I loved that there was so much more Olive in this book. Didn't we all want that?!
Strout is spot on again with her observational essays on the human race and the inhabitants of Crosby, Maine in particular.
This time the flawed, irascible, blunt talking Olive is finally cracking her veneer a bit and becoming more mellow in her old age, or maybe her second marriage to Jack Kennison has something to do with it. Whatever it is, we get to glimpse Olive's emotions more as she deals with her relationship with her son, the death of a second husband and the process of aging.
It's a wonderful book and equal or if not better than the first.

I loved Olive, Kitteridge but found this book to be a bit slow. I enjoyed Olive's no nonsense attitude and that created her character and how people treated her. Under that hard shell she had a tenderness for those who treated her with respect.

Rating: 4.5 stars rounded down to 4 stars

This is Elizabeth Strout’s second installment in the ‘Olive Kitteridge’ series. Like the first book, it’s a collection of related short stories centered around small town life in Crosby, Maine. In the eleven years since ‘Olive Kitteridge’ was published and the 10 years since it won the Pulitzer Prize, the author has gone on to write other fabulous books. However, even as I read those other books, once in awhile I would wonder what was going on in Crosby.

This book sets out to answer that question. It’s not required that you read ‘Olive Kitteridge’ before this book. But I think it does add background and depth to some of the stories. In ‘Olive, Again’ we meet some of the characters from the first book, and plenty of new characters. Strout’s strength is capturing the both the outward physicality of life, and the inner mental voice that provides the soundtrack to the outward manifestation. She portrays how Olive has aged. How she's grown mellower in some aspects and sharper in others.

I enjoyed meeting the most of the old and new characters. Some stories were sad yet compelling, showing how people often lead lives of ‘quiet desperation’. The beauty of the writing lets you come to those conclusions yourself without the author having to explicitly state it. Elizabeth Strout is a writer who gets you to care about the characters and the minutia of their days and years. She shows how people are so alike in some ways, and yet so different in others. This is a lovely book which I suspect may end up in the running for a Pulitzer Prize.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Random House Publishing Group – Random House; and the author, Elizabeth Strout; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Olive, Again. I love that title. It says it all.
Olive is a retired 7th grade math teacher living in a small town in Maine. In her blunt, unapologetic manner Olive blazes through life. Some would say she takes no prisoners. Her relationships to family, friends, students and townspeople are detailed in both books: Olive Kitteridge covers 30 years of her life through vignettes—some about Olive, some where she has a minor role.
Strout uses the same format for Olive, Again. Olive has aged. She may have softened somewhat. She still has her hard edges and her reputation abides, but Olive’s introspective thoughts have her examining her relationships. “She had been lucky, she supposed. She had been loved by two men, and that had been a luck thing; without luck, why would they have loved her? But they had. And her son seemed to have come around. It was herself, she realized, that did not please her. . .But it was too late to be thinking about that—”
Olive’s reflective thoughts are the same that many of my fellow baby boomers share—the joys, the sorrows, the what-ifs and the if-I-had-onlys. I am glad that she shared hers with me. So glad that I think I need to reread the first book.
“I do not have a clue who I have been. Truthfully, I do not understand a thing.”
----Olive Kitteridge
Olive, Again

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Once again, Elizabeth Strout hones in on such specific aspects of human nature, one wonders if she spends her days crawling around through other people's minds. This book takes us through Crosby, Maine, via our main "tour guide" Olive Kitteridge, but the story is told in that "Winesburg, Ohio" way of telling a story so that each character tells us a bit more about the place-as-character, and each person is also glancing off of the main glue-character, Olive. I can't quite recall the other book moving so quickly through time, but that could just be my memory. I was aware of how, sometimes, years had passed when we come to Olive once again. In the way of the masterful Kent Haruf, we are given a look into the lives, souls, and person-hood of small town folk, living regular lives, having regular thoughts and experiences, spending years regretting, loving, remembering, harboring, gossiping, observing, then dying. This book pulls humanity together by observing the basic aspects we all share in life - an inner dialogue, the necessity of living among other humans (like them or not, interact or not), and decline and death. Some of us are lucky enough to make it into old age, or, as Strout seems to perceptively point out, luck is not really felt in these folks as they watch everyone else age and become old and die, while they sit with their memories. Strout is clearly a master of the human condition.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. Even though I hadn’t read or even heard of the previous book in this “duology,” I didn’t feel any problem figuring things out. Strout wrote these as “novels of stories.” Her writing draws the reader completely into stories. Each character is masterfully crafted. Olive, herself, appears in most chapters, but even when the focus is on another of the citizens of Crosby, Maine, she might be referenced in some way. Olive, Again continues from Olive Kitteridge and follows the lives of the characters as they age. I was charmed by Strout’s writing style and I’m already far into Olive Kitteridge.

