Welcome to My Planet: Where English Is Sometimes Spoken

Rating:
Summary: Cute but Confusing
Review: This is another entry in the Bridget Jones style of books, and in my opinion, just average. Single woman approaching thirty and still looking for love and a life. Some very funny and sharply written scenes are bogged down by the constant jumping around in time. There are whole chapters where I was not sure when they were supposed to occur. I liked Shanny Olson (same name as the author) but sometimes wondered what her problem was. She came from a good family, was attending graduate school, had a job and a boyfriend who loved her. Yet she whines a lot and seems unable to get out of bed, relying on Prozac to get her through her days. Maybe having been a single mother struggling to raise a child and pay the blls at thirty, I had a tough time identifying with her. An okay, fast read, but this type of book has been done better.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fabulous!
Review: I have never identified with any character in any book, as much as I did with Shannon. And i read a lot of Girly/Single/datey/Bridgety books and this is the deepest, most sincere book I have read that never once lost its humor. It has been passed along to many of my friends and we all agree... So groovy!

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have EVER read
Review: I knew nothing about this book before picking it up, but I figured it would be more lighthearted, spunky single gal fare in the same old Bridget Jones vein. How wrong I was!! Shannon's book is just as funny as those, but Welcome to my Planet has a truthful vein that I had never before experienced in a novel (and haven't since). Shannon is a masterful writer. The style and voice of the writing is so captivating that I literally could not tear myself away. It truly makes me sad to read these poor reviews about a book that is so close to my heart. I don't usually write these online reviews but I just had to make sure you all get the right impression: THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE. i recommend it for anyone and everyone. it is sad, funny, bittersweet and poignant. Shannon (the fictional) herself is both hilarious and tragic, a real live breathing person who the reader comes to understand as a friend. READ THIS BOOK- you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Fun
Review: Ahhh this book was wonderful! It seems kind of autobiographical because the author used her own name for the main character, but I'm not sure if it's actually based on her real life or not. This book chronicles Shannon's life and therapy dealing with her lackadaisical approach to life and relationships. She's not happy, but has trouble letting go (hmm... been there, done that). Shannon was for me an immensely likeable heroine and I identified with her relationship struggles (with a man named Michael, coincidentally). This book was excellent, written in a fresh, unusual style. I really enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Just like being with a friend.
Review: I loved this book. Shannon, the character, is like so many of my friends and I. I can't imagine reading this book and not laughing or gasping with utter recognition. As the reviews above illustrate, this book has been too easily lumped in with the "chick-lit" phenomenon that has taken hold over the past few years (a genre I am unashamedly a fan of) but Welcome to My Planet is heads and tails above many of those novels. Olson is a smart, gifted writer who turns the mundane details of daily life into insightful revelations and crafts an engaging narrative. Every few pages, you discover something new about Shannon and the people in her life, something that makes them more flawed, loveable and fascinating. I was sad when the very last revealtion came and I had to put away a character who felt so much like a friend.

Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time!
Review: I loved Bridget Jones, and Jemima Jones, and thirty-nothing, and expected a great read because of this book's adorable cover. I was sooo wrong...and consequently sooo annoyed. The writing is terrible, the plot is quite confusing, and there are way too many sexual references, which I found quite disgusting. Save your time (don't even borrow it from the library!!).

Rating:
Summary: Love it, but got a little lost...
Review: I love this book, but with the jumping around of past and present tenses, I sometimes got a little lost between what was going on and what had already happened. I can relate to this book more than almost anything else I've ever read though. I'd recommend it for anyone who doesn't know what they want or where they're going in life.

Rating:
Summary: OYE!!!
Review: I bought this book simply because I heard excellent reviews. I started to read it last year and the only thing that kept me turning the pages was from mere shock. In shock that the book didn't get better. I found myself skimming the pages--as if I had to read it for a class and was being tested. I read the book and had to put it away and came back to it months later--I finally fininshed it feeling way more depressed. Depressed that I had spent all that time reading this book! All in all, it was well written, and I would not be shocked if others enjoyed this. I simply believe it takes a certain type of sense of humor to enjoy such a novel. I suppose we read books to maybe get a better insight on life or to "escape" if you will from reality--this book did neither of those things for me. :(

Rating:
Summary: Funny, and all too true
Review: Unfortuately, this book hits way too close to home. Shannon is a typical 20-something, trying to find her way in the world after a sheltered existence at college. She has a pointless job, a loser boyfriend (and then another boyfriend who can't commit) and a frustrating (though not unloving) relationship with her parents. And everyone keeps asking her why she can't get her act together. What 20-something can't relate to that? The book is incredibly well-written, very funny, and very true to today's generation. I can't wait for more from Shannon Olsen!

Rating:
Summary: A different analysis
Review: This book was not written by the same author who wrote the non-fiction "BOBOs in Paradise" book, but it could have been. The problem with the fictitious Shannon is not so much that she's a whiner, as others have suggested, but that she lives in an affluent, artsy, subculture, where nothing is ever good enough for the critics that surround her. A job, a boyfriend, even a successful graduate career (Shannon is one of the best in her department) is not enough. Shannon is repeatedly harped on by her mother, boyfriend Michael and even her therapist about how she should find some grand passion in life, (like her brother had with his maple syrup, or Michael had with his architecture) or move out of state, which is apparently expected of young adults of this social strata. Shannon, who is sort of shy and family oriented, is just not accepted, and of course it makes her neurotic. I would have liked to see Shannon reject these expectations, and perhaps go to Minneapolis and see some poor or working class people, who might give her some persepective, but instead, she just beats herself up and takes Prozac for all her problems, which aren't really serious problems at all. This book is well-written, but anyone who is forced to make a living will lose patience with spoiled characters who just study interesting things and try to "find" themselves all day.I would not recommend it to anyone unless they themselves were very much into psychobabble and self-actualization books.