Play Book Tag discussion

Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen - 3 stars - My Review

Harry Crane’s wife dies in a freak accident on the same day as Amanda Jeffers’s husband dies from an aneurism. Amanda’s ten-year-old daughter Oriana turns to forests, angels, and fairy tales, thinking her father may return if she takes the correct actions. Harry is a bureaucrat working for the US Forestry Service. He feels great guilt over his wife’s death. His brother strong-arms him into filing a lawsuit. Amanda is a nurse and Oriana is a precocious child who loves to read. These three main characters eventually meet. The storyline follows their healing from grief. It also enacts the fable of a book provided to Oriana by the local librarian, The Grum’s Ledgers, where the Grum gives away his fortune.

The strongest parts are those featuring the three main characters. Amanda, Oriana, and Harry. I also enjoyed the librarian who keeps the local library open voluntarily. The main drawback is that it is way too long. My mind started wandering during the lengthy digressions into the lives of secondary characters, Amanda’s many suitors, and the enormous number of tree-climbing episodes. The villains are caricatures. It seems to be a fairy tale set in the real world. As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly absurd. I am trying books outside my usual reading, but this one did not quite work for me.

PBT Steeplechase - tagged "books about books" x47:
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PBT March BWF Extra C - fits letter not tag

Joy, for some reason, I loved the book. I think I must have been in the right mood for it and read it at the right time.

Thinking about it now, I agree with you that the three main characters were the strongest parts of the novel. The villains, especially Harry's brother, were silly and cartoon-like. Somehow, that didn't interfere with my enjoyment of it.

I liked this a lot too, partly because it is set near where I (and Theresa grew up). Yes, there was a fairy-tale aspect to it and I tend not to go for the whimsical, but it worked for me.

I am glad to see you both enjoyed it!

Mood plays a part in my reading, too, Holly, and it could have been I just wasn't in the right head space.

Robin, I've been to that part of the country, and the forest parts were very nicely described - I could picture it.

There were lots of positives, and overall, I liked it. Oriana is such a great character - she seemed so realistic to me - a precocious child who goes through a tragedy (this hit very close to home for me).

I was a little disappointed because it wasn’t what I was expecting, but I ended up really enjoying it. It’s a nice feel good book. I fully understand why you didn’t like it though.

My smaller irl book club read this a few years ago - maybe around Covid - and they loved it.

I did like it, Nancy. That's what 3 stars means for me:
1=didn't like it at all
2=it was ok
3=liked it
4=liked it a lot
5=one of my favorites