Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I'm reading this for week 52, a book published in 2016. I'm planning on reading at least three books for that week. This is my first one.

Summary: Lucy is in the hospital and her mom, who she hasn't seen in years, keeps her company. They talk about their past. Lucy was very poor growing up.

That's all I got so far. So far it's alright. It's easy reading. Not much action is going on, but that's okay, although the topics are not all light. Aside form the poverty issue, there was also (view spoiler)[the homophobia that Lucy's father displayed toward her brother. Ugh. That part was the most horrible for me so far (hide spoiler)].

a few minutes later...

Ok, I'm done with the book. It was pretty good, but I don't think it's what I'm in the mood for right now, so I only gave it 3 stars.

Date started: Mar. 20
Date finished: Mar. 25

I read this for challenge week 52: a book published in 2016.
This book was good but not excellent. The story meandered around a little and I know this is they way the author writes but somehow the meaning or purpose of the story wandered around.

I understood that the purpose was that all things are worked out and redeemed in time and that no one of us can understand or judge another not having 'walked in their shoes'. Which is of course true. I understood that in families when there is abuse or neglect then it is not talked about, often not even into adulthood. A child that has experienced such can grow up and live their whole life without ever been able to speak or divulge the 'secrets' of the family out of a deep sense of loyalty to the family. Secrecy is taught along with the things that are happening. The two go hand in hand until the child/adult can no longer separate them. They just live with them always there at the back of thought and life.

This is a story of imperfect love, but we all love imperfectly

I read this book for Week 1 (2017) A Goodreads Choice award book. It was nominated (didn't win) in the Fiction category.

I ended up only giving it 2 stars. I thought the story was fine, and if that was what I was rating it on by itself, I may have given it more like 3. But the story was just not my cup of tea. It meandered horribly, so much so that I couldn't keep the timeline straight half the time. Wait...did that happen before or after she was in the hospital? And the writing was irritating to me...long run on sentences followed by one-word sentences. And the phrase "but I already said that" was used way too often. Perhaps my high school composition teacher ruined me for books written this way, but I was about to pull my hair out half-way through the book!

Read this for Week 3 -- Book I Meant to Read in 2016.

Had heard of Elizabeth Strout and so wanted to see what everyone was talking about. I thought the way the relationship between Lucy and her mother was described was subtle yet very revealing. Not a favorite but pretty good.

I had never read Elizabeth Strout before, so thought I'd read this one as it got so much good press. I can appreciate a story which meanders and some of the truths it revealed were quite poignant, I even wen on to read Anything Is Possible, but I believe I've satisfied my curiosity over Elizabeth Strout. I did just recommend it to a friend trying to get through a reading slump as it's a quick, simple read and will make you want to move onto everything else you love in the world of books.

Read this in January 2018 for the following prompts:

#21. a book written in first-person perspective
#30. a short book
#43. title is a full sentence

I read Olive Kitteredge by Strout and loved it, but did not like this one as much.

I read this for my 2018 Challenge, week 1: a title with the letters "A", "T", and "Y" in it. I read Olive Kitteredge for the 2015 (?) Challenge and loved it, so I've been eager to read something else by Strout. This book was okay, but I wasn't in love it it. I found a few times where I spaced out and had to go back and reread entire chunks of the book. Overall, it was just "meh" for me.

I read this for the 2019 Challenge, week 34: a book with a person's name in the title. I thought it was okay. The story seemed to skip around a lot, and there were many unanswered questions for me when I finished. I enjoyed Strout's Olive Kitteridge much more than this.

I read this for Week 13: A book that is included on a New York Public Library Staff Picks list

I thought the writing was good but the story didn't hold my attention as much as I would like. I'm undecided as to whether I will read the sequel, but so far I haven't added it to my TBR. This was a quick read at least.