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.

January reading! My favorite for January is tagged 😊

A middle aged female artist facing a midlife crisis writes about a middle aged female artist facing a midlife crisis with all the credulity of a teenager who has just figured out how to have an orgasm, certain the rest of the world must not be clued in to the experience.

I still really liked it though, there were moments of real insight and while the main character remains insufferable from beginning to end, I still liked her. 💜

"I'd thought the two paths were:

sex with Davey vs. a life of bitterness and regret

But maybe the road split between:

a life spent longing vs. a life that was continually surprising"

I'm still not sure about this book but I feel this quote deeply, and it's one of the few times I've felt any genuineness from the main character, who hides herself from everyone, including the reader.

"It took me two days to call Brian the neighbor because I was busy savoring my position, like when a crush finally texts back and you want to enjoy having the ball in your court for a while."

Y'all know I have a soft spot for unlikeable female main characters but it is only page five and I am really being tested on this one. Also this particular quote had me ??? I have no idea why it's not THAT funny

After having a disastrous date with someone found on an app, Daphne says: "she didn't want to go straight home, she needed time to decompress, so the memory of that oaf didn't infect the atmosphere of her lovely apartment. Her safe place."

This is seriously wisdom we all need from our elders!

I'm three quarters into the book and I still don't really grasp what is happening in these scenes where he and his son are on different planets... I think I get it but I'm not sure and I think the author could use a bit of clarity here, I mean I know we're all supposed to be smart AF and just GET IT but I don't. And this far into the book that's just annoying, not literary. 😒

"She felt like a prediction, a thing on its way here."

The friend who gave me this book indicated it was a bit of a challenging read, but I didn't find it to be so. I mowed right through this book, it was a really engaging plot and characters, I very much enjoyed it!

What a romp!! I had such a good time reading this book, which is about vampires and book clubs, but also about racism, caste, patriarchy, and the power of women's friendships. It got kind of silly and gross at the end, but it didn't take away from a thoroughly enjoyable novel!

"Once you've washed a man's underwear you realize the sad truth about 'hidden depths'" - Kitty

Man, the characters in this book are lively!!!!! ???

I'm giving up on the goal of reading all 19 of these already on book 2 😂 There are just so many Georges and Edwards and Elizabeths, I cannot keep them all straight and it is just so boring, I am out.

"They'd driven all the way to Mr. Styles's house before Anna realized that her father was nervous." This book has been on my TBR shelf for nearly a year, a gift from a friend. I'm now finally getting to it and what a wonderful opening sentence! It bodes well, I'm looking forward to the novel.

I read this book several years ago in audio format. I read it again for a book group, this time in print. What I recall most about the previous reading is the palpable anxiety and dread I experienced in watching Eleanor's obsessive crush and the general train wreck of her life. Reading it again I was struck by the sadness in the character and I wonder if that was somehow made more clear in print. A five star book for sure!