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 […]
Before and After the Fire.
This book has a lot to unpack. While reading, I noted several quotes that I thought might be useful for writing the review. Looking at them now, I made note of them because each was an amazing little bundle of sentences. Some of the bundles were laugh out loud funny. Some of the bundles were eviscerating. Some were just things most of us think, don’t say out loud, but wish some one would. Eleanor Oliphant is all of these things. She is amusing without trying […]
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is Completely Wonderful
I saw Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine on several “Must Read” lists at the beginning of the year and immediately added it to my TBR. This is not a short book, it’s not a long book either, but it’s an incredibly short read. “A philosophical question: if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? And if a woman who’s wholly alone occasionally talks to a pot plant, is she certifiable? I think that […]