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August Greenleaf's Last 7,000 Days: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Miraculous
344 pages, Hardcover
Published January 13, 2026
2252 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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January 18, 2026I need to think about this - RTC
October 6, 2025
This novel was nothing short of extraordinary. At its heart is a character born with a unique gift -that gift ultimately finds him peace and happiness despite enduring profound tragedy throughout life’s journey.
His fears, and struggles are so authentic - it is a reminder that the human spirit even in darkness, light can be found.
Highly recommended for readers who love character-driven stories with depth, heart, and hope.
His fears, and struggles are so authentic - it is a reminder that the human spirit even in darkness, light can be found.
Highly recommended for readers who love character-driven stories with depth, heart, and hope.
September 9, 2025
What an honor it is to be entering the first Goodreads review for this amazing novel. This is one of those rare stories that will pierce your heart and have you thinking about its characters for a long time. As you follow August’s life, from birth to his passing, you are taken on a journey of joy and sadness, despair and hope, and you realize that there is a little August in all of us. You’ll find yourself questioning your beliefs and looking at the gift of life with a little more appreciation.
Congratulations to Stuart Greenblatt and David Connell on the success of their first novel.
Congratulations to Stuart Greenblatt and David Connell on the success of their first novel.
October 6, 2025
I very rarely review anything, if at all, but I felt compelled to share my reading experience.
Augie’s story grips you from the very first page and continues throughout, making it so hard to put down. It remains in the heart of the reader. It’s emotional, heartwarming, and you become a champion for this amazing soul.
The authors’ words are masterful, drawing you into an unforgettable experience.
If you read anything this year, it must be this!
Augie’s story grips you from the very first page and continues throughout, making it so hard to put down. It remains in the heart of the reader. It’s emotional, heartwarming, and you become a champion for this amazing soul.
The authors’ words are masterful, drawing you into an unforgettable experience.
If you read anything this year, it must be this!
October 15, 2025
I found the book so inspiring. It motivated me to get back into reading again. The book was so familiar to me with places mentioned which I have frequented often; for example Mystic Seaport, ToadsPlace, Branford area, Modern Pizza, etc, having lived in the area for over 60+ years. Being able to recognize so much of the surrounding areas was so comforting. I also have always believed in the afterlife and have been to mediums, so I felt like I could relate to this book more easily than most and would highly recommend it to anyone.
December 2, 2025
An absolutely wonderful read with a narration that feels like a conversation with a friend. A friend who is revealing some truly wonderful and not so wonderful stories and honest truths and about himself, his beloved family and any number of colorful and quirky lives that intersect with them. Stories that will have you thinking quite a bit on your own life and family, it sure did for me and mine. And if you grew up around New York City, there is a very pleasurable nostalgic element, especially for the borough of Queens. All aided by some very poetic use of the English language. Bravo!
November 24, 2025
Reading this book takes you on a journey with a special person August green leaf. You will delight in his trials and adventures so enjoy the ride.
November 27, 2025
Loved it, so beautifully crafted, a memorable book that stays with you long after you’re done!
January 25, 2026
Okay, let me start off by disclosing that I'm a little biased-- Stu is a friend, our neighbor when my family makes its annual seasonal visit to Branford, CT each August. Stu has been a steady, constant presence in my life for several years now, and Branford for even longer, and I have anxiously awaited the release of this book ever since he first announced, sitting on our cottage's front porch with a drink in hand, that he was writing his first novel. I couldn't wait to meet August Greenleaf, but the wait was absolutely worth it.
On paper, the basic premise seems simple: it's a coming-of-age story with a bit of magical realism sprinkled in. August can remember everything, every moment in his lifetime from his birth onward, and only he can see a big white house across the street from his childhood apartment that apparently isn't there to his family and friends. But this novel is so much more than just August's uniqueness.
Equal parts moving and meditative, August's memoirs invites reflection on the meaning of love and life within your own purview. With semi-autobiographical elements as the author draws from his own life experiences and the mystery of August's white house woven throughout, the result is a deeply profound and poignant memoir that will make you both laugh and cry and stay with you long after our protagonist's story comes to a close (or rather, moves on...).
Congrats, Stu!
On paper, the basic premise seems simple: it's a coming-of-age story with a bit of magical realism sprinkled in. August can remember everything, every moment in his lifetime from his birth onward, and only he can see a big white house across the street from his childhood apartment that apparently isn't there to his family and friends. But this novel is so much more than just August's uniqueness.
