Happy SUNDAY, friends!
It’s the 22nd of February which means…
…it’s time for BOOK CLUB #24!
It’s also time for our Sunday Recap 😉 .
Before I get to today’s Book Club, if you missed any of these posts this week, make sure you go back and check them out…
On Monday, I shared this week’s MEAL PLAN (all easy!) along with WHAT I’VE BEEN PRIME-ING (so many random things!). I took Tuesday and Wednesday off to spend time with my travel agency team, and on Thursday, I shared A NEW TRADER JOE’S HAUL plus a look at MY COZY READING AREA. I had my FRIDAY FAVES as well as a HAWAIIAN BREAKFAST CASSEROLE to round out our week.
Alrighty, 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 here are the books we discussed in 2025 along with my own personal “star ratings” as well…
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry 5 STARS
Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old by Brooke Shields 2 STARS
The Crash by Freida McFadden 3 STARS
One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter 5 STARS
All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett 3 STARS
Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein 2 STARS
My Friends by Fredrik Backman 5 STARS
The View From Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani 4 STARS
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall 5 STARS
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan 4 STARS
The Widow by John Grisham 4 STARS
Now, just a reminder, MY TOP 3 FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025 CAME OUT OF BOOK CLUB LAST YEAR!
If you missed my big BOOKS IN REVIEW POST FROM 2025, make sure you go back and read it. In that post, I break down all 58 of the books I read last year and announce my three favorite books from the entire year (all three from Book Club last year!).
If you want to check out all of my 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 FEBRUARY’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…
…The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff!
You guys, I REALLY loved this novel.
It was sad and raw and real and tragic at times, but I could not put it down. It felt very earnest as it described the lives affected by alcoholism.
Here are my thoughts…
1: Well, of course, I loved all of the Fort Worth references! I don’t read many books set in the Lone Star state, so it was fun to see so many restaurants, neighborhoods, venues, streets, and colleges sprinkled throughout this one novel.
2: There were a lot of trigger warnings in this one novel. When I share my February Book Review, I will make sure others are aware that topics like alcoholism, miscarriage, and adoption are covered in depth in this book. I know many of us have first hand experience with some/all of these topics, and I thought the author did an excellent job of making them feel raw and real while also not keeping the story stuck in sadness. Does that make sense? It was hard to read some of these things, but the trail of hope kept me going despite the hard things that were happening to the characters.
3: Sometimes novels about families that span decades can feel really long, but this one did not. Each section of the book (from young Lillian to Jet as a mom) kept me entertained and pulled into the story. I loved how the perspectives shifted from one character to the next as the story moved along.
4: I don’t know about you, but I was stunned when Lillian dropped dead. I did not see that coming. I was sad for her because her life was really coming around, and she had finally found peace and love and hope again in her marriage…so needless to say, I was shocked when she died.
5: As much as I loved the main characters in this novel/rooted for them, I thought the supporting cast of characters really helped bring a lightness and sweetness to the story. I loved Kendi’s mom and Ryan’s mom…wonderful characters.
6: I loved that Kendi and Jet ended up together. It was a sweet story arch that tied up beautifully at the end.
7: You know I don’t love a letter/speech/eulogy in a novel…so I could have had Ryan tell his story at the end a different way…BUT that’s just me being picky. I didn’t mind that Ryan passed at the end. I rooted for him throughout the entire book, but it was probably more realistic to have alcohol be his demon until the end than to have him “sober and a new man”. As nice as that would have been, it was probably more realistic to continuously have him go back to the bottle and in the end, die of a disease caused by alcohol.
8: I loved Davis and thought that story came full circle together quite well at the end.
9: The pop culture references from the 80s and 90s made my “child of the 80s and 90s” self oh so happy to read.
Great book. Heavy, hard to read, but hopeful and filled with love. Two thumbs up!
Okay, in March, we are going to read…
…The Boys in the Light by Nina Willner and discussing it on March 23rd (one day late because of Spring Break!).
This is narrative nonfiction (the story is about the author’s father), so I’m very excited to dive in.
Speaking of diving in, let’s dive into the comment section! I’m anxious to hear what you have to say about this month’s book.
Thanks for reading with me, friends!
Have the best Sunday! xx
Debbie Hibbert says
I also loved this book … but it was definitely, at times, hard to get through so much sadness. I was shocked when Lillian died! I did not see that coming. I loved that Jet and Davis found each other and made a real connection. I was also excited about Jet and Kendi ending up together, and that they had a “happily ever after” … Jet deserved that kind of happiness after living through so much pain and loss.
What I didn’t like: I was not a fan of each character having their own section of the book. In particular, I didn’t like Ryan having his own section. For me I think there would have been a better flow if chapters from Lillian, and chapters from Ryan, had alternated. But that’s probably just a preference – and it certainly didn’t stop me from flying through this book! 4 ⭐’s from me. Can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks.
Becky says
I enjoyed this book as well!
