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Time at the Top #2
All in Good Time
Susan Shaw, who vanished from the twentieth century and began a new life in the Victorian era, returns to her former home to enlist her father's aid in saving a newfound friend from tragedy
206 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
7 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Edward Ormondroyd
22 books20 followersEdward Ormondroyd grew up in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. During WWII he served onboard a destroyer escort, participating in the invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
After the war he attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a bachelor's degree in English. Later he went back for a master's degree in library science.
He lived in Berkeley for 25 years, working at various jobs while he wrote children's books. He and his wife Joan moved to upstate New York in 1970. They live in the country near Ithaca, in a house designed and partly built by Edward. Their seven children are all grown and independent. They have two grandsons and a granddaughter. Edward's interests include studying piano, gardening, books, birds, flowers (wild and tame), and listening to classical music.
After the war he attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a bachelor's degree in English. Later he went back for a master's degree in library science.
He lived in Berkeley for 25 years, working at various jobs while he wrote children's books. He and his wife Joan moved to upstate New York in 1970. They live in the country near Ithaca, in a house designed and partly built by Edward. Their seven children are all grown and independent. They have two grandsons and a granddaughter. Edward's interests include studying piano, gardening, books, birds, flowers (wild and tame), and listening to classical music.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 16, 2022
This is a great sequel to one of my favorite childhood books Time at the Top. Thanks so much to Goodreads friend Constance for letting me know of its existence! I have a childhood friend who insists that we knew about this book but I don’t remember, and I don’t know why I wouldn’t have read it earlier…unless I was afraid the sequel would ruin the original for me.
This book has the same style & humor & originality. Reading it, it felt to me as though the story was just continuing, thoroughly enjoyably. And it was even better than I’d imagined. Not a simple instant happily ever after fairy tale, but a real story to follow the first book’s happenings.
This book does stand on its own, but I recommend that readers start with Time at the Top!
This book has the same style & humor & originality. Reading it, it felt to me as though the story was just continuing, thoroughly enjoyably. And it was even better than I’d imagined. Not a simple instant happily ever after fairy tale, but a real story to follow the first book’s happenings.
This book does stand on its own, but I recommend that readers start with Time at the Top!
September 28, 2007
Ultimately satisfying and very funny; almost as good as its predecessor, Time at the Top.
January 5, 2014
The delightful novelty of the first book in which the author himself is a character of the story continues in this sequel. If you love the first book and want to read more of Susan's adventures that fills In the large gap towards the end of the first novel then this should satisfy your hunger.
However, because we already know the end result from the first book, the journey is never as thrilling as it would have been if we did not know the outcome. Nevertheless the author still somehow spins an inventive journey with wonderful characters and fun time travel elements.
The time travel plotting unfortunately has a very big flaw in its execution which doesn't add up. You may or may not pick up on it but if you do, it will grate you if you think too much about it. So you just have to accept the flaw and go with the flow.
It's a very engaging sequel but doesn't quite have the impact or elegant structure of the first book. The narrative once again switches between first and third perspectives which does keep the narrative quite refreshing but this time around I found the author to be too intrusive particularly towards the end.
Also I felt there was a missed opportunity to link characters between 1880s and the 1950s given that the author character could easily find out more about their family tree.
Anyway, that's probably nitpicking, it's still a charming adventure and lovely wrap up for the characters we got know in the first standalone novel.
I give this a 3.5/5 rating.
However, because we already know the end result from the first book, the journey is never as thrilling as it would have been if we did not know the outcome. Nevertheless the author still somehow spins an inventive journey with wonderful characters and fun time travel elements.
The time travel plotting unfortunately has a very big flaw in its execution which doesn't add up. You may or may not pick up on it but if you do, it will grate you if you think too much about it. So you just have to accept the flaw and go with the flow.
It's a very engaging sequel but doesn't quite have the impact or elegant structure of the first book. The narrative once again switches between first and third perspectives which does keep the narrative quite refreshing but this time around I found the author to be too intrusive particularly towards the end.
Also I felt there was a missed opportunity to link characters between 1880s and the 1950s given that the author character could easily find out more about their family tree.
Anyway, that's probably nitpicking, it's still a charming adventure and lovely wrap up for the characters we got know in the first standalone novel.
I give this a 3.5/5 rating.
April 6, 2016
Wonderful sequel to Time at the Top, which I had read many years earlier.
December 30, 2021
What fun! A sequel that is even better than the original story! The first book of this series, Time at the Top, tells the story of how Susan Shaw, a young girl from the 1960s, ends up in 1881. In this continuation, Susan has come back to the past—but this time she has her father with her! She hopes that he will simply fall in love with her best friend’s widowed mother and marry her and live happily ever after in the 19th century…but the best laid plans often go awry. Will the Shaws be able to outwit the slimy con man and evade the domineering old lady who keeps ruining everything? The cleverness and humor of the original book are still here, but with an even more exciting plot and even more characters to enjoy—and the ending is wonderfully satisfying. I highly recommend these books.
