A quick read that was quite humorous; there was something more I wanted from the story rather than just these letters. Austen had a great way with creating interpersonal drama in her day and age, and all the big events are here but I wanted more detail and the things that happen in between the letters. It was clever and funny, and I thoroughly enjoyed Susan Vernon and her plans. I'm eager to watch the movie now because it must expand on this novella.

I absolutely loved Shapton's previous work, [b:Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry|5150897|Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry|Leanne Shapton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311977324s/5150897.jpg|5217893], which I still pull off my shelf occasionally to leaf through or show someone. This book isn't quite up to the same detailed standard, but I do love the way Shapton creatively organizes thoughts on relationships. Here, she tackles The Ex, The Ex-es, the men and women who were here before you. It resonates, man. Hahaha - literally had to stop trying to describe my exes in a similar way while I was reading. I would post a personal example here except, hey, this is the internet and I don't know who's reading. Possibly somebody who considers me The Ex.

(Though I should note that I was surprised to not see any technology brought up within the pages - plenty of home phones and letters and diaries but no cell phones, text messages, social media, etc. Different generation?)

This is definitely one of the most WTF?! books I've ever read. I didn't know anything going into it, and that was probably for the best. I might not have read it if someone had tried to explain the plot. And I've tried to explain the plot verbally to friends: IT IS TOUGH. So I won't try here.

The audiobook is narrated very monotone. Now, the way I see it, this was probably on purpose given the amount of repetition in the prose (the dialogue and narration had the same verbal tics - like starting several, several sentences with "The way I see it") and the satiric bent of the whole thing. It starts out very much "woah woah woah wait a minute" and then kind of devolves into something less interesting given that I have no care for any of these very-much-the-same characters. There were a lot of laughs and it made me shake my head smiling, which is why I ultimately liked it, but I still became bored and it waned on me. It seemed almost like a Palahniuk book--completely absurd and unsure if you're supposed to be 'enjoying' it.

Well done to DeWitt for something pretty original, but I'm not sure I could ever recommend this to another person. I don't think I'd recommend the audiobook--perhaps hearing the same phrases over and over again in a monotone voice was worse than reading them and imagining differences between Lucille and Joe and Renee, etc.

A funny dating memoir full of many truths about men and women. It started out very strong, became somewhat repetitive in the middle, and ended well. I think the last few stories were my favorite, when Klausner was dissecting more recent relationships. Klausner does not mince words and I admire her wit and ability to lay all the dirty details out: I cringed thinking of my own and know that I would not be able to write a book about my most terrible dating decisions. Fun, fast read.

I've always been intrigued by the figure of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald but never delved into any research on her or read any biographies. This was a fun way to learn, through fiction. Apparently the author adhered to Zelda's letters and friends/acquaintances stories quite closely, though had to fill in details (and some very dramatic) when needed. It was an enjoyable novel, and yet sad. There's so much to relish in the character of Zelda, in the love story of her and Scott, in their travels, in their friends, in their enemies. I liked the way Fowler had Hemingway saunter through their lives wreaking havoc where he could; not that he was the only source of misery to come between Zelda and Scott.

And as someone that a lot of people have remembered only when I'm in the context of standing next to my husband, boy, do I feel for Zelda. She was certainly tied down by the social rules of the time and what it meant to be a wife: meaning, a wife was supposed to be her only role, not only by society, but by Scott himself. I felt so lucky during parts of this book to be in the present day.

Only one quibble, really. There seemed to be gaps or rushes through certain parts. I understand the gaps because of basing the story on reality; there might not be anyone who knows what happened during that time or perhaps there was nothing of note that happened. On the other hand, there was a sentence near the end of the book about how Zelda and Scott went to Cuba for vacation and I think it was just a paragraph that mentioned it. It seems it was their last time together...what happened there?

In the end, I cried a little. I was sad to say goodbye to Zelda and especially in the manner our heroine had to leave this world.

I'm eager to read Zelda's published fiction and more of Scott's work as well, since so much of it seems to be a glean into their lives together. Recommend this novel for lovers of the jazz age and those romantic expats in Europe.

