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I appreciate what Shriver wants with this book: it describes the downfall of the US in a near future: the dollar becomes worthless, the economy collapses, etc. What follows is an exploration of possible outcomes of this downfall. The family Mandible is just a tool necessary to discuss the situation. But it didn‘t work in my opinion. Dystopian fiction is not the best choice, an essay would have been better although I probable wouldn‘t have read it

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs @KarenUK 1. Oyinkan Braithwaite and Candice Carty-Williams.
2. Covid life= Maybe You Should Talk to Soneone by Lori Gottlirb and The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
3. Reading: I love to get lost in a great story where i‘m invested in the characters and I don‘t want it to end. Audio: I love having someone tell me a story esp if their voice is a good match for the accent/expressing the story all the better!

#3books that I‘ve recommend to others (with success)!

⭐️4/5
Dystopian society where America has collapsed, Mexico built a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants, people are fighting over food and water and nothing is what it use to be.

The historically monied Mandible family faces the collapse of the US economy and the resulting chaos with intelligence, resourcefulness and aplomb... most of the time.

Read March 7-22
Book 15/55

#TimbitTunes #MoneyCityManiacs I‘ve owned the tagged book for a few years and recently after several attempts to read it, I finally gave up. I donated the book to my local library πŸ“šπŸ›It‘s meant to be a scathing look at the not so distant American future where water is scarce and the economy is in despair (sound super plausible 😫) Now that I‘m describing the plot, I‘m a little sad that I gave the book away.

I loved The Post-Birthday World by this author, but this economic dystopia was as irritating as its many disagreeable characters. Shriver imagines a near future in which no one reads books and reputable news sources have ceased to exist, the Latino population has taken on a dominant cultural role, and the US economy has gone the way of Maduro's Venezuela. Ultimately, Ayn Rand fans might like this book. I didn't.

There was a lack of character development partly because there are so many characters, and partly because she simply covers too much ground, thus the story becomes ineffective and misses the mark. I did appreciate her cheeky humour, but feel I may have missed a lot of the subtle nuances that make Shriver great because I simply checked out.

β€œIf the Stoneage taught us anything, it‘s that the world can go to hell in a snap. In the little gaps between disasters, might as well try to have some fun.” I‘m already seeing this book as allegory for our time.
#popsugar2018

My new Libby read. I have no idea what this is about but I loved Lionel Shriver‘s novella The Standing Chandelier and I enjoyed We Need To Talk About Kevin so hopefully this should be worth a read. It‘s quite exciting going into a book blind!

On audio with George Newbern narrating, this book was a delight. Dense with post-economic-apocalyptic drama and comedy, and a cast of truly quirky characters, this book will stay with me for a long while. Also FWIW, Newbern has taught me, after a long struggle, to give in and love audiobooks.

I‘m obsessed. The measure of a good book is how deeply it‘s able to draw you into its world, and today I found myself marveling at the excesses of people and thinking of someone as a β€œBoomerPoop”. πŸ˜‚

Listening to this on audio and really enjoying it. Timely, lively, wry. This novel makes U.S debt default a compelling topic! πŸ˜‚ Chose it because I love George Newbern‘s narration, and because Lionel Shriver!

I‘ve not read this, but the synopsis says - in this book, set in the year 2029, the author imagines a collapsing society where one family is hit particularly hard by the devaluation of American currency.
#aprella #americanmoney

Just so happens my friend returned these two books yesterday...and they both work for #FierceFeb The Dinner is quite the #familyaffair ...while we aren‘t sure just what‘s at play, you know the knives are out! I‘ve yet to read The Mandibles but my friend said it was biting, cutting, sharp & clever... A once wealthy family on the brink of collapse in not so distant future America. And all the LOVE for Mary J Blige β€οΈπŸ™ŒπŸ»πŸŽ€πŸŽ΅{{and my new mugπŸ˜‰ 😍}}

Gah! Seems like I‘ve got the photo challenge days wrong for #150PnPCoverParty. 😏
The book follows the once-affluent, respectable, Mandible family as the country economy collapses and falls into chaos, in this dystopian take on US future.
#money @CrowCAH @LeahBergen

ps - it's POPPET, not puppet. You muppet.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2017/10/new-y...

Not impressed. This was a real slog to get through, primarily as it involves a lot of jargon-heavy theory crammed into the dialogue of characters who presumably don't all have a PHD in economics. A little show over tell would not have hurt this novel. I cared very little about the fate of the Mandibles as a result.

