I've had a hard time listening to books while I work. It might be the new responsibilities I have, or I'm just lazy and my brain does not want to multitask more than it must. I've downloaded a ton of books in the last few months: Christine Falls, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, The Lightning Thief, Cheever's Shorts Stories, A Confederacy of Dunces, House of Cards, &tc. and I didn't finish any of them. Embarrassing.

But I finished a book last week and it was so great. I don't care if I don't read another book for awhile as long as it is as enjoyable as A Visit from the Goon Squad.

I read one of Jennifer Egan's previous novels, The Keep, and I was not terribly taken by it. So when I picked up Visit from the Goon Squad because it won the Pulitzer Prize my expectations were kind of low. And because it won the Pulitzer Prize means I in no way discovered a hidden gem of the literary world. I merely jumped on the bandwagon, and I was not disappointed.

I think there is a soft spot in my heart for interrelated short stories. When I come across them I am instantly sucked in. I love when they are not in chronological order and when it's like a puzzle to read and figure out how it's all connected. Goon Squad shifted time and chronology, it focused on many characters that all became interesting. When I finished it I started it again because I wanted to figure out even more how all the characters tied together. I hope someone made a chart, but it might also ruin the web in my head.