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Early Warning
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
25 posts | 20 read | 15 to read
From the Pulitzer Prize-winner: the second installment, following Some Luck, of her widely acclaimed, best-selling American trilogy, which brings the journey of a remarkable family with roots in the Iowa heartland into mid-century America Early Warning opens in 1953 with the Langdon family at a crossroads. Their stalwart patriarch, Walter, who with his wife, Rosanna, sustained their farm for three decades, has suddenly died, leaving their five children, now adults, looking to the future. Only one will remain in Iowa to work the land, while the others scatter to Washington, D.C., California, and everywhere in between. As the country moves out of post-World War II optimism through the darker landscape of the Cold War and the social and sexual revolutions of the 1960s and '70s, and then into the unprecedented wealth--for some--of the early 1980s, the Langdon children each follow a different path in a rapidly changing world. And they now have children of their own: twin boys who are best friends and vicious rivals; a girl whose rebellious spirit takes her to the notorious Peoples Temple in San Francisco; and a golden boy who drops out of college to fight in Vietnam--leaving behind a secret legacy that will send shock waves through the Langdon family into the next generation. Capturing a transformative period through richly drawn characters we come to know and care deeply for, Early Warning continues Smiley's extraordinary epic trilogy, a gorgeously told saga that began with Some Luck and will span a century in America. But it also stands entirely on its own as an engrossing story of the challenges--and rewards--of family and home, even in the most turbulent of times, all while showcasing a beloved writer at the height of her considerable powers.
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Lcsmcat
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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#NovemberStats I read 11 books this month, all fiction. Tagged book was my favorite new read, but of course Northanger Abbey is a perennial favorite.

lynneamch I used to live in the same Iowa town when Smiley lived there. Really need to get back to reading her. Thanks for the reminder. 4y
Lcsmcat @lynneamch Did you get to meet her? 4y
lynneamch I believe she presented at conferences I attended in the early 90s but never had personal contact. I do think she really get things right about Midwest living. 4y
Lcsmcat @lynneamch She really does. I think those are her strongest novels. 4y
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review
Lcsmcat
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Pickpick

I love Smiley‘s work, and this is no exception. Continuing the life of various members of the Langdon clan from 1953 to 1986, with historic tidbits thrown in, but always organically, this follows Some Luck. Now to start book 3 of the trilogy. 😀

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Lcsmcat
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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“Crème brûlée seemed designed to promote denial.”

Cathythoughts Great book , great dish 4y
36 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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“The funeral was a riot of floral exuberance - not just lilies, but daffodils and tulips and sprays of apple and pear blossom.”
#firstlineFridays @ShyBookOwl

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Lcsmcat
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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It‘s been a while since I read the first novel in this trilogy, so I‘m glad a family tree is provided!

Freespirit I love a family tree in a book💕 4y
Cathythoughts Love this trilogy ❤️❤️❤️ 4y
29 likes2 comments
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Amiable
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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It‘s been 5 weeks of working from home in isolation and I‘m tired and cranky and I‘m having chocolate chip cookies for dinner and I‘m not going to feel guilty about it because PANDEMIC RULES APPLY.

Aims42 Darn right 👍🏻 5y
8little_paws insanely jealous here 5y
AlaMich No judgement! 5y
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Sharpeipup Good choice! 5y
Jaimelire Go for it....and enjoy every bite!😊 5y
Hooked_on_books 👏🏼👏🏼🎉 5y
LeahBergen Happy Birthday! 😘😘😘 5y
Amiable @LeahBergen Thank you! 🙂 5y
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Amiable
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Can‘t believe June is over! Last day of #30junebooks. Here are a few of my “E” books.

@howjessreads

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WanderingBookaneer
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Lizpixie Thanks lovely!❤️❤️❤️❤️ 6y
Cinfhen Thanks for sharing!! 6y
readinginthedark What is CliFi, something with the climate and SF? 6y
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WanderingBookaneer @readinginthedark : It is short for Climate Fiction and deals with climate change and global warming. 6y
readinginthedark Ah, okay. Thanks! 6y
gradcat Thank you very much for this post!! It‘s very helpful 😍 6y
84 likes6 comments
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TrishB
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Pickpick

Great second book in this trilogy - took me a few pages to get all the characters straight in my head again. I love the yearly chapters and had to look a few American political and social things up as wasn‘t sure what they were- but added to the story anyway.
Have third one ready and will read before I forget the characters.

Crazeedi I read this series, I must say I enjoyed the first two more than the last one 6y
TrishB @Crazeedi awww....really looking forward to the last one! 6y
Crazeedi @TrishB it was good, just not as imo 6y
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TrishB @Crazeedi will have to finish anyway! 6y
Cathythoughts I loved them all ... ♥️👍🏻great characters 6y
Crazeedi @TrishB of course you will, in always finished the trilogies, I'll be interested in your opinion 6y
TrishB @Cathythoughts they are 👍🏻 and I like the yearly format. 6y
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TrishB
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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These are big books! Should be done tonight. Had a rare day to myself. As soon as hubby, daughter and doggo left this morning, cleaned the house (another rarity!), went to shops, and then read, and read. Chaos will return very soon, but it‘s been a much needed mentally restorative day.

rockpools Sounds lovely! (*doesn‘t stack the big book!*) 6y
saresmoore So glad you were able to have a restful day—well deserved! 6y
batsy Sounds great. It's always good to have one of those days 🌻 As for that book! It's big 😅 6y
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Eggs How nice! 🤗❣️🤗 6y
TrishB @RachelO @saresmoore @batsy thank you friends 😘 sometimes you know you just need one of those days. 6y
TrishB @Eggs it most definitely was 💕 6y
Kalalalatja Sounds like a perfect days - minus the cleaning 😄 6y
TrishB @Kalalalatja it soooo needed doing! And with no one else in the house was just so much quicker! 6y
BarbaraBB Sounds so good, the day!! 6y
Magpiegem That sounds really lovely 😊 6y
Lindy I enjoyed this series very much. The year-by-year chapters are an appealing format. 6y
dfieb I had the same experience with this book! 6y
TrishB @BarbaraBB it was 💕 6y
TrishB @Magpiegem a lovely day 💕 6y
TrishB @Lindy I like that too 👍🏻 6y
TrishB @dfieb 👍🏻 6y
125 likes1 stack add16 comments
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TrishB
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Going to gig with daughter tonight as friend not well! Can only take small bags in.....book priorities.....I have a 40 min train journey don‘t want to be wasting it.
Going to see The 1975 who I quite like so not too bad!

squirrelbrain Have fun! ❤️ 6y
Kalalalatja Enjoy! 6y
LauraBeth I love The 1975 - enjoy! 6y
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LeahBergen Have fun! 6y
TrishB @LauraBeth they were great - Matty is a great front man 👍🏻 6y
Cathythoughts That‘s great it went well 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
132 likes7 comments
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TrishB
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Lunch time read with Book 2 in this series 😁

Cathythoughts Oh !!! I hope you like it as much as I did 👍🏻♥️ 6y
TrishB @Cathythoughts you got me the first one which I loved and immediately brought the other two! 6y
Cathythoughts I did ! I‘m so glad you liked it & I hope you like the others too ... I loved the series 6y
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AmyG I loved the first book. Let us know how his one is. 6y
TrishB @AmyG loving it so far! 6y
AmyG Good to know! Thanks. 6y
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rachaich
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Pickpick

Ah, the second in the trilogy.
Finished in record time and now to start the final.
I was glad to fund a family tree at the front as there were more characters to keep up with.

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rachaich
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Second in the trilogy and I'm on p 130!

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Moray_Reads
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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UPDATE: Looks like my shelves are rebuilding themselves now 🤞🤞🤞

Just in case anyone else is trying out Library Thing...I exported my Goodreads library earlier and now all of the dates have disappeared from my GR shelves and my challenge has been reduced to zero. Proceed with EXTREME CAUTION.

rockpools So sorry - that sounds grim! 7y
Jess7 Ugh ohh!!! That‘s terrible. @kgriffith do you know anything about this? 7y
Samplergal Oh no! I can‘t get my stuff from good reads. I imported my books from Goodreads about 6 months ago. 7y
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Moray_Reads @RachelO @Jess7 @Samplergal it worked fine art first and then when I added my latest book to GR. Kaput. Everything vanished 7y
DivineDiana I‘m in wait and see mode. 😳 7y
CSeydel OMG 😱 7y
Reagan I tried Library Thing before and was not into it. Thanks for the warning and sorry! So frustrating! 7y
rockpools 🤞🤞🙈🍀🤞🤞 7y
kgriffith That definitely sounds like a GR bug, I have no idea why your data would disappear from their site like that. Did you get the export file? I‘m away from Litsy for a bit but I‘ll check back in as soon as I‘m able. 7y
Moray_Reads Hi @kgriffith the export file came through fine on LT and it looks like GR is righting itself. A temporary big I think, but it frightened the life out of me! 7y
ephemeralwaltz Oh no :( 7y
kgriffith @Moray_Reads Oh thank goodness! Glad to hear the import worked well 😊 7y
Samplergal Mine is back! 7y
CSeydel Oh thank goodness 😅 7y
batsy I did the export thing and it turned out OK (I think!) Glad yours fixed itself, seeing everything disappear is like 😱😱 7y
38 likes15 comments
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BookishMarginalia
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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This article goes into what concerns me about the TSA paging through books and papers. It feels like a possible erosion of First Amendment rights, which should worry everyone, traveler or not, reader of "controversial" material or not. As a lawyer, a teacher, and an avid book buyer in several languages, I worry. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/06/26/academics-alarmed-tsa-plans-requi...

