Life is too short to keep reading a book that doesn't interest you. I used to never give up on a book. I just knew that it would pay off in the end and the book would actually be great. However, as I get older, I realize that idea is like sitting at a slot machine that you are convinced will finally hit when, actually, you just end up losing your money because it never does. I feel that way about this book. I just can't continue with this even though I'm about halfway into it. There will never be the resolution I crave and while I don't dislike Liam, I find it off putting to make the women in his life so smarmy and one dimensional. Sure, from what I've read here, he might change his opinions of and his relationships with these women but I wonder why? They don't give themselves much to offer. I think I'll wish the characters all the best and move on. At 60 Liam Pennywell decides to downsize after being made redundant and is thinking about retiring. Liam tends to drift with events and rarely argues with his three daughters and ex-wife. If anything, he's a bit disconnected from life. Like Noah he isn't in urgent need of a compass because he's adrift and not really headed anywhere. Then, on the first night in his new unit, and unexpected and shocking event happens that gets him questioning his general approach to life and reexamining his memories with interesting results. Noah's Compass is well written. It ponders the nature of memory, relationships, marriage, commitment and family and comes to some gentle conclusions. I liked that fact that Tyler values connections between people and that she can include characters who care about religion without totally mocking or discrediting them. She has a way at understanding different perspectives. I enjoyed the book though at a couple of points it seemed a bit forced or disjointed, on the whole I enjoyed this book and it did leave me thinking about things afterwards.
