I listened to this while reading The Rachel Incident. I stopped listening because Rachel was so much more interesting to me. I never felt connected to Emily or Em (and why do the two main characters have the same name?). There was a section about a fight with police for housing and squatter‘s rights. I perked up at that point. Otherwise, it was just okay for me. #TOB24

What‘s not to like about this book? We experience the lives of best friends James and Rachel as they move through their 20‘s. Broke, questioning their futures, falling in love with others and taking one for the team when necessary. As time moves on we see the consequences of their prior decisions. The book is meaty while also being a really pleasant way to spend time with characters you root for. #TOB24

First world problem: I‘m listening to one book and reading the other (often between 2-4 am) and, at least at this point in the two books, I‘m confusing the two plots. They feel very similar but different. #TOB24

This is a crazy-character-driven story of robberies, occasionally underplayed murders, & a search for meaning. It feels like a Fargo movie. It‘s about mythomania, the contagion that has spread across America in which the citizenry lie and create untruths. The book is a societal review and it‘s spot on but the story is a bit too long. Audio would be tough I think. I‘m glad #TOB24 has it on the long list but I can‘t imagine it will move on.

I had no idea this was going to be so funny. And intermittently so sobering. Two humorous books in a row from the #Tob24 list? Unheard of!

@BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @BkClubCare @Megabooks @Hooked_on_books @Jas16 @cariashley @WellReadNeck @MicheleinPhilly @suet624 @Deblovestoread @merelybookish @batsy @Readerann @Sophronisba
@rmaclean4 @kwmg40 @RidgewayGirl @RebelReader @jlhammar @Addison_Reads @ruthiella @sarahbarnes @ImperfectCJ @Chelsea.poole

There I am, listening to this story while driving from Burlington VT to Maine, and all of a sudden Maloney is describing how he lived in Burlington for years AND Maine! It all felt a bit surreal. I swear I must have seen this guy in Burlington. Anyway, this is a story of his life which had me chuckling thru most of it & a short 4-hour listen. I'm surprised it's on the #TOB24 list but if you're looking for something light, it's worth a listen.

I‘ve tried to find the words that would pass as a review. It‘s a hard thing to do. This book brings the experience of being enslaved, of being owned, directly to you. Ward‘s writing is 🔥. Spirits inhabit the story. This is a tough book to read and it must have been a tough book to write.

Who would have thought Sly‘s book would be sitting on the backside of the new books shelf just winking at me? My little library in my little village? How random. A great haul today.

Stop the presses! Sly has written an autobiography! Not yet listed on Litsy but I just saw a review in The NY Times and I‘m ecstatic. His music still powers parts of my week. It‘s also the first title from Questlove‘s new publishing imprint.

It still gets me when I see a Jenny review. 😩

This was an okay read for me. Any book I read after reading Hello Beautiful was going to have a hard time breaking through to me. So I‘ll let Jenny offer her thoughts instead.

Ann Patchett recommended this 69-page book on IG recently. Fortunately, one of the libraries I frequent had it on the shelf. Like Ann, I read the story, put it down, picked it up shortly thereafter and read it again with a smile on my face.

My eyes hurt from reading so much in one sitting. I could not put this book down. Loved the characters. It‘s interesting to see such varied reviews on GR but this book was the type of story I needed right now. Immersive and engaging.

The issue of desegregation in Boston is what the book begins with but ultimately it‘s about mob bosses (think Whitey Bulger) and the devastation and chaos they bring, about Southie - the area of South Boston - and Mary Pat, a mom who lives in the midst of murder and heartbreak. The writing was great and it brought me back in time to the area and those events. Mary Pat is a complex character and I cared for her from start to finish.

From the Times: “It was a cloudless morning in mid-August in Middlebury, Vt., & I had gone to meet Nunez, a petite woman of almost suspicious good cheer, to talk about her half-century-long writing career. She had come up from her home in New York City to give a reading from her new, 9th novel, “The Vulnerables,” which appears this week — at the Bread Loaf Writers‘ Conference.” If I‘d known she was an hour away I would have crashed that reading.

Reading this one now and I just keep thinking back to Michael Patrick MacDonald's book about Southie: All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. All Souls was written by a man who grew up there. He and his family lived through desegregation and the disintegration of his neighborhood as a result of drugs and Whitey Bulgher. I‘d link to my past review but can‘t figure out how. 😀

It‘s unexpectedly 60 degrees at 8 am in Vermont and I‘m delighted to be sitting on my porch listening to the cacophony of geese who have been flying overhead for days. Granddaughter Charley is enjoying her first Fall. And I just finished this novel. In an interview the author said he didn‘t want the events in the novel to disappear from history. I was intrigued the entire time by his ability to weave several themes and events into this one novel.