The voice of our heroine, Addy, is one that displays all the intricacies of being a teenage girl. As narrator, she's unsure of a lot, but she wears confidence as a cheerleader, as the lieutenant to her squad captain, Beth. There are a lot of questions she's trying to answer about those around her, and the reader is along for every step, though some of Addy's behavior surprised me at certain turns. In a good way. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, which was funny and biting and even eerie at times. I liked this much more than The Fever; the characters seemed more interesting and I absolutely loved the intensity of their cheerleading.

All I keep hearing now is "Don't you know that, Addy?" in Beth's biting teenage voice on loop in my brain. I know it's said at least twice, maybe more, but it seems to really encapsulate the tone of the novel.

Maybe I'll try more audiobooks since this was the first in over a decade; recommendations welcome.

Thoroughly loved this book. Like, I want to hug it. Ozeki is a wonderful storyteller, and by the end rises to masterful. Ozeki manages to combine so many themes seamlessly between her characters; she writes them with the fullest humanity that made me feel like I knew them intimately by the end. There was so much I was reflecting about in my own life as I read, partly because Ozeki uses universal themes and actual global events that many people have memories tied to.

Ruth is a writer in Canada who finds a package washed up on the beach that contains the journal of a teenage girl named Nao from Tokyo, along with some other memorabilia. While Ruth reads the journal she tries to ascertain how the package might have arrived to her and where the girl is now. I'm someone that loves hearing about the steps one takes to get to the resolution of a mystery; and I was delighted at how bizarre some of them are in this book. Nao's story revolving around growing up in California and moving to Tokyo and bullying and her grandmother Jiko and buddhism and her parents is both heart wrenching and lovely. At times the book delves into Murakami-like territory, but to better effect than any of his latest works. The book is magical. (Yet some might say that the magic is rooted in science...)

The audiobook is narrated by the author herself and she does a fantastic job of inhabiting her characters and providing the mood and tone she intended. Upon ending, though, she mentions that the physical copy of the book comes with footnotes, images, appendices that could not be translated to audiobook. I think in the future I'll seek out these characters again on paper, and get to enjoy their story all over again with even more information.

I feel like I may have needed to read this book rather than listen to the audiobook, mainly to take pauses to ruminate on this post-apocalyptic landscape. I suppose I did not help myself by being impatient with the story unfolding that halfway through I played the audiobook at 1.25x speed to get through it quicker. Yes, this was due to me being annoyed at the way/pace information was being revealed as well as the narrator's somewhat slower reading pace.

All that said, the book was intriguing. Cal and Frida are a couple who strike out alone to the California woods after the world as gone to sh*t. But of course, they are not alone. I liked getting to know the characters and how they manage day to day to survival (and how would I? I enjoy post-apocalyptic books because I also think of where I might be - like our protagonists? Antagonists? Somewhere else?). As they navigate a little further from their normal bounds, the book gets much more interesting and yet I became frustrated with how the focus of the book came to be information withholding: the characters doing it to each other and to the readers. Some of the revelations were worth it, but doing it repeatedly dulled any shock value some may have had otherwise.

The end seemed to come with an unexciting sigh. Perhaps it was also a mistake to finish this book the morning after Donald Trump was elected president. I was already in a terrible mood and the book felt a little closer to true after thinking about the effects this presidency could have on our environment. And our President-elect's perception of gender equality plays in to it, as well. California is a grim setting for our future.

So, I might have liked this a lot more if I had read it's print form and if I hadn't been such a grump about the election. I'd like to say I'll revisit it under better circumstances, but it's probably not going to happen.

A riveting thriller about teenage girls. So much to recognize in the way high school girls interact and are intertwined. Definitely a page-turner; the book flew by as I stayed up late to get to the bottom of the mystery. I was trying to figure out what happened, taking guesses at every chapter close. Abbott kept the suspense high and I didn't quite figure it out, which was nice. I enjoyed the writing and the characters, though I wished for a little more in the end. For a little more Deenie/Lise closure. Very solid.

I liked the evolution of the characters in this novel. Like Jules, it made me think of how I pictured the trajectory of my life going and how it actually ended up (so far). How money plays a factor in those who wish to lead creative lives. How friendships change as you get older, and the work that goes into remaining close when certain fundamental aspects of your lives threaten to pull your relationship into something more distantly maintained. It's about a group of friends, none of which I can relate to closely, but I recognized so much while reading. There were some odd moments, a couple of characters I didn't understand, but overall I enjoyed reading this book.

I am also looking forward to the Amazon tv series, which Lauren Ambrose is set to star in as Jules.