Member Reviews
Was not impressed with the writing or characters. I could not get it. Boring.. I think I was looking for a story on reading and books with funny or unusual characters..
Alyssa returns to her hometown after losing her job. Broke, jobless, and not feeling well, Alyssa moves back home and faces lifelong struggles with her estranged parents. As Alyssa reconnects with old friends, she also learns that her PERCEPTION of her parents isn't exactly reality. Alyssa also connects with new-to-the-community Jeremy who bought a much-loved coffee shop and is trying to begin a business while connecting with his seven-year-old daughter. This story twists and turns and keeps your attention on every angle. There is depth to the story. Real-life situations that require forgiveness, acceptance, and some growing up. You will fall in love with Alyssa and Jeremy & especially fall in love with Jeremy's daughter! VERY good story! Although this is a second book in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone book. Beware though, after reading Of Literature and Lattes, you will be searching for book one in the series and other books by author Katherine Reay!
I just couldn't relate to anything about this book.
I requested it based upon the opportunity to try something less dark than I've previously been reading. A mistake though as I just found this a confusing read.
Alyssa was a frustrating character to like who seemed to blame everyone for her own mistakes. It is a meandering storyline that didn't hook me.
It's obviously got an audience, but, not me I'm afraid. I struggled to finish it and was left disappointed when I did.
I really enjoyed The Printed Letter Bookshop, for which this book is a sequel, but I couldn’t get into this book in the same way. I like the little town and some of the characters, but this book jumped around too much between too many characters. I’d feel like I was getting into what I thought were the main storylines and then new characters and new stories would be introduced. I think paring it down some would make it stronger.
I did not finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review on my blog. I absolutely loved this author's debut novel and have been hoping she could capture that same magic. Her second, third and fourth books were also great. But last year's book and this one just fell flat to me. They are tenacious in their Christian virtues and just not for me. Thank for your consideration and the opportunity to review this book.
I've voraciously read everything that Katherine Reay has written, because I'm drawn to the very realistic struggles of her very realistic characters, the philosophy thrown in that gives depth to every book, the fact that many of them are set in and around Chicago, and because she uses references to great literature to make her points. So it was a dream to get a NetGalley advance copy of Of Literature and Lattes to read in exchange for my honest review.
Although Of Literature and Lattes can be a standalone, it works best as the sequel to The Printed Letter Bookshop, as it continues the story of some of the characters and is set in the same fictional suburb of Chicago. While I enjoyed all the above favorite themes in this book, I do not recommend it for someone's first Katherine Reay book. It includes everything above that I have come to expect from her, but the sheer number of characters in this book made it difficult to dig in and really relate to any one character deeply. Here, we follow the journeys of about ten locals who work around the town square of idyllic Winsome.
Although this book was split so many ways, I didn't feel confused by it. We were able to get a good feel for each character's struggles and victories and didn't have to flip back and forth to remember where we were. It helps to read PLB first, for some of the characters to be further entrenched in your mind, although about half of them are new. The POV does switch mid-scene, sometimes from person to person to person, but if you're paying attention, you should be alright. And because of the volume of POVs, there is something for everyone here, and everyone can find a struggle they relate to.
Still, there are the cons, primarily the loose ends that make you wonder if another book is coming down the pipe. We wish the female MC came to her senses sooner, or at least was a little more lovable so we'd be more inclined to root for her as much as we root for Jeremy. We wish that we were given a little more of an insiders perspective of their love story, since while they do fall in love in front of us, most of the attention is given to their separate story lines. And I personally wish the faith message was stronger, primarily when Janet is talking to her daughter and walking her through her regrets and disappointment in herself. It would have been an awesome opportunity to talk about God's redeeming grace.
What an incredible read! Strong stand out characters that pull you into the little town of Winsome. So many components to this story that keeps the reader interested in the stories outcome. Alyssa and Jeremy are both facing the unknown for their futures and learning a lot as they move through each day. The author does a wonderful job of evoking emotions from the reader and showing we are not alone in life’s trials. This book is very hard to put down, your mind keeps thinking on the story and how it’s going to end. There is so much to love about this book along with the coffee shop, the delightful book store to the character’s life problems and if they find happiness and contentment. Beautifully written!
Was given a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
Enjoyed the book. I would give it 3.5 stars. I loved "The Printed Letter Bookshop" so I was excited to read this book. Although, I had to remember what happened in the previous book and who everyone was again. It was a little bit confusing until I figured everything out. So I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would. I think this was because of Alyssa. She came across as a petulant child who blamed her mom for everything. Alyssa really had no business in the problems of her parents. It was between a husband and wife. They needed to sort it out. They are her parents. She has no idea what was going on between them. She was simply awful to her mom and acted more like a teenager than an adult. So disrespectful. I'm not sure how Janet survived so long with her mom and daughter always treating her so terribly. I really can't blame Ryan. He moved his whole life to help Jeremy set up a coffee shop in Winsome and then gets pushed aside. Alyssa's problems in California definitely reminded me of Theranos.
