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Even if most don‘t include a romance with a future Hollywood star, I think every family has their own lore — those colorful stories that hint at who the parents were *before* …or who they might have been had things gone just a little bit differently.

In this novel, Lara‘s trip down memory lane to clarify her lore for her 3 adult daughters made for a charming read.

(Plus Patchett absolutely nailed the behind-the-scenes drama of summer theater.)

A captivating story that shows the reality of show business through one young actress' experience and early retirement. And her beautiful and ordinary family life that follows, told to her adult daughters during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The audiobook, performed by Meryl Streep was a masterpiece.

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#boleybooks #tomlake #AnnPatchett #bookbeast #novel #bookbuds #bookclub #letsread

I think this is my second dud from Reese‘s Book Club. This book was written well but just boring. Soooo boring. Set during Covid with all her daughters home, a mother decides to tell her girls her life story and all her glory playing Emily in Our Town. I think I made it 100 pages in and was just over Our Town at that point. I would definitely try this author again but just couldn‘t get through this one. #hailtothebail

After loving The Dutch House on audio with Tom Hanks, @Billypar let me know that Meryl Streep is the narrator of Tom Lake and I had to listen. I loved the story of mothers and daughters and how we become disillusioned about what we believed to be true or important in our youth. The book portrays their relationships as adults as they look back on the past, experience the present and look toward the future. The pandemic is there but subtle.

Mostly listened to this on audio. It was masterfully written - Patchett is unparalleled in that regard. The story—I didn‘t really connect with the story. Partly I was rankled by the MC/narrator, Lara‘s, rosy wistfulness about the COVID lockdown. It‘s one of my pet peeves (partly because my family did not have a cozy, bread-baking, ‘growing closer free from the distractions of hectic life‘ experience). But partly I just felt a bit detached 👇

I love Ann Patchett. I love Meryl Streep. I love "Our Town".

So, yeah, I loved this book on audio.

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was an ok read. It helped giving my head a break from some heavy stuff going on around. The writing was good but story-wise, I liked Bel Canto a lot better.

It‘s really rare that I listen to audiobooks, but I‘d heard that this one, read/performed by Meryl Streep, was exceptional—and that was absolutely the case! Both the book itself and the reading were outstanding, and this kept my mind occupied on a long road trip last week. So so good.

Read by Meryl Streep. Fantastic.

#coverstories
#lake

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I'm a big fan of Ann Patchett, but this story was not my favourite. Also, it refers to the play "Our Town" constantly, which is not as well known outside of the USA, so I assume I missed a lot of clever parallels?

Next audible

I did the audio version of this book. I enjoyed Meryl Streep as the narrator. During this story, a mother tells of her past to her 3 daughters. Her past included a romance with an actor who later became famous. She met him while playing Emily on a play called “Our Town”. This author writes beautifully, like a poet. The morale of this story is family. I thought this book was very good, and I recommend it.

1. I‘m getting lost working jigsaw puzzles.
2. I went through all my reviews of the last year and this was one of my only picks that didn‘t include murder, missing children or dysfunctional families!

@Deblovestoread thanks for the tag! @TheSpineView

1️⃣ Listen to music, walks by the sea around my house

2️⃣ I loved the audiobook for this one. Meryl Streep‘s narration just made me happy.

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView

#Two4Tuesday

#AuldLangSpine @JamieArc @monalyisha
This is my third Ann Patchett, and like the other two that involved semi-utopias cut off or estranged from the outside world (e.g., opera hostages or Amazonian tribe/scientists), Tom Lake features two: a Michigan cherry farm during the pandemic and a theater community by the lake of the title. There's always trouble threatening paradise, but unlike most of her literary peers...👇

I took the day off work and cleaned my house and had a smidge of this story left so opened a new Lego set to get to the end. What could this be? I loved listening to Meryl Streep tell the story of Tom Lake ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Despite owning this book in print I finally gave myself permission listen to it on audio. My Libby hold came in and today I listen while I take down Christmas. Meryl Streep is making this thankless task much more enjoyable ❤️

Screenshot of my 2024 GR challenge - I read 151books!

Day 4 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

Quietly touching.

A mother tells her daughters about dating a famous movie star (before he became a star.)

Usually, this kind of slow-paced, deliberately heartwarming, nostalgic type of storytelling is not for me. I steer away from the saccharine.

Ann Patchett creates a wonderful sense of place, her characters are believable, and her writing is lovely.

By the end, I did have an emotional response and it wasn't the one I was expecting.

#12Booksof2024 @Andrew65

Thank you very much @Cupcake12 for my #jolabokaflod treats! Merry Christmas and thanks so much for organising @MaleficentBookDragon

I enjoyed it in the end. Would have enjoyed it more if I'd not been in a bit of a reading slump

A story of a woman‘s acting and dating past, enfolded in the story of her current family life during the togetherness of the early COVID months

November #bookspin

Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

This has everything I usually love in a book…and yet, I didn‘t love it. I have no idea why really. Wrong timing? I know nothing about Our Town, the play the story centres around (but I never want to read about Emily or the Stage Manager again), I felt nothing much for the characters and just felt distanced from the whole thing. In fact I nearly gave up. The last 50 pages or so kind of won me round but I still feel ambivalent.

Next kindle read

I just reread this one and loved it just as much the second time. This time I listened to the audio and it was as wonderful as everyone said. Since I knew the ending, I was able to focus more on the characters and less on the plot. The reflections of a woman to her adult children is beautiful. It‘s about memory and nostalgia, the secrets we hold and the experiences that shape us. I know it will stay with me.

I needed a leisurely story and this is what this is. A story of a family during the pandemic, working on their farm, with the mother telling a story that the kids have asked for of her past with a particular actor. Patchett doesn‘t always hit the mark for me but I really appreciate her inspirational book buying IG posts. Therefore I‘m giving this a pick.

#schoolspirit
#play #ourtown
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks #eggs

September #bookspin started❣️

@TheAromaofBooks

#AboutaBook
#published2023
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Finally getting to read this, a lovely summer‘s evening is the perfect accompaniment ❤️

late night reading with the pup, finished but it was like wadding through marmite (which I think Is thicker than mud ) so disappointed i had high hopes for this but my goodness not a patchon commonwealth which was one of my favourite books of the year.The premise is great but the story just didn‘t grip me & there was no chemistry at all between Lara & Duke, and a cosy almost brotherly relationship with Jo her husband. Not her best and v overrated

can someone tell me why this book is so popular? reads like a tradwife manifesto so far...

Sometimes you just need a book that‘s comforting, not every story has to have that WOW factor. If you are looking for that, read this!

I loved this story so much. It took me a bit to really get into it, but once I did, I wanted to know what would happen next.

Meryl Streep‘s narration was superb, of course.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story is starting to really grow on me. I‘m glad I‘m listening to the audiobook, the narration is perfect.

Lara tells her three daughters the story of her past.

Dreamy ✨ Inevitability ✨ Timeless

A simple tale within a tale with a solid ending.

This was excellent! I read and listened to Meryl Streep read it (she is so good!). A family stuck together during the pandemic, looking back at the past. I loved the couple of weeks we were locked down together, my boys with me 24/7. I chose my cloud oodie as the backdrop of this photo as somewhere in the book they are lying on the grass in the cherry orchard looking up at the clouds and deciding if they are ducks or rabbits. ⬇️

Late to the party, but happy just to be here 😉