeps not percolating to the top of my list.

Juliet Stevenson is wonderful. This book lead to me look for her performances. She is great reading Jane Austen.

:) I feel the same way about Eat, Pray, Love. I wish Gilbert would stick to writing fiction and leave us all in ignorance about her personal life.

Very interesting. I wasn't interested based on the author too (Eat, Pray, Love seemed annoying to me). I'll have to try this though.

I was on the did not like side of the fence of Eat, Pray, Love. Although I know it is very different than this one, that is exactly why I haven't read this. I feel like I'm already judging this based on who the author is and what we know.

I've seen this on overdrive a bunch though-and given the accolades of the audio- I'll probably give it at try eventually!

I have had no desire to read this after not being able to read EPL. Still not sure if I will give it a go -

Ladyslott wrote: "I have had no desire to read this after not being able to read EPL. Still not sure if I will give it a go -"

It's very good, Linda.

I loved it. It was quite a different writing style from Eat Pray Love. It's historical fiction and beautifully written.

LIke you, Susie, a member of my F2F book club, whose opinion I trust, recommended this. I was reluctant because of EPL, but I got the audio and WOW ...