I enjoyed this quirky book, with its look-back style at bygone yet recent decades, the lives of various "normal" people, and Lizzie's not-so-normal family. Nothing mind-blowing, but an entertaining story.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't love the character of Lizzie but I enjoyed the story. Thanks again for letting me have a chance to read it.

Not really my kind of story here. I thought I would get a romance, and I didn't really. Will definitely try this author again, though, because the writing was very good.

Recommend to my older students. The story really focuses on Lizzie and her relationships/past and how this bleeds into her current relationships and adult life.

Very odd book! I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the story. I finished it in hopes it would recover and get better but I’m sad to say it did not!

As I was reading this book, I kept going back and forth 'do I like this book, do I not like this book'. But what I really wanted was to love this book and that is where I kept getting tripped up.
I was hoping for it to be so enjoyable that I wouldn't want to put it down and then be able proclaim how wonderful it was. A lot of that anticipation has to do with the author. Nancy Pearl is a true gem of a person and I wanted this to be a triumph for her, and for me too a bit. That didn't happen.
What did happen was that this book grew on me, very slowly, so that by the end, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I had grown to like it and was satisfied with the end. With all her quirks and mental 'sportscasters' I really couldn't help liking Lizzie and seeing many similarities to myself in her. I was really rooting for her to move beyond everything that was holding her back and was ultimately happy with a conclusion that let that happen.
Bravo!

I just really did not relate to this story and the characters in the book. I wish I could have enjoyed it and there were some cute moments but meh

Nancy Pearl's first novel, the story of the many men in Lizzie's past, up through George.

George and Lizzie by Nancy Pearl is the story of a marriage based on Lizzie's sadness and George's desire to fill that sadness. My biggest issue with this book is that I don't understand the character of Lizzie. I am not saying there may not be reasons behind her actions; I am saying the book does not explore them. Without that why, I am left with one thought. George, run and save yourself.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/12/george-and-lizzie.html

Reviewed for NetGalley

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Jack and Lizzie couldn't have had more different upbringings. Lizzie is the only child of two behaviorist psychologists who treated her more as a case study than a daughter. Jack has two loving parents and an older brother he idolized growing up. Despite their differences, Jack and Lizzie end up together.

In her senior year, Lizzie decided to sleep her way through all 23 players on her high school's football team for fun. I am not sure how much that decision affected her versus just the upbringing she suffered. She spends her adult life feeling unworthy of being loved. She keeps looking to her past and wondering what could have been rather than appreciating the good life she has with George.

The novel is set up more as a series of short stories than as one cohesive story, but the format works. <spoiler>I spent most of the book wishing Lizzie would find Jack so she could realize that what she thought was between them either never was or no longer was there. I am not convinced that her moment of decision not to find him in the airport will last after so many years of trying to find him.</spoiler> The story was good but did not compel me to keep reading so I could find out what happened next.

I'm a fan of Nancy Pearl so it hurts me not to be more positive about this book. I couldn't engage with these characters and story. I never felt the vibe and was frustrated by the pace and tone.

Unfortunately this book didn’t keep me interested. I found it very slow.

I did not make it far in this one. I appreciate the opportunity to read, but it wasn't for me.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. YES! Pearl's fiction debut is everything one can expect from this librarian extraordinaire and more! Pick up this book if you've ever wondered why two disparate people stay together. This will give you one fictional glimpse into why this particular couple did.

First of all, I really respect Nancy Pearl and what she has done for the profession; I was excited to read her first Book, GEORGE & LIZZIE. I have tried, but I have to agree with other reviewers that I have somehow missed the point. I am not at all sure why George and Lizzie stayed together and found Lizzie to be very self-centered and bigoted about other people – not a likeable character with whom I wanted to spend more time.

Written by one of my favorite book nerds (Nancy is a regular NPR books commentator and all-around book recommending phenom), this debut reminds readers to embrace what we have right in front of us, our current source of happiness, rather than romanticizing what could have been. In addition, the story (and its delightful, quirky characters) highlights the disconnection that results from growing up with a family that is devoid of outward expressions of emotion, something to which I readily relate.

I am so sorry, but I felt like this was just another one of those novels that is a jumbled mess, there was nothing too creative or amazing about it.

This was an unusual book for me, but that is not a bad thing. Following George and Lizzie's marriage was in turns amusing, shocking and frustrating, but I still found it hard to put the book down. Looking forward to anything else this author publishes in the future!

I really tried to like this book, but ultimately I had to force myself through it. Boring, Never really connected with either George or Lizzie.

What makes a good marriage? That is the question behind NPR's favorite book expert Nancy Pearl in her debut novel George and Lizzie. 

Lizzie and George couldn't be more different. George was raised in a fairly average American family, the son of a Jewish orthodontist. Growing up was pretty standard, with the worst of his teenage pain coming from the monthly tightening of his braces. Lizzie, in contrast, was raised by two behavioral psychologists, and she felt like a mouse caught in a maze in one of their experiments. To sublimate her teenaged pain, she invented The Great Game, where she decided to sleep with the entire football team her senior year of high school (well, just the starters--she's not slutty, just bored and feeling unnoticed). 

Lizzie and George meet in college, at a bowling alley, where Lizzie is nursing a broken heart. George is instantly smitten, and that's that. Love, marriage, and all the rest. But does that include happiness? Lizzie can't seem to figure that part out, and her ambivalence is putting her 10-year marriage in jeopardy. 

George and Lizzie is told in vignettes, jumping back and forth between present and past, and slowing unfolding the complicated story of this couple. It is masterfully written, with three-dimensional characters who can be hard to like at times. But they are honest and genuine as they spill their secrets, their hopes, and their fears onto the page. This may be Nancy Pearl's first book, but I whole-heartedly hope that it is not her last. I can't wait to see the stories she decides to tell us next! 



Galleys for George and Lizzie were provided by Touchstone through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.