The first time I read an Elizabeth Strout was My Name is Lucy Barton and I immediately loved her storytelling style.

Olive, Again is no different. What a beautiful story! It's so many relatable stories within a story which goes back to Olive - a force of a character. There were so many characters in the book that I can relate to or that reminds me of someone when I was kid, when I was in college. This book showed so many situations that can very much happen in real life. Some of them makes you wonder, does that happen in real life?

I certainly love how Strout was able to create such a snob but loveable character. Olive is, Oh.my.god. what a woman! Brutally honest with such a kind heart. She's so very real. Take me for what I am. I am Olive. For a character, I feel that she was a complicated individual but as I read through, it revealed the reasons why she was who she was and that made me understand her without the book narrating so much about herself but through interactions with other characters throughout the book and I love that! Definitely 5 stars!

I read Olive Kitteridge with great interest and chose it for a book club several years ago. As a result, I was eager to read Olive, Again too. The characters are incredibly sad and their lives are sad. Olive is struggling in Olive, Again to be a better person. That's against her nature, but I do give her credit for trying. Too, her daughter-in-law does not make it easy for Olive to be kind or even polite. In truth, the interconnected stories are about real people with real issues in their lives. Life is not all sweetness and light as we well know.

Rather like the second Lucy Barton book, this Olive Kiitteridge follow up functions as short stories evoking a community, with a beloved character as the connecting thread. The themes are old age, death, the getting of wisdom, the late exploration of character. Strout is a mistress of all this, and her book, which unfurls over a long time frame, is both simple and incisive. Beloved, cranky Olive holds it together and lends some useful vinegar when one or two resolutions lean a little sweet. Few readers will take against this reacquaintance with a beguiling sour puss which also includes some familiar characters from other Strout successes. Bound to be a huge hit.

Beautiful writing and winkingly brings in returning characters from Strout’s other work, although at times sentimental (I think Olive would be a libertarian, at best). Above all though, hugely depressing (but in an affecting way, I suppose). I had a gloomy, unsettled weekend with it but stayed up late to finish, so...?

4.5 stars. I loved Olive Kitteridge and this wonderful sequel did not disappoint in any way! Through a series of connected short stories, the reader catches up with Olive, still her curmudgeonly self but definitely older, and others who inhabit or pass through Olive’s small town of Crosby, Maine. We see Olive watch her friends and family fall away as she deals with her own physical decline that comes with age. She is still the same old Olive, however, as abrasive and bluntly honest as ever, but with an inner heart of gold.

This novel was a wonderful opportunity to go back and visit Olive as an old friend, as well as to catch up with characters from the previous novel and from other of Strout’s works (for example, Amy and Isabelle). As I was reading, I saw Olive as an older Francis McDormand, who played Olive’s character so beautifully and brilliantly in the television mini-series.

Strout’s writing was, as always, superb and impeccable -- and again Pulitzer Prize worthy. Her portrayal of Olive as she enters into old age is both illuminating and heart-breaking. I can hear Olive thinking over and over again, “Getting old is definitely not for sissies!”

All in all, this was another wonderful read from Strout. If you loved Olive Kitteridge, you will love Olive, Again.

Let me start off by saying that I utterly adored Olive Kitteridge. Strout gave us this wry female heroin that I could not get enough of. Olive is back, she is older and even more crabby than before.

Like this first book, this is written in connected short stories, this book does follow more a steady timeline than Strout’s first version of Olive. We go back to Crosby, Maine and hear rich stories of her neighbors and Olive and her new love Jack.

Strout has the amazing capability to write wonderful stories about the mundane. Some of the stories will make you cry, some will make you laugh. Strout pretty much covers the entire spectrum.

To be fair, I will read anything Elizabeth Strout writes and probably love it. She is definitely one of my favorite authors.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Olive, Again
By Elizabeth Strout

I was so grateful to receive an ARC of, "Olive, Again and get the chance to enjoy the very human, but for the most part cantankerous, aging Olive. The interchanging stories featuring Olive and other folks from Crosby, Maine deal with issues that are touching and universal. I admire Elizabeth Strout for masterfully crafting a follow up to her Pulitzer prize winning original novel, Olive Kitteridge. I found the themes of these inter-related stories to be profoundly poignant, touching, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but very human.
Unforgettable and a truly magnificent five star read.

Thank you to Net Galley, Elizabeth Strout and Publisher for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Olive, Again is just that! We get to know Olive better with each story. It is an honest portrayal of this main character. A great read!

