Who amongst us doesn't wish that we had kept a journal of our lives. Or that our parents and grandparents had so we could see their lives through their eyes. Whenever family gathers, the conversations always turn to when we were younger. But what if there were no more family to gather and share stories? This book addresses that in such an emotional way that the readers all are there with Doris as she relives her life through her address book. She shares her highs and lows to insure that her grand niece has knowledge of the only relative she has. I started this book not expecting the wonderful story ride that Sofia Lundberg takes her readers on. This is one of the books you are sorry to see end. I'm definitely recommending this book to my reading friends.

3.5 stars
The Red Address Book is a story about love, self-relection and end of life.. Who is there for us as we transition towards death? What are we most proud of?
Do we have any regrets? Are we leaving anything unfinished before we pass? These are some of the questions addressed through the eyes of Doris.

Doris is 96 years old. She's lived a hard but interesting life. As she looks through her red address book, given to her as a young child by her father, she realizes that the names that fill her book and once brought her friendship and belonging are now all dead. Dorris is near the end of her life but there is so much untold. Doris needs to write it down before she dies. She needs her story to go on. This book is about Doris' life. She shares her struggles, successes, failures, losses, highlights, friendships and heartbreaks with her grand niece Jenny, as a way to be remembered and tie up loose ends.

This is a poignant love story that spans through generations. Missed opportunities and misunderstandings make up Doris and Allan's heartbreaking relationship The story takes place in Sweden, Paris and New York and has somewhat of a biographical feel to it. It alternates between Doris' life story and her present day end of life transitioning.

It is a beautiful story that could have been perfect with more depth weaved into the plot. I also think there was missed opportunity to delve deeper into some of the main themes like end of life.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! Was it sentimental? Oh yes! Unrealistic? Perhaps - but I don't care. It made me smile and it made me cry but most of all it made me feel It made me remember the older people in my life who I have lost. I wish I knew all their stories from their youth.

I loved the concept of the book - using the address book as a vehicle for the stories about various people in Doris's life. I love it that the author - though not Jenny - had a 'Doris' in her life who had a red address book. It was perfect way to write a novel about a woman's life, The writing is excellent and shows so well how older people have so many fascinating stories in their memory.

This is a book that will stay in my memory.

This book follows the story of Doris who was gifted a Red Address Book by her father. She writes down all the names of the people she met and grown to love in it - most of it also crossed out .
Not wanting to be forgotten, she writes her own life story with the book as prompt for her great niece, Jenny. She writes down her memories of each person on her address book. I got to read about her life and her struggles, her triumphs and her love life. my heart broke for her so many times, my only comfort was the ending. An 'unputdownable' book. Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great love story! I really love the idea of going through your address book and writing a story/memory about each person in it. I found this to be well written and poignant in today's hurry up, "let's keep in touch', call me world. This is a lovely book to immerse yourself in. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

I loved this sweet and sentimental book by Sofia Lundberg. Doris is 96 years old, lives alone and has failing health. Her niece, Jenny, is her only family but lives thousands of miles away. As Doris reflects back on her remarkable life, she flips through her red address book. She uses the book as a prompt to write her life story for her niece, focusing on the people who have come and gone throughout her life and made their mark on her. This book will give you all the feels!

I LOVED this book!! Every single word of it! What a great concept!! I have never read a book like it and I can't wait to read Sofia's next book. I found her writing to be lyrical and concise. Each chapter flowed into the next. Once I started it, I could not put it down.

Sofia Lundberg's historical fiction about a 96 year old woman is a must read. The story centers around Doris, who finds herself aging and alone with only her great niece left to care about her. Doris, facing her impending mortality and not wanting to be forgotten, pens a tale for her great niece Jenny. The tale she spins starts with Doris' red address book. As Doris reminiscences about the people in her book whom she has lost, we get to see her struggles, her triumphs, her failures, and her successes.
Doris' story of her past is interwoven with her present story of being hospitalized. We also see a glimpse of Jenny's life as we see Jenny come to terms with her own past, present, and future.
This book evokes both laughter and tears. It touches your heart and stays with you long after your finished reading it.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book.

