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RayAnne Dahl #2
Reeling: A Novel
RayAnne’s next adventure takes our intrepid heroine, haunted by her beloved grandmother’s death, to New Zealand to film a new season of her all-women fishing talk show
What stage of grief is it when your grandmother’s ghost keeps popping up on your electronic devices? Denial? For RayAnne that seems to be the stage for launching the second season of Fishing!—in New Zealand. Ready or not, she is taking public television’s first all-women fishing talk show on the road, putting the cold Minnesota winter in the rearview mirror—which, it turns out, Gran is haunting, too.
After a challenging first season, and RayAnne’s serendipitous ascension to host, there’s a lot at stake. With camera-wielding twins Rongo and Rangi along as crew and tour guides, RayAnne and her indefatigable producer Cassi set out across New Zealand in search of noteworthy women who fish: a skipjack boat captain navigating sexist harbors; a writer of historical suffragette fiction, which is, apparently, a thing; a reclusive Māori octogenarian who ties fishing flies for dignitaries. Their stories, and a good dose of the country’s history, are almost enough to take the edge off RayAnne’s homesickness and grief, to say nothing of jetlag—and it doesn’t hurt to discover a bird dog who fishes, an anti-fashionista, a pair of sisters fishing their way through recovery, and . . . a Hobbit? Meanwhile, the romantic and family entanglements she left behind at home haven’t exactly come untangled in her absence.
Those who met RayAnne in Fishing!, Sarah Stonich’s first outing with the intrepid, accidental talk-show host, will encounter familiar and unexpected pleasures in her latest antics—and a story whose lighthearted surface and surprising depths will charm readers who now find her for the first time.
What stage of grief is it when your grandmother’s ghost keeps popping up on your electronic devices? Denial? For RayAnne that seems to be the stage for launching the second season of Fishing!—in New Zealand. Ready or not, she is taking public television’s first all-women fishing talk show on the road, putting the cold Minnesota winter in the rearview mirror—which, it turns out, Gran is haunting, too.
After a challenging first season, and RayAnne’s serendipitous ascension to host, there’s a lot at stake. With camera-wielding twins Rongo and Rangi along as crew and tour guides, RayAnne and her indefatigable producer Cassi set out across New Zealand in search of noteworthy women who fish: a skipjack boat captain navigating sexist harbors; a writer of historical suffragette fiction, which is, apparently, a thing; a reclusive Māori octogenarian who ties fishing flies for dignitaries. Their stories, and a good dose of the country’s history, are almost enough to take the edge off RayAnne’s homesickness and grief, to say nothing of jetlag—and it doesn’t hurt to discover a bird dog who fishes, an anti-fashionista, a pair of sisters fishing their way through recovery, and . . . a Hobbit? Meanwhile, the romantic and family entanglements she left behind at home haven’t exactly come untangled in her absence.
Those who met RayAnne in Fishing!, Sarah Stonich’s first outing with the intrepid, accidental talk-show host, will encounter familiar and unexpected pleasures in her latest antics—and a story whose lighthearted surface and surprising depths will charm readers who now find her for the first time.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 21, 2021
9 people are currently reading
1718 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Stonich
16 books245 followersThe author of internationally acclaimed and award-winning novels "Laurentian Divide" and "Vacationland", the first two volumes in her Northern trilogy. Her earlier novels, "These Granite Islands" and "The Ice Chorus", left their marks on readers around the world, having been translated into eleven languages - most recently into Czech. Visit her web site for reviews and info. Sarah's memoir, 'Shelter: Off The Grid In The Mostly Magnetic North', winner of the NE MN Book Award is now available in paperback.
Her feminist fiction Fishing with RayAnne trilogy debuted with "Fishing!" and will be followed next year by "Reeling". Sarah writes and lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jon. For more visit sarahstonich.com and like her FB page: Sarah Stonich Bookshelf
Her feminist fiction Fishing with RayAnne trilogy debuted with "Fishing!" and will be followed next year by "Reeling". Sarah writes and lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jon. For more visit sarahstonich.com and like her FB page: Sarah Stonich Bookshelf
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 12, 2021
I enjoyed this even more than Fishing! RayAnne is coming into her own and so funny. Great portrait of New Zealand!
