Welcome to Litsy!

This is a good book - a great one even - in the sense that it‘s incredibly creative and meticulously crafted and really well-written. I found it nearly frustrating to read, though, in the sense that I could just TELL I would need to re-read it two or three times to fully appreciate it 😵‍💫 Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/a-visit-from-the-goon-squad-jennifer-egan/

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Finally read this one. Took awhile to get going but then I mostly enjoyed the separate but overlapping (back)stories of several characters who were important in the lives of a divorced music executive and his assistant. Well written and engaging, but I didn‘t necessarily like or care much about most of the characters, and the last section was a little bizarre. I did enjoy it, though.

Merry Christmas Eve and Happy #Jolabokaflod! I opened my gift between putting in some hours of farm work today and getting ready for church this evening. Thanks so much Kristen for the book and chocolate. This one‘s been on my wish list for a while!

Thanks again to @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting this wonderful swap!

🎸

I would love to revisit this one.

Finished this on the treadmill this morning, and like others by Egan that I‘ve read, it almost worked for me, but not quite. Maybe it would have been better in print, or maybe I‘m just not rock‘n‘roll enough for it. Low pick for me. #unpopularOpinion

It is a gorgeous day here with buds on the trees but hiding behind this springy exterior is WIND and 46 degree temps! I went to the used bookstore while Mom is at the dentist and sold some books. I wasn‘t going to buy any, but I couldn‘t help but look! F&F and Goon Squad are ones I love and wanted to own. The Uncoupling is new to me.

I keep thinking one day I will not feel like I‘m drowning and have more time for litsy. I miss y‘all! 💜💜

My favorite book of August was A Visit from the Goon Squad, which was recommended by my niece. 😀
#12Booksof2023 @Andrew65

Wow. I just finished reading this intricate, mesmerizing book, and feel I only barely scratched the surface of understanding its meaning and brilliance. The way Jennifer Egan weaves the characters‘ tangential yet interconnected lives through time and generations is masterful. A modern classic for sure, and worthy of many future rereads.
#Roll100 @PuddleJumper

Maybe it gets better after I stopped (at 40%) but it wasn‘t doing it for me.

#TitlesandTunes This novel was more like interconnected stories with some sections stronger than others. There were moments of #SexDrugsandRock&Roll 3.5 🌟

Also using for #Booked23 #Weird I didn‘t get the whole charts and graph section.

This was my first pick for July‘s #TitlesandTunes book. In trying to decide which song to pair with it I ended up going down a punk rock rabbit hole. I almost changed it to Fallopian Rhapsody about the Lunachicks, a new to me band, who I‘ve been listening to today. My song choice is a favorite released the same year of the book. Just love everything about #T&T and can‘t wait for the playlist. You all have EXCELLENT taste.

I also celebrated #indiebookstoreday yesterday by going to my favourite local shop and picking up these three used books. I‘ve had two of these on my tbr for a while. #independentbookstoreday

Coming to you from director Olivia Wilde!

https://deadline.com/2023/04/olivia-wilde-a24-jennifer-egan-a-visit-from-the-goo...

#Movie2BookRecs @klou
Prompt: Quartet

Book 140

Book 140 I listened to A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, a story about music with a plethora of intersecting, presumptuous characters. I understand it won a pulitzer because of it's formatting, so I need to see the book. There was a random chapter near the end with a lot of rewinding noises. Odd. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Suddenly, it was the moment to read this book that‘s been on my shelf for 3 years.

I‘m really enjoying it.

I had a library loan coming in for The Candy House, so that prompted me to finally read A Visit from the Goon Squad, which I have had a worn down copy on my shelf to read for upwards of a decade.

Really loved this inventive, sprawling, interconnected web of a novel. Certain narratives were more compelling than others, but I loved how each new piece of the puzzle revealed new sides to previous characters and stories.

This was such a brilliantly crafted novel. I loved how it read almost like closely connected short stories instead of a novel. The music theme resonating through each individual person's story came together for a cohesive and satisfying ending.

I'm excited for The Candy House now.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I read this to prep for Candy House which we are reading for book club. I enjoyed this one very much. I liked reading about how different people were connected to one another and how some characters evolved as the years went by. It was very well written. I‘m hoping I enjoy Candy House just as much.

This is very good. My secondary irl book club (who doesn't have one of those?) picked this for July and The Candy House for August. Not sure how I feel about reading a second one though...

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

#BookSpin #DoubleSpin #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I have way too many books in my possession and some are partially started. So this is my feeble clean up attempt...

