Happy Sunday, friends!
It’s the 22nd of the month which means, it’s BOOK CLUB DAY!
Thank you for being here on a Sunday to chat books with me. It means a lot 🙂 .
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
In April: One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter 5 STARS
In May: All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett 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 JUNE’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…
……Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein.
So clearly, I really didn’t like this one.
I was really optimistic when I dove into this one, but in the end, I found it very boring and annoying.
Here are my thoughts:
– I get that it was loosely a “wink and a nod” to the Parent Trap movies, but geez, it seemed much less optimistic and happy.
– I could probably sum up all of my thoughts with “I’m not sure why these two women were doing 99% of the things they were doing?”.
– I didn’t understand why they both were fond of their dad who had LIED to them their entire lives.
– It wore on me that they could not have a normal conversation without infusing immature drama. You “always” get the house in July? Who cares?! Your dad had been lying to you, it’s not your house, you need to leave. Change the locks. Make adult decisions!
– I needed Vivian to just put the house on the market and go back to NYC (and promptly break up with her cheating boyfriend).
– Yes the fictitious town was adorable and the bartender seemed sweet, but this family had so much drama and were making so many choices that I didn’t understand that I couldn’t even appreciate the setting.
– I understand that at the end, the Celeste/Dawn storylines wrapped up and we gained a little clarity, but it was too bizarre reading 95% of the book with these women kind of chill about the fact that their daughters’ father had been hiding them from each other for years.
Overall, the book took way too long to read. I kept checking my Kindle to see how much I had left and wow, it felt long. I didn’t love Vivian or Lucy, I didn’t care for how the plot unfolded, I just really wasn’t into this one.
I am SO CURIOUS to see if anyone else agrees?
Okay, coming up next…
…My Friends by Fredrik Backman.
Spoiler alert…I have never cared for any of his books, so the fact that I’m making this a book club pick is unsettling for me. But alas, I’ve heard great things about it, so here we go! I hope you read with us and meet back here on July 22nd!
Don’t forget, if you want to stay current on all of the books I’m reading in 2025, THIS PAGE HERE is where I keep the books, authors and reviews each month.
Okay, please head to the comment section to share your thoughts on today’s Book Club pick today! I’m anxious to hear what you have to say.
I’ll see you tomorrow! Enjoy your Sunday! xx
Jessica Craft Schlosberg says
Oh this book…. I couldn’t like either sister. I half hoped at least twice during the book that tragedy would befall one or the other so we wouldn’t have to put up with them.
I just could not wrap my head around why two adult women would fight over a house (that belonged to neither of them) in such a dumb way. Neither sister was at all likable.
Two stars for me as well.
Emilee says
This book took me FOREVER to get into. I was relieved when it was over 😂 It was OK, but not my favorite. “One Golden Summer” was amazing…I’m still thinking about it!
Elspeth Mizner says
I always love your book reviews! I’ll give the July one a try!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
K.K. says
The charming part of this book was the location, for sure…
I also didn’t love the characters or their choices. I think one thing that I don’t always love is when a character is quick to leave a spouse, when there’s no abuse or anything of that nature. I think we were supposed to see it as growth, but I like to see characters fight harder to make it work.
Joanne says
Oh my gosh, I just finished My Friends and I loved it so much.
Kara says
Really? I got about half way and was bored with it and DNF. Will have to try again to finish it sometime.
Robin says
lol, glad I skipped this month’s pick! Looking forward to next month’s. Also, fun to have book club land on a Sunday so we got a little bonus this week 🙂
Deb says
I mostly agree with you! I feel like Vivian didn’t adore her father bc she on some level knew he was a fraud. However, the female relationships were bad and I was frustrated with their choices in men. It was a summer beach read that was a letdown! I hope my other beach downloads are better!
Jennifer says
The location was the best part of the book. I didn’t love it either. To me, it felt like parts were inserted just to get to a certain word count. Too much petty drama and the dad lied to two families forever. Not my fave at all.
A Man Called Ove was a favorite of mine, so I have very high hopes for next month’s pick. Happy reading to all!
Juliet says
I just got this book from the library. I’ll take a look at it later since it going to be 90+ degrees outside today.
Mikayla Amsden says
3 stars from me! Also wasn’t my favorite.
Peg says
I just bought the book. Hearing you didn’t like it makes me wonder if I should send it back. HA.
Tiffany says
When I saw your pick for July, I immediately thought “Shay is not a Backman fan!” 😂. I am a huge Backman fan and just started the book this week. Only 10% in, but like it so far. Look forward to seeing what you think!
Kay says
You know what-I did like this book! I had never heard about it, so I wasn’t sure if I was excited about it or not. But I did enjoy reading it. I agree that the characters weren’t very likable at all. And I also agree it was just a bit too long. (Wait, why did I like it lol?) But for some reason, I did enjoy reading it. You know what? The author mom reminded me very much of my own, so maybe that was of special interest to me???
Anyway, I haven’t missed a book yet since you started your club, and I’m looking forward to next month. I just started the new book by the author of American Dirt (which I LOVED) and it is fabulous so far, “Speak to Me of Home.” Highly recommend.
Mix and Match Mama says
Thank you for the rec, Kay! You know much I loved American Dirt. I’m adding this new one to my list now. Thank you!!
Michelle H. says
They did a great job on the cover of this book but the book itself was disappointing. I thought it would be better. I felt like it was going in circles and then less than 100 pages I thought something big might happen to make it more enjoyable but it didn’t.
Mix and Match Mama says
Yes, yes and YES!
