Welcome back, Olive Kitteridge. So very glad you made a return appearance. As quirky and socially backward as ever, but with a sense of purpose and speaking the truth when others can't or won't, Olive navigates aging, a new man in her life, and shares stories of the characters, young and old, who cross her path. Written with descriptive prose that enables the reader to see the people and the scenes described, Elizabeth Strout gives us the special gift of more time spent with Olive. Savor it.

This book is a big time winner! From the first page, I could not put it down. It's superbly written with vivid descriptions and a fantastic story.

I sat and devoured this sequel to Olive Kittredge in an evening. Elizabeth Strout returns to explore the lives of the residents of Crosby, Maine through loss, pain, longing, and death and a reminder that we are, fundamentally, alone. Secrets abound, and we're taken into the confidences of children and adults alike while treated to luminous musings, such as when Suzanne says to her lawyer, Bernie: "I think our job - maybe even our duty - is to - " Her voice became calm, adultlike. "To bear the burden of the mystery with as much grace as we can." Gorgeous stuff. Brava - another winner!

Thanks Net Galley for allowing me to read this incredible book. Elizabeth Stroud never disappoints!!! I am in my golden years so I really enjoy reading about older people. Olive is so real and suffers through the same problems that most senior citizens deal with. She is cantankerous and obnoxious at time but also funny. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Netgalley for this this ARC , and Elizabeth for writing this wonderful book Olive, Again. I absolutely loved this book. Spending time again with the characters Olive Kettridge was a delight. Olive’s quirky interaction with various characters she meets were a constant inspiration. I highly recommend this book.

I had forgotten how much I LOVED OLIVE KITTREDGE!! Olive, Again is just as good, if not better than the first Olive book. As an "older" reader, I always appreciate books that speak to the issues of Older people.....this talks about just about every issue facing those of us in the "Golden Years" and it is done with a great deal of love and humor. When this book is published, I will be recommending to all of my friends and both of my book clubs. I would love to meet Elizabeth Stout......any chance she will do "readings" in local book stores????

I was thrilled to get another glimpse into Olive’s older years. If you enjoyed Elizabeth Strout’s previous books, this one will not disappoint. Enjoyed this book so much!

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an early copy of Olive, Again to review. Is it possible to award a second Pulitzer Prize to a sequel? I certainly hope so because although Olive Kitteridge was a worthy recipient, Olive, Again is even better!

Olive, resident of Crosby, Maine and retired high school math teacher is again both central and peripheral character in each of these chapters, short stories, novellas (whatever you call them) but with a difference. As she ages, Olive begins to be insightful, about herself and others. Moreover, Elizabeth Strout adds comedy, some of it so uproariously funny that I kept guffawing loudly much to the disturbance of others in the room.

How can I persuade you to sign up to reserve a copy? (But first make sure you read Olive Kitteridge.) You won't be sorry. This book will make you think, address your own aging and mortality, and ponder on what kind of a parent you were. It is the best of what a book can be: well-written, literary, and impossible to stop reading. Whatever else you do, make sure you slow down as you read "The End of the Civil War Days" chapter. I read it twice.

Bravo, Elizabeth Strout. You may have gotten a late start to being a published author, but you have more than made up for it in quality.

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

The world is changing fast for Olive Kitteridge, and it’s hard to keep up. Some things, however, like Olive, never change.

Still her forthright, opinionated, unfiltered self, Olive knows everyone and everyone knows Olive. She says what she thinks and you’ll find yourself laughing because you’ve thought many of the same things about people you know, but would never say. Ay-yup.

These fabulous short stories contain threads of the topics life hands us all-passed on family members, unplanned pregnancies, multiple marriages, dysfunctional families, life’s disappointments, etc. It’s the quotidian stuff that grabs you, and Olive makes it funny.

Elizabeth Strout has hit another home run with Olive, Again. Entertaining from start to finish, if you have a humorous bone in your body, you’ll love this very non-PC and real Olive Kitterage.