Fans of Olive Kitteridge will not be disappointed with this wonderful sequel. In fact, I enjoyed Olive, Again even more. Strout uses her signature style of seamlessly combining short, character driven stories into a novel. Strout's poignant observations on late life love, aging, death, family relations and the social challenges faced by many elderly people are so subtly and movingly rendered. Her observations are completely on point. Strout has been my favorite author for awhile now. This book merely confirmed this status as most likely permanent.

It’s difficult to create a character that readers love and never want to leave; it’s even more challenging when that character is aloof, cranky, opinionated, and emotionally distant. Elizabeth Strout has written a story that is undeniably honest and heart-breakingly beautiful – and given us reason to love Olive Kitteridge in all her complexity. That’s the wonder and beauty of both Olive Kitteridge and Olive Again.

It’s been nine years since I read Olive Kitteridge; is it possible that Olive Again is an even better novel? Olive is now eighty-two, dealing with the challenges of aging as only Olive can. She hardly recognizes her own body (and it betrays her at every turn); her loneliness has deepened and matured, less self-inflicted at this point in her life than inevitable; and her conversations with herself and others are a heady mix of comedy and tragedy. She continues to dispense wisdom to the townsfolk of Crosby, Maine: “There’s not one goddamn person in this world who doesn’t have a bad memory or two to take with them through life.” And her observations of the world are luminous: “God, but I have always loved the light in February.”

The structure and writing of this novel are stunning, but it’s the life-affirming message that is unforgettable: “it should never be taken lightly, the essential loneliness of people, that the choices they made to keep themselves from that gaping darkness were choices that required respect.”

Before I go any further, I want to say, I have Olive Kitteridge in my library but hadn’t read it yet. That being said, maybe this book would have made more sense if I had. I was so looking forward to this read and was excited when NetGalley and the publisher gave me the opportunity. And with all the glowing reviews, I had truly expected more. I do have several of Elizabeth’s other books in my library and even with this disappointment, I am looking very forward to reading them.

This book is a menagerie of several small stories, other than Olive’s, and they just didn’t relate to the plot. A couple were way out there with sexual scenes that didn’t make much sense and probably could have been left out, in fact I found them kind of weird.

I tried my best to fall in love with Olive but it just didn’t happen, even though there were several scenes that were enjoyable with her peculiar ways. Towards the end I felt the story was trying to redeem itself but it was almost too little too late. If I had read Olive Kitteridge first, maybe that would have helped, but unfortunately, I didn’t. This was a very disappointing book for what I was expecting.
I thank Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this for my honest unbiased review. Unfortunately, the best I can do is 3 stars.

I am sometimes nervous about reading books by Pulitzer winners, will it be too high brow or too dry? I am glad I took a chance on Olive Again, by Elizabeth Strout, as it is down-to-earth and fast-moving. Strout reintroduces Olive, a curmudgeon spending her golden years in Crosby, Maine. Olive is quick-witted and observant and the book switches between her life and those adjacent to her. The chapters fly by, as does the book’s timeline, and you learn about the characters that surround Olive in her small town. If you are hesitant to try Literary Fiction, this would be a great place to start. In fact, Olive Kitteridge was the original in this series and won the Pulitzer in 2009, so head that way for an accessible entry into the world of Literary Fiction!

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book in the near future with an honest rating and review.

Mehhhh 2.5 stars. I got through it. Mostly skimming the last 25%. And I didn't care for it. I think I liked it a little more than the first one but I still don't like Olive at all and most of this wasn't enjoyable. I thought maybe I'd read the first one at the wrong time, books can mean different things depending on where you are mentally when you read them, but nope. I just don't like Olive or her observations or the goings on in this town. Meh.

I see I am in the minority here but I just did not connect with this book. I didn't connect with any of the characters at all. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this book for my honest review.

Remember Olive Kittredge, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of 2009? Well...shes baaaack! And as much as I loved the original, I think I loved this second book even more. Olive is still the curmudgeon that she has always been - passing judgment on the neighbors in her small Maine town, fighting with her son, badgering her second husband. Yet Olive also stops and listens to their stories, shows her former students that she saw something inside of them that was worthwhile, and ultimately details what life is like as we age, how the view narrows as our bodies betray us, and how we must find worth in a small space. Elizabeth Strout is one of my very favorite authors, writing in a clear sparse style, not mucking up the story with unnecessary verbiage, and creating stories of real life and real people. Oh, how I loved this book. If you missed Olive the first time around, I highly recommend going back and revisiting this book before going on to the sequel; you will not regret it.