Wow I am so behind with reviews and catching up with what everyone is reading!! Hi to all my reading friends! In the past month I‘ve read 4 good books…all different..all well written..top marks for Good Squad and Absolution by Murder and the others not far behind. Hope your all enjoying a good book😘😘
#fiction #literature #reading

The book provided an interesting exploration of the passage of time, the effects of aging on individual lives, and the longing for the past through memory. It read like an interconnected book of stories. The plots and characters revolve around Bennie and Sasha, who remain on the periphery through much of the book just out of focus. I would have loved to view more from Sasha's voice as I found her the most complicated and interesting of the group.

X

And my solo vacation begins. Excited to start this one on my flight

Still so great even ten years after I first read it. Egan has found the sweet spot between a novel and interlinked short stories. Pitch perfect prose, incisive in its observations of human interaction, immensely affecting and thoughtful. Goon Squad remains a worthy fave.

Wow I‘ve had a fabulous week in Melbourne! I‘ve visited all the book shops..Hill of Content, The Paperback Bookshop, The Basement and Dymocks😊 I‘ve been to the Opera, the Symphony, Hamlet, The Van Gogh Display, the museum to see Triceratops and the fabulous botanical gardens. I‘m exhausted but happy❤️ and a box of books is on its way home!!
#bookshops #travel #melbourne

I read this 10 years ago and cannot remember a lot about it, so decided a refresh was in order before jumping into Candy House.

📖 4-25-22 || Pulitzer | Interior | Angst
Uses different styles and techniques (article excerpts, Power Point slides, etc) to explore different eras and characters. There were some very moving sections that will stick with me for a while, however I got lost in the switching back-and-forth from different characters and time periods.

This was an interesting read which I didn't enjoy very much. Each chapter is told from the viewpoint of a different character, using different narrative techniques (one chapter is a PowerPoint presentation!), jumping back and forth in time. It is well-written, but I feel like the author was going for producing a well-written book more than for telling a good story.

I am struggling with this …. Does it get better after the first 1/4 of the book??? Cause right now I could careless about any of these characters.

Starting this one tonight. Finally getting close to finishing the Super Rooster list that I started a long time ago. 😂📚

I really wanted to focus on Sasha's story arc, but the book would not comply. I enjoyed the other stories, but those stories, along with the characters, bored me a bit. I just wanted to get back to hers. The stories all meet in the end, but it was not nearly as satisfying as I had hoped. I enjoyed Jennifer's writing and will definitely read another one of hers

Oh how I loved this. The short stories joined together by a thread that was sometimes inscrutable and sometimes blindingly obvious. Some of them took my breath away. The last story was the least satisfying IMHO, but I appreciated the fullness if the world the Egan constructed for her characters. I gasped out loud several times reading it.

Starting this reread while in the dealership waiting room!

#booked2021 musical instrument on cover @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage
This was a so so for me until chapter 9 and then for me it took a turn. The characters for me didnt have any redeeming qualities and thats never good.
#marvelousmarch @Andrew65 first book 4 hours 50 minutes in
@TheAromaofBooks #bookspinbingo

The chapter made up of the slide show journal that 12 yr. old Alison made is pure genius. That chapter is 5 stars. The rest was between 2-3 stars because they are each like disjointed short stories. With a character or three that somehow intertwines with another character or three in a different chapter. You flip back and forth in time. In this chapter they are a child, in that one they are a father of three. One of his kids is in another chapter.

What a powerhouse of a book! Each chapter reads like a short story but all the characters are interconnected by a delicate web of a plot that spans decades! It‘s furious pacing suited my goldfish attention span at the mo. I got completely lost in the beautiful writing and characters. I loved this! 😀

Been reading these yesterday/today and I‘m bailing on both ☹️ neither of them are entertaining me at all.
Sorry @Caroline2 I‘m the usual rubbish buddy read!!
Need to find a good book!

Help Caroline! Struggling...... I‘m not into the writing style at all, the multiple POVs....will do a bit more but not really into it!
You?
Did say I‘m a rubbish buddy read.

Starting this one today for a tip toe quiet buddy read....with Caroline 😁

Excellent and distracting read- love the jump through time and characters weaving a full story that lucky for this reader comes to a satisfying end. Summer reading cocktail: one part “High Fidelity”, 2 parts “Fleishman is in Trouble”, a generous splash of anything Irvine Welsh- stir vigorously and garnish with a wit of time. Enjoy!

This is one of those books I feel I should have read but haven‘t..... evidently there‘s a companion volume combining out soon to celebrate 10 years. Maybe I should get around to reading it!

https://ew.com/books/jennifer-egan-visit-from-the-goon-squad-10th-anniversary/

Ugh. I want the hours it took to read this book back! I don't see what the hype about it is all about. It's gimmicky and I didn't give a hoot about any of the characters. I'm so mad I read this whole book instead of putting it down halfway through.
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