Commonwealth

Author: Ann Patchett
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2017
Pages: 336
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly - thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this  chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them.

When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.

Review: This book has been on my list to read for what seems like forever, and I guess it really has been. This was published in 2017. Amazing how time flies.

I loved my prior read, Broken Country, so much that I knew any book that followed was going to be tough to get into. Even still, I don't know if there's any situation where Commonwealth would be a book I'd remember for all the right reasons. There were time leaps and a lot of characters. 

This is the same subgenre as The Nest and The Immortalists and I didn't enjoy either of those either, and in truth, Commonwealth was the most tolerable.

Broken Country

Author: Clare Leslie Hall
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2025
Pages: 320
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth's brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn't realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager - the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel's life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, the woman she has become.

Review: It took me some time to get into this novel. I had even considered setting it aside. In the end though, I gave it five stars.

There's something beautiful about this novel, the yin and yang of life, how one decision sets off a series of events, unintended consequences, the flawed nature of human beings. This novel has it all.

The Break-Up Tour

Author: Emily Wibberley / Austin Siegemund-Broka
Genre: Chick Lit
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 352
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Riley Wynn went from a promising singer-songwriter to a superstar overnight, thanks to her breakup song concept album and it's unforgettable lead single. When Riley's ex-husband claims the hit son is about him, she does something she hasn't in ten years and calls Max Harcourt, her college boyfriend and the real inspiration for the song of the summer.

Max hasn't spoken to Riley since their relationship ended. He's content with managing the retirement home his family owns, but it's not the life filled with music that he dreamed of. When Riley asks him to go public as her songwriting muse, he agrees on one condition: he'll join her band on tour.

As they perform across the country, Max and Riley start to realize that while they hit some wrong notes in the past, their future could hold incredible things. And their rekindled relationship will either last forever or go down in flames. 

Review: I have no idea how this book ended up in a stack that I picked up from the library, but the genre (and cover) made it seem like a good choice for a cold and snowy January day. It's not the best written story with the best plot, but it was the perfect book for the day.

It seems the main character is modeled after Taylor Swift, but I put that little detail out of my mind and enjoyed the book. However, it is a long-winded novel and longer than it needed to be. Even in this genre, which isn't one I typically gravitate to, it's just okay.