I loved <u>Olive Kitteridge</u>. We readers don't always have to approve of or even like the main character or anti-hero in a novel. But some readers prefer to read novels where they can find themselves in the main characters and remain sympathetic to them. That was not always possible in <u>Olive Kitteridge</u>, because Strout likes to portray her characters realistically, warts and all.
We've all met an Olive Kitteridge: totally inflexible, averse to change or accepting new people, judgmental and impossibly set in her ways. Olive is too starkly unflinching (I wanted to use the word courageous – too trite!) when it comes to looking real life in the face. You will never enjoy a comfy chat with Olive over a cup of coffee, and yet she inspired such devotion and love from several men in her life. One man may have even committed suicide partly due to his (unrequited?) love for her.
But in <u>Olive, Again</u>, we find an older, slightly more yeilding Olive. I always admired Olive’s backbone, but I didn’t always agree with her attitude or black and white judgments. Hindsight and regret are bitter pills to swallow in your twilight years. Now THAT I can relate to!
Elizabeth Strout is a master of “slice of life/stark reality” storytelling. Strout, like Olive Kitteridge, is going to tell it as she sees it, whether you like it or not. Just as <u>Anything Can Happen</u> strays out and explores the people and town that influenced Lucy Barton’s early years, <u>Olive, Again</u> fleshes out the people on the periphery of (or who may briefly cross path with) Olive’s life. It is not so much a continuation of her story as it is an offshoot. Nothing will ever equal that breathless, awed feeling I had when I turned the last pages of Strout’s <u>My Name is Lucy Barton</u>, but I was definitely left satisfied by Strout’s excellent writing style and realistic storytelling in <u>Olive, Again</u> . My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I think of Olive Kitteridge, I see Francis McDormand who played her character brilliantly in a TV mini-series. This time around I'm not sure that Francis could be as old as Olive is in the novel. Olive is old, like me, and many in my baby boomer generation. Olive lost her husband, Henry and true to Olive's personality, she thought she adjusted to life alone quite nicely.

The second book of Olive isn't quite as funny as the first. Olive now deals with aging issues. She knows everyone in Crosby, Maine and begins recognizing her former students who come in full adult form now. Olive spied a former student who became the USA Poet Laureate. Olive enjoyed telling her that she knew she was talented and encouraged her to write what she knew, even if it might hurt people's feelings. This incident opens the door on a narrative that tells what many people really think about Olive, and always have thought about her. Olive doesn't think Christopher, her son, loves her. They can't seem to connect, ever.

The truly brilliant part of the story is that Olive begins to see herself as other people see her. She has a choice to stubbornly stay the same, aloof and sometimes cruelly blunt, or open herself up to enjoying people and expanding her world. Only Olive can make this decision. ES gently and sometimes, not so gently, takes us on this journey in the later years of Olive, curmudgeon and smart, citizen of Crosby, Maine.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC (10/15).

Before reading this book, I never liked Olive Kitteridge, but only blamed myself. The first book won the Pulitzer and readers I trust have loved the book. So I have always thought I must have read it at the wrong time or just missed something. Now, I know that isn't true. I still dislike her. She is far too blunt and judgmental. She is dull and boring, pessimistic and has an ugly view of the world. She would never be a person I befriended. Everything about her is offputting. The only thing I like about Olive is her intelligence. I love a smart woman. However, she directs that brainpower in all the wrong ways.

There are so many things that I should like about her. She obviously loves her son and her grandchildren who are distant and remote from her. She longs for companionship and has outlived two husbands. She is aging and unhealthy. She is isolated and lonely. I understand these things well. I am recently an empty-nester and my husband works many hours. I am disabled and stuck at home for much of my time. Olive and I have some things in common. But the problem is I do not look at the world in the same way as she does and I don't respect her judgmental nature.

Sadly, I never connected to Olive or the people around her and the book didn't work very well for me. If you enjoyed the first book, though, you will likely love this one as it is very true to the first.

I want to thank Netgalley, Ms. Strout and Random House Publishing for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Such a pretty Fall cover on this book with the falling leaves! I have read several of Elizabeth Strout's books - mostly the Lucy Barton ones, but I have not read Olive Kitteridge. Still when I saw this one I grabbed it thinking only that I love Strout's prose and I'm sure I will enjoy it. I wasn't disappointed at all - Strout's prose is so down-to-earth I was immediately hypnotized into Olive's life. This could be a stand alone book, but I'm sure I could have benefitted from more background by reading the first book.

I found Olive to be such an interesting character and enjoyed her revelations as she discovered some things about herself and others in her older years. Strout brings Olive to life and you feel like you know her - like she's a part of your community.

There are several short stories interwoven into the book that are all tied together through Olive. Strout masterfully blended these stories moving into and out of Olive's life. I found the book gives insight into older adults and into relationships in general. I totally enjoyed the read.

Thanks to Elizabeth Strout and Random House Publishing Group through Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.