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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 😉

Up next on audio…

I went back and forth between just liking (so-so) and really enjoying (pick) this. Meryl Streep was a great narrator for this #audiobook, but for the one young 20 something year old daughter who sounded like she was one of Homer Simpson's sister-in-laws with her old lady smoker voice. 😂

⭐⭐⭐⭐

#SummerSouls #Lake
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Has it really been 3 years since I‘ve been here? What did I miss?

This was a beautiful read and only cements what I already knew - Ann Patchett is one of my favorite writers. I found myself thinking more than once how lovely it would be to live in an orchard, or near one - but I think I‘d be disappointed to find that I wouldn‘t be living with the Nelson family 😂 #tbrtarot #flowersoncover

Long languid days of actual cherry picking, and learning that your parents had fulfilling and interesting lives before you were born. #sundayfunday

#WeeklyForecast

I‘ve started some books that‘ll take a longish time to finish; Dissolution #ShardlakeSeriesBR, a 2 month buddy read and The BookShop Book

I‘ll undergo surgery tomorrow and not sure how much reading I‘ll get done

Tom Lake returned from Libby and I want to continue that

I want to finish The Switch

The rest are possibilities; The Secrets of the Stormforest, Slemme Jenter (Bad Girls) and the Icelandic author Jon Kalman Stefansson

Patchett never disappoints, and this is no exception. I finished it outside, with a bowl of cherries by my side. Knowing Our Town and The Cherry Orchard add depth, but are not necessary for the enjoyment of this warm novel. Highly recommended.