The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
alinaborger's review
4.0
So usually Katie and I agree on like 1/10th of the books we read. And that's okay because mostly we swap charmers and beach reads as needed for a tough week or a fun vacation. I'll love one that she thinks is just okay and she'll adore one that I think is so-so.
But when we hit on those books we both find delightful, it's always a treat and we're glad we shared the other nine to arrive at that one.
The View From Mount Joy is one we both agreed on. It's not going to win any awards or make any splashes on my favorites lists, but it's a little parable, a morality tale told as sweetly as such tales often are. One man chooses love, and finds his simple life managing a grocery store is full to the brim; one woman chooses fame and adoration, and finds a life full of accolades that only makes her smaller and meaner and more selfish.
Love wins. Love always wins.
A Caveat: As Katie warned me, so I warn you: there is a bit of "gratuitous high school sex" in the opening chapters. Not sure the sex itself is exactly gratuitous, as it's part of developing the characters and their relationships, but the phrase does as good a job of any at explaining that the scenes are read a bit more like a bodice-ripper than morality tale.
But when we hit on those books we both find delightful, it's always a treat and we're glad we shared the other nine to arrive at that one.
The View From Mount Joy is one we both agreed on. It's not going to win any awards or make any splashes on my favorites lists, but it's a little parable, a morality tale told as sweetly as such tales often are. One man chooses love, and finds his simple life managing a grocery store is full to the brim; one woman chooses fame and adoration, and finds a life full of accolades that only makes her smaller and meaner and more selfish.
Love wins. Love always wins.
A Caveat: As Katie warned me, so I warn you: there is a bit of "gratuitous high school sex" in the opening chapters. Not sure the sex itself is exactly gratuitous, as it's part of developing the characters and their relationships, but the phrase does as good a job of any at explaining that the scenes are read a bit more like a bodice-ripper than morality tale.
dja777's review
3.0
Definitely not as good as Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons -- I never found the protagonist all that believable.
bookrec's review against another edition
5.0
She is one of my favorite authors ever since I read Patty Jane's House of Curl. She is so homey. Her characters are real; you care about them.
rdebner's review against another edition
4.0
I can't believe that time has slipped by enough, and I missed a release of a Lorna Landvik book. Just goes to show that I'm not in Minnesota anymore. This book is classic Landvik -- set in the Twin Cities -- just specific enough so you can imagine where these people live, but not actually 100% factual. Her character development, as usual, is excellent. It was a good story, and a great read while I was home sick in bed.
alinaborger's review against another edition
4.0
So usually Katie and I agree on like 1/10th of the books we read. And that's okay because mostly we swap charmers and beach reads as needed for a tough week or a fun vacation. I'll love one that she thinks is just okay and she'll adore one that I think is so-so.
But when we hit on those books we both find delightful, it's always a treat and we're glad we shared the other nine to arrive at that one.
The View From Mount Joy is one we both agreed on. It's not going to win any awards or make any splashes on my favorites lists, but it's a little parable, a morality tale told as sweetly as such tales often are. One man chooses love, and finds his simple life managing a grocery store is full to the brim; one woman chooses fame and adoration, and finds a life full of accolades that only makes her smaller and meaner and more selfish.
Love wins. Love always wins.
A Caveat: As Katie warned me, so I warn you: there is a bit of "gratuitous high school sex" in the opening chapters. Not sure the sex itself is exactly gratuitous, as it's part of developing the characters and their relationships, but the phrase does as good a job of any at explaining that the scenes are read a bit more like a bodice-ripper than morality tale.
But when we hit on those books we both find delightful, it's always a treat and we're glad we shared the other nine to arrive at that one.
The View From Mount Joy is one we both agreed on. It's not going to win any awards or make any splashes on my favorites lists, but it's a little parable, a morality tale told as sweetly as such tales often are. One man chooses love, and finds his simple life managing a grocery store is full to the brim; one woman chooses fame and adoration, and finds a life full of accolades that only makes her smaller and meaner and more selfish.
Love wins. Love always wins.
A Caveat: As Katie warned me, so I warn you: there is a bit of "gratuitous high school sex" in the opening chapters. Not sure the sex itself is exactly gratuitous, as it's part of developing the characters and their relationships, but the phrase does as good a job of any at explaining that the scenes are read a bit more like a bodice-ripper than morality tale.
sjdoyle12's review against another edition
5.0
SO good. Great writing and characters. One of the books you are sad to see end.
thebookhawk's review against another edition
1.0
This book revolves around some sex-crazed asshole and the toxic bitch he either won’t or can’t get out of his life. Hard pass.
jgardner's review against another edition
4.0
I just love Lorna Landvik and I have ever since I read Patty Jane's House of Curl. True to Landvik's style, this book had me laughing and crying and convinced that I actually knew the characters.
margardenlady's review against another edition
5.0
Landvik creates a world loosely based on Minneapolis/St Paul in the recent decades and follows the unlikely relationship between Joe and Kristi, over the years through high school and into adulthood. The story really isn't 'about' their relationship, but that is a thread that keeps the story of Joe (main focus) and the story of Kristi (secondary) together. Joe is an eminently likeable character who, at the beginning of the tale is a high schooler whose father had died a few years earlier. He and his mom move to a new place when she gets a job as a music teacher and here the fun begins. One thing after another ends up falling in Joe's lap - a girlfriend or two, a job which becomes a life, an inspiration to make the job unique, fatherhood, and myriad friends who develop from acquaintances. Somehow, Joe makes the best of each situation life presents him and believe me, they are not all happy situations. I was charmed by the relationships and unlikely connections forged through just being there.
More...