Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Full review to be found on Goodreads and on my website.

Fanny Flagg-like writing with that homey hometown feel. Susan's mentor and friend, Haze, has a stroke and as she sits at the hospital bedside, Susan reminisces of her first run-in and subsequent life lessons she has learned with/through Haze. Haze wrote self help columns for years and Susan decides to resurrect the articles as Haze lies dying. She again touches the lives of every town member, some good some bad and finds new readers in the younger generation. Warm and cozy read.

Framed by news stories of half a century and annotated with the town’s chorus of voices, Haze’s story unfolds, as do those of others touched by the Granite Creek Gazette, including Susan, struggling with her troubled marriage, and her teenage son Sam, who—much to his surprise—enjoys his summer job reading the paper archives and discovers secrets that have been locked in the files for decades, along with sad and surprising truths about Haze’s past.

Great story with wonderful characters

This book was a struggle for me. The formatting of the story was difficult to follow. Sometimes I didn’t know who’s POV was taking place. The premise of the story was intriguing and most of the characters were likable but I couldn’t get over the chaotic way in which the book was written. For this reason, I decided to quit after 20%. While the writing was great and at times a little over the top, I found the struggle to follow along to be more than I wanted out of a book. It didn’t help that the ARC formatting was a mess!

What I did read was 3 stars. Witty, intriguing and comical.

I didn't like the opening dialogue or the red ink it was in. Angela lives in Paris and rides a scooter. Viviennes been gone for ten years. Harold is getting deeper into Alzheimer's . I liked the characters.

A free copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Chronicles of a Radical Hag tells the story of two women, Susan and Haze. One an editor of the local newspaper, the Granite Creek Gazette, and the other a long-time columnist. Haze suffers a stroke and while she is in hospital, Susan decides to re-run her old columns in the newspaper. These columns, both personal and political in nature, provoked several strong responses at the time, and now that they are being re-printed.
I have to say that I did not enjoy this story as much as I thought I would. While the story idea is nice, that's sort of the most I can say about the story. It's all just so...nice. For a "radical hag", I thought that the columns would provide more exciting tid-bits and the rest of the novel is based around how these columns end up affecting other people's lives and relationships, such as bringing Susan and her teenage son back together again. All the characters in the story give great importance to Haze and yet I could never really understand why. I felt like as a reader, I was waiting for a moment of drama and it never really happened and that let the book down for me.
I'm not sure if I'm just not the right audience for this particular book or that maybe it's just not a great choice for a holiday read (I took it on holiday with me), but I just never felt particularly engaged or enthusiastic about this book.
Still, it's a very nice, quiet sort of book if that is what appeals to you. 2 stars.

This is a cute story. It's a small town, yummy recipes, sentimental, and very predictable. There's nothing bad about it, but nothing super remarkable either. Just not to my taste.

Took a bit to get into, but I loved the switch in perspective. Engaging. Definitely recommend to teens plus.

DNF
This is boring as heck and I'm not gonna read the rest of it.


Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I thought it was so sweet. It is a book that brings a small town together after a longtime newspaper columnist has a stroke.The editor and friend of our main character Haze decides to bring honor to her by reprinting some of her columns from the past fifty years.. It was beautiful to see how everyone came together through her writing. I definitely enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more by this author.

This is one of those books that is an easy read. It is not too difficult, no crazy twists or turns, it just is a nice book. Overall, the concept is interesting and the author definitely has something to say.

This one just didn’t work for me! I am sure many people will love it but for me it was slow and not what I was in the mood for!

This was a fun and witty book that was a blast to read! I also love the cover of this one and how bright and fun it is. It really says a lot about the book in general. Not to mention, the recipes included sound delicious and I would love to try some.

This was a charming book about a small-town newspaper columnist who has suffered a stroke. The paper decides to run her old columns and they are hugely popular. They tell the story of her life - her marriage, her life at work and more.

I enjoyed reading about small-town life but the book got a little boring for me after a while.

Thanks to the University of Minnesota Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy,

I enjoyed the fact that it comes with recipes. I will be checking out more form Landvik in the future.

Best-selling author Landvik has written another wonderful story set in MN featuring a charming and quirky set of characters who welcome us into their lives. Haze Evans has been a columnist for the Granite Creek Gazette since 1964, chronicling both the news (locally and worldwide) and human-interest stories supported by her (often liberal) opinions. As a result, she has built a huge fan base but has also had her share of detractors. In fact, she earned her nickname from one of her most ardent critics who wrote “...this morning’s looney harangue was nothing more than a chronicle of a radical hag.” When she falls into a coma after a stroke, the editor/owner Susan McGrath decides to publish some of her old columns chronologically along with comments.

Sam, Susan’s 15-year-old son, has been acting up as the result of his parents’ separation, so she puts him to work reading the old columns and choosing which to publish. In the process, he comes to know Haze, learns about history, reveals shocking family secrets, and, most importantly, finds his own voice. “This is kind of a surprise to me, but I’m really getting into writing in a way that seems to matter way more than a hobby. Not like I’m good or anything at it, but I really like—no, I love doing it. Love trying to put down what I’m thinking and feeling.” He has so much to say that his teacher adds “Radical Hag Wednesdays” to the curriculum so that Sam and his classmates can weigh in on the events and opinions expressed in the columns. As his teacher said, “I think that’s the gift of any good writer...By bringing us into their own world, they bring us into the whole world.”

Whether intentional or not, Landvik has used Haze’s opinions on past and current events to advance a very liberal political agenda, which may offend Trump supporters and other ultra-conservatives. There is nothing off the table: Watergate (“...no one—not even the president—is above the law”); immigration; Christians against LGBTQ; the AIDS crisis; abortion and Roe vs. Wade; terrorism; the opioid crisis; the 2000 election; the senselessness of war; teens and porn; gun control; and white male privilege. Every topic is supported either by Haze’s personal anecdotes or the experiences of secondary characters in the book who are suffering the consequences of prejudice, hatred, or government’s heavy-handed regulation. There is so much packed into the pages of this novel, but the ultimate take-aways are that there is great value in putting pen to paper rather than communicating via technology, the old have so much wisdom and knowledge that they can share with the young if given the chance, long-buried secrets are often exposed, people’s bad behavior often masks deep pain and loss, and history has a way of repeating itself unless people learn from it.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from University of MN Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a very fun book! The columns were great! A light and easy read!

I have really enjoyed Lorna's books in the past and recommended them to others but this one is just...meh. I'm going to jump on the band wagon and agree with other reviewers in that this book feels like the other political soap box. I don't mind discussing politics or reading books with political themes but this just felt heavy handed and by the end of the book I was bored and pretty apathetic to the lives of the characters.

2.5 stars
I really wanted to like this book, with its small-town, folksiness and its recipes (which I didn’t try, even though they looked good). However, I felt like there were just too many themes and social issues crammed into the book. They really overshadowed the characters for me. I hope others really enjoy the book and the recipes.

Thanks to NetGalley and University of Minnesota Press for the ARC.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book honestly, but I really enjoyed it. It was a quick read and just what I needed after reading a heavy nonfiction. I loved the columns! Just a fun book overall.