Equal parts moving and meditative, August's memoirs invites reflection on the meaning of love and life within your own purview. With semi-autobiographical elements as the author draws from his own life experiences and the mystery of August's white house woven throughout, the result is a deeply profound and poignant memoir that will make you both laugh and cry and stay with you long after our protagonist's story comes to a close (or rather, moves on...).
Congrats, Stu!
February 2, 2026
This is the first book I’ve read in such a long time where I have felt so many emotions. Once I started reading I couldn’t put it down. It felt like I was actually reading a true story about his life. Wish I had more time in one sitting to enjoy! I love August and felt like I truly knew him. I also loved all the towns mentioned in the book as I am very familiar as I live in the area. I would highly recommend this book!
January 28, 2026
August Greenleaf's Last 7,000 Days is a fast-moving, compelling, and enjoyable read. Greenblatt does artistic work in mixing the paranormal with the quite normal, creating a character, August, who is like so many other boys and men, yet has a special gift that both serves him and at times torments him.
We follow the journey of a young boy in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, who has many inner demons to battle. Young Augie has many fears, and they hold him back from prospering, which his superior intellect should allow. However, Augie has a loving mother and brother, who watch out for him and help him navigate the bumpy roads of childhood and adolescence. Augie, though, has a gift with paranormal powers, and those around him struggle to take him seriously.
Fast forward, and Augie is basically a normal guy, working a job, going through friendships and relationships, experiencing both happiness and loss. He has some funny experiences, some gut-wrenching ones, and he perseveres as everyone has to when the innocence of youth becomes the responsibility of adulthood. However, he has that gift. For as "normal" as he is, he has been given the ability to see what others do not. Sometimes that's good, and sometimes it isn't.
Greenblatt does an outstanding job of making the characters, the people in Augie's life, very real by providing fine details about them, so the reader can easily relate. The story moves smoothly, with the real and paranormal woven together finely and understandably.
When you read the book, something about Augie will speak to you. Whether it's childhood, love, or loss, there's a piece of the main character in all of us. It'll make you think if you'd want, or not want, Augie's gift and how you might use it.
We follow the journey of a young boy in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, who has many inner demons to battle. Young Augie has many fears, and they hold him back from prospering, which his superior intellect should allow. However, Augie has a loving mother and brother, who watch out for him and help him navigate the bumpy roads of childhood and adolescence. Augie, though, has a gift with paranormal powers, and those around him struggle to take him seriously.
Fast forward, and Augie is basically a normal guy, working a job, going through friendships and relationships, experiencing both happiness and loss. He has some funny experiences, some gut-wrenching ones, and he perseveres as everyone has to when the innocence of youth becomes the responsibility of adulthood. However, he has that gift. For as "normal" as he is, he has been given the ability to see what others do not. Sometimes that's good, and sometimes it isn't.
Greenblatt does an outstanding job of making the characters, the people in Augie's life, very real by providing fine details about them, so the reader can easily relate. The story moves smoothly, with the real and paranormal woven together finely and understandably.
When you read the book, something about Augie will speak to you. Whether it's childhood, love, or loss, there's a piece of the main character in all of us. It'll make you think if you'd want, or not want, Augie's gift and how you might use it.
February 25, 2026
I began August Greenleaf’s Last 7,000 Days without a clear sense of where it would take me, and quickly realized it was a book that asks for patience. This is a story that unfolds slowly, inviting the reader into August’s inner world and asking you to sit with it rather than rush ahead.
What stayed with me most is the way the book handles memory and fear. August’s sensitivities and sense of being different are written with care and restraint, making them feel familiar even when the story touches on the extraordinary. The narrative shows how early experiences shape us in ways that only become clear much later, and how loss and love quietly weave themselves through a lifetime.
Grief is present throughout the book, but it is not dramatized. It exists alongside humor, tenderness, and reflection, which made the story feel grounded and human. I found myself pausing often, thinking about my own memories and the people who have left lasting impressions on my life.
This is a contemplative, detail-rich novel that values interior life over momentum. It will not be for every reader, but for those who enjoy character-driven stories that linger and ask thoughtful questions about what it means to live a full life, it offers a rewarding experience.
What stayed with me most is the way the book handles memory and fear. August’s sensitivities and sense of being different are written with care and restraint, making them feel familiar even when the story touches on the extraordinary. The narrative shows how early experiences shape us in ways that only become clear much later, and how loss and love quietly weave themselves through a lifetime.
