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How to Read a Book
How to Read a Book: A Novel | Monica Wood
12 posts | 10 read | 16 to read
From the award-winning author of The One-in-a-Million Boy comes a deeply moving story about a young woman recently released from prison who finds an unlikely ally in the widower of the woman she killed. Our Reasons meet us in the morning and whisper to us at night. Mine is an innocent, unsuspecting, eternally sixty-one-year-old woman named Lorraine Daigle Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from rural Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher. Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest. Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasnt yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed. When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in PortlandViolet to buy the novel she was reading in the prison book club before her release, Harriet to choose the next title for the women who remain, and Frank to dispatch his duties as the store handymantheir lives begin to intersect in beautiful, transformative ways. How to Read a Book is an unsparingly honest and profoundly hopeful story about letting go of guilt and seizing second chances. With the heart, wit, grace, and depth of understanding that has characterized her work, Monica Wood illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living.
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LiteraryHoarderPenny
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This is so far proving to be more of a read that I can get into. 😚

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janeycanuck
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Pickpick

What a quietly moving book. Wood has brought these three characters to life in such a real way that it's almost hard to believe I won't run into them in my local bookshop. This book is full of nuance and thoughtfulness and is just a really lovely story.

jlhammar I need to get this one! Loved One-in-a-Million Boy. 2mo
janeycanuck @jlhammar it‘s my first by her, but I‘ve heard good things about that one, I might need to find it soon! 2mo
42 likes2 comments
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janeycanuck
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I have been trying SO HARD to manage my library holds so that they don‘t all come in at once. How is that working out for me, you ask? Well. It‘s a good thing it‘s a long weekend.

#libraryhaul #overbooked

mcctrish On the one hand ❤️❤️❤️ look at all those awesome reads but on the other #notenoughtimeinaday 😭 2mo
janeycanuck @mcctrish I know!! And there are other people waiting for all but one of them!😭😭😭 (edited) 2mo
mcctrish I‘m off to bulk up my library hold list 🤣🤣 2mo
janeycanuck @mcctrish I‘m happy my suffering has not been in vain 🤣 2mo
56 likes4 comments
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Twocougs
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Pickpick

Empathy and love are woven through this lovely story. With the world so negative and hateful, this story reminds us of the importance or caring for each other. Even for those that some believe don‘t deserve it. I adored this story🥰.

18 likes1 stack add
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Prairiegirl_reading
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Panpan

I did not like this one. The words treacly and twee come to mind. It starts out ok but the blurb makes this sound like a found family story which doesn‘t happen until well past the half way point. There is a very cringey plot point that was unnecessary and creepy. I actually hate finished it.

dabbe #fanofthepan! 🤩🤩🤩 3mo
Prairiegirl_reading @dabbe I‘ll have to remember the hashtag!! I love it! 🤣 3mo
dabbe @Prairiegirl_reading The other one is #hailthebail! 😂😂😂 3mo
31 likes3 comments
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MyNamesParadise
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Pickpick

Oh how I loved this book! I read it 4 book club. There‘re 3 POVs: a young woman who inadvertently kills a woman in a drunk driving accident & is sent to prison; the woman leading the prison book club; & the widower of the woman that was killed. They all converge in an independent bookstore in Portland, Maine & it goes from there. One thing I didn‘t like was a cliche plot line; otherwise this book is perfection! I highly recommend it!

20 likes2 stack adds
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Gleefulreader
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Pickpick

This book could come across as too sweet, but I found I really enjoyed it. I think it is useful to examine what the purpose of the justice system is - is it meant just to punish or do we really want people to become rehabilitated members of society. The themes of love and forgiveness are also explored in a gentle, lovely story.

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Jen2
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Pickpick

Cute!

56 likes2 stack adds
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BookBosomed1
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You must not ever stop being whimsical.

And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.

“Staying Alive” ~ Mary Oliver

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HeatherBookNerd
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Pickpick

A beautiful story about forgiveness, second chances, and the transformative power of human connection. The characters (including a parrot!) are lovingly rendered and beautifully flawed. Just a wonderfully heartwarming, redemptive book.

34 likes2 stack adds
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readswellwithothers
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Pickpick

If character-driven novels are your sweet spot, I strongly encourage you to read Monica Wood‘s books. I fall in love with the characters as though they are my very own neighbors, every single time. It is, of course, a delight that the setting is typically in Maine - the author‘s home state, and mine. This was beautiful and funny and charming; I can think of no other author who makes me adore humans more than MW does. Highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

bookishbitch I'm in Maine too! Will have to check her out. 5mo
kspenmoll Great review! 3mo
18 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Well_Read_Redhead
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Pickpick

I adored this book about forgiveness, second chances, compassion, and seeing people for who they are and who they can be. Violet, Harriet, and Frank are delightful characters, as are the women in the book club. I especially enjoyed the parts about the African Grey parrots. (Ollie stole the show!) It was fascinating to learn how brilliant these birds are.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance copy of this book.

6 likes2 stack adds