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The Book That Matters Most
Ava’s twenty-five-year marriage has fallen apart, and her two grown children are pursuing their own lives outside of the country. Ava joins a book group, not only for her love of reading but also out of sheer desperation for companionship. The group’s goal throughout the year is for each member to present the book that matters most to them. Ava rediscovers a mysterious book from her childhood—one that helped her through the traumas of the untimely deaths of her sister and mother. Alternating with Ava’s story is that of her troubled daughter Maggie, who, living in Paris, descends into a destructive relationship with an older man. Ava’s mission to find that book and its enigmatic author takes her on a quest that unravels the secrets of her past and offers her and Maggie the chance to remake their lives.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 3, 2016
1510 people are currently reading
17089 people want to read
About the author
Ann Hood
72 books1,264 followersAnn Hood is the editor of Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting and the bestselling author of The Book That Matters Most, The Knitting Circle, The Red Thread, Comfort, and An Italian Wife, among other works. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, a Best American Food Writing Award, a Best American Travel Writing Award, and the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,376 reviews
September 4, 2016
This book could have used an edit, a rewrite, an outline, what I'm saying is this book is a mess. There's a decent story buried in here somewhere but so many subplots that go nowhere, so many underdeveloped characters, so many things that don't make sense ruin it. (Hank's motivation is the most nonsensical of the nonsense but there's plenty to choose from.) Abrupt ending and relies too heavily on coincidence.
September 6, 2016
The concept of choosing the book that matters the most to you for a book club read was a thought provoking one. As I read which book each character chose and why, I was left contemplating what book would I choose for a book club as read as one that matters the most to me. Also, have I read enough books that leave a lasting impression like the ones the characters selected? It was a sobering moment when I realized that I probably haven't devoted enough time to reading literature that is crafted to impact the reader in addition to entertain. It is now a goal of mine to change that.
A brief synopsis: Ava, a part time French professor, is blindsided by her divorce from a marriage of twenty five years. Yet, infidelity is always jarring to the psyche regardless of the time spent with the person. She is picking up the pieces of her life and starting fresh, which includes membership in a book club. This year's challenge is for each member to select a book that mattered most to them and lead the discussion each month. The book chronicles each selection and the chapter centers around the theme. Several character points of view tell the story of this book. The entire year span is chronicled.
Quick Thoughts:
-a super chick lit kind of book. And that's ok because sometimes this genre suits a mood you are in.
-the classics covered involved and I need to update my reading repertoire
-addiction is tough. I realize that is an understatement. But the concept of heroin addiction is touched on and it is tough to see the spiral and feel the helplessness of not being able to help the person or see them change.
-I was left with the thought "No man is an island". Many of the characters have had a loss, traumatic event, or a tough situation to work through. Though it is not explicitly spelled out, by putting themselves in social situations healing slowly begins to occur. The temptation to hibernate and avoid to nurse one's heart is always strong, but by allowing others to help, listen, or just be in a room full of people can be very therapeutic.
-though people are so different, we really aren't separated by many degrees of difference.
Thank you Netgalley and W.W. Norton and Company for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
A brief synopsis: Ava, a part time French professor, is blindsided by her divorce from a marriage of twenty five years. Yet, infidelity is always jarring to the psyche regardless of the time spent with the person. She is picking up the pieces of her life and starting fresh, which includes membership in a book club. This year's challenge is for each member to select a book that mattered most to them and lead the discussion each month. The book chronicles each selection and the chapter centers around the theme. Several character points of view tell the story of this book. The entire year span is chronicled.
Quick Thoughts:
-a super chick lit kind of book. And that's ok because sometimes this genre suits a mood you are in.
-the classics covered involved and I need to update my reading repertoire
-addiction is tough. I realize that is an understatement. But the concept of heroin addiction is touched on and it is tough to see the spiral and feel the helplessness of not being able to help the person or see them change.
-I was left with the thought "No man is an island". Many of the characters have had a loss, traumatic event, or a tough situation to work through. Though it is not explicitly spelled out, by putting themselves in social situations healing slowly begins to occur. The temptation to hibernate and avoid to nurse one's heart is always strong, but by allowing others to help, listen, or just be in a room full of people can be very therapeutic.
-though people are so different, we really aren't separated by many degrees of difference.
Thank you Netgalley and W.W. Norton and Company for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
February 11, 2017
Ava Tucker, stymied after her divorce, is thrilled to find there is an opening in her friend Cate's monthly library book club. Each year the book club selects books based on a theme. This year's theme is the book that matters most to each member. Most choose classics, but Ava selects a book from her childhood that helped her through a very difficult time. The book seems to be unavailable at libraries and book stores. What is the story behind the mysterious book?
Paralleling Ava's story is that of her daughter, Maggie. Maggie was a troubled, rebellious teen. Thinking Maggie has reformed, Ava and her ex-husband agree to fund a year studying abroad for Maggie. But Maggie is once again making reckless decisions and by
hooking up with the wrong man. I can't say how many times I wanted to scream at Maggie to stop, think and get help.
The novel embodies rediscovering oneself, forging new relationships, accepting our mistakes and the important roles books play in our lives.
Paralleling Ava's story is that of her daughter, Maggie. Maggie was a troubled, rebellious teen. Thinking Maggie has reformed, Ava and her ex-husband agree to fund a year studying abroad for Maggie. But Maggie is once again making reckless decisions and by
hooking up with the wrong man. I can't say how many times I wanted to scream at Maggie to stop, think and get help.
The novel embodies rediscovering oneself, forging new relationships, accepting our mistakes and the important roles books play in our lives.
dnf
August 23, 2016I won't rate this one because I resorted to skimming and finally gave up at 27%.
I thought it was going to be a book about books and book clubs but instead it's predictable chick lit with eye-roll inducing scenes.
I thought it was going to be a book about books and book clubs but instead it's predictable chick lit with eye-roll inducing scenes.
