Rating: 
Summary: My favorite book of 2004
Review: If you are single and all of your friends are getting married, you will love reading about Shannon and her adventures in the single life. This book was funny and sad and I felt like I was reading about my own life - the awful dates and wondering if I was too fussy and why I can't get along with my mother. Perhaps only those in their thirties can relate!
Rating:
Summary: Children of God Go Bowling
Review: If you loved "Welcome to My Planet" like I did, you will love this one just as much. It is kind of "chic lit" because it is about the pressures of being single in your thirties, but it includes much more meaningful writing as well. I read it in two nights and miss Shannon Olson's voice already!
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing special
Review: My book club picked this book based on positive reviews. Of the eight of us, two gave it a "readable if there was nothing else around". Two couldn't finish it because they found it so trite and the rest of us (being proper Minnesotans) finished it based on Lutheran guilt which requires us to always finish what we start. The story went on and on with no discernable plot line. To resolve the only interesting plot element, the author use the wimpy literary device of giving a character a terminal illness. If you're from Chaska MN you may find all the references to local landmarks fun, but if not don't waste your money. This book will be on the remainder table very soon if it isn't there already. Even then, read it for free in the book store cafe if you must read it at all - spend your money on a nice latte to keep you awake while you muddle through to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Spend your money on a latte instead
Review: My book club picked this book based on positive reviews. Of the eight of us, two gave it a "readable if there was nothing else around". Two couldn't finish it because they found it so trite and the rest of us (being proper Minnesotans) finished it based on Lutheran guilt which requires us to always finish what we start. The story went on and on with no discernable plot line. To resolve the only interesting plot element, the author use the wimpy literary device of giving a character a terminal illness. If you're from Chaska MN you may find all the references to local landmarks fun, but if not don't waste your money. This book will be on the remainder table very soon if it isn't there already. Even then, read it for free in the book store cafe if you must read it at all - spend your money on a nice latte to keep you awake while you muddle through to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Let the kvetching begin!
Review: My goodness---whine, whine, whine. This book is very wry, and funny, however, I got very tired of all the introspection focusing on the problems of others'. The protagonist certainly doesn't look at HERSELF as causing any of the circumstances she finds herself in. A great book if you want to blame others for your current condition........
Rating:
Summary: Slightly maladjusted, but very honest... (3 1/2 stars)
Review: Said to be the sequel of Welcome to my Planet: Where English is Sometimes Spoken, Shannon Olson is back, with her character by the same name, in Minnesota, doing laundry at her parents house and going to therapy.
I honestly don't remember much about the first novel, only that I liked it, and I found some connections with the character also being single, and contemplating about marriage and children. Only, she is on the other side. I wonder about it, and she obsesses about it.
I can tell that this character is very quirky, yet lonely, visiting her sister in Portland, hanging out with her mom (who is a very unique character, more like a sister) and passing the time with Ellie, her married friend, and Adam, her token-male friend from college who is also single.
You might think that not a lot goes on in this novel. You would be right. It's mainly about the introspections of her everyday life, the fact that she goes to McDonalds too much or takes in too much TV. A lot of things she figures out are helped along by her counselor and group therapy sessions. She's extremely neurotic and insecure, focusing much on herself (wondering how autobiographical it is, knowing that the main characters first and last name are also the same as the authors.) She has a tendency to be irritating, but at the same time, her sarcastic, dry-biting humor got me to chuckle out loud a few times. It's not life-changing, but it's honest.
This is for those who ever wonder what it would be like to change a friendship into something more, only for the friend in question to have a different perspective altogether. She also had a twist at the end that no one would have seen coming.
Fun at times, looking forward to her next book.
Rating:
Summary: Spirituality Through the Lens of Generation X
Review: Shannon is the Kathleen Norris, Anne Lamott and Julia Cameron of her generation! Her writing is inspired for creating a link between Christianity and the young adult of today. The emancipation battle between her and her mother as well as her transformational experience of a Catholic woman struggling to find her authentic, God-given voice while living in the land of Lutherans, is strikingly human. Her seemingly endless and often times futile therapy sessions act as a comforting reminder that life is not easy and at times even resigns to "just showing up". Shannon takes us on a bumpy, unflattering journey toward wholeness and leaves us with hope and joy as she circles deeper within herself. This is a must read for all clergy who are truly dedicated to listening for the longing for God in contemporary society.
Rating:
Summary: stop them all before they write again!
Review: Shannon Olson is no doubt a funny writer, but please! how many promising careers are being snuffed out by Bridget Jones rip-offs of hapless women in their thirties looking for love by gazing at their navel? Olson's good, but she's got to move on!
Rating:
Summary: Spirituality Through the Lens of Generation X
Review: These days, authors are taught that readers really do judge a book by its cover and titles can make or break a book. If I were teaching a writing class, I'd use "Children of God Go Bowling" as a brilliant example! I did not read Olson's first book, so I was pleasantly surprised by the novel. There seems to be an emerging genre of books about single women in their 20's and 30's, growing older and growing desperate aobut finding a mate. Olson's heroine bemoans her single status but otherwise her life seems to be working better than she realizes. She has a great job that seems to function on automatic pilot. (As a career coach, I can't help being amazed that *no* character experienced major job problems! Well, one character has a little stress, but he immediately changes jobs easily.) Shannon's income allows her to move to a great apartment when one becomes available. She also manages to afford an amazing amount of therapy, which apparently occupies three evenings a week. She has "the counselor," a friendly woman who calls her "honey" and seems more like a big sister than a therapist. She adds a psychiatrist , who prescribes medication, and group therapy -- not, as the book jacket says, to find friends, but because "the counselor" thinks she's ready. Shannon is surprised that the group has time to help her with furniture questions, but the group does seem more social than therapeutic. One tragedy in the book does seem to undercut the comedic mood, but it's handled gracefully and optimistically. I'm reminded of the video God Said Ha. The discussion of religion ("Is it because he's a Lutheran?") are funny and add a deeper dimension to the book. Shannon's counselor admonishes at the outset, "It's not all about you." Yet for a single marriage-centered woman, self-focus is not all that uncommon. I don't see Shannon as overly dependent: she has her apartment and job, and these days, that's doing really well. Shannon's therapists ironically encouraged even more self-focus. I wish they'd told her to get a life -- develop a hobby, take classes -- rather than continue to look for a man in the most unlikely places. Her decision at the end of the book signals a new beginning. Of course, if she rebuilds her life and gets too together, we won't have a novel. The author writes well and holds our interest, although the pace could be a bit faster and some of the subplots could be tightened. I got a little tired of Shannon's questions about her relationship with an old college friend (friends or lovers? are we or aren't we?) but didn't doubt the realism for a moment.
Rating: 
Summary: Bowling sounds good!
Review: These days, authors are taught that readers really do judge a book by its cover and titles can make or break a book. If I were teaching a writing class, I'd use "Children of God Go Bowling" as a brilliant example! I did not read Olson's first book, so I was pleasantly surprised by the novel. There seems to be an emerging genre of books about single women in their 20's and 30's, growing older and growing desperate aobut finding a mate. Olson's heroine bemoans her single status but otherwise her life seems to be working better than she realizes. She has a great job that seems to function on automatic pilot. (As a career coach, I can't help being amazed that *no* character experienced major job problems! Well, one character has a little stress, but he immediately changes jobs easily.) Shannon's income allows her to move to a great apartment when one becomes available. She also manages to afford an amazing amount of therapy, which apparently occupies three evenings a week. She has "the counselor," a friendly woman who calls her "honey" and seems more like a big sister than a therapist. She adds a psychiatrist , who prescribes medication, and group therapy -- not, as the book jacket says, to find friends, but because "the counselor" thinks she's ready. Shannon is surprised that the group has time to help her with furniture questions, but the group does seem more social than therapeutic. One tragedy in the book does seem to undercut the comedic mood, but it's handled gracefully and optimistically. I'm reminded of the video God Said Ha. The discussion of religion ("Is it because he's a Lutheran?") are funny and add a deeper dimension to the book. Shannon's counselor admonishes at the outset, "It's not all about you." Yet for a single marriage-centered woman, self-focus is not all that uncommon. I don't see Shannon as overly dependent: she has her apartment and job, and these days, that's doing really well. Shannon's therapists ironically encouraged even more self-focus. I wish they'd told her to get a life -- develop a hobby, take classes -- rather than continue to look for a man in the most unlikely places. Her decision at the end of the book signals a new beginning. Of course, if she rebuilds her life and gets too together, we won't have a novel. The author writes well and holds our interest, although the pace could be a bit faster and some of the subplots could be tightened. I got a little tired of Shannon's questions about her relationship with an old college friend (friends or lovers? are we or aren't we?) but didn't doubt the realism for a moment.
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