I can't say I was thrilled with the book. I started with the eBook, and then was able to get a copy of the audiobook (the reader was good).
The book was ok, but seemed to have so many petty issues I didn't really care about. The last section where she talked about the things she learned was what changed it to 3 stars. ( )

Not my favorite Anna Quindlen, but it had some good moments, especially in Nora's reflections on New York City. The characters didn't feel all that fleshed out, though, and I didn't find even the ones I was supposed to connect with sympathetic very often. ( )

Frankly, this book was boring and I almost didn’t finish it. I couldn’t bring myself to care about Nora or her privileged life; she didn’t come across as relatable at all. Her inner musings about marriage and her feelings toward Charlie weren’t revelatory, and have been said and written about before. I never felt like I got to really now Charlie or her kids other than through the biased viewpoint of Nora. Reading, I felt like I was supposed to dislike Charlie as Nora did, and I felt quite the opposite. ⁣
I honestly don’t know what the point of this book was. It was just pages and pages of Nora talking about her neighbors, what brought her to New York, her job and her dissatisfaction with her marriage. The book often jumps from story to memory and back again, getting especially confusing when it involves the neighbors. ( )

This was an easy and entertaining read, although it very much describes (a phrase the characters use) 'first world problems'. The protagonist, Nora, is likeable, and I enjoyed her relationships with the women in her life: her daughter, her sister, and her friends. The part that didn't work for me was her relationship with her husband Charlie. We were told what a great guy he was, but I didn't feel that we got to know him at all, and I didn't get any sense of their initial romance when they first met.

I will look for other novels by this author. ( )

I read this book because I had recognized Quindlen as a noted author. To be honest, this is not my kind of reading, so I listed it as "chick-lit." I did finish the book and the final chapter tied things together well enough to give it 3 stars. Not great reading for males, I think. A must-read for Quindlen fans. ( )