17 - Five Star Billionaire, by Tash Aw
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it in a bookstore, and it looked good
ELAPSED TIME: 2 weeks
RATING: Meh
Four hardworking people trying to make a life in Beijing. Four intersecting lives. Old money, new money, no money... all facing the challenges of a growing city.
This book was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and I could see why it ought to be interesting... unfortunately, it just wasn't. You could see the characters making bad decisions for themselves in advance of those choices. You could see one of them walking into a scam, but have to read about it for 100 pages....
All in all, a good premise, but poorly executed.
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