Jennifer Maynard says
Completely agree! Couldn’t get over all the affairs in the book and couldn’t wait for it to get over
Anni Knolton says
I couldn’t even finish it. I kept waiting for it to get better and then I gave up.
Debbie Dehrer says
There were some aspects of this book I enjoyed. The setting was definitely the “Maine” thing the story had going for it. I did enjoy when Vivian shared some information about wine, and found about the winery that Drew Bledsoe owns. My biggest issue with this book was that the mother’s were still head over heels for this man who was willing to live with such a big lie and treat his wife with such contempt.
Becky says
Funny, I was on the middle of Maine Characters on May 22nd, and am currently in the middle of My Friends this month! I rated Maine Characters a 4/5. My Friends is “interesting”… not what I expected. I did love Bear Town by Fredrik Backman, so I gave it a try.
Ashley R says
UGH! Thank goodness!! Does this mean I can stop reading it now?!
I just can’t get into it. I tried and tried so that I could read your review, but since you gave it a 2 star, I think it’ll be a DNF for me.
Blah.
Onto the next!
Mix and Match Mama says
Yes! Please stop 🙂
Maureen Werner says
Yes!! I agree!! I stopped after Chapter 6 because life is too short to spend any more of my precious reading time on a book I don’t enjoy!! 😉 ❤️
Ashley R says
Oh! One more thing – what book(s) have you tried reading by Fredrik Backman that you didn’t like? He’s one of my favorite authors, and our tastes usually align with books, so I’m super curious.
Mix and Match Mama says
I think all of them? I have heard really great things about this one, so I’m optimistic. I have found his other books just a little too depressing and very long. The writing is brilliant, but by the end, I’m just so exhausted from reading his books. I hope this one is a different experience for me!
Ashley R says
Totally get what you’re saying. Brilliant, but long and pretty heavy. I listened to the Beartown series (audiobooks) so maybe that helped?
Chelsea says
Totally with you on this one! Loved the cover, and the town seemed like somewhere fun to visit, but the book never seemed to go anywhere. I kept waiting for something big to happen!
Aubrey Hicks says
I actually really liked this book for the first 3/4… but then it just kind of lost me. I wanted to really like Vivian but thought Lucy was annoying. I’m excited to read My Friends next!
Ginger says
The Beartown trilogy by Backman was excellent. It did take a bit to get into it because his writing style is a bit different, but even after 3 books, I wasn’t ready for it to end. I listened to it instead of reading, and the narration was very good. I just finished Jackie by Dawn Tripp, and it was quite interesting. Hey Jesus, It’s Me by Ellen Skrmetti is a short, hilarious listen. I would definitely recommend listening to it over reading, because you get her Southern accent.
Janet Teeter says
I read your book review out loud to my husband, because you had me cracking up with your critique. My husband stated “ that’s why I don’t read”.😂
Mix and Match Mama says
Now your husband is FUNNY! Bahahaha!
Charise says
I actually enjoyed this book!
A recommendation I have is “Theo of Golden”. It came highly recommended by a book club at work and I’m really enjoying it so far.
Courtney Cammarano says
The only Backman book I’ve read is A Man Called Ove and, oh my, it still pulls my heartstrings. I’ve was the best kind of curmudgeon. 🩷
Jeanne says
Getting ready to start My Friends now. I loved Beartown & recommended it to so many people. My husband (who coaches) read it & kept saying “it’s so dark!” but couldn’t put it down.
If you haven’t read Broken Country, add to your list. So so good! Also Famous Last Words is very good!
WhittyWife (Lindsay) says
I’m almost done Maine Characters, but I’m honestly bored! …and I live in Maine!! 🤣 That’s the best part – I know the references to places in Maine, but it’s otherwise long and boring.
Oh well! The cover definitely looked promising!! 😬
Hanna Humphreys says
Out of curiosity, which books did you not like by Backman? Have you ever read A Man Called Ove? It’s one of my favorites!
Mix and Match Mama says
I *think* I have read them all and didn’t love any of them. It’s his writing style (kind of long and dark). The stories are good, but by the end of the book, I’m always a little tired and depressed.
Yvette Keeble says
I just couldn’t finish this book. That is very rare for me because I usually feel guilty if don’t finish (maybe to justify my insane amount of book purchases). Frankly, the characters are rather blah and the book is simply boring.
Yolanda McLean says
I didn’t love it! I would give it two stars!
I was so annoyed with the wine talk. I also felt so sad for the “other woman”, can’t remember her name. Seems she lived her whole life alone, longing for this dude that was a liar.
The setting seemed so nice, and the house so quaint.
I listened to this book and one Friday evening I had a lot of car time taking my daughter to an event over an hour away then waiting while she was there – I was so mad this was the book I was trying to get through. LOL I should have quit.
Dawn Engle says
I know I am in the minority when I say I liked this book! I’d give a 4/5. It did start off a bit slow and yes, some of the characters were not initially likable, but it really grew on me, and I was happy with how it ended. No one’s life is perfect, and people do things for reasons we may not understand or ever possibly relate to. I thought this story was believable. There are people out there that live lives we can’t possibly imagine. I enjoyed seeing the characters grow throughout the story and learn life lessons (& make big life changes) through the hardships that ultimately brought them together. They matured and grew, and I really liked seeing that come out of this difficult situation. I listened to it on Audible versus reading the book so maybe that made a difference? I’d say if you are still reading it, you should continue!
Laci Uhrbom says
It was OK but not my fav! I did like that it was loosely based on The Parent Trap (one of my all time favorites).