Archive for March 2011

#18 Lorna Landvik's "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons"


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*Disclaimer:  Spoiler Alert*

Meh.   That's all.  Book #18 and it's almost April.  I think I'll be lucky to make half of my goal by July 1st.  In fact, I think that just became my NEW goal.  25 books because I'm such a slacker that I will never get 50 done in time.  Boo me.  It's been a busy year for me, okay?

Anyway, double meh (meh) for this book.  I could take it or leave it.  It wasn't so boring that I couldn't handle it, but it was so cliché that I got super annoyed at it.  Landvik pretty much covers it all with this book.  First of all the idea of "angry housewives eating bon bons" is cliché in and of itself, but that is the whole point for why they called themselves and their book club this.  But looky here at your line-up of book club members in the book:  woman hiding horrible childhood, woman beaten by husband leaves husband and finds "perfect" man, bra burner, older woman who can't have child adopts a child of another race, oversexified woman turned pastor, the gay neighbors and let's also bring in a gay son for the woman who hides everything, best friends' kids getting married to one another, etc., etc., etc.

Seriously, this book WAY overdoes it with the cliché's.  Of course this book is also broken up by decades and of course every distinguishing characteristic of each book club member has something to do with something pivotal happening during the given decade.  Oh wait, let's not forget about the brother who has PTSD from Vietnam and the open-ended cancer bout... does she die?  We'll never know... or at least I won't because I would NOT read a sequel to this book.  400 pages of NO THANKS.

Anyway, I feel as though I'm being harsh.  I will not say that I loved this book, but I really didn't hate it and it really didn't bore the crap out of me.  I won't even be so harsh as to 2 star it on Goodreads.  3 stars it is.

This book is NOT RECOMMENDED (but if you're bored, give it a shot).

Oh, and did I mention that this is a book club selection?  It is.  I don't think I would ever pick up this title on my own.  In fact I guffawed at my buddies for suggesting it.

First line teaser:  "I knew all about having my life saved."

Next Up:  Who knows?  Probably whatever the next book club selection is.  That is two weeks away so maybe you'll get another one before then.  (But probably not.)  ;)