A Spool of Blue Thread

by Anne Tyler
Jan 3-Feb 7, 2016


That felt like a marathon. Not that I've ever run one (or ever will!), but that's what I imagine it would feel like. That it will never end. Like Seinfeld, this was a book about "nothing." Unlike Seinfeld, I can only come up with one funny antidote in A Spool of Blue Thread – the dashiki. Otherwise, for 358 pages, nothing happened.

It bothers me when I presumably "miss the point" about the plot of a novel. Did it go over my head? Am I dense? Or am I simply trying to get more out of the story than the author intended? I even read the discussion questions at the end of the book to see if they would spark an "aha" moment in me, but instead I realize I did indeed miss the point a little, but in other cases I fail to care that much. Because my love of books is so deep, I simply want to get the most out of each one that I can. Sometimes, like this one, either I failed or the book failed me. I suppose the reason I care so much is the amount of accolades this book has gotten over the past year. A Man Booker nominee?! In no way can this book equate or compare to Did You Ever Have a Family. In my opinion, they can't even live on the same shelf. So vastly different.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate this book. I was just bored. Nothing happened! Sometimes that makes for a satisfying novel, but not in this case. Nothing earth shattering or overly exciting that made me want to pick it back up every night. But from what I've read of other reviews, this is par for the course with Tyler, which is fine in some cases. I just crave something with a little more depth.


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