May 17, 2022
3.75 ⭐️ How fun to spend time again with RayAnne, host of a fishing show produced by a Minnesota TV station that we first meet in Fishing! (a 5⭐️ read.)
October 12, 2021
A romp of a novel. A tribute to the tomboy in every girl, whether you let her out or not. It makes you want to travel and fish and flirt and embrace what comes next. Sure you have a hiccup or two along the way ; inquisitive TSA agents , a hunk of a boyfriend too good to be true, an assistant turned producer more grown up that the heroine. It’s a great turn, a splash of welcome cold water on a hot day.
January 21, 2022
First book in this series I rated 4 stars but I just could not feel the characters connections in this one. They felt too forced to blend in with the comedy. I did not expect for book 1‘s characters to be left behind basically for this new set. This book moved slow and did not hold my attention well. I hope the next does not rely on it’s comedy so heavily, but lets it flow more naturally around the characters.
November 18, 2021
RayAnne is back in Sarah Stonich’s REELING; in this second volume of RayAnne’s adventures, the show is going on the road – all the way to New Zealand.
As the host of public television’s first all-woman fishing talk show, RayAnne knows a thing or two about fishing. What she’s less knowledgeable about is relationships.
The same quirky, endearing cast of characters from FISHING! form the backdrop of REELING. RayAnne and her mother, Bernadette, bond briefly after her grandmother Dot’s death, but then they’re off on their disparate adventures – RayAnne to New Zealand to film the new season of Fishing and Bernadette to some far-flung location to mentor post-menopausal women on their Blood Tide Quests. Big Rick, RayAnne’s father, is married to his sixth wife, a born-again evangelical, and her brother is trying to resist the temptation of his wife’s gorgeous cousin who has the hots for him. Meanwhile, Hal, RayAnne’s sponsor and boyfriend is dog-sitting Rory (again). She could bring Rory to the DogGone Inn, but Rory’s not crazy about other dogs. “Like RayAnne, he can be awkward around his own species.” Cassi, her intrepid producer falls for a hobbit, and keeping in step with the craziness, RayAnne’s dead grandmother, Dot, keeps showing up in the most unlikely places: her Ipad, her phone, her rear-view mirror.
RayAnne’s relationship with Hal isn’t brand new, but because she travels so much of the time, she isn’t sure yet if she can trust it. With a father who’s a serial-husband and a mother who eschews commitment but not necessarily sex, no wonder RayAnne is wary. She measures every relationship in the present by those from her past.
Stonich has a gift for revealing vulnerability in the most unlikely places. RayAnne’s first interview in New Zealand is with Ellie Mann, a tough-talking, tuna trawler captain who puts her to work throwing bait out the back of the boat. Donning a helmet with a visor to protect her from the fish frenzy that follows, RayAnne feels an unfamiliar squeamishness at reaching into a pail of live bait.
“She never used to be squeamish about such things; it’s just that since Gran, she’s become so aware of the frailness of living creatures and thinks too much about skin – such a ridiculously frail membrane between life and death.”
RayAnne wonders if Dot is coming back to teach her some important lesson, or if by keeping her on the hook, her grandmother is prevented from entering the eternal rest she so deserves. Moving on, Dot tells her, is a choice. Stonich casts these words casually out on the page, but they’re layered with meaning.
Lucky for us, there will be one more book in the Fishing Trilogy. As I closed REELING with the sadness you feel when saying goodbye to a friend, even if only temporarily, I held onto Gran’s closing words:
“It’s not the end of the world, Bean. You think you’ve come to the end, but all you need to do is turn the corner and there, waiting, is the next perfect thing.”
I’ll be waiting expectantly for RayAnne’s next adventure.
This is Lin Salisbury with Superior Reviews. Listen to my author interviews the fourth Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm on WTIP radio 90.7 Grand Marais, or on the web at wtip.org.