An autistic mom meets an eccentric couple who move in next door. She and her daughter are captivated by this couple. Over time you begin to wonder what is really going on underneath this couple's jolly lifestyle and how will it ultimately impact this mom. It's a quiet book and one in which you begin to understand living with autism. More than that, you want to give her a hug as you watch how her daughter and family members treat her.

1. Without a doubt: 💕 💕

2. Without a doubt: Fresh Water for Flowers

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author

I‘m not surprised that I‘m the first person to review this book on Litsy. I picked up and put down so many books during my recent 3 week illness. This one at least held my interest in between naps. The book was written immediately following the fantastic 2004 Boston Red Sox season which resulted in a World Series win. My family will always remember this season. Damon‘s recounting of events brought up so many memories of a great bunch of players.

I‘ve always thought of Louise Gluck as a Vermonter. She spent many years here writing her poetry and teaching. In fact, she had planned to move back here. I was so sorry to hear of her death.

https://vtdigger.org/2023/10/13/louise-gluck-former-vermont-state-poet-and-nobel...

Sometimes I don‘t read a popular book because I am a cranky person who thinks I won‘t like it. In this case the crowds were right. A character I could root for. And how many books do I read where the ending is wrapped up so nicely and my new found character friend succeeds? Apparently not that many. My friends get nervous when I hand them a book because it‘s often grim. This was not. It was delightful.

My favorite book of September would be Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin, which will not be a surprise to those who follow me. She understands my need for emotionally intelligent writing. The Tender Bar came in a very close second.

October brings the peak fall colors in my neck of the woods and lots of reading time. @The_Penniless_Author Are you going to the Burlington Book Festival this weekend?
#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

I enjoyed this one but I‘ll never remember the name of it. All of the characters are pining for a certain person who just isn‘t interested in them. Most of the characters are self-involved and selfish but I always wanted to know what was going to happen to them.

An HF audiobook randomly selected from Libby, it‘s the story of an unexpected blizzard that arrived one afternoon in 1888. Children were being released from school just as the storm exploded & many never made it home. Benjamin did a great job explaining the circumstances in the first half & I was riveted. Second half I could have skipped. The book also explains the tragedy of luring Europeans to the area that was almost desert-like at the time.

What was it that made me pull this off the library shelf? Learning about Seventh Day Adventists? Unexplainable lights flashing in the deep forest possibly being a message from his mother who had recently died? An exploration of memories of his mother & the ensuing grief of her passing? Or was it something about his father marrying so soon after his wife had died and what that meant to the family? Who knows. But I really struggled to finish this.

Perrin does it again. A week after reading it I come back to images and memories of the characters & their stories. A young caretaker at a nursing home befriends patients & listens to their stories. One patient in particular has a story that captures the universal theme of love, loss, and faith. Other than one section that seemed unnecessary, the rest was brilliant. This is her debut novel & I‘m so happy they finally translated it.

For those of you who might remember when I babysat my granddaughter, Gracie, and Leander, a friend‘s son, full time.. I thought I‘d share an update. They are both hanging out with me again after school until December. Leander‘s hair is amazing! You can‘t tell from the photo but they are looking at a book together, just like the old days.

Well … Perrin is doing it to me again. I‘m on page 21 and I‘ve already gotten misty-eyed twice and my heart hurts. This woman is amazing! Like Fresh Water for Flowers, I think I‘m going to read this book very slowly so I can treat these words with the respect they deserve.

This book sat on my shelf for ages. I had the mistaken impression it was a man's grim journey of alcoholism. I could not have been more wrong. This memoir cover his father's abandonment, his mother's courage, his family - a cast of odd and scary characters - and Uncle Charley, a bartender at a very special bar, who takes him under his wing at a very young age and introduces him to men who care for him over the years. (continued...)

Thanks to @Cinfhen and @BarbaraBB for sharing their #Top10Summer2023Reads. I may have stretched my faves back to April though. Also, hopefully one day I‘ll figure out how to make a photo like this in less than an hour. 🥴🤦🏻‍♀️

Would love to see what your favorites were.

650 pages and what am I left with? A dysfunctional family, with each family member intimately detailed as their life falls apart. A book labeled as humorous when, in fact, there was no humor to be found. An ending that is unsatisfactory. It‘s possible I will like it as I look back on it but for now I‘m glad to be done. @TrishB I wish I had followed your lead but I‘m a stickler for being persistent.

