The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg Buy book: $14.96
When Betta Nolan's husband dies, she honors a promise she made to him to move to a small town and start a new life. Without minimizing her great sorrow, she nonetheless attempts to find pleasure on a daily basis. Betta's journey from grief to joy is an inspiring reminder that life is ready to give bountifully to those who will receive.
I have already read this novel and am an immediate fan of Elizabeth Berg!! I have, since, gone to used bookstores and purchased her earlier books.
"The Year of Pleasures" spoke to me. Not because I am a widow, but because the thoughts Betta has in this novel, are so close to my own. Things that I have thought to myself, never thought to say them outloud.
I am passing this book around to all my lady friends.
I have read quite a few titles by Elizabeth Berg. Some of my favorites are: "Talk Before Sleep" ***** about 4-5 quirky friends gathering around lovingly as one faces death. and "What We Keep" about 2 sisters who reconnect with their estranged mother on the pretense of her being ill. Mother left when they were young and the three of them try to heal old wounds.
You'll love these.
I would read Elizabeth Berg's grocery list. She is one of my favorite authors. I love how her characters have "inner dialogue". One scene that stands out in my mind, although I can't remember the book, a woman is bored at a business dinner she is attending with her husband. She goes into the restroom, sits down fully dressed in a stall, and starts to go through her purse trying to "find something to play with." I tell people about her books all the time. I have never been disappointed by one.
Ditto to both comments. I have read Elizabeth Berg's other books and this one sounds like it will not disappoint. I grabbed an audio version from the library. Maybe the ironing and mending will go a little faster!
I was instantly an Elizabeth Berg fan. It's as if my very best friend is talking to me. I have read most of her books and enjoyed every one of them. Imagine how thrilled I was to see a new one - We are All Welcome Here - at my last visit to the library! Can't wait to start reading and catching up with an old friend.
I love her description of things she sees as she is driving, perhaps things she didn't notice when her husband was alive. She is describing things as though she is seeing them for the first time. It is sad, but it sometimes takes an earth shattering change in your life, whether it be the death of a spouse or divorce after years of marriage. When you slowly feel like you can make it on your own, you do see differently and feel more deeply. You don't take things for granted and you become more attuned to other people and more sympathetic. I'm looking forward to the next excerpt.
At last we have something to read that is good fiction. We havent had that for a while. I was yearning for a good work of fiction. But Suzanne gives us too much in one email.Between authorbuzz and chapters Im finding there is little time in the day.Gotta find time!!
I have seen many of Berg's books, but have never picked one up. This weeks excerpts have really taken me by storm. As the character examines things in the rural areas that she is driving though I completely identify with her longing for simpler, quieter times and places. Living in the midwest (Ohio) myself, I have seen the things she is seeing and I too long for that simplicity. Living in the city and working and getting caught up in all of the trappings of a modern life, one really starts to appreciate the pleasures of small town life with a slower pace. I seek this slow-down in books and I think this title might be just what I am looking for!!
After weeks of not reading/deleting, I'm back again. Love this author and the book. We have moved for a year or more up north and although there is a library it is a mess! Non-fiction entangled with the fiction and no system in place for ordering books over the internet! No doubt I'll come to love it in time.
Thank-you, Helen, for the grocery list comment, and Ann, for mentioning the audio book. I've placed The Year of Pleasures audio-book version on my "to read/hear" list at my local library's web site.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this weeks book (my first in the club) and cannot wait to read the rest of the book! I put a reserve on it at my local library yesterday, but in the meantime picked up Berg's "The Art of Mending." I read over 100 pages last night! The way Berg describes a scene is truly transporting. I find myself completely within the scenes as she describes them, I can feel, hear and smell the surroundings that her characters are in. Isn't that what reading is all about?
I was so pleased with this book. It was a pleasure to read, but it was also a pleasure because it was a shorter book. I am on very limited time, so it was nice to know that I would be able to finish this book in a short amount of time.
Her writing was as if someone I knew was speaking to me and I felt many of the emotions of the characters...I will read more by this author in the near future!
If I ever sat down to write a book, I hope I could write as straight from the heart as Elizabeth Berg. Her analogies are so insightful, and so many times I've wanted to highlight certain passages. I like the romance of setting up one's own store. I think so many of us have a little dream like this that we toy with occasionally. The relationships in this book are very well written. I can relate on so many levels to so many of the characters. I just can't praise this book enough. I'm glad I joined this book club!
