These Precious Days
Patchett, AnnWell and truly embedded in the literary world, Ann Patchett can turn her hand to both fiction and non fiction, and in this collection of essays, she welcomes readers into her life with more than twenty pieces to ponder.
Reflecting on what matters most in life - including of course, family, friendship, marriage and writing - her trademark elegant and lucid writing is on display.
Transforming the personal into the universal, this book is an engrossing and stimulating read from a consummate storyteller.
Pages
322
322
Year
2021
2021
Reviews
06-03-2024
We all loved this book and admired the way the author shared personal stories and thoughts so generously. Those people who were not familiar with her writing are now avid fans.
30-10-2023
This book received mixed reviews from being absolutely loved by 2 members (so much so that one member purchased the book to gift to friends) to being mildly enjoyed by the majority of the group. Robust discussion about which essays were the most interesting. Some members enjoyed randomly selecting essays to read anywhere in the book rather than the usual process of starting at the beginning!
20-10-2023
Most of these short stories resonated in some way with our members and invoked some interesting discussion.
13-09-2023
Didn't particularly enjoy it.
13-09-2023
We all really enjoyed these essays. Ann is an open and talented author.
17-08-2023
All appreciated the book for the quality of the writing and how the essays revealed Ann Patchett, the person as well as the writer. Some delightful characters were described and some deeply personal observations were made, of herself and others. However, some found the writing a bit dull and repetitive, preferring a narrative style rather than disconnected essays.
16-08-2023
Delightful insight into Ann's life, and what/whom she holds dear.
03-08-2023
Most enjoyed the book - the fact that it was written as short stories was enjoyed.
19-06-2023
All but one of us loved this book unreservedly. The one member thought Ann Patchett was rather exploitative of others in her writing about them.
14-06-2023
This was a real love-it / hate-it book. Where some members appreciated the honesty of the various essays, others felt that Ann was showing how wonderful she was. The different styles of essays/stories made it confusing to understand the style/view-points that were being expressed. It did go some way to explaining how Ann works on her novels and the extents she went to with her research.
24-04-2023
We loved this book, and the discussion it stimulated was important and relevant to our group of "older" women.
20-04-2023
Two or three of us were not keen on reading a collection of writings and preferred - especially for discussion purpose - a complete novel or non-fiction book. We all however liked and admired the author for her humility, openness and amazing kindness. She is an inspiration.
20-04-2023
Although none of us enjoyed it, we had a very good discussion, and thought the questions were very adept in provoking it. We thought that although most of the essays seemed to be about various people, the underlying theme was herself, "See what a kind, generous person I am". A disappointment, as most of us like her novels.
03-04-2023
Because it was a collection of memoir and essay style pieces we had lots of topics which led to an energetic discussion. We got to know Ann Patchett the wife, friend, writer, shopper, declutterer, daughter and the one that members liked most 'There are no children here'. Recommended by our group.
14-03-2023
We all enjoyed it and finished it!
08-11-2022
Some of us have read Ann Patchett and love her writing style. In this book we enjoyed how she takes simple life stories and leaves us with a new perspective or emotion as well as a connection to her through her detailed and varied relationships. Funny, serious, some found it not engaging enough, others appreciated each short essay that could be read in a sitting. But we all came away realising, once again, that our relationships with others are most precious.