I really can’t review books like this very well and my failure to do so has resulted me being nearly two months behind in my reviews, so it’s past time to just bang something out and apologize to Gail Honeyman for not giving it my best efforts. Synopsis from Goodreads: “Eleanor Oliphant is a bit of an odd ball. She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. That, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, sometime wearer of an […]
Reese Witherspoon has really good taste
I really had no idea what to expect with this book and it really blew me away. I gauged that it was definitely going to be about someone who was certainly not completely fine but this book had very unexpected depths and a wonderfully human story focused on a woman so unlike anyone I have ever known. It centers, understandably, on a woman named Eleanor Oliphant. She has a desk job (and trusts that boring description will preclude further questions) and she has her routine, […]
Kindness
Best for: Anyone looking for a meaningful read that, despite being nearly 400 pages, flies by. In a nutshell: Eleanor Oliphant is nearly 30 and has lived her life alone since leaving foster care. But when she and her colleague witness a man take a bad fall on the street, she starts down a path towards confronting her loneliness and her past. (Read the synopsis online, as I fear I’m not doing it justice.) Worth quoting: “Human mating rituals are unbelievable tedious to observe. At […]
“If someone asks you how you are, you are meant to say FINE. You are not meant to say that you cried yourself to sleep last night because you hadn’t spoken to another person for two consecutive days. FINE is what you say.”
My new book club has a bit of a fascination with books that Reese Witherspoon likes. And that’s fine. Reese’s picks are usually quick and entertaining reads, and lead to interesting discussions that pair well with wine. Without Reese Witherspoon, I’m not sure I would have had Eleanor Oliphant on my radar — I know its been positively reviewed here many times, but something about it just didn’t call out to me. Until Reese announced it would be a movie, which inspired my book club…and […]