December 26, 2016
As a reader who typically rates a book and moves on, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on this one. "The Book That Matters Most" lured me in with it's terrific premise of a story of a book club discussing the books which impacted their lives and how it's newest member uses these discussions to improve her life. The book discussions are lively & entertaining but the main character's story is unbelievable and chaotic. The novel takes on too many issues- marriage, divorce, drug addiction, grief, suicide, abandonment and handles none of them well. It was filled with trite answers, unlikely coincidences and charmless characters. It is a book that matters not at all.
Read
July 4, 2016The advance publicity made this sound like a feel-good book, focusing on an older woman whose twenty-five year marriage suddenly goes on the rocks when she discovers her husband Jim is having an affair. When she says she wants to work it out, Jim insists he says he loves the woman who puts knitted covers over public monuments of various types, graffito style.
The book is not told strictly from Ava's POV; we also get her daughter Maggie, who is in Europe on a serious downward spiral, and later on Ava's mother back in 1970 when Ava was a child and her little sister died tragically. We also get a few other POVs toward the superficially feel-good, but somewhat unbelievable end.
We never see Jim's POV, which I wish we had, considering how much adultery is going on in the rest of the novel. Ava's son is also only heard from through e-mail. But this is a book aimed at the female reader.
The plot centers around a book club that only has ten members, which has been meeting for decades, at the local library where Ava's loyal best friend Cate is librarian. Cate slips Ava in, hoping that after a year of mourning the split-up of her marriage, the book club will give Ava some new direction in her life.
The members are to choose a book that mattered most to them, and they discuss each book over the ensuing months, as Ava's life continues with tremendous ups and downs, and Maggie's dives down into the depths.
The first book to be discussed was Pride and Prejudice--and I looked forward to some delicious insights about all the right and wrong reasons people marry. When Ava only reads the first sentence, pouts, then watches the movie (the Kiera Knightley one, too!) I should have taken heed.
That's not to say there weren't some very fine scenes. Maggie in Paris is particularly vivid and harrowing, and the way she begins to deal with the wreckage of her life was very satisfying .
Ava carries on with a younger man, tries fumblingly to make friends at the club, and then finally begins reading the books--though the discussions never really get past superficial. Mostly, though, the novel is about badly handled adultery, made worse by a lot of drinking, and drugs.
The last half presents a mystery concerning the book that Ava picked for her choice. Speaking impulsively, she promises to bring the author of her book, without any idea if said author is still alive. This is where the novel strayed into improbable coincidences and hand-waving of serious betrayals, at least for me .
Mercy and understanding seem to be unevenly applied, and never do they address truth or trust; the message seems to be that life is short, and water flows under the bridge. And Prodigal Daughters of whatever age are wonderful, so the book can end with tears, smiles, and hugs all around.
Copy received from NetGalley
The book is not told strictly from Ava's POV; we also get her daughter Maggie, who is in Europe on a serious downward spiral, and later on Ava's mother back in 1970 when Ava was a child and her little sister died tragically. We also get a few other POVs toward the superficially feel-good, but somewhat unbelievable end.
We never see Jim's POV, which I wish we had, considering how much adultery is going on in the rest of the novel. Ava's son is also only heard from through e-mail. But this is a book aimed at the female reader.
The plot centers around a book club that only has ten members, which has been meeting for decades, at the local library where Ava's loyal best friend Cate is librarian. Cate slips Ava in, hoping that after a year of mourning the split-up of her marriage, the book club will give Ava some new direction in her life.
The members are to choose a book that mattered most to them, and they discuss each book over the ensuing months, as Ava's life continues with tremendous ups and downs, and Maggie's dives down into the depths.
The first book to be discussed was Pride and Prejudice--and I looked forward to some delicious insights about all the right and wrong reasons people marry. When Ava only reads the first sentence, pouts, then watches the movie (the Kiera Knightley one, too!) I should have taken heed.
That's not to say there weren't some very fine scenes. Maggie in Paris is particularly vivid and harrowing, and the way she begins to deal with the wreckage of her life was very satisfying .
Ava carries on with a younger man, tries fumblingly to make friends at the club, and then finally begins reading the books--though the discussions never really get past superficial. Mostly, though, the novel is about badly handled adultery, made worse by a lot of drinking, and drugs.
The last half presents a mystery concerning the book that Ava picked for her choice. Speaking impulsively, she promises to bring the author of her book, without any idea if said author is still alive. This is where the novel strayed into improbable coincidences and hand-waving of serious betrayals, at least for me .
Mercy and understanding seem to be unevenly applied, and never do they address truth or trust; the message seems to be that life is short, and water flows under the bridge. And Prodigal Daughters of whatever age are wonderful, so the book can end with tears, smiles, and hugs all around.
Copy received from NetGalley
July 4, 2016
A new book club helps Ava cope with her divorce, her daughter Maggie’s rebelliousness, and tragic events from her past. Each month one club member picks the book that has mattered most to them in life. I thought the choices were all pretty clichéd and Ava was unrealistically passive. Although what happens to her in Paris is rather melodramatic, I most enjoyed Maggie’s sections. Releases on August 9th.
February 12, 2017
Ann Hood-- one of my favorite contemporary authors! I fell in love with her words and her style of writing when I read her memoir Comfort, about the grief and loss of losing her daughter Grace from a sudden and unexpected illness at the age of five. And I adored her acclaimed novel The Knitting Circle.
The Book That Matters Most is her latest novel, just published this past August. It's about a woman with two grown children whose husband has left her for another woman. So what does she do? She joins a book club, where every month each member gets to chose the book that matters most to them. Choices include The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina and Pride and Prejudice. And well, as we all know, amazing things can happen when you join a book club, immerse yourself in the world of books, and meet fellow book lovers!!! What a great premise for a story! Sadly, the rest of the book, for me, did not deliver.
I wish I could have given this book more than three stars since I love this author, but there were too many problems with the book. The characters were undeveloped, and too much of the plot was disconnected. There was too much cliche, and though moments shined, when the voice of the author came through, there were many parts that just drifted. The book club section was almost completely divorced from the rest of the story until the end, and it seemed forced, not fluid. I think the author could have edited this manuscript further to make it tighter and more cohesive. I also found the entire story to be farfetched and unrealistic. It started out so promising, but sadly, in the end, I was disappointed-- the best I can give it is three stars!
The Book That Matters Most is her latest novel, just published this past August. It's about a woman with two grown children whose husband has left her for another woman. So what does she do? She joins a book club, where every month each member gets to chose the book that matters most to them. Choices include The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina and Pride and Prejudice. And well, as we all know, amazing things can happen when you join a book club, immerse yourself in the world of books, and meet fellow book lovers!!! What a great premise for a story! Sadly, the rest of the book, for me, did not deliver.
I wish I could have given this book more than three stars since I love this author, but there were too many problems with the book. The characters were undeveloped, and too much of the plot was disconnected. There was too much cliche, and though moments shined, when the voice of the author came through, there were many parts that just drifted. The book club section was almost completely divorced from the rest of the story until the end, and it seemed forced, not fluid. I think the author could have edited this manuscript further to make it tighter and more cohesive. I also found the entire story to be farfetched and unrealistic. It started out so promising, but sadly, in the end, I was disappointed-- the best I can give it is three stars!
April 27, 2016
Enjoyed this story of fraught family relationships. Also loved the book group dynamics and the discussions of the chosen books. This is a natural for book groups, especially if interested in reading some of the more "classic" choices such as TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, SLAUGHTER-HOUSE FIVE, and more. Recommend for readers who like Anita Shreve and Elizabeth Berg.
May 28, 2016
3.5 Stars
Books, the love that readers have for those special books that bind them to the love of reading, that become part of who they are and how they view life, love, the world, how those books can help us heal from the pains of living in this imperfect world, and help us see the world through the eyes of another. How personal our love of those favorite books can be, how cherished they are.
Ava, who hasn’t read much since she was a child, finds herself joining a Book club during a period in her life where she doesn’t feel much like socializing. Her husband has run off with another woman, their two children are elsewhere on the planet, so she reluctantly takes up the one slot, which has opened, in this varied collection of book loving souls. Their theme for the coming year is to choose “The Book That Matters Most” to them. Ava chooses a book that she remembers helped her deal with a tragic loss when she was young, and the reader begins to learn more about her loss, how its shaped her.
There are multiple points of view in this story. Additionally, there are all the members of the book club who share their reasons for their choice in their book that mattered most to them. Primarily, the main story lines are through Ava, living in Providence, and her daughter Maggie, living in Paris.
This is a simply enjoyable, readable story, with a bit of mystery, a little suspense, and a cast of characters who love to read. What better way to spend a few hours?
Publication Date: 9 August 2016
Many thanks to W.W. Norton & Company, NetGalley and to author Ann Hood for providing me with an advanced copy.
Books, the love that readers have for those special books that bind them to the love of reading, that become part of who they are and how they view life, love, the world, how those books can help us heal from the pains of living in this imperfect world, and help us see the world through the eyes of another. How personal our love of those favorite books can be, how cherished they are.
Ava, who hasn’t read much since she was a child, finds herself joining a Book club during a period in her life where she doesn’t feel much like socializing. Her husband has run off with another woman, their two children are elsewhere on the planet, so she reluctantly takes up the one slot, which has opened, in this varied collection of book loving souls. Their theme for the coming year is to choose “The Book That Matters Most” to them. Ava chooses a book that she remembers helped her deal with a tragic loss when she was young, and the reader begins to learn more about her loss, how its shaped her.
There are multiple points of view in this story. Additionally, there are all the members of the book club who share their reasons for their choice in their book that mattered most to them. Primarily, the main story lines are through Ava, living in Providence, and her daughter Maggie, living in Paris.
This is a simply enjoyable, readable story, with a bit of mystery, a little suspense, and a cast of characters who love to read. What better way to spend a few hours?
Publication Date: 9 August 2016
Many thanks to W.W. Norton & Company, NetGalley and to author Ann Hood for providing me with an advanced copy.
February 13, 2017
I loved this book. The two characters, Ava and Maggie, make some really stupid mistakes, and at first, I really didn't like them or their choices. Ava is mourning the death of her marriage a year later and her daughter Maggie is a drug addicted wanderer looking for the next hit. As the book progresses, there are a lot of background stories, as well as secondary stories. I'm not sure if some parts were needed, and didn't really bring anything to the main story, but overall, I really loved this book. The ending had a nice plot twist. I had ideas about what would eventually happen, and I was wrong. But in a good way.
November 17, 2017
I enjoyed this book, especially the parts that were about books.
After her husband leaves her for another woman, Ava joins a book club to reignite her love of reading and for the companionship. Everyone there is going through something in their lives, so there is a common bonding over more than books. Ava's children are overseas, living their lives, but she worries about her daughter Maggie, who has had a troubled past. Unbeknownst to Ava, Maggie has dropped out of her overseas school and is now in Paris, in the throes of heroin addiction and under the control of a shady older man.
(There is a minor spoiler in this paragraph)
The book is mostly told from Ava's and Maggie's POVs, with a few other characters thrown in. Sometimes it explores Ava's childhood, during which she experienced a couple of extremely traumatic incidents which affected her to this day. Maggie's descent into full blown heroin addiction is very hard to read. (Spoiler ahead) Her "recovery" is even harder to believe. Really. Just like that? Obviously the author has not dealt with addicts before. There are some plot twists that are a little far fetched but I went with them easier than with Maggie's magical recovery.
I loved the sense of place in this book, especially Paris. Although I wouldn't want to experience Maggie's Paris, you do get a wonderful sense of the city.
I really enjoyed the book aspects of the story: the idea of what book mattered most to you. I tried to think of what book would I pick. I could not think of any fiction book that impacted my life in any important way. Probably I would choose either When Bad Things Happen to Good People or The Lord is My Shepherd: The healing words of the 23rd Psalm, both by Rabbi Harold Kushner. I've read each at low times in my life and they have brought me comfort.
I enjoyed the book club discussion of books. Now I want to read a couple of the books based on their discussions. A couple I never wanted to read and still don't. 😁
I would recommend this book, if only for the book discussions!
After her husband leaves her for another woman, Ava joins a book club to reignite her love of reading and for the companionship. Everyone there is going through something in their lives, so there is a common bonding over more than books. Ava's children are overseas, living their lives, but she worries about her daughter Maggie, who has had a troubled past. Unbeknownst to Ava, Maggie has dropped out of her overseas school and is now in Paris, in the throes of heroin addiction and under the control of a shady older man.
(There is a minor spoiler in this paragraph)
The book is mostly told from Ava's and Maggie's POVs, with a few other characters thrown in. Sometimes it explores Ava's childhood, during which she experienced a couple of extremely traumatic incidents which affected her to this day. Maggie's descent into full blown heroin addiction is very hard to read. (Spoiler ahead) Her "recovery" is even harder to believe. Really. Just like that? Obviously the author has not dealt with addicts before. There are some plot twists that are a little far fetched but I went with them easier than with Maggie's magical recovery.
I loved the sense of place in this book, especially Paris. Although I wouldn't want to experience Maggie's Paris, you do get a wonderful sense of the city.
I really enjoyed the book aspects of the story: the idea of what book mattered most to you. I tried to think of what book would I pick. I could not think of any fiction book that impacted my life in any important way. Probably I would choose either When Bad Things Happen to Good People or The Lord is My Shepherd: The healing words of the 23rd Psalm, both by Rabbi Harold Kushner. I've read each at low times in my life and they have brought me comfort.
I enjoyed the book club discussion of books. Now I want to read a couple of the books based on their discussions. A couple I never wanted to read and still don't. 😁
I would recommend this book, if only for the book discussions!
April 1, 2017
I absolutely loved this book. I knew I would like it before I read it because it is about books and reading and a book club. All of which I love. I could not put this book down once I started reading it. I loved the quotes from all the books that were at the beginning of the chapters and I loved the daughter's obsession with Ernest Hemingway which I have also, although I have not been to Paris to visit places there I have been to Key West more than once. There were surprises and happiness in this book and the showing of how being in a book club changed people's lives. I have had this experience because I've made many long term friends in book club relationships even some of these people and I have changed to different book clubs and stuck together. If you love books and love to read you can't help but love this story. Oh, and I did forget, it is also about book stores. Everything books!
September 18, 2017
There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.
The first great novel to teach us that the search for self is as surely undertaken while making small talk in the drawing room asit is while pursuing a great white whale. (Pride & Prejudice)
She managed to leave drunk and disappointed, but not inspired.
Everyone has left tonight so we can have the world to our selves, perhaps?
December 1921 - 1st night Hemingway & Hadley spent in Paris.
I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine. P&P
Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.
You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me. The Great Gatsby
Daisy - All the bright precious things fade so fast...and they don't come back.
A classic is a book everyone's heard of but no one reads - Mark Twain
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say - Italo Calvino
Nick - It eluded us then, but that's no matter-tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.
Gatsby - Her voice is full of money.
Fitzgerald once said that you don't write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say.
Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.
And the noise of her life didn't make her tense or angry or depressed like it did without the pills. Instead, there was a low hum somewhere deep in her brain and her limbs felt loose and rubbery.
As soon as I ate the oysters, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and make plans.
All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow. Anna Karenina
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. AK
Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.
He liked the feel of the wood of a well-worn bar. The smell of beer from the tap, of whiskey, of night.
Just as the doctor predicted, she died, swiftly and horribly.
But standing there, the air that peculiar blend of warm and cold at the same time, she thought perhaps it would be better to be outside, to get fresh air and feel the sun.
"Things have a life of their own," the gypsy proclaimed with a harsh accent. "It's simply a matter of waking up their souls." - One Hundred Years of Solitude
"Jane," her mother said evenly, "you deserve to live a beautiful life. I deserve to give mine up."
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." - To Kill a Mockingbird
With him, life was routine. Without him, life was unbearable.
We'll leave now, so that this moment will remain a perfect memory...let it be our song and think of me every time you hear it. - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
It Don't Mean A Thing If You Ain't Got That Swing - theme song for a funeral
Penny came up to me and gave me the firmest handshake. And a Manhattan. I fell in love with her immediately.
To look at everything always as though you were looking at it for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory. - ATGIB
You grieve because you didn't hold it tighter when you had it.
But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave. - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. - Slaughterhouse-Five
Largest unsupported marble domes in the world - St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Minnesota state capitol, the Taj Mahal and Providence statehouse.
It is so short and jumbled and jangled because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. - S-5
We learn from history that we learn nothing from history. - George Bernard Shaw
Unstuck in time - travels between different times and places in his life, and can't control which period he lands in. Every moment in time is in it (the fourth dimension) and keeps occurring and reoccurring simultaneously and endlessly.
The first great novel to teach us that the search for self is as surely undertaken while making small talk in the drawing room asit is while pursuing a great white whale. (Pride & Prejudice)
She managed to leave drunk and disappointed, but not inspired.
Everyone has left tonight so we can have the world to our selves, perhaps?
December 1921 - 1st night Hemingway & Hadley spent in Paris.
I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine. P&P
Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.
You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me. The Great Gatsby
Daisy - All the bright precious things fade so fast...and they don't come back.
A classic is a book everyone's heard of but no one reads - Mark Twain
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say - Italo Calvino
Nick - It eluded us then, but that's no matter-tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.
Gatsby - Her voice is full of money.
Fitzgerald once said that you don't write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say.
Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.
And the noise of her life didn't make her tense or angry or depressed like it did without the pills. Instead, there was a low hum somewhere deep in her brain and her limbs felt loose and rubbery.
As soon as I ate the oysters, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and make plans.
All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow. Anna Karenina
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. AK
Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.
He liked the feel of the wood of a well-worn bar. The smell of beer from the tap, of whiskey, of night.
Just as the doctor predicted, she died, swiftly and horribly.
But standing there, the air that peculiar blend of warm and cold at the same time, she thought perhaps it would be better to be outside, to get fresh air and feel the sun.
"Things have a life of their own," the gypsy proclaimed with a harsh accent. "It's simply a matter of waking up their souls." - One Hundred Years of Solitude
"Jane," her mother said evenly, "you deserve to live a beautiful life. I deserve to give mine up."
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." - To Kill a Mockingbird
With him, life was routine. Without him, life was unbearable.
We'll leave now, so that this moment will remain a perfect memory...let it be our song and think of me every time you hear it. - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
It Don't Mean A Thing If You Ain't Got That Swing - theme song for a funeral
Penny came up to me and gave me the firmest handshake. And a Manhattan. I fell in love with her immediately.
To look at everything always as though you were looking at it for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory. - ATGIB
You grieve because you didn't hold it tighter when you had it.
But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave. - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. - Slaughterhouse-Five
Largest unsupported marble domes in the world - St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Minnesota state capitol, the Taj Mahal and Providence statehouse.
It is so short and jumbled and jangled because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. - S-5
We learn from history that we learn nothing from history. - George Bernard Shaw
Unstuck in time - travels between different times and places in his life, and can't control which period he lands in. Every moment in time is in it (the fourth dimension) and keeps occurring and reoccurring simultaneously and endlessly.
July 13, 2017
Ava is finding it difficult to function after her husband left her a year ago. Her two adult children are living overseas, there are few invitations to social events, and she is feeling lonely. Ava joins a book club, and the members draw up a list of books for the upcoming year. The theme is for each person to choose the book that matters most to them. Ava chooses a book that helped her as a child adjusting to the loss of her sister and her mother.
Ava's daughter, Maggie, is in Paris dealing with an addiction to drugs and a dangerous relationship. Maggie hides her actions from her parents with untruthful e-mails as her life descends in a downward spiral.
The feelings of loss that Ava experienced both as a child and as an adult seemed very real. The friendships and interesting conversations at the book group helped Ava heal. Ava met other people who were also facing personal challenges. There were a few unlikely events, especially at the end, that seemed unrealistic. But overall, it is a novel that book club members would especially enjoy. 3 1/2 stars.
Ava's daughter, Maggie, is in Paris dealing with an addiction to drugs and a dangerous relationship. Maggie hides her actions from her parents with untruthful e-mails as her life descends in a downward spiral.
The feelings of loss that Ava experienced both as a child and as an adult seemed very real. The friendships and interesting conversations at the book group helped Ava heal. Ava met other people who were also facing personal challenges. There were a few unlikely events, especially at the end, that seemed unrealistic. But overall, it is a novel that book club members would especially enjoy. 3 1/2 stars.
August 27, 2016
It was December when Ava Tucker decided to join the book group, at the invitation of her friend Cate.
Her husband of twenty-five years, Jim, the man she had thought would be with her forever, had left her a few months before for the crazy “yarn bomber,” Delia Lindstrom.
She wasn’t sure if the worst part was who he left her for…or the fact that he had.
In Providence, R.I., the book group has special plans for the New Year. Each month, the members will choose a book that has especially mattered in their lives. Ava has chosen a book called “From Clare to Here,” by Rosalind Arden, a book she read in the early 1970s after the tragic deaths of her sister Lily and her mother Charlotte.
Planning to enjoy the books, the first obstacle for Ava is finding even one copy of that book she loved so much. Or the publisher. Or even the author.
Meanwhile, her daughter Maggie has dropped out of the art program she was attending in Florence and followed a boy to Paris, unbeknownst to the family.
Alternate narrators take us through the year with Ava and Maggie, as each of them struggle with their choices. For Maggie, bad men and drugs are her downfall, among others, and for Ava, it is learning to let go of her marriage…and to find the book and/or author of her chosen read for the upcoming month of November.
The story also dips into the past, back to 1970, when Ava’s mother Charlotte made her own unfortunate choices, and how those informed her life. A man named Hank Bingham, a police detective, also figured into her story.
What will happen to Ava and Maggie in the present? How does Hank Bingham showing up in Ava’s life alter her course? How will she find her special book? What unexpected detour will her path take that reinforces how much that special book meant to her?
I loved this book, enjoying the characters, fleshed out and real, and the unexpected moments throughout as each character shared his or her special book. The story reminded me of my own favorites over the years, and, as one member declared, realizing that more than one book can matter most to us over time, as our memorable book changes, depending on what we’re going through at the time. Those books that strike a chord at challenging junctures in our lives will be memorable to us. 5 stars.
Her husband of twenty-five years, Jim, the man she had thought would be with her forever, had left her a few months before for the crazy “yarn bomber,” Delia Lindstrom.
She wasn’t sure if the worst part was who he left her for…or the fact that he had.
In Providence, R.I., the book group has special plans for the New Year. Each month, the members will choose a book that has especially mattered in their lives. Ava has chosen a book called “From Clare to Here,” by Rosalind Arden, a book she read in the early 1970s after the tragic deaths of her sister Lily and her mother Charlotte.
Planning to enjoy the books, the first obstacle for Ava is finding even one copy of that book she loved so much. Or the publisher. Or even the author.
Meanwhile, her daughter Maggie has dropped out of the art program she was attending in Florence and followed a boy to Paris, unbeknownst to the family.
Alternate narrators take us through the year with Ava and Maggie, as each of them struggle with their choices. For Maggie, bad men and drugs are her downfall, among others, and for Ava, it is learning to let go of her marriage…and to find the book and/or author of her chosen read for the upcoming month of November.
The story also dips into the past, back to 1970, when Ava’s mother Charlotte made her own unfortunate choices, and how those informed her life. A man named Hank Bingham, a police detective, also figured into her story.
What will happen to Ava and Maggie in the present? How does Hank Bingham showing up in Ava’s life alter her course? How will she find her special book? What unexpected detour will her path take that reinforces how much that special book meant to her?
I loved this book, enjoying the characters, fleshed out and real, and the unexpected moments throughout as each character shared his or her special book. The story reminded me of my own favorites over the years, and, as one member declared, realizing that more than one book can matter most to us over time, as our memorable book changes, depending on what we’re going through at the time. Those books that strike a chord at challenging junctures in our lives will be memorable to us. 5 stars.
November 28, 2021
From May 2016: Ann Hood was a new author for me, and her latest book, "The Book that Matters Most, was an unexpected surprise. Our main character's life gets turned upside down, when her husband of 25 years announces he's in love with someone else, and promptly moves out. Although Ava is a French language professor at the university and quite able to take care of herself, she's not used to a social life without Jim. Their adult children are both on different continents off on their own adventures. Now what?
Her best friend Cate, also the local librarian, conducts an exclusive, 10 member book group once a month, that actually has a waiting list. Perfectly timed, a member is moving out of state, and Cate slides Ava right into her spot. Ava is not sure she's really ready to be that social yet. Books yes, people, not so sure. So, she goes and it's not quite as bad as she thought. Their first meeting is for each member to select a month and a book they'll all read, that meant the most to them, at some point in their life.
Ava panics but decides to go last. Finally it's her turn, and without a doubt, the book she read over and over after her mother died, when she was 12 years old, in 1971, "From Clare to Here," is her choice. She loved that book. The previous year, 1970, her younger sister died. Which probably led to her mother's death, or suicide.
Ah, I haven't mentioned yet that there's a mystery going in this book, a few actually. Sorry, I really can't tell you more but it's good and I don't want to ruin the story. And, there's quite a little sub-story about Ava's daughter Maggie. She's supposed to be in Florence, Italy studying Art, but she's actually in Paris having way too much fun for a twenty year old. It fits in the story, you'll see. Last thing, the ending was not to my personal liking, so there could be some discussions around that; maybe in a book group. Maybe.
Thank you Netgalley the Publisher, and Ann Hood.
Note: I had not realized that I promised to come back and give my review but never did, until today. I was new at this back then. Fortunately for me, I did post a review to NetGalley which allowed me to copy into GoodReads today! Sometimes I like technology. Cheers.
Also, Ann Hood has become one of my favorite authors.
Her best friend Cate, also the local librarian, conducts an exclusive, 10 member book group once a month, that actually has a waiting list. Perfectly timed, a member is moving out of state, and Cate slides Ava right into her spot. Ava is not sure she's really ready to be that social yet. Books yes, people, not so sure. So, she goes and it's not quite as bad as she thought. Their first meeting is for each member to select a month and a book they'll all read, that meant the most to them, at some point in their life.
Ava panics but decides to go last. Finally it's her turn, and without a doubt, the book she read over and over after her mother died, when she was 12 years old, in 1971, "From Clare to Here," is her choice. She loved that book. The previous year, 1970, her younger sister died. Which probably led to her mother's death, or suicide.
Ah, I haven't mentioned yet that there's a mystery going in this book, a few actually. Sorry, I really can't tell you more but it's good and I don't want to ruin the story. And, there's quite a little sub-story about Ava's daughter Maggie. She's supposed to be in Florence, Italy studying Art, but she's actually in Paris having way too much fun for a twenty year old. It fits in the story, you'll see. Last thing, the ending was not to my personal liking, so there could be some discussions around that; maybe in a book group. Maybe.
Thank you Netgalley the Publisher, and Ann Hood.
Note: I had not realized that I promised to come back and give my review but never did, until today. I was new at this back then. Fortunately for me, I did post a review to NetGalley which allowed me to copy into GoodReads today! Sometimes I like technology. Cheers.
Also, Ann Hood has become one of my favorite authors.
May 6, 2017
3.5 Stars
This ended up being a little bit better than I expected it to be. The premise of the novel is that protaganist Ava joins a book club where each of the members selects "the book that has mattered most to them in their life" as a club selection. While there are many side stories also taking place, I was most curious to see how the author would explore the topic of these fictional characters choosing and discussing favorite books.
The book choices are largely cliched, which was a disappointment. To the extent that any book lover can really name a singular book that has mattered *most* to him or her, I doubt that a group of people gathered would choose the books that came from the syllabus from a high school English class (e.g. Slaughterhouse-Five, The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina, etc.)
The whole idea that a singular book can matter *most* is aptly addressed by one of the book club characters: "I think it's impossible to pick [a book that matters most]. When you read a book, and who you are when you read it, make it matter or not. Like if you're unhappy and you read, I don't know, "On the Road" or "The Three Musketeers," and that book changes how you feel or how you think then it matters the most. At that time."
This ended up being a little bit better than I expected it to be. The premise of the novel is that protaganist Ava joins a book club where each of the members selects "the book that has mattered most to them in their life" as a club selection. While there are many side stories also taking place, I was most curious to see how the author would explore the topic of these fictional characters choosing and discussing favorite books.
The book choices are largely cliched, which was a disappointment. To the extent that any book lover can really name a singular book that has mattered *most* to him or her, I doubt that a group of people gathered would choose the books that came from the syllabus from a high school English class (e.g. Slaughterhouse-Five, The Great Gatsby, Anna Karenina, etc.)
The whole idea that a singular book can matter *most* is aptly addressed by one of the book club characters: "I think it's impossible to pick [a book that matters most]. When you read a book, and who you are when you read it, make it matter or not. Like if you're unhappy and you read, I don't know, "On the Road" or "The Three Musketeers," and that book changes how you feel or how you think then it matters the most. At that time."
July 30, 2017
This book was such a hot mess. I normally love the author's work , but this needed a LOT of editing, and a new ending. Most offensive to me was the way addiction was treated by the author. Pro tip: if you do not know what in the heck you are talking about DO NOT WRITE ABOUT IT! Addiction is such a complex MEDICAL issue that I was stunned by the ham-handed way the author so absurdly wrote about the treatment & recovery process. Skip this read. You will thank me!
September 2, 2017
I read this book for book club and almost had to put it down, but blazed my way through it. I found the story of Maggie very disturbing and so unrealistic what happens with her at the end of her story line. (not giving away any spoilers) Too much jumping around in the timeline made it very annoying and hard to concentrate on what was the actual plot. Ending didn't fit the storyline in my opinion.
August 14, 2016
Hmmm. I chose this book because I needed something light and easy after a few heavy reads, and it certainly met that brief. I like the idea of the story - that a book club meets once a month to discuss the book that matters most for each member, but I had some issues with the style of the writing and the character development. The relationship between Maggie and Julien had so much scope yet i found it superficial and unresolved. Likewise with Ava and Jim - Ava decides not to take him back after his affair, but I didn't see enough growth in her character to explain why she made this choice. The storyline with Ava's mother was fairly predictable but I did enjoy the small surprise at the end - although I really didn't get how it was handled in the very last chapter. It seemed a bit too neat and tidy to me, as if loose ends were quickly tied up before it was time to write The End. So overall an OK read, probably a good holiday choice, or a good book for someone who likes light family centred stories. 2.5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2018
Novel read for Book Discussion Group
This is a fantastic novel! From beginning to end, the author had me really thinking about what book matters most to me. Ava joins a book club when there is a vacancy. The club only accepts 10 members. Each member of the group must decide on the book that has mattered most to them through their lives. Each member reveals the book he/she has chosen. All of the books are well-known; "The Great Gatsby", "Slaughterhouse Five", etc. But Ava chooses a book called "From Clare to To Here" as the book that matters most to her. The choice of that book dredges up memories of her sister's death and her mother's suicide. The book group and their choices for the year start a cycle of healing for Ava.
This is a fantastic novel! From beginning to end, the author had me really thinking about what book matters most to me. Ava joins a book club when there is a vacancy. The club only accepts 10 members. Each member of the group must decide on the book that has mattered most to them through their lives. Each member reveals the book he/she has chosen. All of the books are well-known; "The Great Gatsby", "Slaughterhouse Five", etc. But Ava chooses a book called "From Clare to To Here" as the book that matters most to her. The choice of that book dredges up memories of her sister's death and her mother's suicide. The book group and their choices for the year start a cycle of healing for Ava.
September 10, 2017
Here's a book I thought I would love (just by the title), but I didn't. I loved the idea of the book club having each member choose the book that mattered most to them (and some of the books were my favorites too). I also read it pretty much non-stop, so it was a good escape - a beach read, a plane read or whatever. Other than that, I don't feel like writing a longer review. This book just didn't "do it" for me for many reasons. I will add that I think a sequel might be planned because there are at least three loose ends that would provide material for another book (including a "bad guy" still lurking around in Paris.)
August 31, 2016
Give me a book using books or bookstores as theme and I’m in. And the Book that Matters Most does that well. Over the course of a year, each person chooses their special book for the group to read. The book choices work and the characters are engaging. But, and you knew there had to be a but, I can’t remember the last time I was so irritated with plot points and the ending which was convenient AND unbelievable. Still, I enjoyed most of it I downgraded from a great book to a good book.
January 20, 2018
3 1\2 stars. It was good. I liked it. Some parts less than others and some parts were a little cheesy. But a good, quick read.
May 6, 2025
3.5/5 - this book just didn't measure up to my expectations. A decent twist at the end is the only thing that saved it for me
November 9, 2018
This book contained a number of elements that I am not a big fan of in novels. These included : detailed descriptions of addiction and self-destructive behaviors, and improbable story lines. I did like the setting, Providence, RI, and wish there had been more of that in the book. The other setting, Paris, was barely sketched out so don't read this book if you read novels for the settings.
Ava is a self-absorbed person and neglectful mother. Her children are overseas - one a college student who supposedly is in Italy but is really leading a dangerous existence in Paris. We have no idea what she does for money for the months she is there - Paris is expensive. Her son is somewhere in Africa looking for gorillas, but he is barely a footnote in the story.
The other improbable detail was the book club Ava is "admitted" to. The membership is limited to 12 so someone has to move away or move on (e.g. pass away) for a new member to be admitted. Members are asked to nominate THE BOOK that matters the most to them. This premise is ridiculous for people who love to read - ONE book? Towards the end of the book, one character actually says:
“The idea of the book that matters most ... I think it’s like impossible to pick such a book. When you read a book, and who you are when you read it, makes it matter or not. Like if you’re unhappy and you read, I don’t know, On the Road or The Three Musketeers, and that book changes how you feel or how you think, then it matters the most. At that time.”
If I were in a book club that proposed the reading list they had for the year, I'd walk away. Books like Catcher in the Rye are books I read as a teen and once was enough. Ada chooses a book that not only is out of print, but unavailable. This is a gimmick to propel the story as she searches for the book and author. Sigh.
Even though the entire premise was outlandish, I gave it 3 stars because I actually finished it, and wanted to know what happened. I got the e-book free so I only invested time, and no money.
Ava is a self-absorbed person and neglectful mother. Her children are overseas - one a college student who supposedly is in Italy but is really leading a dangerous existence in Paris. We have no idea what she does for money for the months she is there - Paris is expensive. Her son is somewhere in Africa looking for gorillas, but he is barely a footnote in the story.
The other improbable detail was the book club Ava is "admitted" to. The membership is limited to 12 so someone has to move away or move on (e.g. pass away) for a new member to be admitted. Members are asked to nominate THE BOOK that matters the most to them. This premise is ridiculous for people who love to read - ONE book? Towards the end of the book, one character actually says:
“The idea of the book that matters most ... I think it’s like impossible to pick such a book. When you read a book, and who you are when you read it, makes it matter or not. Like if you’re unhappy and you read, I don’t know, On the Road or The Three Musketeers, and that book changes how you feel or how you think, then it matters the most. At that time.”
If I were in a book club that proposed the reading list they had for the year, I'd walk away. Books like Catcher in the Rye are books I read as a teen and once was enough. Ada chooses a book that not only is out of print, but unavailable. This is a gimmick to propel the story as she searches for the book and author. Sigh.
Even though the entire premise was outlandish, I gave it 3 stars because I actually finished it, and wanted to know what happened. I got the e-book free so I only invested time, and no money.
July 29, 2016
Books about books are nirvana for readers. And this book is one of the next best things to heaven. I could barely put it down.
Ava thought her twenty-five-year marriage to Jim was strong. Then she sees a text on his phone from another woman, a woman Jim claims to be in love with, and her life begins to completely unravel.
For years, Ava has wanted to join the book club at her local library, but membership is held to ten members, and there is a waiting list. However, the librarian is one of Ava’s best friends. She knows that Ava needs the group, so she bumps her to the top of the list.
The book club picks books based on a theme for the year. Each member gets to pick a book based on that theme. The theme for the upcoming year is “The Book That Matters Most.” Each member is to pick the book that has changed his/her life, the book that has had a substantial impact on his/her life.
Hood’s story is broken into chapters, each with an epigraph from that month’s book and the theme for the chapter. The titles range from The Great Gatsby to Pride and Prejudice, from The Catcher in the Rye to Anna Karenina.
Ava’s life is complicated by her rebellious, just-out-of-rehab daughter, Maggie, who has gone to study in Florence. Along with Ava’s story, Maggie also has a section in each chapter that tells of her decent into addiction at the hands of a much older man whom she follows to France.
As Ava tried to come to terms with her new life, a retired detective shows up at her door, wanting desperately to put to the bed, at last, the tragic events of Ava’s childhood that have haunted her.
Ever since I first read this book’s title, I’ve been trying to determine which book matters the most to me in my life. Two of the strongest runners are Jonathan Hull’s Losing Julia or Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind (the book version, not the movie version). But if I had to name just one, could I say, “All of them?”
I loved The Book That Matters Most. I give it 6 out of 5 stars.
Ava thought her twenty-five-year marriage to Jim was strong. Then she sees a text on his phone from another woman, a woman Jim claims to be in love with, and her life begins to completely unravel.
For years, Ava has wanted to join the book club at her local library, but membership is held to ten members, and there is a waiting list. However, the librarian is one of Ava’s best friends. She knows that Ava needs the group, so she bumps her to the top of the list.
The book club picks books based on a theme for the year. Each member gets to pick a book based on that theme. The theme for the upcoming year is “The Book That Matters Most.” Each member is to pick the book that has changed his/her life, the book that has had a substantial impact on his/her life.
Hood’s story is broken into chapters, each with an epigraph from that month’s book and the theme for the chapter. The titles range from The Great Gatsby to Pride and Prejudice, from The Catcher in the Rye to Anna Karenina.
Ava’s life is complicated by her rebellious, just-out-of-rehab daughter, Maggie, who has gone to study in Florence. Along with Ava’s story, Maggie also has a section in each chapter that tells of her decent into addiction at the hands of a much older man whom she follows to France.
As Ava tried to come to terms with her new life, a retired detective shows up at her door, wanting desperately to put to the bed, at last, the tragic events of Ava’s childhood that have haunted her.
Ever since I first read this book’s title, I’ve been trying to determine which book matters the most to me in my life. Two of the strongest runners are Jonathan Hull’s Losing Julia or Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind (the book version, not the movie version). But if I had to name just one, could I say, “All of them?”
I loved The Book That Matters Most. I give it 6 out of 5 stars.
October 24, 2016
A child dies accidentally and her mother kills herself in despair? Everyone grieves the losses for years. The surviving daughter is grown and joins a book club and wants to find the author of the book that changed her life the most.
I am not a fan of books about book clubs because too much time is spent on describing all those books, but that was acceptable in this novel since the title set you up for it. I thought the daughter's rehab was a little too easy and the character who was a yarn-bomber was ridiculous; however, if you enjoy reading how it feels to lay in a bathtub and shoot heroine, then this is the book for you.
The brother's minor inclusion in the story just seemed like filler.
The ending was irritating – the mother was revolting! And why would the characters welcome her back after she damaged everyone's lives so badly????
I am not a fan of books about book clubs because too much time is spent on describing all those books, but that was acceptable in this novel since the title set you up for it. I thought the daughter's rehab was a little too easy and the character who was a yarn-bomber was ridiculous; however, if you enjoy reading how it feels to lay in a bathtub and shoot heroine, then this is the book for you.
The brother's minor inclusion in the story just seemed like filler.
The ending was irritating – the mother was revolting! And why would the characters welcome her back after she damaged everyone's lives so badly????
September 14, 2016
What a story. Parts I figured out, others not so much. That's fun while reading a good book to think you know what's happened and then to find out if you were right or not. This is the story of a family and so much more. And, lots of references to the books that matter most!
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