March 14, 2021
A top shelf read aloud book that both my 12 year old and 6 year old appreciated. Memorable characters and voices, period words and scenes and some “magic” makes it a magical book through the generations.
January 14, 2017
Fantastic sequel to "Time at the top". More action packed than the first novel, and some very unexpected ( and AWESOME!) twists in the plot. Loved the ending too. Excellent read!!
September 26, 2017
So fun to read this sequel to a childhood favorite "Time At The Top."
April 16, 2020
This is just as much fun as I remember, and especially fun to share it with my daughter, who loved it.
February 8, 2021
A delightful pair of books (Time at the Top and All in Good Time).
August 19, 2021
This is a good adventure for tween readers, I suppose, but for an adult the overly complex mechanisms of its plot and exaggerated villains are simply too much.
June 29, 2023
This is a continuation of Time at the Top. It is a fitting conclusion.
November 30, 2024
I can't think of a better word for this book (well, two words really) than "absolutely delightful." I've read a LOT of time travel books in my time, especially in the children's lit arena, and All in Good Time might honestly be my favorite.
It's actually a sequel to Time at the Top, which I haven't read yet. The fact that I read this one first is a testament to how good it is. I had requested both books from the library and happened to get this one first. I decided to wait to read it until I had read Time at the Top, because I have a "thing" about reading books in order. But I couldn't help just a quick glance at the first chapter. And I'm not kidding you, the first sentence reeled me in and wouldn't let go. I kept reading one sentence and thinking, "Okay, that's it, I can't read this book yet, I have to wait," and then I'd read another sentence and think the same thing, and before I knew it, I'd read the whole book!
The characters in this book are just wonderful. Mr. Shaw is perfect, and he and Susan's father/daughter connection is adorable. And I love how the author made himself a character. It was a clever plot device and it's partly what drew me in so quickly.
Of course, for me, any book that takes me back to the late 1800s is a winner, and this one so skillfully addressed the confusion and sometimes hilarity that might ensue from a "modern" (this book was written in the 1970s, I think) 20th century man encountering Victorian life, with his somewhat more knowledgeable daughter (she'd already traveled back in time several times) giving him advice and sometimes just shaking her head in despair.
One of the best things I can say about this book is that once Time at the Top comes in at the library and I read it, I will immediately re-read All in Good Time, just to savor it again. Please, do yourself a favor and read this book!
It's actually a sequel to Time at the Top, which I haven't read yet. The fact that I read this one first is a testament to how good it is. I had requested both books from the library and happened to get this one first. I decided to wait to read it until I had read Time at the Top, because I have a "thing" about reading books in order. But I couldn't help just a quick glance at the first chapter. And I'm not kidding you, the first sentence reeled me in and wouldn't let go. I kept reading one sentence and thinking, "Okay, that's it, I can't read this book yet, I have to wait," and then I'd read another sentence and think the same thing, and before I knew it, I'd read the whole book!
The characters in this book are just wonderful. Mr. Shaw is perfect, and he and Susan's father/daughter connection is adorable. And I love how the author made himself a character. It was a clever plot device and it's partly what drew me in so quickly.
Of course, for me, any book that takes me back to the late 1800s is a winner, and this one so skillfully addressed the confusion and sometimes hilarity that might ensue from a "modern" (this book was written in the 1970s, I think) 20th century man encountering Victorian life, with his somewhat more knowledgeable daughter (she'd already traveled back in time several times) giving him advice and sometimes just shaking her head in despair.
One of the best things I can say about this book is that once Time at the Top comes in at the library and I read it, I will immediately re-read All in Good Time, just to savor it again. Please, do yourself a favor and read this book!
September 23, 2021
Susan and her friends in the past have concocted a scheme. She will bring her father up in the elevator, he will see Mrs. Walker, fall in love, and they will all live happily ever after.
Buuuuutttt it doesn't quite work out that way. There are no sparks and Aunt Jane, whose hobbies include getting literature banned, is now guarding their only means of returning to their own time.
Not as fun as the original but still better than average. Susan's gets a needed dose of humility and the resolution takes forever and I'll forever be sad that he never wrote a third sequel, but such is life. Impossible to enjoy if you haven't read the first.
Buuuuutttt it doesn't quite work out that way. There are no sparks and Aunt Jane, whose hobbies include getting literature banned, is now guarding their only means of returning to their own time.
Not as fun as the original but still better than average. Susan's gets a needed dose of humility and the resolution takes forever and I'll forever be sad that he never wrote a third sequel, but such is life. Impossible to enjoy if you haven't read the first.
Read
September 6, 2013I enjoy cozy time travel such as this!
February 22, 2014
Good to have a better ending to Time at the Top.
Read
September 25, 2015I ran out of time and had to return to the library the copy of this they unearthed for me, just was not ready to read it. will circle back and finish this another day.
September 10, 2016
Library. Good. Can't remember. Whimsy.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews