My Hollywood Audiobook

" Enjoyed the book, but had a very hard time relating to the characters.... "

" I wasn't interested in the characters. It dragged a lot. And there are just too many good books out there! "

" I mostly enjoyed reading this book. I became invested in one of the main characters, and wanted good things to happen to her. And, the book made me think about parenting (mostly mothering) and the ways in which others help raise our kids. That said, I couldn't get past how off she was in terms of writing about children. They were frequently doing things that were developmentally off (usually doing things that much older kids would do). It kept tripping me up. "

" You know...I was so excited about this book. I first read Mona Simpson in the 80s and loved, loved much of her stuff. Maybe I'm in the wrong place for this, but I just couldn't get into it. I wasn't invested in any of the characters and didn't love the storyline. I'm gonna put it aside and maybe come back to it later. "

" Only remarkable for being the first library book I read entirely on my iPhone. "

" Loved this book, particularly the Fillipina (sp?) house-keeper/nanny. The characters, particularly the rich, helicopter parents (ahem), were pitch-perfect. I didn't want it to end. "

" In some ways frustrating as well as refreshing, this book didn't really seem to be motivated by any particular plot line or conflict until just about the end. However, I still really enjoyed the writing, the voices of the two main characters, and particularly Lola, the Phillipina nanny. "

" Enjoyable read set in LA over the course of the 1990s. It chronicles the challenges American middle/upper class women face in mothering, careers and marriage, and the much bigger challenges faced by the immigrant women they employ as nannies and housekeepers. My main beef is that the prose was full of allusions and subtle references that made the plot hard to follow at times, at least for a reader who hasn't trained her brain to devote 100% power to novels read for fun. "

" Why do I keep reading Mona Simpson's books? She has to be one of the most depressing individuals alive today. "

" What a struggle this book was ... and not worth it. Half is written in the words of an immigrant cleaning woman and it's just painful to try to figure it out. Wouldn't bother with this one. "

" Told from alternating vantage points of the two protagonists, this engaging, bittersweet, story of a holywood family and their nanny is the backdrop for delving into universal issues of love and marriage. Recommended "

" Interetsing perpsective of the nannies vs the mothers. Found it hard to keep track of what was goin on sometime with the nannies language. "

" Too many unlikeable characters, disjointed character references, annoying story lines....not sure why I finished the book...thought it would get better. Disappointed, as I'd heard very good things. "

" Started off well, but got more and more draggy and depressing. The musician's life did not feel at all authentic. "

" Really interesting fictional portraits of L.A. moms as emloyers of domestic help - in this case, mostly Filipina nannies. "

" I love this book. I love when books are about something I would never thing I would read about (the relationships between Filipina nanny's and their charges) and I find myself totally wrapped up in the world. Fascinating and heartbreaking. "

" Claire, the American composer and Lola the Filipina nanny, come together when William is born. The story is of the two cultures and two levels of money and experience meet. "

" As much as I like this book I am having trouble getting through it. I love the storyline, but it's been five months and I am still stuck in the first third of the book. "

" Just couldn't get into this book! "