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White Elephant
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
12 posts | 9 read | 17 to read
A turf war between neighbors leads to a small-town crisis in this hilarious, addictive, and sharply observant debut novel The White Elephant looms large over the quaint suburban town of Willard Park: a gaudy, newly constructed behemoth of a home, it soars over the neighborhood, dwarfing the houses that surround it. When owner Nick Cox cuts down Allison and Ted Millers precious red maplein an effort to make his unsightly property more appealing to buyerstheir once serene town becomes a battleground. While tensions between Ted and Nick escalate, other dysfunctions abound: Allison finds herself compulsively drawn to the man who is threatening to upend her quietly organized life. A lawyer with a pot habit and a serious midlife crisis skirts his responsibilities. And in a quest for popularity, a teenage girl gets caught up in a not-so-harmless prank. Newcomers and longtime residents alike begin to clash in conflicting pursuits of the American Dream, with trees mysteriously uprooted, fires set, fingers pointed, and lines drawn. White Elephant is an uproarious, tangled-web tale of neighbor hating neighbor (and neighbor falling head over heels for neighbor). Soon, peaceful Willard Park becomes a tinderbox with nowhere to go but up in flames.
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review
Isbrlle
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
Bailedbailed

So terrible I couldn‘t finish. No one in my book club had anything nice to say about it.

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Redwritinghood
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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Mehso-so

Interesting suburban drama and not that far-fetched. Unfortunately, many of the characters were a bit thin and the story somewhat unfocused. This is one case where I think the book could have been a little longer to better develop the characters and situations in the story. Available on #Hoopla 2.5⭐️

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EJG31
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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Mehso-so

Somewhat entertaining, but overall it lacked a solid storyline. There were too many things going on that made it hard to feel invested in the story.

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bookish_wookish
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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I love seeing Barnes & Noble busy! Heres what i have in my arms so far! 😬

vivastory I was also surprised by how busy Barnes and Noble was when I stopped by earlier 5y
49 likes1 comment
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britt_brooke
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ah, I do enjoy a good suburban satire. Langsdorf focuses on three main families living in an established fictional DC suburb. All have different expectations. As McMansions threaten to take over the smaller, but charming original homes, a classic fight over trees ignites political unease. All hell breaks loose in this darkly humorous take on suburban life. Satire soothes my soul. I love when we can tastefully poke fun at real issues.

BarbaraBB Great review! 5y
Cathythoughts Sounds really good ♥️👍🏻stacked 5y
britt_brooke @BarbaraBB Thank you!! 5y
See All 8 Comments
britt_brooke @Cathythoughts I think you‘ll like it! 5y
britt_brooke @MicheleinPhilly I think you‘ll like it! 💚 5y
ferskner I'm so glad you liked it, and what a gorgeous photo! 5y
britt_brooke @ferskner Thank you! 💚 I need to take more book photos while my azalea still looks this pretty. 5y
114 likes1 stack add8 comments
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britt_brooke
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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Starting this while waiting on an oil change and new tires. Thanks for passing this along to me @ferskner !

ferskner This one was a pleasant surprise for me! Hope you like it too. 5y
britt_brooke @ferskner Liking it so far! 5y
90 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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BookNAround
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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I won copies of this ARC for my book club. The meeting‘s next week and I‘m the facilitator so I need to read it and write questions. I facilitated last month too for The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal and wrote questions for that one too. A friend who works for Macmillan sent my questions to Tor (the imprint that published it) and they might end up using them officially. So cool, right?! Can lightning strike twice?

LauraJ Very cool! 5y
businessmermaid Wow that is extremely cool! 5y
wordzie Super 😎 5y
Trashcanman Thank you for your card. It means a lot. I wish you knew just how much. 🤗 5y
Karkar 👋🏻 Gatsby 5y
90 likes5 comments
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ferskner
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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Pickpick

First finished book of the year! I'm always weirdly drawn in by stories of suburban malaise, unless we're expected to sympathize with men having midlife crises. This book portrays all the primary men as total weenies and it was great! A kind of crunchy DC suburb quivers with tension as a family moves in and builds a McMansion. Comes out in March.

#pop19 #bookthatspublishedin2019 #litsyatoz @BookishMarginalia

BookishMarginalia 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 5y
100 likes1 comment
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biblio_ginger
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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I picked out some books at the shop for White Elephant gift ideas and these two are my favorite! 😉 #whiteelephant

bookcollecter The Kim book is great! 5y
biblio_ginger @bookcollecter Yeah I thought it was pretty cool too! 😁 5y
21 likes2 comments
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ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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Pickpick

Binge read! Hilarious and heartbreaking story of an idyllic small town. When big architect moves in to build mansions that overshadow the houses, neighbor-on-neighbor vitriol escalates. Great characters, engaging story. Thanks for the ARC @HarperCollins and @eccobooks !

52 likes1 stack add
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ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled
White Elephant: A Novel | Julie Langsdorf
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So happy to get these galleys from HarperCollins! Can‘t wait to start reading!