Sunday, September 13, 2015

A Window Opens (Elisabeth Egan)

One can instantly tell that a books person wrote A Window Opens.  Elisabeth Egan, the books editor at Glamour magazine, has crafted a story that I identify with greatly.  You see, I went kicking and screaming to the Kindle, and I still 1000% prefer opening up a real, genuine book to reading on a technological device.  While so much more far-reaching than that, A Window Opens has basically the same theme – what is hardcore technology doing to the independent bookstore and library?

Alice Pearse has a happy, comfortable life with her three children and lawyer husband, working a few days a week as a book reviewer.  When her husband doesn’t make partner and therefore throws his laptop across the room at his office (never a good idea), he tries to get his own small practice going.  Money is tight, and to make ends meet, Alice lands a “dream” job at Scroll, a new high-tech concept idea in the book world (basically a Starbucks for books without actual books).  It’s a super-demanding job, and Alice is dealing with a recurrence of her father’s cancer at the same time.  The rest of the plot is quite predictable but still very entertaining.

Alice is a likable character, but she can also be very frustrating.  Like many people nowadays, she is never fully “with” someone, always checking her e-mails and texts even off the clock.  This even applies when she’s with her dad.  But this is so like real life anymore, right?  Unfortunately, yes.

MY RATING - 4