Happy Happy TUESDAY, everyone!
It’s the 22nd of the month which means, it’s BOOK CLUB DAY!
I just love me some Book Club 🙂 .
It’s not just Book Club day, I also have an extra BIG Travel Tuesday post where I’m covering both magical things and motion sick things (quite the combo!).
You’re going to want to check THAT POST out today too!
Okay, just to recap before we begin…
Here are the books we discussed in 2024 along with my own personal “star ratings”…
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey 4 STARS
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon 5 STARS
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins 3 STARS
The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin 3 STARS
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth 4 STARS
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl 2 STARS
Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand 3 STARS
Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams 3 STARS
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult 4 STARS
Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker 4 STARS
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout 2 STARS
And so far in 2025, we’ve discussed:
In January: The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry 5 STARS
In February: Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old by Brooke Shields 2 STARS
In March: The Crash by Freida McFadden 3 STARS
If you want to check out any of these Book Club posts, they are all HERE!
Before we get to today’s book, let’s revisit the “rules” of Shay’s Book Club:
Here are the details:
1: On the 22nd of each month, I will share a BONUS blog post that is only about the book we read together that month. So, if it falls on a weekend, look for it that day, if it falls on a Tuesday, expect a food post, a normal lifestyle post AND third post just for the book review discussion.
2: I picked the 22nd because I want this post to come out BEFORE our normal monthly BOOK REVIEW POSTS. I will still share my normal monthly book reviews (where I average 4 to 6 books a month) at the end of each month. I will reference said “book of the month”, but I will not be reviewing it on that post, I will be linking back to the BOOK CLUB POST. Why? Because I want all of the content about the one specific book club book in one spot instead of spread out over multiple spots.
3: Each month at the end of the Book Club blog post, I will share what the book will be for the following month. This will give everyone one month to read this one particular book.
4: Let’s be real, I’m going to try to pick new/popular/relevant books every month, but I’m also going to pick books that speak to me. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them with me. I’m going to *try* and make the books different genres each month. I would love for us to read a variety of fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, chick lit, thrillers, etc this year. That’s the *goal*.
5: What are the rules of the book club? I know a lot of book clubs have rules and perhaps I’ll add some as we go, but basically, if you want to read along with us, we’d love to have you and on the 22nd we’ll dive a little deeper in the comment section here about that one particular book. Easy as that! That post is the one place where we’ll discuss the book so that all thoughts/opinions/questions/etc can be in one location.
6: In this blog post and in the comment section, WE WILL BE DISCUSSING SPOILERS. If you are interested in reading this book, you might not want to read below this line. In APRIL’S BOOK REVIEW later this month, I will give a quick recap and let you know if I recommend the book or not, so if you haven’t read it, you might want to wait until that official BOOK REVIEW because there will be no spoilers and based on that, you can decide whether or not to read the book. Anything below this though will include spoilers as everyone commenting here has already read the book.
Make sense?
Here we go!
This month’s novel was…
……One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter.
Well clearly, I absolutely LOVED IT 🙂 .
From beginning to end, this book had my attention. In fact, my only complaint is that I wasn’t ready for it to end. I needed one or two more chapters because I truly wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
I have read a lot of books that take place during World War 2, and they always hit me in a really soft spot. This novel was no exception. I thought it was beautifully written, the characters were all heroes I was cheering for from beginning to end. There was so much intensity at times it was hard to read (anyone else kind of squint/close their eyes while they’re reading intense scenes?), but it all felt authentic and raw. I loved the relationships, I loved the setting (WWII in Italy isn’t one I commonly read about), and I even loved that at the end, there wasn’t a happy ending for several of the main characters.
As much as I love a happy ending (and you know I do), I don’t think those happy endings are the “rule” when it comes to life during the Holocaust. As heartbreaking as it was not to know what happened to Esti or Niko or their families, I thought it was probably much more realistic than a happy ending where everyone survives and are reunited.
One twist I was not expecting but oh so happy to have was Lili’s relationship with Thomas. I found that entire storyline unexpected but much needed to balance the turmoil and heartache of Lili and Theo running from home to home, town to town and trying to stay under the radar.
I truly loved this one! It’s hard to read lighter stories after reading something so profound.
I hope you all loved it too.
Five big stars from me!
Okay, coming up next…
…All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett.
I’m very excited to dive into this one too!
Okay, please head to the comment section to share your thoughts on today’s Book Club pick today!
Happy happy Tuesday! Don’t forget, make sure you check out today’s TRAVEL TUESDAY post too.
Spoiler alert, I’m hoping I can help some of you not throw up 😉 .
I’ll see you all back here tomorrow! xx
Elspeth Mizner says
I’m adding the May book to my TBR list! Happy Tuesday!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Heather D. Henderson says
Loved this book. It is an exceptional gift when authors write like they are sitting with you telling the story. That’s what Ms Hunter is able to do. I felt like she was next to me telling the story.
Thank you for book club. It is a highlight of my month!
Mary says
Hi Shay,
I did also love this book but did not care for the way it ended! of course we wanted Esti and Nikko to reunite with Theo and Lilli but we know that was not reality for so many after WWII- I even search, hoping to see if Georgia Hunter wrote a sequel to this book- (20-30 years later for our happy ending they all find each other) –
have a great day!
Charise says
I LOVED THIS BOOK!! I also was not ready for it to end and thought that we needed an “epilogue after the epilogue” to catch up on Lili, Thomas, and Theo’s lives in America! I also loved the perspective of the Holocaust in Italy because I have never read a book with that setting before. I really enjoyed this book.
Mix and Match Mama says
Me too!! I would even love a sequel to their story in a second book!
Mary says
Loved this book so much! And like you didn’t want it to end.
KC says
I loved this book so much! 5 stars for me too! Have you read her other novel We Were the Lucky One’s? It’s actually about her family during WW2 and the Holocaust. It was very good too!
Deb says
I also loved this book! I thought it was a little different than so many WW2 books in that if focused more on relationships than the horrors
Carolyn Becker says
Loved this book and actually just finished next months book-can’t wait to see what you think.
Debbie Hibbert says
Great choice for this month … I really liked it! Thank you, Shay, for doing this book club.
Laura says
I loved this one too! I’ve read dozens of WWll books and I’ve read only one other one that covered Italy this much. This one is a little easier to read than some others because it isn’t as violent. It really focuses on the relationships among the people.
Lynn says
I just finished this book. I ended up reading May’s book in April and this one just now because of th order I got them on Libby from my library. This book will surprise me if it’s not my #1 book of the year! I loved it. It was so hard to put down.
Suzanne W says
Such a good book, I agree with the 5 star rating. I have not read much about the Holocaust from the Italian perspective.