As the host of public television’s first all-woman fishing talk show, RayAnne knows a thing or two about fishing. What she’s less knowledgeable about is relationships.
The same quirky, endearing cast of characters from FISHING! form the backdrop of REELING. RayAnne and her mother, Bernadette, bond briefly after her grandmother Dot’s death, but then they’re off on their disparate adventures – RayAnne to New Zealand to film the new season of Fishing and Bernadette to some far-flung location to mentor post-menopausal women on their Blood Tide Quests. Big Rick, RayAnne’s father, is married to his sixth wife, a born-again evangelical, and her brother is trying to resist the temptation of his wife’s gorgeous cousin who has the hots for him. Meanwhile, Hal, RayAnne’s sponsor and boyfriend is dog-sitting Rory (again). She could bring Rory to the DogGone Inn, but Rory’s not crazy about other dogs. “Like RayAnne, he can be awkward around his own species.” Cassi, her intrepid producer falls for a hobbit, and keeping in step with the craziness, RayAnne’s dead grandmother, Dot, keeps showing up in the most unlikely places: her Ipad, her phone, her rear-view mirror.
RayAnne’s relationship with Hal isn’t brand new, but because she travels so much of the time, she isn’t sure yet if she can trust it. With a father who’s a serial-husband and a mother who eschews commitment but not necessarily sex, no wonder RayAnne is wary. She measures every relationship in the present by those from her past.
Stonich has a gift for revealing vulnerability in the most unlikely places. RayAnne’s first interview in New Zealand is with Ellie Mann, a tough-talking, tuna trawler captain who puts her to work throwing bait out the back of the boat. Donning a helmet with a visor to protect her from the fish frenzy that follows, RayAnne feels an unfamiliar squeamishness at reaching into a pail of live bait.
“She never used to be squeamish about such things; it’s just that since Gran, she’s become so aware of the frailness of living creatures and thinks too much about skin – such a ridiculously frail membrane between life and death.”
RayAnne wonders if Dot is coming back to teach her some important lesson, or if by keeping her on the hook, her grandmother is prevented from entering the eternal rest she so deserves. Moving on, Dot tells her, is a choice. Stonich casts these words casually out on the page, but they’re layered with meaning.
Lucky for us, there will be one more book in the Fishing Trilogy. As I closed REELING with the sadness you feel when saying goodbye to a friend, even if only temporarily, I held onto Gran’s closing words:
“It’s not the end of the world, Bean. You think you’ve come to the end, but all you need to do is turn the corner and there, waiting, is the next perfect thing.”
I’ll be waiting expectantly for RayAnne’s next adventure.
This is Lin Salisbury with Superior Reviews. Listen to my author interviews the fourth Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm on WTIP radio 90.7 Grand Marais, or on the web at wtip.org.
August 15, 2024
After finishing the first novel about RayAnne Dahl I was lucky enough to be able to start its sequel, Reeling. RayAnne and her brother Ky are mourning the loss of their beloved grandmother and although we don’t hear Ky’s point of view that much in this book, what you do hear is different from the way Ray is processing her grief. It’s been only a few months since Gran died and RayAnne and her boyfriend Hal are learning how to be a couple. Getting ready for her new season of the PBS show Fishing, RayAnne is shipped to New Zealand with her friend and producer Cassie. The good part is that it’s summer there and still very cold in Minnesota. The bad part is that it’s so far away. It’s fun to learn so much about New Zealand and the women that Ray gets to interview are always interesting. It feels as if the author had to do as much research on each interview as she has RayAnne do. Here’s hoping there will be another book about the engaging Ray before too long.
September 1, 2021
I read this book not knowing it was a sequel and having missed out on the previous novel, Fishing, did not diminish my enjoyment of this novel. RayAnne’s grandmother, Dot, has passed away and she’s still haunted by her absence. A wanderlust, RayAnne takes off on a new adventure, this time, to New Zealand to film Fishing! Her all female fishing talk show. Seeing New Zealand through Stonich’s eyes was one of my favorite aspects of this novel. The country jumps right off of the page and becomes a character of its own. But RayAnne has lost a part of herself with her grandmother’s passing and looks to her latest adventures to heal. This book is about grief and mourning a loss too big to fathom. It’s full of heart, dynamic characters and everything bountiful New Zealand has to offer. Thank you to the University of Minnisota Press for the advanced review copy.