Emily G says
Ok rats!! I thought for sure you’d give this only 3 stars for how slowwwww it read. The mom dying so suddenly got so few sentences compared to so many other drawn out scenes. I really liked Kendi- he was the steady. Agreed the alcoholic thread was realistic but the book was just really sad to me and not super well written.
Addy J Robinson says
Totally agree with this. I thought the mom dropping dead was lazy literary work. This book also had a lot of one of my biggest reading icks — children having quotes that are laughably beyond their years of understanding or language (specifically the teens). I appreciated the accurate portrayal of addiction but won’t be recommending this one.
Kerri M says
Shay I love your book reviews and read many books you recommend. This was my first book club books that I chose to read. And I’m so glad I did. I loved this book. I agree with all your feedback on the book. I thought the author did a great job showing what addiction can do to a family. Highly recommend this book and started telling friends to read it too.
Kay says
You’ve done it again! This is not a book that would have been on my radar, but I absolutely loved it. So far, it’s my favorite read of 2026. As you mentioned, it was definitely hard to get through at times. But I agree that the overall tone was hopeful and I truly enjoyed it. I absolutely loved Ryan’s mom. She was the mother I aspire to be! I thought the writing was beautiful.
It broke my heart that Lillian died. I was absolutely stunned! I thought they changed narrators just to give us another perspective. That was a really interesting and sad twist, but in the end it worked. And it brought Jet closer to her father! Their relationship was heartwarming. (And heartbreaking).
Thanks for introducing us to great books!
jennifer s says
I wanted to like this story, but I did not. Jet was a hard character for me to like. I think Kendi could have picked a better life partner. Jet has so much emotional baggage and really has not dealt with most of it. It was horrible when her died. Very shocking and so, so sad. We have read two really emotionally charged books so far this year. I am not sure March’s selection is much better!
Kristen Thompson says
You hit the nail on the head with this one! I totally agree with everything you said! I loved this book but it could be hard to read at times with many upsetting subjects but I was rooting so hard for everyone to have a positive outcome. I liked the way it ended, which is rare for me lately! I am usually left wanting more but this one toed up nicely.
Stephanie says
This has become my favorite post of the month. I loved this book. I felt like I was a part of the family – like a fly on the wall perspective.
Elspeth Grace Mizner says
Thanks for the recommendation! I just finished The RIver is Waiting..wow! Talk about a beautiful and heartbreaking book. Can’t wait to read this one! Happy Sunday!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Carol says
I didn’t read this book. However, I did order the book from your blog post the other day –Tiny Tweaks Happy Life. It arrived yesterday. GREAT!!! book. LOVE it!!! We are having your Texas weather here for the past week. Sunny and 70’s yesterday so I sat on the porch for almost 3 hours and read this amazing encouraging book. Lol, today 30’s and a fell like 15 and snowing. So, ….. I made M&M Sausage Balls this morning and getting ready to make some M&M Neiman Marcus Bars to have with hot chocolate while watching movies.
Mix and Match Mama says
Isn’t it so good?! I am so happy you ordered it too! It sounds like you’re having THE BEST weekend!
Katrina Goodman says
I actually missed your last post about what book you were doing for book club. I had bought this a couple weeks ago because someone said it was one of their top books of 2025. It was a quick read for me—I liked the story even though it was sad for most of the book! I was shocked when Lillian died—I had to go back and reread to make sure I was understanding!!
YOLANDA MCLEAN says
I read this several months ago for another book club that I participate in. So much of the book really stuck with me. I remember really appreciating how much Lillian kept loving her husband. She never gave up on him. I remember that though Ryan was so lost in his addiction, he truly loved his family. The addiction ruled him. We have a nephew lost in addiction and it’s so hard to separate the being mad at him part and reconciling the “he can’t help it” part. I so enjoyed the book – four stars!
Jessica says
I’m prepared to get a lot of hate for this, but I really found myself bored at times. As someone who is familiar with addiction as someone close to me has gone through it, I felt the story was very raw and did a good job with showing the impacts of alcoholism and the complexities that exist, but I wasn’t captivated. I, too, was shocked when Lillian dropped dead and wasn’t expecting it, but I felt myself hungry for more and thought the author could have spent more time on that piece. I ended up rating the book 3 stars and was certain Shay wouldn’t rate it any higher than that either. Ha!
Mix and Match Mama says
No hate! I think that’s a genuine review. Some books just don’t land. I didn’t think the Wally Lamb one landed and so many people LOVED that book.
Emily says
I liked this book a lot more than I anticipated. It’s a great audiobook (3 different readers for each character narrator). Also, I have a son who joined our family through domestic adoption. He’s so little now (almost 2!), but the part where Davis talked to Jet about trying to find his biological family GOT ME. I couldn’t help but think about my son and how this could very well be his exact situation one day. I know that wasn’t a major storyline in this novel, but it’s one that I really resonated with.