Scan barcode
leo122's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.25
rballenger's review against another edition
3.0
Type of read: Commuter Read
What made me pick it up: Part of the Reese's Book Club List.
Overall rating: “I am a compost heap, and everything I interact with, every experience I've had, gets shoveled onto the heap where it eventually mulches down, is digested and excreted by worms, and rots. It's from that rich, dark humus, the combination of what you encountered, what you know, and what you've forgotten, that ideas start to grow.” This, I 100% felt this.
I go into this knowing that I'm a bit biased as I read and review 'This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.' While I have never wanted to be a book author, much of my life has revolved around writing and communication. My undergraduate and graduate degrees took me through many of the same grueling tasks and assignments and I definitely felt like a kindred spirit to Patchett, one who could have been sitting in the same library, banging my head against the same desks, willing the words to flow from my brain to my keyboard. Now that all that is out of the way...
'This is the Story of a Happy Marriage' is not what I expected. For some reason, I didn't realize it was a mixture of mini stories. I'm definitely not mad at this, sometimes I find it easier to take in the books, especially the autobiographical books, that are more like glimpses into their life rather than just a romanticized retelling from birth to death (or whatever in between they find themselves at while writing). I thoroughly enjoyed Patchett's reading of their various works woven together through a loose storyline that created 'This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.' Additionally, it gave me a lot of additional books to add to my TBR pile. :)
What made me pick it up: Part of the Reese's Book Club List.
Overall rating: “I am a compost heap, and everything I interact with, every experience I've had, gets shoveled onto the heap where it eventually mulches down, is digested and excreted by worms, and rots. It's from that rich, dark humus, the combination of what you encountered, what you know, and what you've forgotten, that ideas start to grow.” This, I 100% felt this.
I go into this knowing that I'm a bit biased as I read and review 'This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.' While I have never wanted to be a book author, much of my life has revolved around writing and communication. My undergraduate and graduate degrees took me through many of the same grueling tasks and assignments and I definitely felt like a kindred spirit to Patchett, one who could have been sitting in the same library, banging my head against the same desks, willing the words to flow from my brain to my keyboard. Now that all that is out of the way...
'This is the Story of a Happy Marriage' is not what I expected. For some reason, I didn't realize it was a mixture of mini stories. I'm definitely not mad at this, sometimes I find it easier to take in the books, especially the autobiographical books, that are more like glimpses into their life rather than just a romanticized retelling from birth to death (or whatever in between they find themselves at while writing). I thoroughly enjoyed Patchett's reading of their various works woven together through a loose storyline that created 'This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.' Additionally, it gave me a lot of additional books to add to my TBR pile. :)
ladykatie32's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
shareen17's review
4.0
Ann Patchett is an amazing writer. The way she constructs her essays, her descriptions, her ability to find the emotional core of whatever she's writing about is all just perfect.