(This review appears on Goodreads, on my personal Facebook page, on The Book Club Girls Facebook group and on 52 Books Facebook group.)

If you go into "Olive, Again" expecting rainbows and fluffy kittens, you're going to be sorely disappointed. This sequel to "Olive Kitteridge" continues its narrative of loneliness and despair.

Our title character makes at least a minor appearance in each of the short stories that make up this book. In many cases, the stories/chapters are Olive's own.

Olive is pretty much the same cranky pants with a heart full of holes we met in the first book. She's a crab who pushes away people with her sharp-edged tongue. But she has a tender side that surfaces sometimes.

We meet a lot of other people, too. Everyone has their own problems. Infidelity. Child sexual abuse. Physical abuse. Alcoholism. You get the idea. Loneliness and disaffection are common themes.

This book isn't going to be for everyone. I liked it. The stories are realistic portrayals of people living their lives of quiet desperation.

Olive has returned..what a pleasure. After 11 years Elizabeth Strout has done it AGAIN! Using the same formula of interlinked stories, she has created an inciteful novel to reintroduce her characters and add new ones in the iconic village of Crosby, Maine. She manages to imbue her townspeople with incredible reality and depth by describing their idiosyncrasies and defects with such clarity and brevity. Not a word is wasted. As always, there is Olive, either the focus or standing in the wings to anchor the novel or exit with the flip of her hand. Strout’s talents exemplify the epitome of the classic excellence of literary fiction that other writers strive for but do not achieve. No one escapes her sharp eye but the flaws are revealed with pathos. The only objection I have is that Strout spares no one and as Olive ages the indignities are described in extremely revealing detail. No sequel seems likely... Farewell Olive. Bravo Elizabeth.

Oh, Olive! The second I started reading Olive, Again this past July, my heart was filled with so much comfort from the voice of Elizabeth Strout. The book was cozy, familiar, and there was a great deal of connection between this novel and others in regards to characters making surprise appearances. It follows Olive through the later part of her adult years and I found delight in watching her learn, change, and grow. She teaches us beautiful things, such as listening to people's stories. But let's get to the most important aspect I'd like to discuss.

Is Olive a Republican or a Democrat? I'd have to re-read Olive Kitteridge to see if it was mentioned and I missed it, but everything I knew about Olive would have made me suspect one party and then, BAM, she belongs to the other! As of many books recently, I found Elizabeth's shade throwing hilarious and loved every minute.

Please read this!

If you loved Olive Kitteridge, you'll love Olive, Again as well! This delightful novel chronicles Olive's later years. It vacillates between stories of Olive herself and the other residents of Crosby, Maine, telling the story of her marriage to Jack, her move into an assisted living facility, and her efforts in reconciling with her husband Christopher. I didn't want this book to end; the stories were heartwarming with many poignant observations of human nature. I highly recommend Olive, Again to readers who enjoy novels and are interested in life in the Northeastern US.

As in her Pulitzer prize winning Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth tells her story via interlocking stories, reminding me of the work of Chuck Close in which each small element, visible up close, coalesces into a whole picture when observed from afar. The histories of the inhabitants of a small coastal town as well as those of a larger one an hour away, are brought into sharp focus, and as in the earlier book, Olive herself is sometimes front and center, sometimes, on the edge, but the effect of her forceful personality is present even if she was just a seventh grade math teacher to someone. Included here are the resolutions of the lives encountered in two earlier of Strout's works, The Burgess Boys, and Amy and Isabelle. She can say so much so economically, and Olive in her "golden years," while not completely mellow, has had some of the rough edges smoothed out, has realized some of her mistakes and choices, and has refined that quality that made her memorable and important to so many.

Enjoyed the first Olive Kittredge book but this one disappointed. No character was exciting enough to continue to the end. Got bored half way through

I will never tire of the fictional Crosby, Maine and it's personalities, and I don't think I've ever loved a character as much as I've loved Olive Kitteridge. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the latest from my absolute favorite author.

