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Loading... The Life List: A Novel (original 2013; edition 2013)by Lori Nelson Spielman (Author)
Work InformationThe Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman (2013)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I just read a column in the Sunday NYT by Charles McGrath that completely explains why I finished this book despite the fact that the whole time I couldn't believe how bad the writing was. "That's the problem with fiction - or the charm, if you want. Even mediocre plots have a way of sinking their hooks into you, until you find yourself concerned for the fates of characters who aren't even fully convincing." As a real person Brett Bohlinger made a lot of mistaken assumptions about people and behaviour. She acted like a child. I'm not sure we saw any growth in her. I wanted to know what happened but thought if you knew Brett in person she would just be irritating. I have manage several times to write bucket lists/life lists and every single time I’ve lost the. I simple don’t know where they go, but I forget about them and when I remember them again, I can’t find them anywhere. It’s such a shame, because I would love to see what my life goals where at a certain ages and how many of my life goals I have actually accomplished. In The Life List, Brett wrote such a list when she was 14 years old and she is lucky enough to have a mother who saved it for her. Now Brett just has to fulfill the life list within a year to get her heritage – like that will be no biggie at all! The storyline isn’t particularly surprising and it’s not very realistic – quite the opposite, actually! The letters from Elizabeth (the mother) are absurdly accurate and the entire story contains so much random luck for it to even happen the way it does. But it’s beyond sweet and heartwarming and lovable. Even though I guessed almost all the plot twists, the book was still amazing. I adore Brett and the way she react to her mother’s idea. She is so straightforward, so real and so flawed – I just loved her! She goes through a mayor development and learns to listen to and trust herself again and she starts being able to figure out what she really wants from her life. “’ Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do something every day that scares you. “Continue to push yourself to do those things that scare you, darling. Take those risks and see where you land, for they are the very things that make this journey worthwhile.â€â€™ The Life List is basicly about love in all its glory. But mostly, it’s about the love between a mother and her daughter. And the love between Elizabeth and Brett is so beautiful and warming that it flows from the pages and made me appreciates the fact that my mother is still alive even more. But the book is also about love between lovers, love between man and animal and love between friends. The Life List is well written, funny, sad, gorgeous and real. It’s life-affirming, heart wrenching and exactly what I needed. It’s chick-lit but it’s so much more than that. I can highly recommend it, if you need something light and sweet with just a hint of something else. I picked up "The Life List" by Lori Nelson Spielman because it looked like an interesting read with a not unique premise (sending loved one letters or directions after you have passed on) but I wanted to see if Ms. Speilman would be able to take a different take on the premise. The main protagonist for this novel, Brett Bohlinger, is still reeling from the death of her mother when she is informed that unless she completes a life list left by her mother she will not gain her inheritance. I gave this novel two and a half stars due to the uninspired life list, two dimensional characterization of Brett's brothers, similarities to "P.S. I Love You, and the fact that I was able to completely call every event in the novel including the ending. Though I was intrigued I quickly felt frustrated with the whole concept of the life list since readers quickly find out that Brett has one year to complete everything on her mother's life list. Some of these items are such things as have a baby, get married, have a relationship with her father, be a teacher. Frankly as some other reviewers have echoed it was a horrible way for Brett's mother to impart certain information to her daughter. Also, some of these things, such as getting pregnant can take a while to have happen. So for her mother to impose such a time constraint on her I thought was a pretty horrible thing to do to a daughter you claim to love. Next, I felt that the way that Brett's family was written was very shallow. Brett has two older brothers in this novel who are left their inheritances with no strings attached. We don't really get her brother's reactions to the list, or their helping her out with it, the whole family felt very stilted and two dimensional when interacting with one another. Additionally, I felt as if Ms. Spielman took a lot of elements from "P.S. I Love You" with the whole leaving letters after you have passed away to a loved one in order for them to move on with their lives. Finally, I felt as if many events in this novel were foreshadowed so hard it was not a surprise when events took place or how things worked out. I like to be surprised in my reading and this one just seemed to follow a formula that I have read before. Please note that I received this novel via the Amazon Vine Program. no reviews | add a review
Brett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she'd written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen. Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother's decision--her childhood dreams don't resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other goals (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future. As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear. Sometimes life's sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.-- No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumLori Nelson Spielman's book The Life List was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Brett must complete a Life List she wrote at fourteen before she can receive her inheritance. This journey takes her on a not-so-typical path of self-discovery.
The book doesn't take the beaten, predictable path. Just when you think Brett will never complete her list, she achieves things in a way you'd never expect.
It will make you rethink your goals in life, and it never felt "preachy" - just enjoyable! ( )