The narrative structure of this novel is really done well, and serves to keep the reader's interest in the story, but I agree with another review about the ending being a bit of a thud. But overall I did enjoy the book and I'm glad to have read it, the audio performance is excellent, although this is a novel where you must pay close attention to the chapter names.

October reading! My favorite is tagged, lots of meh novels this month! But four of five books this month were print format, and one of my goals for the year was more print so that's good.

I know I say this all the time, but the book was too long. It was a good story, with a flat ending and the middle part just dragged a bit. A low pick.

"In the end, Harold had come down with a cold, and Maureen had moved into the spare room. Somehow or other neither of them had mentioned it, and somehow or other she had never moved back."

? This book is wounding me.

"For all his talk about free love, he has never truly wanted her to be with another man. He offered her freedom because he never believed her capable of taking it."

Oh. Hell. Yeah.

Really enjoying this!

I just had to bail on this one, I gave it a hundred pages and I just am not interested.

Book roll came up with this next!

This was a sweet novel, although the second half felt truncated. She says in the beginning how much she would come to know her son's father's ways, but she never does.

"Beyond that, I knew nothing, especially not of love's beginnings, of that inexplicable draw to another, why some boys could pass you by without notice but the next has a pull on you as undeniable as gravity, and from that moment forward, longing is all you know."

Awwww, this made me rather weepy.

Couldn't decide what to read! I don't actually know how the book spins or bingo things that people do on here work, so I just put out six books from my TBR shelf and rolled a dice 😊🎲

I'm nearly three quarters into this one and only just now feeling truly invested. The MC is really cold and unfeeling, and I understand why she's written that way, I guess, but it makes it hard to give a sh*t about her.

This novel was such a delight! An erotic and magical tale, wrapped in the beginnings of a beautiful love story, it made a dreadful and long flight bearable and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

This book was too long and I found the last third of it really tedious.

This is probably my fourth time reading this novel and it tore my heart to pieces as relentlessly as it did the first time. A beautiful story, every time I read it I am reminded that real growth as a human being always involves looking yourself in the eye, confronting your shortcomings and asking for forgiveness, and how incredibly difficult that is.

I'm several hours in and still questioning how reliable the narrator of this story is.... I'm really enjoying it, quite suspenseful, although I can also see how criticisms of the length and at times meandering opining by the main character could be valid.

I cried through several of the letters that make up this book, but I have truly loved listening to it. I love each and every character and every time Sybil and her best friend Rosalie would close one of their letters with what they are reading and asking what the other is reading my heart got all squishy. Highly recommend this sweet novel.

I put off reviewing this book after I finished it, hoping that upon further reflection I would like it better, but I have to reluctantly give it only three stars. It was okay. It was good writing and a compelling story. But the thing that makes Wally Lamb's great books great is the arc of redemption in his characters. He is a master at this, and for whatever reason, it doesn't show up in this novel. Still a pick, but low.

I did not expect this book... I didn't know anything about it before listening and it is like a punch in the face. It grabs your attention and does not let go. Absolutely could not stop listening, compelling and fascinating right up until the last word, amazing. And A+ narration performance on the audio!!

Always thrilled when a new book in this series comes out!! And these books are pitch perfect Summer reading, interesting, thoughtful and well written while still managing to be on the lighter side of novels, I just adore the entire series.

"I distinctly remember hearing Ben use the word 'shed' when we walked into it, and I ignored him. The way you do when you're trying to stay married." ?

June was a big reading month for me, with eight books finished and several really good four star novels, my favorite is tagged but What Kind of Paradise is a very close second!

"After all, Ignatius of Loyola, a soldier who had killed and whored and made a thorough mess of his soul, said you could judge prayer worthwhile simply if you could act more decently, think more clearly afterward."

I love this.

Next up in my Year of the Great Reread!! This book is copyrighted 1996, and I believe I read it in 1999 (when my first born was just a baby!), with a library book group. I'm not usually one for science fiction but I recall very much enjoying it, I'm looking forward to reading it again after so many years!

"Babe, the arrangement was situational." He calls her "babe" one more time and I swear to god I'm throwing this book across the room. I understand the term antihero from reading books by Wally Lamb, better than any high school English teacher explaining it.

I read this for book club, and honestly I was a bit reluctant about it, thinking it might be rather boring, but what a wonderful novel!! I am so glad I read it, this is why I love book groups, bringing novels into my life that I otherwise wouldn't pick up. 4.5 stars, this book made me laugh and cry and I loved it. 💜

"The land you grow up in is a forever thing, remembered when all else is forgotten, whether it did you right or did you wrong."