"It was as though waves swung her up and then down, tossing her high - high - and then the darkness came from below and she felt terror and struggled. Because she saw that her life - her life, what a silly foolish notion, her life - that her life was different, might possible be very different or might not be different at all, and both ideas were unspeakably awful to her, except for when the waves took her high and she felt such gladness, but it did not last long, and she was down again, deep under the waves, and it was like that - back and forth, up and own, she was exhausted and could not sleep."

I can praise this book from so many different angles: the writing is exquisite, the character development is exceptional, especially for short stories, each story is so different and yet so similar that it creates unity without getting repetitive. But while Strout's craft is impeccable, what makes her stand out is her perceptiveness. Her ability to zero into the human part in each of us and in all of us, is incredible. These stories are touching not in the superficial-sentimental way and not even in the raw-exposing-human-pain way but in the tiny truths of what it means to be human. How ordinary days are laced with sorrow, regret, and longing. What it means to be human and lose bits of yourself, lose bits of potential futures you though you had. Realizing all the ways in which life gets ahead of you and you end up in a place you never intended to but now it's too late.

These stories are subtle, textured, and layered. These characters are complex and hard to understand because let's be honest, humans are complex and hard to understand. There isn't a clean line between cause and effect in our lives. We do things, we choose paths, we say things and it's unclear what led to those.

Strout has a unique ability to weave all this into her characters and stories. She has a way of exposing a moment in their lives in such a way that we get a peek into the complexity of what it means to be human. I might not like these characters, I might not relate to their individual characteristics or choices but I see their humanity. I see their struggle. These stories give me permission for the complicated bits of my life. They help me feel connected and understood.

"People either didn't know how they felt about somehing or they chose never to say how they really felt about something."

The character here, including Olive, are not the most likable characters. They are petty, selfish, boring, rude and many other human characteristics. But that's the whole point. Most people in life aren't just purely likable. We all have parts of us that are petty, selfish, boring, rude, and more. We are not cartoons. Maybe some of these characters are a bit more unlikable than average. But even that's not the point, for me. It's that they are all human and even as they struggle, they touch each others' lives and they make a difference.

"And it came to him then that 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."

There are many themes in these stories but what I felt most acutely were the themes of loneliness and aging. Especially since Olive herself is aging throughout the story, these themes weave through many of the stories. Each story manages to weave a glimmer of hope through the sadness/reall-ness of life.

"You all know who you are. If you just look at yourself and listen to yourself, you know exactly who you are. And don't forget it."

I knew all along that I would love this novel and Strout did not disappoint. Even if every single story didn't speak to me equally, the collection will stay with me for a long, long time.

Huge thanks to Random House and netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review and to Elizabeth Strout for brining our humanity to the surface so very beautifully.

I have read all the Elizabeth Strout Books over the years. I think I picked them up at first because they seemed literary. Something about
the bleakness and Mainers ways was captivating. In the interim I’ve spent time in Brunswick and was charmed. A couple chapters
in to this book I realized I really do not like and probably never did/the writing style or the various Olive related characters. I do enjoy the linked short story form so
two and a Stars before it disappears!

Again, ELizabeth Strout has written a winner! I have forgotten how much I missed Olive Kitteredge. I am amazed that the author can still write about this character and all the people that she interacts with. Thanks to this author for writing such wonderful stories.

Oh, how I have loved Olive. Elizabeth Strout is a genius observer of the human condition...in her books, her ability to focus and draw the reader into seemingly minor storylines and conversations while focusing less on other details is unmatched by other writers. She is the master of a novel told in stories and Olive Kitteridge is a complex character who will conjure every emotion out there, but above all honesty. I was in tears at the end. I loved this book so much. I wanted to go to Crosby, Maine. My only caveat to other readers - read Strout’s other works first...not just Olive Kitteridge, but The Burgess Boys and Amy and Isabelle.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC. Olive, Again is available on 10/15.