Lily King's last two books - Writers and Lovers and Euphoria - were completely different from one another and this collection of short stories also displays her versatility as a writer. With apologies to Forrest Gump, Five Tuesdays in Winter is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get. Some of the stories are set in the '60s or '70s, some in the present day. Some are narrated by women, some are narrated by men, some are told in the third person. The longest is over 40 pages, the shortest is less than 10. Most but not all are set in the US. There aren't really any common themes, other than maybe half of them having an absent parent in the mix.

Overall I was slightly disappointed in this collection. She writes very well and they were all stories that drew me in quickly, but probably only one - When in the Dordogne - was truly memorable. That story, about a teenage boy whose parents go away for the summer and who hire two college students to look after him, was outstanding. The rest were a mixed bag for me. Some - especially Five Tuesdays in Winter and Hotel Seattle - were very good but others felt like they weren't bringing a lot to the party. Which is not unusual with short story collections but I yearn for that rare collection that shines throughout. I liked this, but not as much as I've liked her novels.

Five Tuesdays in Winter, returns readers to the masterfully crafted story telling mixed with interesting characters that we've come to expect from Lily King. A collection of ten separate stories combine to gift readers with a taste of the delightful and the heartbreaking scenarios that we encounter daily in our own lives; Told by various characters from different walks of life, Five Tuesdays gives readers a unique and delightful opportunity to not only find their own reflections in these pages, but those of others, inspiring a chance to form deeper empathy for our friends, family, and strangers.

An outstanding feat, this collection provides stories that range from good to incredible, not one of these stories is truly weak or boring.

I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to netgalley, publishers, and the lovely Lily King for providing an advance e-copy for my viewing and allowing me to spread the word and leave my honest opinion

Last year I read and loved King's Writers and Lovers, so I was excited to try short stories from her. These felt somehow distinctly different from her previous work but also similar. The characters were unique and tangible, the storylines were atmospheric, and the overall feeling was visceral. But I also felt like some of them went over my head, ending abruptly and leaving me wondering, "Is that it?" Some left me feeling quite unsettled. So while I appreciated the writing, I can't decide if I enjoyed them.

Lily King wrote my favorite book of the last five years, Writers & Lovers, so I was incredibly excited for her first collection of stories. It did not disappoint! Although I don't usually gravitate to short story collections as a rule, I am reading more and more collections that are so beautiful, including this one. There were the same themes of coming of age, yearning, writing . . . and all put together through various lenses. My favorite stories from this collection were Creature, Five Tuesdays in Winter, Timeline, and Mansard but the entire collection is worth buying and reading.

Five Tuesdays in Winter comes out next week on November 9, 2021, and you can purchase HERE! I love Lily King and cannot recommend everything by her enough!

But I didn't know that it could be not special with someone you liked.

Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King

Thank you @netgally for the free early ecopy and @librofm for the free audiobook

Lily King is back with a lovely collection of 10 short stories. Short stories are not usually my cup of tea but King has a way of writing the most beautiful stories in only a few pages. All 10 stories are very unique and I did like some more than others but overall, I was still left wanting more. I think that is why most short stories don't work for me, I just want to stay in the story.

The audio was fantastic! The narrator changes with the stories and it seemed all the narrators fit just right.

Lily King is truly one of the greatest writers out there and I cannot wait to read more of her work.

What I love about Lily King's books is that every story feels like a snapshot out of somebody's real life. The characters and their circumstances are authentic and relatable, and they all go through trials and tribulations we've encountered in some variation. In Five Tuesdays in Winter, we meet a vast mixture of characters in a wide array of stories that deal with grief, love, and acceptance.

Typically I find that in a short story book, there inevitably are a few duds, but I genuinely enjoyed everything within this collection. One that tugged at my heartstrings was a story about an elderly grandfather visiting his twenty-five year old granddaughter in the hospital after her skiing accident. His conversations and thoughts in that scene were sweet and the right amount of sad. I also loved the coming-of-age story of a boy about to enter high school that hung out with two college guys that stayed at his home while his parents vacationed to France. We saw what it was like for him to finally be included and be part of the fun.

I'm happy to have picked up this book and briefly enter the lives of these characters. There were lots of emotions, and it was an easy, quick, entertaining read.

My favourite was the one that also gave the title of the collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter. It's the story of a single father who falls in love with the employee at his small bookshop. It reminded me of the LoveActually movie, for some reason. I also liked the story When in Dordogne about a teenage boy who, along with the house he and his parents live in, is babysat by two college boys while the teenager's parents are in France. The last one, The Man at the Door, is a fitting end for the collection. A young mother of three fights her self-doubts about publishing her writing. She finds the inner strength and the value of her writing as she faces the man's cruel scrutinizing.

I mostly liked the first part of the collection, namely the first four-five stories. I am proud of myself for taking notes about each one. This helped me remember what each story is about; just seeing "who" was in the story will be helpful if/ when I want to refer back to it. Having read this collection and since it's my first immersion into the Lily King world, now I'm curious to read more from her. I do want to read Writers and Lovers at some point.

It reads pretty fast, but it's perfect for when you don't have that much time to read. Lovers of short stories will enjoy this one as well, as it offers a plethora of characters and issues.

Thank you to the author, Grove Atlantic and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading "Writers & Lovers", I was eager to see what the author would do with short stories. As with all collections, there were some that resonated more and some less - but all are solid and show off the author's wonderful writing style. Lyrical, descriptive of the nuances of human behavior and the small interactions that have ripple effects in people's lives. Highly recommend.

When I heard that Lily King was coming out with a short story collection, I was super excited and requested this ARC from NetGalley. I was so excited to get my hands on it!! I was not disappointed. Five Tuesdays in Winter is a beautiful, honest short story collection. In each of the ten stories, the main character experiences internal struggles including grief, love, reconciling events from their pasts, and navigating messy relationships. Each story in this collection was compelling in its own way. Of course I had my favorites and a couple that did not connect with as much, but that did not diminish the others. Favorites included Five Tuesday in Winter, When in the Dordogne, Timeline, and Hotel Seattle. Each was fully developed with complex characters. Still, I wanted to know more about these characters and spend more time with them.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this advanced copy of Five Tuesdays in Winter in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on November 9, 2021.

Five Tuesdays in Winter ❄️

This was my first time reading a book that is a collection of short stories & it won’t be my last.

There are 10 short stories in this book & there were many that I would have easily read an entire book on. Lily King’s writing is always deeply emotive & I found all these stories conveyed different emotions so well. There were a couple of stories that I didn’t enjoy as much, but it was easy to overlook as they didn’t last long.

I was surprised how connected I could feel to a character after only a few pages, which is a testament to how well Lily can bring about emotion in such a small amount of time.

My favourite stories were “Five Tuesdays in Winter” - the story of a man whose wife had left him & his teen daughter. It follows his attraction & feelings towards Kate, one of his staff. It was heartwarming, poetic & I was genuinely sad there wasn’t more to go.
And “When in Dorgogne” - a coming of age tale of young teen whose parents left him at home to travel around France. He is left to the care of two young college students & it is one of the first times in his life that he learns what it is to be cared for.

There are stories that touch on difficult subjects - homophobia, death, trauma & abuse, so heed a warning if these are triggers for you.

Thank you so much to Grove Atlantic & NetGalley for my ARC of this beautiful anthology, I loved it.

4.5/5 🌟

“On the way back to Vermont I thought about words and how, if you put a few of them in the right order, a three-minute story about a girl and her dog can get people to forget all the ways you’ve disappointed them.” -Timeline

Short stories tend to leave me wanting. I’ve generally found them lacking the depth I desire. Until now. King charmed me in her previous work, Writers and Lovers. And now she has shown me that not only can I enjoy a collection of short stories, I can also deeply connect with them.

King’s first anthology is full of substance. The ten stories represent varying slices of life that unpack human nature and extrapolate the most inner thoughts.

Each piece in this collection is created with intricate detail, tapping into a wide range of emotions. The characters, all so unique and different, are vividly painted, deeply layered, and relatable. King’s astute observation of people is evident in the way she has crafted these distinctive characters and their stories.

I was entertained by each of the ten stories, but my favorite was Waiting for Charlie. It’s a devastatingly touching story about a 91year old grandfather sitting at the hospital bedside of his granddaughter, recently injured in a skiing accident. After pondering the fragility of life, he is left with an epiphany relatable to all.

The stories left me with just the right amount of satisfaction and yet a hint of ambiguity.

Thank you Lily King, Grove Atlantic, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.

A mixed review. Some of the stories were really moving - the grandfather visiting his grand daughter after an accident,
a single father trying to deal with love the second time around, having a teenager daughter in the background as well, a coming of age story which was very poignant. The fantasy one was my least favourite because fantasy is really not my
genre. my bad not the authors.