BookishFeminist WHAT. This is garbage. Also of note it's often not legal for libraries to track borrowing history or give it in investigations. There's exceptions of course but FOI is super important and does potentially erode 1st Amendment or at least cause a massive breach in privacy of opinion. 7y
Notafraidofwords @BookishFeminist I agree 👌🏽. When I worked in the public library world, some parents would ask me what they're kid checked out and I would not tell them unless the child was present to authorize it. This worries me. 7y
tpixie Oh great 7y
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tpixie @BookishFeminist interesting 7y
Peddler410 @Notafraidofwords The police liaison at one of my middle schools brought a book he found in the hall back to the library. Trying to be nice, he asked who had it checked out so he could return it to the student. I thanked him and said we would take care of it. He didn't want to let it go; I stood my ground. 7y
Grrlbrarian 😳 That's a bunch of bullshit. Also, I will now be missing every flight - I pack a LOT of books and papers! 7y
Hooked_on_books I am reassured by the thought that the ACLU will be all over this one. Though they've had their hands full since January. 7y
Centique Yes that's a bad bad move ☹️ 7y
GlassAsDiamonds Wow.... and I thought the Chinese were overly paranoid.... will they specifically single out bearers of 1984 or The Handmaids Tale? 😡😡😡 7y
LauraJ Everybody, replace your book jackets with porn covers featuring TSA agents in compromising positions! 7y
LeeRHarry Surely airport scanners are quite sophisticated pieces of equipment and can distinguish a book from something that security should really be concerned about! Like your suggestion @LauraJ 😊 7y
Notafraidofwords @Peddler410 👌🏽definitely. I used to have parents upset at me and tell me that they pay my salary (eye roll) 7y
Notafraidofwords @Hooked_on_books what I'm most worried about is the TCA deeming books inappropriate. 7y
MicheleinPhilly I'm going to pack a copy of the Kama Sutra in my carry on from now on. 👹 7y
TheBookbabeblog84 I feel more and more everyday that we are living in a Dystopian world in the making. This is a gross invasion of privacy. We should be free to read what we want and not be questioned about it. 7y
127 likes15 comments
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BookishMarginalia
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Big red warning flag, folks: TSA is planning to inspect books and other paper materials taken on flights in carry-on baggage. https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-future/new-tsa-policy-may-lead-increased-scrutiny...

SpeculativeFemale Glad I don't fly much 7y
Robothugs ☹️ 7y
Ruri_kaichou 😡😡😡😡 7y
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GeekGrl82 I'll be picking a provocative book for my next flight. 7y
DivineDiana What next? 7y
Zelma My recent train trip convinced me to fly less. Hate airports, airlines and the TSA. 7y
StephanieMarie Apparently it's because the books make it difficult to see other items on the xray. Regardless of reasons it will be very annoying at best... Guess it will be ebooks for me when flying to the U.S. 7y
Susanita When I first saw this story, I thought it was from The Onion. But alas... 7y
Lynnsoprano This is when I wish we had something other than "like" for a post. And then if TSA decides that laptops and tablets have to be checked... 7y
tournevis I cancelled all my travelling to the US in 2017, but it looks less and less likely I'll be coming back in 2018 either. 7y
theshrinkette @Lynnsoprano TSA already has that rule in place this year, for some countries (all of them in the Middle East, shocker.) I had to check in my laptop and tablet on my visit to the States a month ago when flying in from Abu Dhabi. 7y
Lynnsoprano @theshrinkette I should have clarified my comment, since I knew about that. I recently read that TSA wants to expand to all incoming flights. Then the next step will be every flight. It never ends. 7y
kspenmoll Thx for info. We are traveling in August- appreciate heads up. 7y
valeriegeary Maybe if we gush about the books while TSA inspects them everyone will start reading more and the world will be a better place. #silverlining 7y
AmyG So I need to carry "The Art of the Deal" so I can fly trough Security? ;) (edited) 7y
Notafraidofwords @AmyG you might have to. I've heard from several people that they're phones are being checked. 7y
The_Old_Astronomer It's not as bad as that. They just might ask you to take out your book (as you would with a laptop) when going through security because the scanners can't always tell what's a bomb and what's a really thick book. 7y
Eryn2513 So. I live in a remote Alaskan village. I fly to anchorage about twice a year, and when I do, I hit the bookstore HARD. My carry-on on the way home generally consists of at least 15-20 books. Have fun with that, TSA. 7y
vlwelser This happened to me once in EWR. Some books are too thick for the x-ray. Hand it over. They'll flip through it. NBD. 7y
MyNamesParadise Those effers better not harm my books! I'm that crazy person in the bookstore that looks at each copy and makes sure its pristine. The TSA is useless. Now they have to inspect books bc they can't properly do their jobs. Not too long ago that report came out and said TSA agents when tested missed 95% of contraband! Leave my books alone! 7y
Linear I hate when articles make things seem worse than they are. I get the concern is someone being judged for the type of book they read. For that, just put a cover on it. If your concerned about judgemt take precautions. I would think most people would have their more embarassing reads in ebook form anyway. 7y
LibrarianRyan I read this. Ughhhhh. I guess I'll have to ship all my books home from conferences or drive. 7y
Amandajoy I can see me going through security next time I fly, unpacking my entire suitcase because I have too many books in it 🤦🏼‍♀️ 7y
96 likes23 comments
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kspenmoll
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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#MarchintoReading #judgedbyitscover @RealLifeReading
Read the first book in this trilogy- 2nd in TBR. Love the simplicity of the cover, its color hues & how the 50's is evoked in the image.

Cinfhen Definitely getting that 50's vibe 😎 8y
kspenmoll @Cinfhen The novel covers the family from50's to 70's 8y
43 likes2 comments
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kspenmoll
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Read the first in this trilogy; now tackling second book - small stack for our first snow! #booksandsnow #booksandcoffee #happyreading#weekend

tpixie Great stack! LOVE ❤️ the fox cup!! I've been trying so hard not to buy it and you're tempting me!! And the snow looks beautiful! have fun! (edited) 8y
kspenmoll @tpixie Could not restrain myself when I held that cup- love the handle & fox! Happy Holidays to me! 🙄 excited to snuggle indoors with books today! ❄️❄️☃️ 8y
tpixie Yes! You made the right decision I'm afraid I made the wrong decision not buying it!! ❄️ ⛄️ ⛄️ 📚 8y
kspenmoll @tpixie Still on their website for $6.27 on sale but forgot to check about shipping- tempting you, Sorry! 8y
tpixie Wow about 1/2 price!! Lol. You just broke my resolve!! 8y
32 likes5 comments
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kspenmoll
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Morning coffee and book😊 relaxing start to a soon to be busy Sunday.

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kspenmoll
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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erzascarletbookgasm Nice spot! 8y
LauraBeth This is so pretty 😀 8y
kspenmoll @CherylDeFranceschi @LauraBeth @erzascarletbookgasm thx; I do love reading there; very quiet, shady, my at home place! 8y
DebReads4fun Lovely! 8y
19 likes5 comments
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kspenmoll
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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I am a slow reader so this made me happy! I am enjoying Litsy so much; thank you all!

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kspenmoll
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Asrived in today's mail, a gift from my son. 2nd in a midwestern family saga. Can't wait to begin- and finish my coffee!

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Gleefulreader
Early Warning | Jane Smiley
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Took my daughter to our local theme park today and after two rides (including this monster - which she wanted to ride, and she's only NINE) I triggered a recurrence of vertigo, an old foe of mine. We ended up having to leave so now I'm at home listening to audiobooks as print isn't happening.

ReadingOver50 Too bad about the vertigo 😞☹️ 8y
Reviewsbylola Hope you feel better soon! That will be my three year old in a couple of years. She could ride kiddie coasters all day long. 8y
[DELETED] 2232195534 Sorry about the vertigo. I had a bout of that this spring after an ear infection. My doctor told me I had rattled around the rocks in my head! Seriously, it's no fun and I can see how that ride might cause a flare-up. Take care! 8y
LitHousewife I'm so sorry! You're braver than I am, though. That ride is too scary to me. I hope you feel better! 8y
13 likes4 comments