Alice & Oliver: A Novel | 
Sorry—You don‘t “knit” a quilt. You piece it, or stitch it, or sew it. This grated, but I am otherwise moved by this very readable novel about a young couple battling cancer.
bailedI‘m done trying to force myself to read a book about a woman with cancer, when the only person I feel sorry for is the baby. DNF. #NetGalley
50% done, losing interest. I should be somewhat sympathetic towards Alice, and I‘m just not really.
Received this #ARC awhile back, trying to get all caught up. #NetGalley
Ok, I have to take a break on account of I can't see the pages through my tears. Still have 1/3 to go.
#TBRtemptation post 3! For fans of Franzen and Wolitzer. Alice Culvert has got it all as a young '90s NYC woman with her newborn daughter, Doe. Then she's diagnosed with cancer, & her and her husband Oliver's life boils down to survival. They face off against a complicated healthcare system, loved ones' good intentions, & deep stressors. You'll find humor, wisdom, and love. Inspired by the author's own family. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
Reader problem: when it takes forever to read the NYT Book Review because you're adding #allthebooks to your TBR list.
bailedOkay I really hate that I bailed on this one, but I got around 30% of the way through and I knew it was not for me. This is a cancer story. And I knew that going in, but I put the book on hold before I lost someone important to cancer just weeks ago. Tonight I tried to dive in, but just really couldn't do it. I was enjoying the writing, but the medical statistics and harsh realities presented were too much for me right now.
Cats with books!
Well done, Saturday morning, well done.
Because how cool is the #prism photo app?!? #aliceandoliver
so-soI found this profoundly less compelling than most others did, but, at the same time, it's not a bad novel. It's just rather tiresome, as if a YA novel grew up into an insufferable adult
so-soMarried couple with a newborn are faced with the wife's newly diagnosed leukemia. There's some gorgeous writing here. But Bock dove too far into the weeds, presented a convoluted timeline, and had me so conflicted about Oliver that I wanted to toss the book into the ocean more than once.
pickMy highest praise for a book is "it made me cry" and this one, though it's about how cancer ravages a young family, didn't. So I guess I wasn't as emotionally invested as I like to be. But I liked it. It's based on the author's own experience and is a searing indictment of our healthcare system.
panI had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately it spent most of the time dealing with the medical and insurance issues of a young person dealing with cancer and almost as an afterthought the subsequent relationship issues.
bailedI haven't given up on a book in a long time, but I got halfway through and couldn't keep going. Felt somewhat showy and overwritten. I am not a reader who generally needs to "like" characters, but Alice's woo-woo wisdom was tiresome, and Oliver's selfishness and casual misogyny were equally grating.
pickIt was very good! I wished the chapters were more clearly defined as to whom is speaking. I also think that it jumped around a lot. It really has a great story and brought me closer to what my aunt, who died of cancer, may have gone through.
pan1🌟The first half of the book was mediocre. It was an okay portrait of a family going through cancer. THEN Bock decided to give them marital problems, which made both of them unlikable instead of eliciting sympathy. It was two plots with mutually assured destruction of any enjoyment. 👎🏻👎🏻
Okay, so I'm getting really mad at Oliver. He's sleeping with prostitutes, which has endangered his wife's bone marrow transplant. And he used company money to do it, risking his job. And he calls his wife's very helpful "largish" best friend Hungry Hungry Hippo. Hard to like him!
I've had trouble finding a church where I live, so on Sundays, I get up and pray and read. This book is good for reflection and thanks that no one in my family has cancer now. It also helps me appreciate that my mother is 71 and relatively healthy. Happy Mother's Day moms of Litsy! 💐📚
Sound medical advice.
As a doctor, I couldn't believe the fictional hospital allowed a baby to be with her as long as they did when she was getting chemo. Poetic license?
Once again a late night start. I can't help it though! Tissues may be needed for this book. The plot definitely comes across as sad. Cancer is rarely happy. 😓
I'm still figuring out how I feel about The Bed Moved. It actually has a lot of cancer, too.
These two books just filled my library card! I have a book problem, I think. I know. If this is wrong, I don't want to be right!