Expressive, the necessity to show love not just to feel it, hard difficult relationships (part of life for lots of people who never
seem to get the relationship part right) but mainly looking at how love affects one.

This work of short stories has the same great writing as Writers and Lovers. There are ten stories in all and some resonated with me more than others. Each has characters that are working their way through a crisis or a coming of age. I especially liked the perspectives of the younger characters. I found some of the conclusions more satisfying than others such as the title story of a bookseller. I’d recommend this to those who like lily king or short stories with some difficult subjects.

Five Tuesdays in Winter is a wonderful collection of short stories for a cozy evening. They read quickly and I enjoyed the themes throughout. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a brief literary moment.

This is the first book that I have read by Lily King, and it is leading me to explore her others due to her straightforward and lyrical writing. I have read short stories before, and my struggle has been that they have been too short but not with this collection. I found them to be the perfect length to be able to engage with characters yet get a settling conclusion with each one. The stories were diverse and beautifully written about the human experience of love, grief, family, marriage that I am sure so many readers can relate too. I would say that my favorite of the bunch were Seattle Hotel and Five Tuesdays in Winter with my least favorite being the first, Creature. Due to not enjoying the first one, I did have to motivate myself to continue, and so glad that I did!

Thanks Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC!

I was a big fan of King's most recent novel, Writers & Lovers, so I jumped at the chance to read her story collection. I was pleasantly surprised by the stories I found here. Some reminded me of Writers & Lovers -- with young characters coming of age, while others were entirely new (and admittedly a bit bizarre, like "The Man at the Door").

The majority of the stories focus on familial relationships in some way. Those that explore the relationship between parents and children were some of the most powerful. I especially loved "North Sea," in which a mother and teen daughter go to stay by the sea and try to reconnect in the wake of the death of the girl's father. "South" will also stick with me: mother tells stories to her two young children on their way to a vacation, while also ruminating on her failed marriage. Other stories touch on the idea of absent parents in other ways, whether they are temporarily gone (as in "When in the Dordogne") or permanently separated from their children as in "Creature."

The eponymous story from the collection, "Five Tuesdays in Winter," is maybe the most conventional and predictable of the bunch but it tugged at my heartstrings. Who doesn't love an old curmudgeon falling in love? "Waiting for Charlie" was too short and broke my heart. The only story I struggled with was "Hotel Seattle," mostly due to the violent assault that takes place. It feels a bit outside of the themes of the other stories in the collection, too.

Overall, a solid collection with some standout stories. I may not remember all the stories several months from now but it was an enjoyable read all the same!

I've read a few Lily King books and liked them (but not loved them). When I picked this short story collection up, my expectations were fairly low.

Some of these stories are very good, even a couple are great. I enjoyed reading them and was amazed at how she shaped such a good story in so few pages. However, some of them were not great and uneven. I found it hard to change points of view so drastically from story to story, although I know that's the point. I'm not sure short story collections will ever be my favorite but they can be fascinating and rewarding. If you're a Lily King fan, I think you will like many of these stories.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

What a great writer.. I dont usually read short stories but I like Lily King and this was a nice collection. Thanks for the advance read.

It’s official, I just really don’t like short story collections. Lily King’s writing is so good and I appreciated the depth of the subject matter in many of the stories, I just couldn’t get invested or stay focused for most of the book. I enjoyed some more than others, but didn’t love any. I’m sure many people will enjoy these stories, but I found myself almost skimming through it at times just to be finished.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for allowing me access to this advanced reader copy.

Lily King fan club...⁣
⁣
I have one story left but I'm a fan. After reading and LOVING Writers and Lovers I knew I needed another book by King. Euphoria was completely different but still enjoyable.⁣
⁣
Then I saw this book that comes out on November 9, and I wanted to give her short stories a go!⁣
⁣
Summary⁣
Told in the intimate voices of unique and endearing characters of all ages, these tales explore desire and heartache, loss and discovery, moments of jolting violence and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. ⁣
Short stories are not usually my jam. I love character development and fully fleshed out stories. Should short stories be wrapped up or leave you wanting more?⁣
⁣
King's stories left me wanting more so if that is the sign of good short story writing than this is a great one. I enjoyed almost all of them so I'd say that's another win because it's rare for me.⁣
⁣
Thank you @netgalley and @groveatlantic for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.