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Good Night, Irene
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
17 posts | 17 read | 29 to read
What if a friendship forged on the front lines of war defines a life forever? In the tradition of The Nightingale and Transcription, a searing epic based on the magnificent and true story of heroic Red Cross women. "Urrea's touch is sure, his exuberance carries you through . . . He is a generous writer, not just in his approach to his craft but in the broader sense of what he feels necessary to capture about life itself." --Financial Times In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fianc in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle. After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot named Hans, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope, which becomes more precarious by the day, is for all three of them to survive the war intact. Taking as inspiration his mother's own Red Cross service, Luis Alberto Urrea has delivered an overlooked story of women's heroism in World War II. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances, Good Night, Irene powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea's "gifts as a storyteller are prodigious" (NPR).
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Zbayardo
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Pickpick

I never thought I would ever get into, love, or be a fan of a war novel like I did this one!
This is a 5⭐️ HISTORICAL FICTION read that takes you on a journey back to the heart of WWII. Irene and Dorothy become Donut Dollies, a group of women who provide solace and camaraderie by serving coffee and doughnuts to soldiers on the front lines. ON THE FRONT LINES!!

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Deblovestoread
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Loosely based on the author‘s mother‘s experience Good night, Irene is about the Red Cross and their Clubmobiles. This was a completely new part of WWII to me and I can‘t get over the roll these women played in supporting our troops. This would have been a 5🌟 read except sometimes it read like a list of facts rather than story supported by fact. I‘d love to know more about these women. #BookedinTime

MissyD That‘s on my TBR. 6mo
TheSpineView Fantastic! 6mo
Cuilin WWII ✅🎉fabulous 6mo
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Kazzie
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
Pickpick

Interesting story I wasn‘t aware of - women at the front lines for moral boosting. Good reminder that veterans were/are people with dreams and lives and everything that comes along with humanity

SassyBookworm This looks good! Definitely going on my TBR pile! 7mo
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BarbaraBB
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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The 1st half of the book I didn‘t care much for Irene and Dorothy, 2 American women who join the Red Cross in WWII to offer soldiers on the front relief with coffee, donuts and a kind word.
In this 1st half, the story didn‘t add much: they were doing just that. I felt the book could have started 200 pages later when the coffee business withdraws to the background and the devastating war takes over. A light pick.

(photo: Poros, Lefkada, Greece)

Suet624 That‘s too bad. I really like this author. 7mo
BarbaraBB This is my choice for #TBRtarot! @CBee 7mo
BarbaraBB @Suet624 Me too, I loved the tagged book. And this one is very well written again but I wasn‘t really drawn in by the story 7mo
CBee @BarbaraBB awesome! 😊 7mo
Suet624 Yes… I think I‘ve read two of his books. The house of broken angels was sooo good. 7mo
74 likes5 comments
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kspenmoll
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Read this all in one day today. Just could not out it down. Still processing…

BkClubCare Wow! 7mo
jlhammar Hoping to start this soon! 7mo
BarbaraBB Echoing @jlhammar ! Glad you loved it that much. 7mo
60 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Deblovestoread
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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This ended up being an easy pick for September #BookedinTime. I had hoped to read it this month for the official TOB Camp but decided to wait and use it for this prompt instead. It‘s gotten lots of love so far so I think I‘m in for a treat.

Cuilin Yes, I stacked that from somebody else‘s post too, looks great. 8mo
kspenmoll I just got this book from the library. Great choice! 8mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Hey! Just checking to see if the package I sent you had been delivered? 8mo
Deblovestoread @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Yes! I posted a comment on your original post to let you know. Just went and tagged you so hopefully you see it. Been busy preparing for an audit at work so haven‘t been posting much this wee. Thank you 🙏 8mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Deblovestoread wonderful!! I‘m happy it made it!! 💗 7mo
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NikkiKey94
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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I‘ve been big on historical fiction here lately so I was so excited to listen to this audiobook. This is about women in the American Red Cross during the war and it was so good. It had me in tears at times and it was such a powerful story!

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Cinfhen
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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A loving tribute penned by author Luis Urrea to his mother and the other courageous women who served as part of the Red Cross Clubmobile Corps during WWII. Very little has been written or documented about these brave & bold young women who volunteered to boost morale to the young men serving in Europe. I loved reading from a perspective I hadn‘t discovered before. Beautiful storytelling. #CoverCrush

kspenmoll Wonderful review! 8mo
vivastory I heard Urrea speak about this on the B & N podcast. It sounds wonderful. 8mo
Megabooks Great review C! 💜💜 8mo
Cinfhen It‘s such a great book - I would definitely recommend @kspenmoll @vivastory @Megabooks 8mo
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Cinfhen
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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L👀k at these GORGEOUS #endpapers 🥰stunning photographs of Luis Alberto Urrea‘s mom!!!!! Really excited for this book!!!!

BarbaraBB Oh wow that looks gorgeous indeed! I still need to buy it. I keep waiting for a cheaper edition but I can‘t wait much longer because I want to read it in Greece this summer! 8mo
jlhammar I just (minutes ago) noticed this while organizing my recent acquisitions and was about to share in a post! So gorgeous! Makes me even more excited for what's inside. 8mo
Cinfhen I know @jlhammar I bought the book a few weeks ago but only noticed today 😍 8mo
Megabooks Oh wow!! 8mo
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candc320
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Pickpick

I know a lot of readers are sick of WWII fiction but I personally love it! Just give me a compelling story that has even the smallest twist I haven‘t read before and I‘m probably hooked! I haven‘t read a story centered around the Red Cross “Donut Dollies” before but I found it fascinating. I loved that it was raw, gritty, and bittersweet at times. I also loved the author note that explained how personal the story was for his family. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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Hooked_on_books
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Pickpick

During WWII, women attached to the Red Cross worked near the front, serving coffee and donuts to the troops and flirting to cheer them up. Urrea‘s mother was one of these women, and this fictional story of two such women is his tribute to her experience. I heard him talk about this on a podcast and he‘s such a lovely man, it made me want to read everything he‘s written. This did not disappoint.

squirrelbrain Looking forward to this. (If I can get hold of it. 🙄) 9mo
Christine I‘m SO behind on giving his books a go (esp. bc I think he lived in my neighborhood at one point in his youth!). Your review makes me want to try this one soon - and maybe the podcast would too, if you don‘t mind sharing which it was? 9mo
BarbaraBB Looking forward to this one. I read and enjoyed two other books by him. 9mo
Hooked_on_books @Christine Yeah, of course—it was an episode of Poured Over, the Barnes and Noble podcast. It wasn‘t that long ago, so hopefully you‘ll find it easily. 9mo
Christine Yay, thank you!! Can‘t wait to listen to that. 9mo
56 likes4 stack adds5 comments
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LatrelWhite
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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What a fantastic historical fiction read!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Barnes & Noble Book club pick.✔️

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Bookboss
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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I attended a reading by Urrea a number of years ago, and I found him a compelling, delightful speaker. I loved this novel about the American Red Cross “Doughnut Dollies” during WWII. The story is inspired by the experiences of Urrea‘s mother. My dad served in the army in WWII, and Urrea gets the snappy dialogue just right. He also captures the “We can do it” tone of that generation. The writing is beautiful as always. Loved it.

JamieArc I Heard him speak about this book and do a reading from it, which wasn‘t really a reading because he had it memorized and was performing it. It was pretty wonderful to experience. 9mo
Bookboss He was in a nearby town a few weeks ago. I really wanted to go, but I am a teacher, and it was a school night! 9mo
42 likes2 comments
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Deblovestoread
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Amazon is currently running a 3 for 2 deal. I‘m guessing it is US only but do not know for sure. These are my three picks. Other new releases that caught my eye (but I‘ve already purchased) were The Covenant of Water and The Wager and a few others. Just in case someone here felt the need to buy a book 😂

KateReadsYA Wait they are doing buy 2 get 1 free?! And Atalanta was Amazing by the way. I loved it. 9mo
KateReadsYA I meant buy 3 get 2 free? 9mo
Deblovestoread @KateReadsYA Buy 3 pay for 2…the least expensive of the 3 is your free book 😊 9mo
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KateReadsYA @Deblovestoread ahhhhh okay! :) thanks 9mo
mcctrish I‘m half way through Cassandra, I got it at Costco and first the first time in a million years I bought a book and came home and immediately started reading it ( instead of putting it in a pile and staring longingly at it for an indefinite amount of time) 9mo
SpeculativeFemale Oh no, I'm supposed to be on a book buying pause.... 9mo
60 likes6 comments
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KristiAhlers
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Pickpick

This is the B&N book club pick for June. I LOVED this one! I must say the author did not shy away from the ugly moments of the war and this one had me laughing and crying. Highly recommend this one #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

JamieArc I heard him do a reading of it and it was so wonderful. He memorized the passage and it felt like a performance. Really looking forward to this one. 10mo
KristiAhlers @JamieArc I bet that was amazing. I'm looking forward to our discussion at book club. I annotated the heck out of it. A lot to discuss. 10mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 10mo
51 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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Rhondareads
Good Night, Irene | Luis Alberto Urrea
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Beautiful cover historical fiction at its best.