THE RED ADDRESS BOOK by Sofia Lundberg is a wonderful work of historical fiction. Lundberg introduces her readers to Doris, an elderly recluse living in Stockholm, who is desperately trying to capture her life story for a faraway great niece, Jenny, who is busy raising her family in California.

By cleverly referring to entries in the address book, Lundberg shares Doris's life events, spanning the Great Depression, WWII, and the latter half of the twentieth century. It is difficult at times to accept the gullibility and rather short term "luck" (particularly in regards to finding shelter and support) that Doris experiences while facing dire circumstances. She travels between two continents and deals with the deaths of family members, physical abuse, prejudice against homosexuality, and star-crossed love.

THE RED ADDRESS BOOK is certain to evoke emotion in its readers. Adult book groups should enjoy this debut novel which is a LibraryReads pick for January 2019.

Link in live post:
http://libraryreads.org/january-2019-libraryreads/

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lindbergh. In this day in and age people telling stories is not something everyone looks forward too. I liked this work women’s fiction as you kept wanting to here what happened next.

This is the long-awaited English translation of the 2015 Swedish-language phenomenon, in which 96-year-old Doris, alone and almost forgotten in her Stockholm apartment, reflects on her life, and loves, with the memory aid of the address book she has kept with her since she was a child. Full of joy and heartbreak, longing and sorrow, Doris’ recollections are enchantingly told, and as the details of her long life unfold, the experience is both uplifting and terribly, terribly sad. Simply beautiful. – Rachel Hyland

This is a charming book, very unusual in the way it is put together. It slips back and forth between present time and the past, but the main story is told in segments about the names in an address book, the people who populated the life of Doris. Doris is old, and inhabitants of the address book are almost all dead, but she still has a treasured niece, Jenny, who lives in America. Doris lives alone in Stockholm but she Skypes with Jenny frequently. The span of time and place is expansive, from Sweden to Paris to New York, to England, and back to Sweden, and through the 96 years of Doris’ life. And what a life she has lived! It is full of interesting and challenging experiences for sure and certainly brings a sense of history. It is an unusual story in many ways, told in bold strokes and details. The reader is allowed to fill in some of the details, and perhaps each reader sees a slightly different story. That may also be related to the fact that the original Swedish of the author is translated into English.
Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for an advance readers copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Librarian: What a beautiful story. This is the kind of story that I always hope historical fiction novels are going to be, but seldom are. That being said, I do worry that some readers will ignore this one, because a.) it's a work in translation, and many American readers tend to overlook European works (though the fact that this book originates in Sweden may help, as Swedish authors tend to have a favorable reputation with American readers) and b.) it's format is rather unique. The memoir-esque style of the book serves it well, and really helps to highlight the story, but I worry that it could alienate some readers who are expecting a more straightforward novel.
Reader: Historical fiction is a genre that is almost always on my "genres I should read more of" list. I mean, it's a genre that I only occasionally read, even though I normally enjoy it when I do. This book serves as yet another reminder of why I need to read more of it. This little tale of a life lived to its fullest is the kind of story that makes you feel all the things, in part, because of the sheer simplicity of the narrative. This is the story of a life. It is nothing more, and nothing less. Doris, is not some chosen one, not some tragic heroine. She is just a woman who lived her life as it happened, without some overarching narrative driving things. And that's what makes this book so beautiful. It reminds us that in the end we're all just people on a journey that seems ordinary as it happens, but is really something rather extraordinary.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book and the format. Doris is a 96 year old woman, who lives alone in Sweden. Her only family is her grand-niece Jenny, who lives in the US. Ever since she was little, she adds names to her Red Address Book that was a gift from her father, of everyone that she meets. Now at 96 she is reliving her stories about these people, before crossing them out "DEAD" - at her age, not too many remain.

Going back and forth from present to past and back again, this is a delightful story and I highly recommend!

Doris is 96 and faces morality when hospitalized after an accident. She pauses to reflect on her life when she finds her address book. So many of the names have deceased written in the margin. Who will remember and know of her life. Doris starts to write the story of her life for her granddaughter Jenny. Looking at her now, who would imagine the life she had lead. She has had many adventures and lost loves in her life. As Jenny listens she plots to reunite a lost love before it is too late.

