Ordinary Time by Annie B. Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

HarperOne
Pub Date: 4-22-25

Thank you @netgalley, @harperonebooks, and @anniebjones05 for this eARC.

What an enjoyable collection of essays around the themes of friendship, family, faith, fun, community, books, leadership, love, play, staying, and more - including Ringo!

This is a quick read that hooked me from the start. I found myself highlighting so much that spoke to me. Just a few include:

📚 I think it was my friend Ruth Ann who mentioned the concept of a board of directors. The Bookshelf doesn’t have a literal board of directors, but she encouraged me to think about who would be on my metaphorical one. “If they’re not on your board of directors,” she said, “they don’t get a vote. They don’t get a voice.” This changed my life.

📚 I wanted Ringo Starr to define my vibe. I wanted to show up on time, mind my own business, and take things as they come.

📚 Throughout that entire year, I found myself faced with one problem or conundrum after another, and every time, I’d whisper or mutter to myself, “Be Ringo.” It became my mantra, my touchstone, my reminder to take a deep breath, to stay calm, to go with the flow.

📚 Books fill me up. Quiet fills me up. My home fills me up.

📚 The solution to an age of disenchantment? Be enchanted. Share about it.

This is a book I will purchase for my own bookshelf and will revisit again and again.

#ordinarytime #anniebjones #harperonebooks #netgalley

I was looking for a fix for a I Miss You When I Blink craving. It is very cozy and I had a lot in common with the author. It didn't reach the level of universality that Blink got to for me, but I'm glad I chose it for fall reading.

This was honestly such a good read, and very timely too. I'm definitely a person who learned - somewhat the hard way, I might add - that constantly moving & shaking, regardless of whether it meant fostering or maintaining interpersonal relationships or not (even on an "acquaintance" level), doesn't always translate to happiness, productivity, or personal fulfillment. To be completely transparent: I've always forced myself to keep moving forward, no matter the cost, because I simply..... didn't want (or know how) to be alone with myself and with my thoughts. I didn't know how to express them properly. I figured that, if I was always busy, I wouldn't have the time to be upset (when, really, maybe... I was just scared to connect with others). I've never listened to Jones' podcast before reading this book, but now I most certainly want to. I think this was an amazing and vulnerable set of essays, and I hope it truly does find its rightful audience once it comes out next year!

Ah, I needed this book about finding purpose and adventure even when staying in your same small town. Travel and big cities and moving away are so very glamorized, and yet many of us stay in our hometowns. What a wonderful affirmation of that choice.

This book of essays is REMARKABLE. As someone who left and is now "staying" unexpectedly, each and every essay hit home. I've not thought about affability so much and this book really caused me to reflect on the impact of acquaintances. I had an opportunity to try my hand at small talk after reading "Book Club" and the essay helped to reframe my thoughts about the interaction and the importance of acquaintances. The author's experience with the church - so personal and yet relatable. The acknowledgements at the end were especially lovely too.

This is a special book.

I truly hope this book finds its audience. Calling on the marketing gods, publishers, independent bookstores - do your thing! Big thanks to NetGalley for an early copy.

If you like From the Front Porch you’ll love Annie B. Jones’s new novel. It’s about staying out when others may not be and being content in your life.

"Ordinary Time" is an enjoyable collection of essays having to do with subjects such as everyday life, small towns, and faith. Annie B. Jones' tone is friendly and and her writing is easy to read. I do enjoy books about the lives of real people in real time, living what some might consider to be ordinary lives. There is nothing ordinary about Jones' writing. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Pub Date: Apr 22, 2025. #OrdinaryTime

Thank you, Annie, for sharing so much of yourself in this gorgeous book. I am so grateful to have received a DRC from the publisher through NetGalley. This touched my heart in so, so many ways and I can’t wait to have a physical copy when it releases so that I can read it again and make notes. The writing is superb, I love the essay format so much. What you have shared is raw, and real and so honest. You are a beautiful storyteller and I imagine this is only the beginning of your writing career. I love your podcast and hope to visit your bookstore someday! You have created magic in the Indie Bookstore space and following your journey has been a delight!

I really enjoyed this book and Annie's writing. I liked her small town perspective and her love of books. She is very honest and open and shows how life isn't always what we expect it to be. But that sometimes we are given what we need.
I liked reading about her struggles and how she overcomes them.
A lovely read for book clubs.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

I enjoyed the author's writing and her take on life, and especially her parts about her faith. I found some of the essays to be repetitive.

This is a story about small towns, big relationships and being true to yourself no matter what. Annie Jones describes small-town life from the perspective of someone who moved to one later in life and had to put in a lot of effort to be accepted by the locals. I totally empathize. Honestly, if Annie and I had ended up in the same small town I think we would've become fast friends just for our shared love of books, Ted Lasso and the Beatles alone. This is a very relatable book for anyone who's upended their lives and moved to somewhere new to start over. The entire book feels more like chatting with a friend than it does reading a memoir. I love her sense of humor, her straight-up honesty, and her candor about personal things like religion and pregnancy and grief. I look forward to sharing this book with a few of my own small-town friends.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the free ARC of this book.