It’s been a long time since I read a 700+ page book with my eyes. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book the moment it came out because I had read so much about it and I wanted to read it so badly. And it so so did not disappoint. I will say that I think the descriptions I’ve read, for me, didn’t really do it the kind of justice that connected with me.
Yes this book starts as being about two writer sisters (likely modeled after the Brontes) and there’s a lot about them in the beginning. But the structure is really like a collection of short stories with super short chapters weaved in and the we progress in time with every story. As we get closer to modern day, the connection to the original characters gets more tenuous. In fact, I think that’s one of the reasons the last story was my least favorite.
While most of the stories are about sisters, some are also about brothers, and some are siblings. There’s a lot of death in the book. There’s a lot about marriage. A lot about being a woman. A lot about identity and belonging and autonomy. Every story was unique and incredible in its own way.
Even though I wish there was one more circle back to the original sisters at the very end, and even though I didn’t love the last story as much as I did the others, this book will stay with me for years to come.
And since I read it, I also reread many parts on audio and I was so worried it wouldn’t hold up its magic but it absolutely does. It’s perfect on audio so if you’re into audio, you have a winner here! Henrietta Meire does the most incredible job.
with gratitude to netgalley and Brilliance Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked this book even though I ended up reading it very slowly. For people who are very plot-focused, this will not be a rewarding experience. But if you’re into books that are a-moment-in-time and character-based, you might enjoy this as much as I did. It’s about a woman and her dad, stuck at the airport while their flight gets delayed again and again. It’s about connection, loss, family, hope, despair and so much more. I truly enjoyed it.
with gratitude to netgalley and Europa Editions for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
I don’t really know if it was the particular audio reading or my mood or some other aspect but I picked up and put down this book several times. I didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters and didn’t find myself rooting for anything. At some point I wasn’t even curious about what happened. Even though I loved the idea of this book something lacked in the execution for me. I am very sad that this was a miss for me.
with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book more than I thought I would. I had it checked out and returned it to the library many many times, and finally it was time apparently. I am so glad it was. This book was fun and clever and twisty and enjoyable. I loved it.
This book is absolutely fantastic. Very likely to be one of my very favorites from this year. I loved the way it was structured: this read to me like connected stories but each story has a different character’s POV and goes forward in time. It was just absolutely perfectly written with each character telling you more about the other characters and peeling another layer of the onion for you so that you could easily fall in love with them bit by bit. It’s absolutely magnificent.
with gratitude to netgalley and Knopf for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I read about this book in the Atlantic. I am glad I read the book. It was well-written and you rarely see these events from the male’s perspective. I appreciated that he shared both his learnings and his mistakes. This is a long journey and none of us are perfect. What matters is that we try. And I appreciate that.
It appears I am always in the minority when it comes to Cline. It might be that her style just doesn’t speak to me. Even though this was interesting as a concept, I just didn’t really care for it. Eh.
This was perfectly interesting and kept my attention throughout. I didn’t think it was wildly different than many other mysteries I read but it was well done for the most part.
Hello September, my birthday month. This month usually goes by fast, for me because I tend to take a bunch of days off. This year it’s going to be all over the place because I am taking time off and then I have two conferences back to back. By the end of the month, I expect I will be a bit of a mess. But it will also be a really full month.
Big Goal: Ok so I’ve decided that the big goal for September will be radical self-kindness. I am going to let myself do what I feel the most like doing, I am going to do my best to turn off the voice in my head that can be cruel or maybe even be nice to the voice. I am just going to cut myself slack all over the place. Let’s see how it feels.
Progress on the big five:
Y: Fall will be coming and the rains so all I have for the yard this month is to see what more needs to be done for winter prep, if anything. For the front yard, I will try to get some plants from TJs and add to my box if I can.
G: maybe I can finally put those final boxes away? We’ll see.
S: laser, doctor, big goals this month. crossing fingers.
Sa: vet appointment and back to school night this month.
D: drive to school.
Three Medium goals:
Help A finish the eight that really needs to be done. Get on some sort of rhythm.
Tickets for NY.
Can I gently restart some of the practices with healthy meals, yoga, and visual note taking.
Chores:
A appointment
hang up office lights
we’ll see what else.
Start: a new book with D.
Stop: beating myself up.
Continue: documenting E
Brave: once a week. can i do it?
Here’s to another month. Joyful one this time around. Paying attention. Loving my people. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.
I didn’t get organized enough to post last week so I decided to give myself a pass. Happens.
Ok well I didn’t do well on my big goal for August. I ended up being much more anxious than usual, so the opposite of grounded. All my routines went out the window and I basically just did what I could to get through the days. So alas we will not call it a win. I did journal a bunch, just not enough.
Progress on the big five:
Y: Ok so I did a bunch here. I have a plan ready for the backyard, i did the front porch too. I love it. The side yard is just likely not going to happen.
G: I did lots of fun stuff for the garage too, love it. I still haven’t unboxed the few things left.
S: done and done!
Sa: we are still making progress the puppy and i. got her appointment too.
D: n/a
Three Medium goals:
Done with front porch. I might still get a few more plants tho.
Did take more naps.
Did not restart the art mbsr book possibly, or some other deeper dive plan.
Chores: did ALL my chores except hanging the lights at work. great job mom!
Start: started! did the toughest one. will try to finish in September.
Stop: did mostly well on this.
Continue: did reading but really crapped out on the yoga.
Brave: did a poor job on this too but i have a plan!
August came with some curveballs too. I kept doing my best. Trying to show up for myself and for my people. I’m proud of how much I’ve done this year so far.
Here’s to another month. Paying attention. Loving my people. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move onward.