#JingleShelves #RedGoldGreen This is a book I have not "read" but the cover is sporting some gold & green ???I've attempted this book 2x...hoping the third time will be the lucky charm ☘️☘️☘️

Saturday reading πŸ‘ŒπŸΌ

#familyaffair #augustgrrrl
@Cinfhen
This looks like a huge family affair - it just hasn't called to me as yet πŸ˜€ anyone else read?

I've heard good things about some of Shriver's work, but this book was just #NotForMe. #JubilantJuly

All-too-believable dystopian vision of the US after an economic collapse in 2029. Given the economic situation in 2008 (which inspired the author), and the frustrations of many people even today, parts of the novel felt like a natural progression, and perhaps not as far away as 2029. Also serves as refresher for Econ 101. Recommended.

This book is brilliant. It is a scarily real glimpse into the possible future of the world. If you have ever wondered what would happen if the US economy collapsed, read this book. This book is frighteningly plausible. It kept me on edge the whole time I was reading it. And it was in the back of my mind when I wasn't reading it. It is very relevant to the current political and economic climate of the world. Great book I would highly recommend.

A really clever and interesting read so far. A scarily realistic view of what the world we live in could be like in the not too distant future

Won a copy of this book today!! πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰

I rarely add books to my DNF list, but this one was so obnoxiously pretentious that I #FailedToFinish after dragging through the first 150 pages. #SpringFlingReading

Woohoo πŸŽ‰#BookMail makes Monday πŸ˜ŠπŸ‘πŸ»you gotta ❀️ #BookDepository for their great prices πŸ’³ and the free bookmark πŸ”₯

Travelling with work this week has meant enough travel time to finish The Mandibles. After Marie Konde made me get rid of all my stuff... now reading Shriver I think I need to start stockpiling toilet paper and baked beans. Not an uplifting read, and feels a bit too possible these days. Scary. Compelling.

Plots set in the future are about what people fear in the present. They're not about the future at all. The future is just the ultimate monster in the closet.

#17booklove Traveling for work means #ereaderilove time and airport valentine chocolates for human #readerilove

I had to stop reading this one, and I almost never bail on books. It's just so pretentious. I can't handle it anymore.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book because Lionel Shriver is so damn clever. There is no doubt though, that the general feel of the book is that it is a constant lecture, I'm ok with that though, there's not a book that I've read by this author that hasn't made me think.

Started thinking I should stop reading post-apocalyptic fiction since it is seeming all too real. Then I read this. Not sure how that'll play out by the end of the story though! Compelling story so far.

It took me a while to get into this, but now I am totally engrossed in this tale of economic doom and gloom. No one does cold, hard facts quite like Shriver.

Putting this aside for now. Not a concrete bail yet, but there's a reason I only took one semester of economics in college: I don't like it. There are whole sections of economic theory that go over my head, and I'm not sure there's enough character development to overcome that. πŸ€”

This dystopian novel is unique in that it isn't also science fiction. The plot seems very plausible, given the time frame and the current state of the world. Shiver. A couple too many economics lessons, and a touch absurd, but overall a good read.

Cognitive dissonance, or delusion?

I really, really tried to get into this one, but I just couldn't. I loved the premise, but found that I just didn't care about any of it. Characters or plot. I kept waiting for the story to get going, but it just didn't for me.

Everyone who keeps up with me on Litsy knows my crazy library's lending policies. Anyway this book I requested came in and I'm getting Shiny Broken Pieces tomorrow. I want both. Guess I better finish The Innocent tonight. πŸ˜• I kind of wanted to watch TV for once. Has anyone read The Mandibles?

I shouldn't go anywhere near the New Releases shelf at the library...

The concept of this book was interesting and Shriver did a fantastic job with research to make the distopian United States economy seem real. But I felt it was too bogged down by economic content and the narrative dragged. It began to be hard to pick it back up. Not my favorite but a worthy attempt.

Heard an interview with the author and feel like I already got the point/best bits. Very dark near future. Feels preachy in an Ayn Rand sort of way. But, ultimately I bailed because I thought the "new slang" bogged down the pace, and I didn't want to read anymore about "gray water"?

Latest library haul. Just listened to two podcasts with the authors of Guapa and The Mandibles. Can't decide which one to read first, they both sound amazing!!!!