Oh, this book is quite lovely and nostalgic. Doris is 96 years old and lives alone in Stockholm, Sweden. She’s a bit of a recluse but looks forward to her weekly Skype calls with Jenny, her only relative and grandniece who lives in the United States.

Doris has a special address book she was gifted by her father when she was a child. In it, she has documented the names and addresses of everyone she’s known throughout her life. She crosses out the names when people have passed away.

In looking through her address book, Doris decides help Jenny by illuminating their family’s past and writing about it. Doris has lived a full life. She was a model on Paris runways in the 1930s and was forced to flee to Manhattan at the start of World War II. She also wonders what ever happened to Allan, the love of her life...

Oh, this book. I want to hug it. There is a somber, melancholic tone as Doris reflects on her life, a life full and well-lived. There is also plenty of love and uplifting, too.

I loved Doris and Jenny as if they were members of my own family, as if Doris was telling me the story of my family, and I wish she had been. I only have three living great aunts, whom I adore, and I soak up every word of reflection they give me on my grandparents or my great grandparents. Doris’ story is a treasure. Thanks to the author for telling it.

Thank you to the publisher for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book. You can tell that the author had her own emotions deep in this book. This book shows that love can conquer all. Such a sweet yet sad book that just pulls you in from the first page.

I cried big fat tears while reading this book, especially at the end. It was that good and kept me wanting to read more.

Doris is 96 years old and is dying. Her one family member is Jennifer who lives in San Francisco. Doris lives in Sweden, alone with only home health care individuals to take care of her. She talks to Jennifer via Skype. Throughout her life, she has filled an address book with names of people she meets. Now they are mostly dead. She knows that she soon will be also. But this isn't about death. This book is about a woman who lived an amazing life! She has written her story so that Jennifer will know about her.

I went into this book not knowing what to think. This book is translated from Swedish and I think it is a great translation. By the end, I felt like I knew Doris and Jennifer, as well as the other characters filling Doris' world. It is truly a beautiful, heartbreaking story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read and review this book. I highly recommend it!

4.5 stars for “The Red Address Book” by Sofia Lindbergh. What a charming and heartwarming story.

Doris is 96 and currently living in Stockholm with nurses checking on her. The only family she has is Jenny, her grand-niece, who lives in San Francisco so they only Skype once a week. Doris is lonely, and begins to look through her red address book, a gift given to her from her father when she is a child. There are many names of people she has met throughout her life, most crossed out with the word “dead” written next to them.

Doris wants to leave Jenny the story of her life so reminisces while looking through the red address book. She tells stories of her time as a maid when she was just a teenager in Stockholm and her friend, Gosta, that she met there. She tells stories of when she moved to Paris and became a living mannequin. Paris is also where she meets Allan, the love of her life. There are so many great and some not so great stories of her life and her travels all over the world.

When Doris has a fall, she ends up in the hospital, and Jenny rushes to Stockholm to be by her side for her last few days. Jenny finds the notes Doris has written for her and some letters and photographs throughout Doris’s life. She learns so much from her grand-aunt, but the most important lesson she learns from her is love.

This really was a lovely story. It was well written and kept a good pace, I thoroughly enjoyed it and honestly wanted to learn more about Doris’s life as if she was a real person. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a feel good story with a little heartbreak, but a lot of living and loving throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an ARC in exchange of my honest review.

This book is a must read. I could not put it down.

Doris’s red address book was a gift from her father before he passed away unexpectedly. Now she is 96 years old and is looking back on her life and the names (many of them dead) in her book. The Red Address book is about Doris recalling the people in her life that have had both positive and negative effects on her life.

The Red Address Book was an emotional roller coaster and I did not want to get off. The idea that Doris wants to write down her memories, so the people in her life are not forgotten, is heartwarming. There were many times while reading that I was reminded of my grandmother and her personal stories. Doris shows us that life can be messy, but also filled with joy. She is also a reminder to take the time to talk to your older relatives and spend time with the people you love.