Charlotte Hanley-Jacobson

I somewhat enjoyed the other two books in this series, so I started this one as a fun summer read. I can't even come close to finishing it. When you read “He was a sensual man whom pleasure did not frighten. Pleasure did not frighten her, either. They saw that in each other. It was like a promise between them” and you still have over 500 pages to go, you know it's time to call it quits.

Finally finished the series! I am sorry to see the story end, what a fun read.

I enjoy my own book club with wine and fun conversation - but reading verbatim quotes from several others (all discussing the same books) - not so exciting.

I kept waiting for this to get interesting but it just never happened.

Amazing and exasperating all at once.

I picked up a few good tips from this book (now if I can only remember them till the baby is older). However I was often annoyed while reading. The author is neurotic, and seems to assume that all American mothers are as well.

This book is set in Rome and I was hoping to be reminded of the city while I read... but there is not much in the book about the city, and the characters are all so awful to one another! I found it to be depressing.

Kind of reminded me of The Glass Castle - a candid portrait of growing up in a family with a unique outlook and lifestyle. Fuller offers no apologies for her family's ingrained racism and her tough childhood. I was alternatively sympathetic and appalled by her circumstances.

It is impossible to overstate how ridiculous this book is. What a soap opera! My sister tried to warn me from reading it but I did it anyway.

The plot might make for a decent movie, but it wasn't a very well-written book.

This book clears up a lot of the misconceptions reported in the media about Columbine. I feel like I learned a lot - much of which scared me. It is a thick book, but a very quick read.

A decent book, but there is way too much hype surrounding it. I see absolutely no reason to not discuss the plot with people who haven't read it yet.

Reminded me a little bit of The Historian, one of my favorites.

Great book about what could happen if some kind of epidemic ravaged the earth. Very creatively written.

A bit gruesome at times, but entertaining nonetheless.

One of the most difficult books I have ever read. I had to look up a study guide upon finishing it, and I wished I had taken notes while reading. That is not to say that it's not enjoyable - Salman Rushdie is an exceptional author, and very funny to boot.

I had been bugging my book club to read this for months, and I so wanted to like it. But it felt unfinished, somehow. I wish she had translated some of her experiences into deeper stories, and spent more time exploring the other people in her Italian life.

A very quick read. Much like The Glass Castle by the same author, it is hard to fathom the conditions under which her family lived.

Not quite the intellectual book I was expecting, but interesting nonetheless.

This book could make a decent movie - the contrast between the bleak Midwestern winter scenes vs. the cosmopolitan cities, the deceitfulness, the exhausting emotional roller coaster the characters ride, and lots of sex. But having to actually read almost 300 pages of run-on sentences filled with utterly unrealistic characters was misery.

I agree with Petrini's philosophy, but I found it hard to slog through this book.

I was very excited to read this book - the jacket notes made it sound hilarious, and I had to wait several months to get it from the library. But it was disappointing. I will admit to laughing out loud a few times, but mostly I just got sick of the authors and the he said/she said writing style they used. It really is surprising that they're still married.

I'm so sorry there won't be any more books in this series!

Gets a bit tedious at times with all the legal details, but still very engrossing.

A very talented and insightful author... but as Gertrude Stein said, “There is no there there.”