Grief is present throughout the book, but it is not dramatized. It exists alongside humor, tenderness, and reflection, which made the story feel grounded and human. I found myself pausing often, thinking about my own memories and the people who have left lasting impressions on my life.
This is a contemplative, detail-rich novel that values interior life over momentum. It will not be for every reader, but for those who enjoy character-driven stories that linger and ask thoughtful questions about what it means to live a full life, it offers a rewarding experience.
February 21, 2026
Such great fun to read Stuart Greenblatt’s first novel, August Greenleaf’s Last 7,000 Days! It feels like a cosy memoir of growing up in the Rockaways in Queens NY, a far flung oceanside neighborhood of New York City. Greenblatt succeeds in conjuring up that old –and perhaps forgotten – feeling of being a child with secrets. We all had them, but Augie has some very special ones that he learns to keep to himself. Augie can see things that no one else sees. After he learns that the big white house near his apartment is invisible to other people, he continues to be drawn to it, as is the reader. As the book unfolds, we get to see that this house is more than a vision. Augie has other supernatural gifts but he also has very down-to-earth crippling phobias. This book uniquely combines a mysterious and other-worldly ability with common mental health issues. It allows the reader to more easily connect to the spiritual happenings taking place. Augie’s life is far from easy, but it is also full of surprises. Much of the book takes place on the Connecticut shoreline, a favorite area of mine which is beautifully drawn. Enjoy going on the journey of August Greenleaf’s life!
October 12, 2025
When was the last time you read a book that really made you stop and think about your own life? August Greenleaf’s Last 7,000 Days did that for me. It’s the story of a boy growing into a man, told in a way that made me laugh, tear up, and honestly question a few things about myself along the way.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman, young or old—there’s something in August’s journey that we can all relate to. Life’s highs and lows, the unexpected turns, the quiet moments that stay with you—it’s all here.
It’s not often I’d say I felt privileged to read a book, but this one truly left me with that feeling.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman, young or old—there’s something in August’s journey that we can all relate to. Life’s highs and lows, the unexpected turns, the quiet moments that stay with you—it’s all here.
It’s not often I’d say I felt privileged to read a book, but this one truly left me with that feeling.
January 30, 2026
At its heart this is the story of a man, a fallible man, haunted by his demons, but one who does his best to cope with whatever life throws at him. So far so good, and I really enjoyed getting to know August Greenleaf and his family, following him from childhood to adulthood. However, what makes this a tricky one to review is the mystical element which becomes more and more prominent as the storyline develops, and that I couldn’t relate to at all. The mix of the ordinary and the supernatural was well-handled, I admit, but if you can’t buy into the mystical or religious elements then the novel inevitably fails – which it did for me by the end. Very good in parts, but sadly not in others.
December 1, 2025
August Greenleaf’s Last 7,000 Days is an excellent and unexpectedly fantastic read. It’s the quirky moments, humorous descriptions and yet deeply sad material in the way it explores love, loss, and the weight of time that makes it hard to put down. Beneath the heartbreak, the book is also surprisingly informative, and offers an inside look at anxiety and depression that stay with you long after the final page. A truly memorable and well-written piece. Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself!!!
Jan
Jan
December 11, 2025
Few novels manage to capture the fragile beauty of growing up while simultaneously exploring the mysteries of memory and belonging. August Greenleaf’s Last 7,000 Days is one of those rare works—a luminous, heart-stirring story that lingers long after the final page.
This isn’t just a coming-of-age tale—it’s a meditation on memory, loss, and the invisible threads that tie us to places and people. August’s journey is both deeply personal and universally relatable, reminding us that identity is often found in the spaces between grief and wonder.
This isn’t just a coming-of-age tale—it’s a meditation on memory, loss, and the invisible threads that tie us to places and people. August’s journey is both deeply personal and universally relatable, reminding us that identity is often found in the spaces between grief and wonder.
January 31, 2026
August Greenleaf's Last 7,000 Days is a riveting account of an average man with an extraordinary life. One who possesses a 'special gift' that transcends logic, yet is quite compelling. A novel that hooks the reader from page one and never lets go. You will smile, cry and at times, question previously held beliefs, but, in the end, you will be overwhelmed with joy and hope. I applaud Mr. Greenblatt and Mr. Connell for their style and word choices which flow like a gentle river.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews