Bed Rest Book Review #1: A Visit From the Goon Squad

For those of you that know me, you know that I love to read and in times off school will devour more than my fair share of books. Of course, during the school year, books often get put by the wayside for the long list of things that a teacher is always doing. Well, to top off the fact that this school year, I get to be greeted by my three sweet babies I also have been given unlimited hours of reading time while I wait for their arrival. Which is probably a good thing, since from what my mom friends tell me, I won't be reading anything that isn't made of very heavy cardboard for a good long while! So since my actual life isn't much to report on anymore since my calendar is officially empty until these little ones get here, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the books I get to read while I wait patiently for babies...

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about the cast of characters that surround a music industry executive and his assistant. It hooked me early on when a young garage rock band was trying to get their first gig and I had plenty to connect with from my college years hanging out with the local band members and then more recently playing with my own.  Music and the people that surround the industry have always fascinated me and Egan captured the various characters well and through every stage of life. She found all the facets of the world surrounding the music industry: the naivety of youth, the dirt and grit of living barely off the streets, the power of those who've "made it," and the corruption that that can create. The only thing I may say as a criticism, I'm still not sure if it is. Each chapter is kind of written like a short story about a web of people who've connected to the two main characters either professionally or personally and they are in no sort of chronological order. At first this bugged me a little as I was trying put all the connections together, but the one thing that the author does brilliantly is to weave music styles and real life musician references throughout the book that help you place the decade. So if you brush up on your music history from the 70s on you should be able to keep up just fine.

So book number 1 comes highly recommended and I'll leave you a picture from my new hangout where I plan to read many more books. Jovian has figured out that the belly is a pretty good pillow, excuse the bed head (on me not her):