I enjoyed the characters (except Alyssa), the writing style and story. I found Madeline, Janet and Claire's stories more interesting than Alyssa and Jeremy. I can definitely see a third book. Maybe with a wedding? I can see Krista causing problems for Jeremy. I love the Chesterton, the kitty, who visits all the stores in town and is a resident of the bookshop. Brendon was quite the jerk. He threw his garbage bags at the cat and even almost knocked him in the dumpster. Brendon even took joy in doing this. Everyone else welcomes the cat into their store and some pamper him with cream.
I recommend the book, especially if you read the previous one. Hopefully there will be more books about Winsome. Claire and Madeline barely made an appearance in this book. Look forward to reading more books by the author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson--FICTION through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
For some reason, I could not get excited about this book. I tried several times and just felt "ho hum" about the entire thing. I pushed through, but only because I was given this ARC. I have enjoyed previous works by Katherine Reay, so I will chalk this up to "wrong book at wrong time" for me and look forward to one of her future titles. I give it three stars because I found nothing wrong with the book. The story was fine...it simply didn't grab me this time. Thank you to Net Galley for providing me this ARC.
I loved The Printed Letter Bookshop, and was looking forward to reading this title. Unfortunately, I tried twice to read this one, and I just couldn't get into it. It may certainly be my issue, as we are in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, but I am not able to recommend this title. I do appreciate the opportunity to read the book, and I might go back and give this one another try at some point.
Another solid hit for Reay. I like that she usually sticks with the Chicago suburbs in her books, and the story keeps you engaged throughout. I couldn't put it down!
Of Literature and Lattes is the second book in a series, that said, I have not read the first book and had no trouble following this book.
This cozy story about friendship, family and life's second chances is set in a small town called Winsome, IL. Two of the characters run a book shop, and one of them runs a coffee shop - so there are a lot of literature and lattes in this story. The book was a slow and cozy read. There were a lot of elements that I liked, such as the references to literature and the sweet story lines and a couple twists to keep things a little exciting. I absolutely adore the lovely cover art.
Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson and Katherine Reay for the advanced copy of Of Literatures and Lattes to review.
Well written and entertaining inspirational romance. Well crafted plot and characters. I received an arc from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.
I’ve loved all of Katherine Reay’s other novels, but I could not get into this one. I really did not like the main characters, but I wanted to give them a chance because Reay always has wonderful character development. This books follows so many secondary characters that I had a hard time following all the stories and eventually gave up. I may revisit it in the future to give it another try.
Of Literature and Lattes takes us back to Winsome and we get further into Janet’s family when her daughter Alyssa has to return home due to career failure. In Winsome we find new store owner Jeremy who is trying to take over a well-loved coffee shop. If you loved The Printed Letter Bookshop,you will enjoy returning to Winsome. The book is not a fast pace read, but offers great themes of forgiveness and second chances in life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced copy of this book, but all opinions are my own.
Thank you for my advanced copy. I enjoyed this one but it's not in my most recommended list. I thought this was a slower read and wasn't fully invested in the story. I kept putting it down and wanting to read something else.
I loved reading this book. It's a perfect book to read in bed on a rainy day - it'll give you that nice fuzzy warm feeling. This book did everything right for the genre, with a few twists and new takes to keep it fresh. The characters expressed realistic development, and the stakes were just right to keep me hooked from start to finish.
3.5/5 stars
I would definitely recommend reading the previous “The Printed Letter Bookshop” before this follow-up, as I had to remember characters from a year ago to keep up. While this one was fine, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much or feel as engaged as in the first.
Centered around the small town of Winsome, IL, the main story is about 31 yo Alyssa who returns after 3 years in CA. She’s lost her job, she’s broke and needs to start over. She also needs to heal a rift with her mom. Jeremy moved to Winsome to open a coffee shop and be nearer his young daughter and has issues to solve with his ex and his new business.
While I enjoyed seeing how they worked through their problems, I was also a little annoyed by Alyssa’s selfish and immature attitude at times, and there were, in my opinion, a bit too many other characters with stories that proved to be distracting at times. But overall a good story with nice resolutions to some rather hard issues.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #ThomasNelson for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
I am so disappointed that I couldn't really get into this story. I have adored everything else I've read of this author, so I had really high hopes for this one. Not sure exactly what I was that I want connecting with, maybe just my current mindset. I'll try again at a later date.
This was a touching romance between two people who both have troubled pasts, but are trying to rise above past mistakes. In a more drastic take on the whole trope of the heroine losing everything at the start of the novel, Alyssa has literally lost everything when the company she worked for turns out to be a big fraud. Now she’s lost her savings paying for a lawyer as the FBI investigates everyone at the business. She travels home to one of those sweet small towns that populate romance novels and all her meager possessions are stolen from her car on the drive east.
She ends up having to live with her mother whom she hasn't forgiven for having cheated on her father. She gets a job working at a garage. And she meets Jeremy who has also moved to this town to be near his daughter. He’s opened up a coffee shop, but things aren’t going well for him.
The story switches narrators back and forth between Alyssa and Jeremy as well as other characters and as it soon becomes apparent that many people have sorrows that they need to overcome to get to a happier place.
Alyssa was a bit annoying for the first part of the novel as she is so unforgiving of her mother. If her father has forgiven her, maybe she can get over herself. And she’s a bit snobby about what she’s come do