Review: A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan

Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307477477
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 340
Published: June 2010
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Okay, there are so many mixed reviews regarding this book and I can totally see why. First it won a Pulitzer Prize and is a National bestseller so many people had high hopes. Second it was simply just a good read, not amazing just good. People I have talked to about this book said they didn't like it and that they didn't like the mixed stories but I liked that about it. All the characters were woven together and time was going back and forth and where many said they couldn't follow it, I sure had no trouble at all.

I can see why it got so much praise and awards because of her style and intelligence but I still feel that there was something missing. I loved how some of the lives were intense and glorious but there were other stories that I just wanted to pass by but I guess that's what makes a good story. I mean, we are reading about peoples lives and how they all come together in one way or another (especially in NY) so to say that some lives are more interesting than others, in an understatement!

I loved the whole rock star, punk age thing and I loved how everything turned out. These were rebel teens who are now parents and have settled into a more suitable life. I don't know how to put it into words but it totally makes sense in my head!

Noah's Compass - Anne Tyler

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 277

ISBN: 9780307272409

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

There is a lot to this story that i wish I could mention here but I hate to write spoilers so I will have to make do with what I got which may it may not be as informative as I would have liked. First, I have to mention that I have never heard of Anne Tyler and then I find out that she has such an amazing life story and I think she should create a memoir. Her husband is from Iran and passed away in 1997, they had 2 beautiful daughters, Tyler didn't attend school until she was 11 and still she attended Duke and Columbia, she was a librarian and a bibliographer, and now she is a writer. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for her eleventh novel entitled Breathing Lessons. She has a total of 18 books at the moment and I plan on reading many of them.

Her writing style reminded me a little of Richard Russo's style. They both write lovely stories that keep you engaged and brings them to life. She tells a realistic story and speaks very beautiful and Noah's Compass is such a nice tale about a 61-year-old schoolteacher, Liam, who gets robbed and knocked on conscious and can't remember a thing about it and then this just spirals into events of dating, and bringing family together expectantly. He keeps trying to remember what had happened so much so that it brings him to meet someone intimately and it also brings him to interact more intimately with his family as well.

It was a very quick, engaging, and a overall comforting read and I gave it 3.5/4 stars and I would definitely dig into more of her books.