A very satisfying book. Violet is in prison for manslaughter. Harriet is a volunteer at the prison running a book club. Then there are the amazing parrots and the choices Violet has to make. There is a lovely epilogue. Really a nice book. ( )

A very good story. What really sets this book apart is the level of introspection of the characters. There are also some unexpected twists. I did feel that the story ended rather abruptly, leaving a lot of things up in the air. ( )

The lives of three people—a young woman named Violet and two more mature people named Frank and Harriet—swirl together in How to Read a Book and each has a life-altering effect on the other two in Monica Wood’s brilliantly plotted and rewarding novel.

The author of the awe-inspiring One in a Million Boy and the soulful My Only Story has published yet another captivating, funny, beautiful character-driven novel. Twenty-two year-old Violet begins the story in prison in Maine, having served more than two years for manslaughter, stemming from an auto accident. Frank and Harriet, two very endearing and perfectly drawn characters, know her in the context of the criminal justice system—more than that I will not say—and each will conclusively end up in her corner as events evolve.

The charm here, and it is a deeply affecting charm, is Wood’s endlessly deep and eloquent understanding of, and description of, the emotional lives of her principals. Frank has been widowed not only from his wife, but also from a job from which he retired, but misses badly. Harriet is retired as well; she finds that the activities in which she finds worth and meaning will be taken away from her. Violet ties the two together with her tragic mistake three years prior; all three have a long way to go, and all three help the other two to get there. It’s a balancing act that Wood brings off without strain, mishap, drop, or wobble. It’s just superb.

There are other attractions, other well-drawn characters and effects, but these three characters carry the work, and Wood deserves congratulations and honors for the touching good fortune these three deliver for each other. Rewarding and worthy of the same kind of praise as her past work, How to Read a Book is balanced, true and generous. Recommended! ( )

This book just might turn out to be one of my favorite books this year! It's so beautifully written that I never wanted it to end, but literally couldn't put it down. So highly recommended!!!! ( )

“I am a reader. I am intelligent. I have something worthy to contribute.”

Twenty-two-year-old Violet Powell is released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a car crash that resulted in the death of the other driver. Violet, who was driving under the influence at the time, is consumed by guilt and finds it difficult to adjust to her new life in Portland - having lost her mother while serving her sentence and abandoned by her boyfriend, her remaining relatives distance themselves from her including her sister who sets her up in an apartment in Portland (away from her hometown of Abbott Falls, Maine) and tells her to stay away. While in prison, Violet was part of a book club hosted by retired English teacher Harriet Larson.

“I miss how Harriet was forever showing us how to read. How to look for shapes and layers. How to see that stories have a “meanwhile”—an important thing that’s happening while the rest of the story moves along.”

While searching for a book that she hadn’t been able to finish in prison, Violet is surprised to come across Harriet in a Portland bookstore. Harriet is sixty-four and a widow, whose children have settled abroad and her niece, who lives with her. soon to move to Berkley. Harriet has her share of regrets and often feels that she is underestimated by those around her. Harriet is a kind, compassionate soul who enjoys her time volunteering at the prison, giving the inmates a voice and a safe space to share their thoughts while discussing books.

“People set their husbands afire, they nurse their dying mothers, they rob demented old men, they sing songs that bring listeners to tears, they kill a woman while drunk on love and 86-proof. The line between this and that, you and her, us and them, the line is thin.”

Coincidentally, on the same day Violet meets Harriet she also encounters Frank Daigle, a sixty-eight-year-old retired machinist working as a handyman in the same bookstore who was also the husband of the woman who lost her life in the car crash. With his daughter married and settled, Frank lives alone in the home he shared with his late wife. Though he was aware of Violet’s early release from prison, he wasn’t prepared to see her in person or for the onslaught of emotions that would follow.

What follows is a transformative journey of catharsis, redemption and new beginnings.

"We are a continuum of human experience, neither the worst nor the best thing we have ever done. Or, more exactly, we are both the best thing and the worst thing we’ve ever done. We are all of it, all at once, all the time."

Whenever I see a book with the image of a stack of books/ a bookstore/ a library on the cover, I’m immediately drawn to it, but rarely have I picked up a book without perusing the blurb/ description or reading a review, more so if I’ve never read anything by the author in question. Strangely enough, How to Read a Book by Monica Wood was an exception and I went into this one blind.

Let me begin by saying that this book was not what I expected. But yes, it proved to be one of the best selections I’ve made recently because it was so much more than I had hoped it would be. This is the kind of story that stays with you long after you have turned the last page. The author writes beautifully, with insight and heart, and the way she addresses complex human emotions is both realistic and relatable. The narrative is presented from the perspectives of the three characters, the different threads of the story deftly woven into a compelling narrative that was hard to put down. Though I didn’t agree with all of her choices, I felt for Violet and was invested in her journey. Frank is an endearing character and I absolutely adored Harriet, but I must say that Ollie captured my heart! The segments about the parrots were informative and entertaining in equal measure and I appreciated the Author’s Note on the nature of the research referenced in this novel. The book club segments truly enriched the narrative, emphasizing the importance of empathy, kindness and how sharing perspectives on the books we read contribute to our understanding of the human condition. I enjoyed the literary references and found the discussions deeply thought-provoking.

“The writer writes the words. The given reader reads the words. And the book, the unique and unrepeatable book, doesn’t exist until the given reader meets the writer on the page.”

A heartwarming and evocative story about friendship and found family, kindness, self-acceptance, forgiveness and starting over and how books can motivate and inspire positive change, this story left me with a smile on my face and a lump in my throat! I couldn’t recommend it enough!

“Because life is the same as books, Misha. There’s a story and a meanwhile, and we get to say which is which.”

This was my first time reading this author, but it surely won’t be my last.

Many thanks to Mariner Books for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on May 7, 2024. ( )