Anyway. Maria Semple may have just changed my whole world view.
About three months ago I saw Semple at Town Hall for her conversation with Dave Eggers. I was volunteering with 826 and figured I'd sit in for some of the talk as well. And then I became 100% convinced I absolutely had to read Where'd You Go, Bernadette
.
Then all my holds at the library became available at once and it was slightly overwhelming.
And then I couldn't renew Bernadette because other people had holds. So I spent all day in bed on Tuesday reading the book. It was amazing. More please.
A few things:
- As a recent Seattle transplant, I loved this book. So many witty notes on Seattle culture, and Microsoft culture in particular.
- I'd like to start wearing a scarf in my hair and large sunglasses 24/7 now. Is it Halloween yet? Because this is going to be my costume.
- The end of this book was so perfect. The whole resolution of the story brought such a great balance to the book and kept a comedic tone that prevented anything negative about Seattle from being actually malicious.
- I think the criticisms of Seattle in this book were just funny to me because they were remarks on such specific pieces of the culture here. Thanks to growing-up in Metro Detroit, I've developed quite the backbone when it comes to criticism of your hometown. (Speaking of Detroit I just read an AMAZING book about the city and can't wait to share more about that.)
- I love the format of the writing. I love Bee. I love that the story is told through her point of view (ish).
I absolutely recommend this. I literally read almost the whole thing in one sitting and was laughing out loud during parts. I really can't remember the last time I like a fiction book this much. I'm giddy just thinking about it, to be honest.
+
two weeks until Alaska! (Still no idea what books to take with me. Suggestions?)
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