Book Club #26: THIS IS NOT ABOUT US

Happy WEDNESDAY, friends!

I have an extra pep in my step because…

…it’s time for BOOK CLUB #26!

Woohoo! I love when we get to talk books 🙂 .

Today, we have this book post as well as a second blog post on COMMUNITY, so make sure you check that one out too.

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

Here are the books we discussed in 2025 along with my own personal “star ratings”…

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

And here are the books we’ve read so far this year along with my own personal “star ratings” as well…

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb 3 STARS
The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff 4 STARS
The Boys in the Light by Nina Willner 5 STARS

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 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…

…This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman.

So, I clearly didn’t love it.

Agh!

I feel so blah about this book that I don’t even want to recap it, BUT let me say this…one of the main reasons I love our little book club (probably the main reason!) is that it forces me to read books that I would never have picked up otherwise. If you look back over many of the books I’ve given 5 STARS to over these last two years, SEVERAL of them are books that I only read because you made me. And then I loved them 🙂 .

Even if I didn’t love this month’s book, it introduced me to an author I have never read. Plus, I’m positive that we will have a lively conversation today to give me a perspective I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Did I want to quit this book and throw it in the trash? Yes. Did I finish it though and now I get to chat about it with you? YES! I’ll call that a win.

Here are a few reasons why this one wasn’t my fave…

#1: I was optimistic about the plot because it was about three sisters (and I live with three sisters!), but it really made my heart sad that the youngest would die and the other two would spend the rest of their days in a tiff.

#2: I thought the secondary characters were the only redeeming part of this novel. I was happy that Richard found Heather and was able to have a relationship with his daughters and start again with her and their new baby. A little closure and joy in the middle of two women squabbling about a cake.

#3: I understood the resentment and built up animosity between Sylvia and Helen…but I didn’t love that they had lost Jeannie and decided the best way to handle their last years was in a feud. Didn’t they see how little time they had left? How precious and fleeting life was? Why must they not speak for such a long time when they both clearly missed the other?

#4: The last chapter gave me just enough hope and optimism at the briss that I just knew reconciliation was right around the corner. But no. I tapped my Kindle to go to the next page and found myself staring at the acknowledgment section. Where was the reconciliation? Where was that much needed next chapter? How could we not get closure after all of the turmoil? I know a reunion is implied…sort of…but come on, I suffered many a long chapter just to see them finally get together again and we didn’t.

I don’t know…the whole thing just felt heavy and sad.

It was a melancholy book, and I don’t mind a little sadness and grief if we can have resolution. There was zero resolution. When it was over and done with, I did not feel satisfied. Urg.

Those are my thoughts. If you loved this novel, I would love to know why.

Next month is one of my very favorite months and to celebrate, we are going to read a novel by one of my VERY favorite authors…