I marked a few things I really liked in the book -- for various reasons...

page 25
"his arms had no squeeze in them"

page 27
"a subdued chorus of Waltonesque goodnights"

page 56
"Why was it that, sometimes, you needed to see people closet to you as others saw them to remember how fantastic they were? Why couldn't you always remember that?"

page 330
"The air was pure - you could really taste the nothingness in it."

page 392
"I suppose when you know your time is limited, you find it easier to cut through the crap."

page 396
"...the storm had come, and Oz had stuck, and she was bloody glad to be back in Kansas."

Also, this is an English book, and I will admit to not knowing what all the words meant. I believe I got the gist, and feel happy with that. I really enjoyed this book, and yes, I laughed, I cried...Tis a wonderful story.

A good idea, but not executed in the way it was presented. I expected the whole book to be letters from the mother to her daughters, so that she could be with them after he death. The letters played a very small part and the characters were just ok.

As an avid reader of chicklit and mum of a young daughter I was really excited when I saw this one on my local shelf at Tesco and it was a very good read.

The stories of the 4 sisters impacted by the death of their mother was both touching and entertaining. Each sister is different in her own way and the book takes them through the first year after the death of their mother as they each take on board the advice she left them in letters she wrote before her death and through the diary she wrote throughout her illness. Through their mothers thoughts and experiences they learn more about her life and learn to apply her learning to help shape their own relationships and lives.

If you like Cathy Kelly, Marian Keyes and Adele Parkes this one is for you. Cannot believe I've had The Reading Group on my bookshelf for a year or so no and haven't read it - am now looking foward to it immensely.

Note to self: NOT the perfect book to read in the hospital - too depressing. LOL!

This book was pretty good - it could have been better, and there were some places where it felt forced (especially when it came to the steamy scenes, she'd just leave off with a ... which seemed weird to me). I didn't really find the characters that likable so it was hard to get into it - I don't know, I just expected more out of it.

I had a hard time getting in to this book at the beginning (I think because of the British lingo), but it ended up being a very nice story and reminds us that nobody is perfect, even after they leave us.

I really adored this book. The characters were so real, it's like I could resist their behaviors. An the situations reminded me of the humour of Jonathan Trooper with the constant continuity of Anna Morando. I will admit some parts got me a bit bored like irrelevant letter or two from the mother, but everything else wasn't a page or more long skipped. Emotionally, I don't feel moved except for the scenarios at times made me a bit shocked. But unlike in the Love Letter by Cathleen Schine I just read, it's not things I'll keep visualizing and thinking about for days after reading. This book def is book club material but it's too straight forward and irrelevant if you're just an 18 year old... like me.

Don't get me wrong though, this definitely was a hard to put down book! It gave me insights to many different scenarios which was a cool point from me! Not to mention it was based in the UK, hens all the teas and biscuit breaks!

Finished: June 24, 2011

I very much enjoyed this book when I began it. About halfway through the story started to drag and I lost momentum reading. By the last quarter I was forcing myself to pick it up to finish it. It is very readable, but I don't think it needed to be that long. And I felt the author chose the 'popular' ending for one particular daughter's story which was unnecessary, and this compromised the overall story.

I picked up this book half a dozen times before I fianlly bought it. i find Noble's writing the middle of the road- a slow, steady read.

I enjoyed this book ever so much more than I thought I would. Another 'lives of women' type novel, following the 4 daughters of a recently deceased and by all accounts wonderful and interesting woman. The daughters deal with her loss and their lives in different ways, and its a lovely exploration of their personalities and choices. Not too terribly deep, but it was affecting and a well done piece of a tapestry of human life.