She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True both occupy space on my Very Important Books bookshelf, so I am just beside myself with happiness for a new book by this author. 💜💜💜💜

"Hitler had seized Austria and was now wanting a chunk of Czechoslovakia, promising peace if he could have it. The spooked Allies handed it right over, believing in fairy tales told by a madman."

I'm only a short way into this but it is so good already, I feel so much for this young girl in isolation with her dad, who is so so familiar to me, I keep being all "this guy...???" and I don't know if that's because of my own rural upbringing or if all of us will recognize this guy?

Super creepy book, a great weekend audiobook. It may be a tad too long but the main female character was well drawn and I enjoyed her.

Spending Saturday afternoon listening to this book lying under this generous tree 🌳 📖

I wanted to post a sunny pic by the pool with my first book of the summer, but it's been raining in Denver all weekend so I've just been holed up inside like it's midwinter and feeling pretty cranky about it!

"She'd met a man on the Boston & Maine Railroad: that was all she'd say." John Wheelwright on his mother, who had a weekly appointment out of town to carry on her hot affair and never felt the need to say a word to anyone about it. Icon.

One of my favorite books in all of life, this copy fell into my hands at the Goodwill and I am giving myself the Mother's Day gift of unplugging and rereading it all day. 💜

I cried all the way from Denver to Albuquerque listening to this incredibly sad book. You've been warned.

"Nostalgia and melancholia are fraternal twins." - Ms. Della

Reading this novel for book club, so far it is adorable. ?

March reading! My top pick was James, but I have to give serious honorable mentions to both nonfiction books I read this month, The Barn and I'm Glad My Mom Died, both outstanding. Project Hail Mary would come in last if I was mean like that, but honestly it reminded me why science fiction just generally isn't for me.

I listened to Huck Finn before reading this, just to be able to enjoy the context and draw contrasts and such. But honest to god y'all I almost wish I hadn't. I mean, it's fine read Twain or don't read Twain, this book stands alone. Absolutely engrossing and the story so compelling that I almost immediately forgot that this book had anything to do with Twain. Inspired by Twain, not Twain retelling, I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I watched I Carly with my kids and recall the author's character and performance quite well. She is clearly a remarkable young woman, I was genuinely impressed with her bravery in telling her story so unflinchingly.

I'm glad to have a classic to add to my completed list this year, but I can't say I enjoyed this much at all. If I read it in high school or college I feel sure I must have bailed on it. I do think it will add to the experience of reading James, but I did the audio for Huck Finn and I really only half listened to the second half.

"And just as we was leavin' I found a tolerable good curry comb, and Jim he found a ratty old fiddle bow and a wooden leg. The straps was broke off it but barrin' that, it was a good enough leg."

I'm listening to this before reading James, and this has me ?

I read this book many years ago, and felt compelled to re-read it. I'm happy to say I loved it just as much as I did back then. A beautiful and enduring story, worthy of reading over and over. 💜

A thoughtful and valiant reckoning, writing it was clearly a labor of love by the author.

"Because Wheeler survived. Because he and Emmett rode their bikes on this street. Because the gun still fires, because the barn is a barn, because time is thin and fragile. Because the dirt Jeff Andrews and I were taught to love is very different from the dirt Wheeler Parker was taught to fear."

This book is just bringing me to my knees.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, but the criticisms of it being too long are valid 💯, it really should have been shorter. Highly recommend the audio.

I had a hard time settling into this story, but it was well worth it to stick with it. I especially loved how authentic and natural all of the love stories felt. Wonderful characters and story telling, I'm so glad I finally got to this one! 💜

I never considered bailing on the book, so I have to give it three stars, but the ending has made it a super low pick for me. There were parts of the narrative never resolved, I couldn't stand the Jutya storyline (why are women cops always written so poorly?) and while the pacing was good and the dueling timelines ratcheted up tension, the ending fell so flat as to nearly ruin the good parts of the book.

"It could have been any mother and daughters. It could have been any house, any birds. In all likeliness, I'm lying to you still."

You probably already feel a certain way about Chris Hayes. You either find him boyishly charming, cute as a button and nerdily sexy or.... wait what was I talking about? Audio read by the author A+, an excellent analysis of an issue we all know deep down is at the heart of what ails us.