I felt the same way about The Goldfinch. I really wanted to love it—and I did for the first third—but then it became too ridiculous and just plain bad.
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I had the same reaction to The Goldfinch. I gave up in the middle of the Las Vegas portion–couldn’t take it anymore.
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OMG – yes, i finished The Goldfinch, but it definitely started to fall apart in LV for me. And I just hated the friend (don’t remember his name–the one who hit his girlfriend.) By the end, I was skimming so much I really didn’t follow the caper plot because I JUST DIDN’T CARE.
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I never read The Goldfinch because at least one review compared it to Catcher in the Rye, which is on my list of ten most hated books I’ve ever read.
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Just picked up West with Giraffes from the library. I was shocked that they had it. Looking forward to reading it.
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I liked West With Giraffes while I was reading it, but not so much after. I thought it was a true story but when I finished I read that it was based on a true story but not the true story.
Lately I’ve been reading or listening to books about the Supreme Court, how different appointments were made (did you know that Ruth Bater Ginsburg was the 7th (!) choice of Bill Clinton for that seat and only got it after Mario Cuomo turned it down?). It is interesting to me that some of the same considerations for appointments have been made for the 220+ years of appointments. One was The Nine, another was Scorpions (which I had to return before I finished so I’m on the list again)
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I enjoyed the Goldfinch, but it was quite the book! So long!
Currently reading Groundskeeping by Lee Cole and am enjoying it.
I liked The Goldfinchbasic story, but it was too wordy and long unnecessarily, IMO.
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I just finished Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting, by Claire Pooley which was charming. Not heavy-going, but engaging characters and cute story.
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I quit reading The Goldfinch with only 50 or so pages left because it was much too long, and by then, I just didn’t care what happened.
One book I recently enjoyed is Beasts of a Little Land, set in Japanese occupied Korea.
Currently reading Viola Davis’ Finding Me. She has a riveting story.
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I read The Last Thing He Told Me. Hated it. The writing, especially the dialogue was awful. But I can see how it would make for a good movie
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Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin was fabulous. Best thing I have read this year. Don’t get put off by the gaming narrative. You don’t have to be a gamer to enjoy this book.
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My 60th was on Wednesday and H bought me a book from every year of my life 
Will let you know which were good and which were bad, though he did cherry pick them knowing some of the things I liked.
As an aside I am going too have to make room on our bookshelves
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Oh no, you were so close to the end! I understand though. When you’re done, you’re done. I finished it but I won’t read it again.
That LV part was wild @gotham_mom and @garland. It seemed like a completely different book in that section.
Glad I’m not the only one who disliked it. I thought something was off with me because it is/was so popular. Like, maybe I couldn’t recognize good literature anymore. I feel validated: The Goldfinch is awful. Moving on.
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If you’re still interested in reading about the Supreme Court, I’d suggest reading any of Joan Biskupic’s books. She’s written one on Chief Justice Roberts and another about Sandra Day O’Connor. She also covers the Supreme Court for CNN.
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The Goldfinch was not awful. It won the Pulitzer!!
Crawdads was truly awful on many different levels.
I’m really liking this Groundskeeping book so far. Worth checking out if the premise appeals. It has a weird way with quotation marks or the lack thereof, though, which is a little distracting.
I just finished Groundskeeping this afternoon. I agree that the lack of quotation marks takes some getting used to. The author is from Melber, KY which is a small community outside of Paducah. Paducah was, until my move last week, my home for the better part of my life. I enjoyed the book for the most part, particularly since I could place most everything in western Kentucky and a good portion of the Louisville geography. What really blew me away, however, was reading the acknowledgements and the author thanks his parents by name. I went to school, first grade through high school, with his dad. Haven’t seen him in years, but remember him vividly from elementary school.
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How cool about going to high school with his dad! So far I am liking it. I’m from NC and have relatives from SW VA so not too far from KY and everything seems right on so far. I really respect authenticity in writing.
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Lots of very forgettable, not very good, even shlocky books have won the Pulitzer. And some fantastic ones. (IMO)
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I really liked Groundskeeping too. Another book with the same writing style that was very good was The Midcoast. In fact the author of Groundskeeping wrote the review of The Midcoast for The NY Times book review.
Loved, loved Goldfinch! Loved The Secret History too. Love her writing style.
(Did not like Crawdads but get how others did)
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