This is a sequel to the book Olive Kitteridge, which won the Pulitzer Prize for its American author in 2009. As in the first novel this is a series of connected short stories, some directly about the character of Olive, while in others she is only tangentially involved. In this one an aging Olive finds romance again and then deals with the indignities of getting old. It is a lovely read, although best appreciated after reading the the original novel.

Too’s first book with Olive Kitteridge was a masterpiece that I loved so I had high hopes for this sequel. I liked the book and enjoyed reading about Olive again but did not feel as connected to this book.

Again, this book had many stories going on and somewhat tied together but I felt it was too confusing with all the quirky characters and how or if their lives intersected with Olive. The chapters that focused on Olive and her impact on others were the jewels in this book. Olive is a very direct woman with strong opinions but cares about people that need help or are seen as an underdog.

This book follows Olive into her 80s with the real fears older people face and how your life changes as you age. Olive is a character that I sometimes dislike but then realize she has a wonderful heart.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

A high 4 star!

Who is Olive Kitteridge? She seems to pop up everywhere and have thoughts on everyone's business. This is what happens when you teach grade 7 in a small town. You end up knowing something about pretty much everyone. And if you're Olive, you have pretty strong opinions about them too.

This is a reflection on how Strout structured this book and her previous Olive Kitteridge book. These linked short stories alternate their focus from Olive to other people in Olive's periphery. The stories that focus on Olive span her 70s and 80s as she moves toward the end of her life. It is a compelling picture of aging -- of trying to make sense of one's life while remaining firmly grounded in life's small irritants and delights. The stories that don't focus on Olive have the same tone -- the feel of real people struggling undramatically with life's nuanced complications.

I must admit that I generally preferred the chapters that focused on Olive, so I'm not quite at 5 stars. But Strout is so talented that I would happily read anything she writes.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an advance copy.

This is my first "Olive" book, and I have to say, after finishing it, I'm quite depressed. Elizabeth Strout is an excellent writer and I love the words she chooses, and the word pictures that she paints. The separate stories in Olive, Again were melancholy, and I'm not exactly comfortable with finding a meaningful thread that runs throughout the book. I kept anticipating something more, and I was not ever really satisfied.

This was a great continuation of Olive Kitteridge.Olive is older and crankier in some ways but mellower in others. She’s looking back on her life and seeing where she made some mistakes and tries to do better the second time around.

I think that reading Olive Kitteridge first is a must. This is not a stand alone. Cheers to Elizabeth Strout for another great book. Thank you Netgalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth Strout takes us back to Crosby, Maine and the irascible, crotchety, yet still loveable Olive Kitteridge. Olive is older and maybe even a little (very little) mellower, but still manages to ingratiate herself among the residents of her small town, rescuing some and irritating others. As in the novel Olive Kitteridge, this sequel is a collection of short stories revolving around the residents of this small, coastal town in Maine. Olive and her fellow residents deal with the themes of loss, loneliness, racism, love and aging. The intertwining stories run the emotional gamut from humorous to heart-wrenching. We follow Olive, now in her 70s, as she navigates widowhood, remarriage, loss of independence and her continuing struggle to forge a relationship with her only son. Olive finds the beauty in her surroundings and even in some of her neighbors, touching them in ways that are surprising to them as well as to the reader.

Olive, Again is beautifully crafted and thoughtfully laid out. The scenes and characters draw you into their lives and leave you sorry to let them go. Strout’s story-telling is always exquisite and it does not disappoint this time around. I highly recommend this novel.

I didn't realize that there was a first book about Olive. Honestly I barely made it into the second chapter before I decided now was not the time to read this book. I felt like I was reading so many short sentences and that their thoughts were short and mute.

When I'm reading in my head, I expect things to flow and sentences to paint a picture and not be confusing. I didn't feel that with this book which is why I can't finish it or read it right now. Which is disappointing because everyone's reviews are so great and I want to be apart of that but I can't get past the writing.

