A Novel in Stories

released during a nice visit to Winnipeg's new OBCZ with gypsysmom

Look what I found on the OBCZ shelf! Although NorthernLights tried to unobtrusively place this book on the shelf I spied it and since it was one I've been wanting to read for a while I picked it up. Thanks NorthernLights and I'm glad we were able to get together. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

This book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2009 and I became aware of it at that point. More recently it was made into an HBO mini-series starring Frances McDormand in the title role and I thought I would like to see that but first I wanted to read the book. Now that I've read the book I really want to see what Frances McDormand does with the role.

Olive Kitteridge is a Grade 7 math teacher in a small town in Main, married to a pharmacist, and the mother of one son, Christopher. She is crusty and opinionated but has a good heart even if it sometimes is hidden. The book is a series of short stories covering quite a span of time. In some of them Olive is only tangential to the story but, as happens in small towns, she knows all the characters involved. As the stories emerge we uncover quite a lot about Olive and her relationships. I don't know if I would ever really like Olive but I can see having some spirited conversations with her.

It takes a great writer to craft a short story that feels complete in itself and I think each story in this book could stand on its own. In fact, a number were published in various magazines starting as early as 1992. It would be interesting to know if Strout conceived of this series of stories that far back.

I found this quote on Elizabeth Strout's website "We want to know...what it is like to be another person, because somehow this helps position our own self in the world." That's one of the best explanations of why reading is so important (at least to me) that I have ever read.

I will be taking this book to the Winnipeg BookCrossing Meetup tonight. If no-one there takes it home it will be left on the OBCZ shelf for a new reader. This is released for the Allergic to A release challenge.


When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.

I'm excited to read this. I literally grabbed it out of gypsysmom's hands at our meeting last night. Thanks gypsysmom and NorthernLights!

I really enjoyed these stories all of which are linked by the title character. Olive initially reminded me of my grandmother - stout, stubborn and opinionated but capable of kindness. Then she reminded me of my mother and then it occurred to me she was not entirely unlike me.

To the finder of this book:
I hope you enjoy your new read.

Welcome, also, to the wonderful and wacky world of BookCrossing! Here you'll find a unique and worldwide community of book lovers sharing their books. This book is now yours! Read it, enjoy it. Keep it or pass it on to someone you know, return it to any Little Free Library or even release it into the wild. It is all up to you.

If you make a journal entry (you can do it anonymously or as a BookCrossing member) all previous readers of this book will be notified by e-mail and can follow this book on its travels. BookCrossing is free to join, completely confidential (you are known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your email address) and it's a whole lot of fun!

I picked this up at our dead of winter Bookcrossers’ meetup. Looks good!

I loved this book. I never wanted it to end, it was that good.

I left this book with my aunt to pass on.