September 6, 2022
I adore Sarah Stonich, so don’t think my low rating has anything to do with her writing. However, this one just didn’t work for me. I loved “Fishing,” and really looked forward to this sequel. Stonich is at her best when she’s writing about Minnesota. Granted, she was writing about Minnesotans, but Minnesotans in New Zealand just didn’t work for me. The best part of this book is when she’s writing about family issues; way too much about New Zealand. And this is one I should have loved as I was very close to my grandmother, and that’s what most of the book is about, dealing with Grandma’s death. It just didn’t work for me.
March 4, 2024
An odyssey of grief disguised as a story about a woman hosting a fishing show on PBS. Touching, lovely, humorous and real. The pain of losing someone dear and the pleasures of being with some one you love are beautifully intertwined. The protagonist, RayAnne, has lived in a dysfunctional family, but the chaos may be able tosmooth itself out to becomes a positive. In addition to this wonderful story the setting in New Zealand masterfully supports the beauty of this book.
January 27, 2025
I am late to the party and just discovered Sarah's work. I really enjoyed both Fishing and Reeling. It's always fun to read, especially funny bits, about my Minnesota community and culture. I also appreciate, with each stage of grief (and/or guest on the show) Sarah includes a statement about a social/political/environmental issue that speaks to my sensibilities. Thank you and I'll be looking for the earlier trilogy next!
May 4, 2022
To reel: 1) to wind a line and 2) to lose one's balance and stagger or lurch violently.
Sarah has delivered both definitions of "Reeling" in this lovely novel. How do we go on when one so dear is gone? How do we get through "the formless piles of gray" that the grief cement truck dumps on us? We need more RayAnne.
Sarah has delivered both definitions of "Reeling" in this lovely novel. How do we go on when one so dear is gone? How do we get through "the formless piles of gray" that the grief cement truck dumps on us? We need more RayAnne.
October 6, 2021
Stonich whisks us away to New Zealand for RayAnne’s next journey—expect sharp wit, intricate characters, and a refreshing take on grief. Plus, the satisfaction of a woman taking by storm the male-dominated world of fishing!
October 20, 2021
Sarah Stonich knows how to tell a story, knows how to create a cast of strong and interesting characters that connect with the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed Reeling. It's a wonderful sequel to Fishing! (I hope this turns into a trilogy.) This is a very good read.
December 25, 2023
This is thr only Stonich book I haven't really enjoyed. The first RayAnne book was so good I had high expectations. I lost interest about half way through and skimmed to the end with about 40 pages left.
December 28, 2021
Good book that kept me reading. A few slow parts that kinda brought the story down. Not horrible just slower tempo reading. It was all in all an okay book.
January 5, 2022
Great book! Thanks!
August 4, 2022
I just LOVE RayAnne:)
May 22, 2024
Liked the Minnesota references but boy was this story all over the place both literally and figuratively. It was a little ADD in nature.
May 18, 2025
Loved this one more than Fishing.
November 2, 2021
A wonderful, quirky follow up to Fishing! Such enjoyable characters, and I loved following RayAnne and Cassi to New Zealand. Somehow even though RayAnne is going through a period of fairly intense grief there’s still plenty of light moments.
December 23, 2021
A slow read….
I forced myself to finish this book. Guess due to not being interested in fishing it was boring. Kept waiting for it to turn a corner and grab me but unfortunately it did not. The book was more of a New Zealand tourist guide than a story.
I forced myself to finish this book. Guess due to not being interested in fishing it was boring. Kept waiting for it to turn a corner and grab me but unfortunately it did not. The book was more of a New Zealand tourist guide than a story.
December 27, 2022
I find Stonich's work light and entertaining with a decidedly Minnesota/Midwest flavor. This is book two, following Fishing!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews