The Amateur Marriage: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Very distracting read...
Review: I don't know as I've ever read a worse book...the writing is absolutely terrible. There is no continuity and no flow to the story...in one chapter the son is 16 and in the next, he's graduated from college, has a wife and a child! How can you skip 10 years? You are taken all over the place except for the one person you really want to know about...the daughter that ran away. For three quarters of the book she is gone and then suddenly reappears and everyone is a happy family again after 25 years...give me a break!

I guess I should have known better than to read this after thinking "The Accidental Tourist" was the worst book I'd ever read...this one takes over the top spot! If you absolutely feel like you have to read this, borrow it from the library.



Rating:
Summary: The Annoying Marriage
Review: This novel simply follows a bickering couple and their inabilities to let anything go. I became very frusturated with the book but finished it with complete relief that it was over. Not recommended if you want a real read.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Bridal Shower Gift!
Review: Here's a novel to give as a bridal shower gift. No joke. It will give her pause, and that's what she needs. Because you ought to think long and hard before taking the step of marriage. It's no game and no dream. You know the new non-fiction sensation now, He's Just Not That Into You, well Anne Tyler demonstrates painfully, beautifully, and necessarily that he just might not be into you even if he wants to marry you. The Amateur Marriage is a slow unfolding stunner. It's haunting really in only the way Anne Tyler can be, like in The Accidental Tourist.

I would also like to mention another novel I've been blown away by, A Secret Word by Jennifer Paddock.

Rating:
Summary: Blah blah blah
Review: I picked this book up because I'd only read good things about it and what a wonderful writer Anne Tyler is. However, I guess she's just not my cup of tea. I had no feelings for any of the characters, the storyline was all over the place. One page, the characters were one age, the next they had suddenly aged 10 years with no warning. I found my mind wandering too much while trying to follow this boring story of a loveless marriage that I put it down after 100 pages or so. I don't think this book represents a "typical" marriage in any sense of the word---if it does, then that just makes me sad!