I'm hoping to come back to this book in a few months and give a better opinion but honestly, it's just so hard to read right now based off on how the first two chapters were written.

This second book was a disappointment for me. I did not find Olive to be as genuine as in the first book, and the story line did not keep me interested. I was so looking forward to this second book, but in hindsight, I realize there never should have been one. Her transformation was the real story. I would have enjoyed a book about her life before her transformati9n more than this one.

Olive is back! After the run-away hit and Pulitzer Prize winner novel of the original Olive Kitteridge, Olive returns. The stories swirl around the main character Olive and the characters in the town of Crosby, Maine. It was a little confusing at first when different stories popped up which seemed unrelated to the central character, but hang with it. You get a beautiful glimpse inside the characters, their lives and struggles.

Strout ability to develop characters and voice in these short vignettes is testament to her skills. Olive picks up with Jack where we left her last. We were able to catch up with the both of them and capture a glimpse of their lives with adult children and the pain each side inflicts on the other.

Olive is strong, straightforward and some could even say — rude. But she remains a character to be remembered such a treat to have her back again.

Sigh. I can tell from the many fans of Olive (and her creator), that there are zillions of fans. Sadly I am not one. I found her unlikeable and just plain uninteresting. Hopefully other readers will enjoy the book. In any case, I want to thank the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

Olive, Again

Olive Continues to Move us, Astound us and Amuse us in Olive, Again

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY
We first met Olive Kitteridge in 2008. The book named for this cantankerous, but vulnerable retired school teacher won the Pulitzer Prize. And now Olive is back again, and as prickly as ever. Olive struggles to understand not only herself, but the lives of those around her in her own frank and abrupt way in 13 interconnected vignettes. Olive lost her husband several years ago and she is now being wooed by retired Harvard professor, Jack Kennison, 74. Jack reflected that kissing Olive, 73, was like kissing a barnacle-covered whale. He doesn’t know why he loves Olive, but he just does. The book starts with a humorous story of Jack traveling to another nearby town to buy a bottle of whiskey to avoid seeing Olive and the “other widow” in the grocery story. In other stories, Olive attends a “stupid” baby shower and then delivers a baby in the backseat of her car, she wakes up in a hospital and falls in love with her doctor, she shares personal stories with a woman undergoing cancer treatment, and she makes a good friend in an assisted living facility.


REVIEW
Olive’s pokes around in the lives of people in Crosby, Maine and her responses to life’s significant moments continue to move us, astound us and amuse us. OLIVE, AGAIN is a compassionate and poignant sequel where Olive faces the challenges of aging and shares her unique perspective on life, as only the elderly can do.

Elizabeth Strout’s writing is charming and masterful. She effortlessly blends these 13 stories to form a humorous and compassionate picture of an aging women who experiences love, loss and loneliness. If you read Olive Kitteridge, you have to read this book. You will see Olive’s robust character evolve and her quirky thoughts and phrases make her come alive on the pages of OLIVE, AGAIN.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Random House
Published October 15, 2019
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

This definitely goes on my best of 2019 list! Strout once again resurrects Olive Kitteridge in this series of interconnected stories. Throughout the stories, best read in order, the reader sees how Olive's life, and the other residents of the town, has unfolded since we last saw her. Olive is my very favorite character in all of literature. I loved this book and I was so sad for it to be over.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was simply phenomenal. Elizabeth Strout once again shows her adeptness at painting a wide cast of very human very real characters. Olive, again is a blend of inter-connected short stories like the first collection that read somewhere between a series of short stories and a novel. I must admit that it had been too long since the first book and I didn't remember the characters so had to read the wiki synopsis of book 1. I thought it was so interesting to see Olive's relationship with all of the characters around her flushed out more - from her son to Jack to a young teenager cleaning houses. "Cleaning" btw was my favorite story. Elizabeth Strout paints such an evocative image of life in this small Maine town and Olive is such a 3D character that you can't help but turn page after page. I enjoyed this immensely.

Reading Olive, Again by @LizStrout (thank you, @NetGalley) and I’m amazed, constantly, at her ability to juxtapose dissimilar characters in small moments that just wrong out the feelings in both characters and readers...powerful resonance in each story, each moment!