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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
I am unsure if I enjoyed this so much because it was a great book or if it’s because I listened to the audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep. This story felt like a story told by a grandmother because of how very regular it was. The plot and the events that happened seemed like it could have happened. Some stories and books are wonderful, but you think to yourself “yeah there’s no way this happened” but I kept thinking this book was a memoir. It was gut wrenching and also relatable. Well done.
The only other Ann Patchett books I have read was an audiobook narrated by Tom Hanks so I believe I ought to try reading her novels to see if she actually is an enticing author or if I just love her audiobooks.
The only other Ann Patchett books I have read was an audiobook narrated by Tom Hanks so I believe I ought to try reading her novels to see if she actually is an enticing author or if I just love her audiobooks.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to Meryl Streep read the audiobook and was completely captivated.
I really enjoyed this as an audio book. Meryl Streep is an excellent narrator!
I'll be honest with you.. there were moments during the pandemic that were the happiest of my life, too. My stories are not even close to interesting, but I gathered my kids around me and sometimes I shared them. I never dated a man who later became a movie star, though I was related to one. He died during the pandemic, too. I have made choices that I would rather not talk about. Isn't that true of every mother? I have not yet been to Michigan, but I can't imagine that it's any more a heaven than that little spot that kept us safe when everything else was uncertain.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Ann Patchett is exceptional. This is what five stars reviews were made for; it's masterful.
Since reading The Dutch House in January, I've worried I've been over-inflating how good it was in my memory, or that Tom Hanks' recording of the audiobook gave it an unfair advantage. With its (much more salacious 🌶️) sibling Tom Lake, my fears are answered. Ann Patchett is just a spectacular, incandescent author, and this is what fiction should be. When the main character falls in love, the man is so charming and well-written that I'm in love with him too, and I can't imagine how it could go wrong between them. And as it does, I have to hate him on her behalf. I don't know how this author has lived so many lives to write so many stories she could convince you are memoirs, but I have to follow wherever she goes and believe whatever she says about these people she's created.
And as it concerns rivaling Tom Hanks' recording, the audiobook is performed by Meryl Streep - not narrated, but performed - who brings the story to life perfectly.
Since reading The Dutch House in January, I've worried I've been over-inflating how good it was in my memory, or that Tom Hanks' recording of the audiobook gave it an unfair advantage. With its (much more salacious 🌶️) sibling Tom Lake, my fears are answered. Ann Patchett is just a spectacular, incandescent author, and this is what fiction should be. When the main character falls in love, the man is so charming and well-written that I'm in love with him too, and I can't imagine how it could go wrong between them. And as it does, I have to hate him on her behalf. I don't know how this author has lived so many lives to write so many stories she could convince you are memoirs, but I have to follow wherever she goes and believe whatever she says about these people she's created.
And as it concerns rivaling Tom Hanks' recording, the audiobook is performed by Meryl Streep - not narrated, but performed - who brings the story to life perfectly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity
Minor: Suicide
Very sweet, comforting read. Highly recommend the audiobook; Meryl Streep's narration is excessively fun to listen to.
I give this book 5 stars for being narrated by Meryl Streep and for being so soothing. Jessica Woodbury's review from July 9th, 2023 sums it up perfectly:
"It is an easy book to read, a light one, too. Bad things happen, but the worst of it is already over. And really, the book seems to say, if you just stay with your family on a cherry farm everything will just be fine forever. Sometimes that is the book you want, and that is what Patchett has given us."
I give this book 5 stars for being narrated by Meryl Streep and for being so soothing. Jessica Woodbury's review from July 9th, 2023 sums it up perfectly:
"It is an easy book to read, a light one, too. Bad things happen, but the worst of it is already over. And really, the book seems to say, if you just stay with your family on a cherry farm everything will just be fine forever. Sometimes that is the book you want, and that is what Patchett has given us."
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fun and easy read
I love reading and I love books and if I ever tell you otherwise just know what I am reading right now must just not be very good.
Alright, here's a more descriptive review. I have no taste for books about family, books about famous people, books about slowly revealing the past, etc. and I still don't, but it doesn't matter because Ann Patchett is a damn good author and that's the only thing that matters. For three hundred pages I was there, against the lake, amongst the cherry trees.
Deducted 0.25 stars because of a technicality why was pretty much everyone implied to be in love with the protagonist?? I don't get it
Alright, here's a more descriptive review. I have no taste for books about family, books about famous people, books about slowly revealing the past, etc. and I still don't, but it doesn't matter because Ann Patchett is a damn good author and that's the only thing that matters. For three hundred pages I was there, against the lake, amongst the cherry trees.
Deducted 0.25 stars because of a technicality
He estado viendo blogs estos días y este libro no paraba de salir, y como ademas la comparaban con Evelyn Hugo pues una tenía que leérselo. Pero todo lo que disfrute Evelyn Hugo, no he disfrutado este libro. Me he aburrido tanto, no se si es la forma de narrar o que, pero ha sido horrible. Además es que parecía como que todo estaba dirigiéndose hacía un desenlace épico como pasa con Evelyn Hugo o Daisy Jones, pero es que no fue así para nada, y eso me hizo sentir engañada, como que se crearon expectativas y hype para nada. Realmente no me gustaba ningún interés amoroso pero es que tampoco la protagonista. No me gusto nada. No se compara con Evelyn Hugo para nada.
i am genuinely bamboozled why anyone likes this book. the story was tepid & boring from the start. it's a mother's surface level fantasy of having fully grown daughters who are infantilized-women in their 20's who walk around holding on to each other by their braids and preferring to share a room & sleep in twin beds because the sisters are just THAT inseperable?! c'mon. and the shrill disbelief their mother ever smoked a cigarette, how scandalous! *eye roll* there is no tension, no real challenges, and the most mild and thrill-less love story. notably, she only mentioned race for characters who were not white, like a hispanic woman serving her drinks. when she compared a black girl to an alpaca & talked about "mingling of the races" i was all the way out. i regret the time i spent reading the first half of this novel.