This library is special because it straddles the U.S. - Canadian border. Located in Derby Line, VT, Haskell Free Library was built by a very wealthy family in the early 1900‘s and each room was built with different types of wood. It also includes a opera house and continues to have plays. It‘s beautiful. There is only one entranceway, on the US side, and it‘s bizarre to come out and realize the house immediately behind the library is in Canada.

Traveled to two special libraries today. This is officially the smallest library in Vermont, located in West Danville. Behind the library is a little free library and a lovely spot to sit. Moving further back and, 10 feet away, is the bike path with food trucks. On the other side of the bike path is a lovely lake (Joe‘s Pond) and a dock to sit on.

1. Blazing Saddles
2. Barbie
3. A matriarchal society that supports, encourages
and protects all.

@Eggs
#wonderouswednesday

This book brought me out of Covid-land. Cosby is a must read for me now. A black sheriff in a southern town navigates racism and finding the perpetrator of some truly disgusting murders. Crosby‘s narrative is fast paced and was unputdownable.

“When Irish weather stepped up to the plate you couldn‘t wish to be anywhere else in the world.”

Except maybe Vermont.

This year‘s time in Ireland was all sunshine and it was glorious.

I chuckled when I read this. Not sure I aim to be useless but the other two I‘m 100% in support of.

Still down from Covid. Sad part is I can‘t read. My mind feels very scrambled. Yesterday was better in that I ran out and cut some flowers, received this book in the mail, and got off Paxlovid which had kept me from sleeping for two days. Super happy it works for so many folks - and it sure does - but it did me wrong. 😝

There are so many lines in here that are so particular to being an older person, being retired, adult children, living with memories and deep sadnesses. I related to them strongly. Once I collect myself I‘ll be posting some quotes that rang true. The writing. So good. The book is as intensely sad and memorable as A Little Life. I thought my last Booker Long list read was great…this one is too. I will not soon forget it.

#BookerPrizelonglist

Halfway through reading this I had to put it down and take a drive/walk to clear my head and bear the weight of the story. The writing is amazing and I could post an endless number of quotes but it‘s gut wrenching. Priests and nuns and children in Ireland … need I say more?

It‘s the first book of this year‘s #BookerPrizelonglist that I‘ve read but I declare it the winner. Too soon? Based on a true story of the interracial inhabitants of an island of the coast of Maine who are forcibly removed in the early 1900‘s. The writing is so beautiful and so moving … you feel the sun, you hear the sea … and my pace of reading slowed way down to take in the setting and situations. (Maine eventually apologized for their actions.)

Read this for #CampLitsy23. It was enjoyable and held my interest, which recently is no small feat.

Richard Eberhart was a poet I‘d never heard of despite the fact he won a Pulitzer and scads of major awards. He also was friends with every major and minor poet you can imagine. Robert Frost, Anne Sexton, Donald Hall, Jay Parini, Robert Penn Warren, Archibald MacLeish, they all visited regularly at her house. Eberhart was also a man who really only cared about his profession and offered little to the children. Cherington finally reveals 🔽

If you grew up in the 50‘s or 60‘s with parents who held large parties, drank an excessive amount, and completely forgot about their children as they partied, you‘ll understand this quote on a visceral level. Children were left to their own devices which could result in any number of serious physical or emotional events.

I read this book while catsitting at someone‘s house & reading on the outside porch that faced that beautiful smoke bush. I‘ve had trouble reviewing this. What makes a life? What makes a life valuable? Mildred, a single woman, is there to help with church activities and to help neighbors with their various issues, but where does Mildred fit in her own life. Is it enough for her? The story & characters were brilliant & subtle in their humor.

Maybe someone needs to see this smile to make you feel better today. I know it makes me smile just to look at this photo.

We've had a tough summer in Vermont and my granddaughter Charley's smile has been the saving grace.

I‘m so disappointed to say I had to bail on this. I kept thinking it was up my alley and I should really be connecting with it. But I didn‘t. At the halfway point I realized my book collection is large and life is too short.

The only way to make an oil change better.

What a unique character. And yet, who knows just how unique Boulder really is. How many women feel the same way she does but don‘t feel they can share their desire of being unattached. Especially her feelings toward motherhood and being isolated from the person you love and are so close to, abandoned because a child has entered the scene. Some lovely writing too.

Both of these statements are true. I can attest to them both. This journal takes place over 18 months & is the intimate detail of her affair with a married man. @batsy this is the book that we were happy that Simple Passion was not. 😀 it‘s a tedious repetition of waiting to see him, crying, mooning over a man who seemed to be unworthy of her obsession. But that‘s the thing - when you are caught up in one it‘s hard to give it up & unexplainable.