AND ....
My GoodReads goal of 125 books reached.
THIS YEAR IT WILL BE DIFFERENT {And Other Stories} by MAEVE BINCHY.SOURCE: A charity shop buy.
BACK COVER BLURB: Filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit and true storytelling genius, This Year It Will Be Different powerfully evokes the lives of wives, husbands, children, friends and lovers, all set during the one holiday when feelings cannot easily be hidden.
There are step-families grappling with exes; long-married couples faced with in-law problems; a wandering husband choosing between the other woman and his wife; a child caught up in a grown-up tug-of-war ...
The festive season may be magical, but it can also be a time of family difficulties, a time to reflect on relationships; a time of change.
FIRST SENTENCE {Story one: The First Step Of Christmas}: Jenny and David gave wonderful Christmas parties.
MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 93: Christmas Present}: Mam said that her mother thought that a Christmas meal without linen napkins was more or less like sitting down and eating chips out of a newspaper.
MY THOUGHTS: Criticised because the vast majority of the stories have been published in other editions (namely The Return Journey And Other Stories) as I'm not a fan of the authors I was lucky in that the stories were new to me.
A collection of some twenty two holiday reads ranging from the so-so to the disappointing. If I had to sum the book up as a whole in one sentence I'd describe it as lacklustre, overly reliant on tales of infidelity and with few redeemable characters.
Refreshing? Realistic? Perhaps, after all its not every one who has a merry Christmas but I for one quite enjoy a cheesy, schmaltzy read come this time of year and I'm afraid on this level This Year It Will be Different failed to impress.
13 comments:
Hello Tracy, I am amazed that you have completed reading 125 books. This is a great achievement. Please accept my congratulations.
This book as you said is lacklustre and failed to impress. The problem is when an author is famous there is always a demand for the books the author writes whether it is interesting or not interesting. Your excellent but brief commentary helps us to chose books that are worth reading.
Best wishes
Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts on this one. Doesn't sound like the book for me. :)
I think this is a good book for me to read this fall!
Congratulations on reading 125 books! That is amazing! Too bad this book wasn't as good as you had hoped.
Not for me. I don't like the infidelity angle and not liking that it fails with the cheesy angle as well. Too bad!
Congratulations in reaching your Good Reads goal.
Maeve Binchy has always been a favorite of mine, but I'll admit I do prefer her full length novels. I'm sorry this collection disappointed you.
Congrats on meeting your gr challenge goak
Congratulations on reading so many books! Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts about this one.
Hi Tracy,
Sorry this one was such a disappointment and failed to excite you in any way.
I have read a couple of Maeve Binchy full length novels and they have been okay acceptable stories, that I could live with.
I am not a huge fan of short stories, so I probably wouldn't have picked up 'This Year It Will Be Different' in the first place. However I would certainly have felt a little cheated to find that many of the stories had already been published in other editions, although I did find one listing for the book which actually mentions this fact in passing ... not really good enough for sure!!
I hope you find a great book to read in the run-up to Christmas and thanks for sharing your thoughts so honestly.
Yvonne
Congratulations Tracy that was quite some target. Thanks for all your honest reviews throughout the year, looking forward to more in 2015. Happy Weekend, Barbara xx
I'm sorry it wasn"t that good in the end... I didn't know about it but I think I'll pass.
I do think that serious and even "down" stories about families and the holidays can be valuable. With that said this sounds like a poor example of such.
Hopefully you will find some better Christmas books over the next two weeks.
congrats on reading so many books, tracy! also, thank you so much for your always brilliant and honest reviews. looking forward to more in 2015!
big hugs!
xXx
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