I enjoyed the writing style of this book very much and even enjoyed the characters and story. It was a character driven story. Some parts dragged for me but overall I liked the story.

This book is so lovely. Like a warm blanket, this is a comfort read. Full of memorable characters and the small moments that make a life. With a focus on forgiveness and love, you'll be so glad you spent time with Early Morning Riser. Recommend!

Although this is supposed to be funny and humorous I did not find it so. In fact in many ways it was downright sad. I found it to be a pleasant read with nothing drawing me to read it other than to finish the book.

I started with such high hopes for this one! I really enjoyed the opening chapters, but then the story kind of plateaued for me. The band of friends and family were a fun group of eccentrics (esp Jane’s mom), but I think I couldn’t really identify with Jane herself past the opening, so that might be why I didn’t connect as well with this one. Heiny is a talented writer though, and I look forward to trying one of her other books.

I would describe this as a novel about quirky characters in a small town - more character driven than plot driven. Set in a small town in Michigan, from the perspective of a woman named Jane - she has just moved to town when the book starts, and each section of the book takes place over a shortish period of time in a different year, over a period of 15 or so years. The writing and the characters are just so wonderful, and the end was almost unbearably poignant. Is there anything better than a book where you cry at the end, not because the ending is tragic but just because you’re so moved and sad it’s over? This was the first book I read by Katherine Heiny, but looking forward to reading her first two. 4.5 stars.

Early Morning Riser is my first foray into Katherine Heiny's work, so I'm not sure if this latest effort is par for the course. Well-written in terms of language and character development, Early Morning Riser was initially of interest, but quickly plateaued. Luckily, Heiny's one-notedness here is still of high quality, but the thin plot left me wanting more.

Katherine Heiny is one of my favorite authors and this book is no exception. Completely charming, heartbreaking, and laugh out loud funny. A story about love, found family, and understanding. I cannot recommend this book enough. Easily one of my top books of 2021.

I literally jumped for joy when I received the ARC for Katherine Heiny ‘s new book, as Standard Deviation is one of my favorite books, and I was not disappointed at all.

When the book opens Jane a 2nd grade teacher meets Duncan and falls in love. You can consider Duncan the town whore, who has slept with the majority of the women in this small Michigan town. Duncan has made it clear he has no interest in getting married, which leads to the demise of their relationship. However Duncan is a good man, who employs Jimmy a developmentally challenged man, and still mows the lawn for his ex wife.

Fast forward a couple of years and Jane is getting married to Luke. The night before their wedding an accident occurs that forces Jane to be the primary caregiver of Jimmy, and causes her to make decisions that changes the course of her life.

This is such a lovely, heartfelt story that shows that you get back in return what you give in life. Heiny does a wonderful job capturing humankind, all the good and the ugly. This book will make you laugh and cry and everything in between. Just when I thought I knew what this book was about, Heiny changed the entire meaning of this story in the last paragraph of this book and it was all the better for that. Run to read this one, it is so worth it.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Utterly charmed by this book and delighted to include it in the April instalment of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month's top fiction for Zed, Zoomer magazine’s reading and book club vertical (full review and feature at link)..

I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review

This book starts out a bit frothy and unfolds slowly into some deep water. The characters grown on you and you find yourself really feeling what they feel through the ups and downs. A pleasant meditation on love and family; not too sweet, not too sour.

I thought this book was enjoyable. I liked following Jane over the course of 17 years to see about the life she made for herself in Boyne City, MI. I loved the discussions that came to mind about family. This book illustrated that family is so much more than blood. I also liked the how Jane, Duncan, and the people they surrounded themselves with were able to overcome hard things and come out stronger. The past doesn't have to define who you are. That being said, this book still left me wanting more. I wanted more joy and happiness. I wanted to feel that the characters hadn't just settled for the life they were living.

This book has romance; funny moments; and sweet, small-town charm. It's structure is a chronological tapestry of quiet, day-in-the-life vignettes of Jane, an elementary school teacher who lives in Boyne City, Michigan. Jane goes through an on-and-off-again relationship with the handsome, charismatic Duncan, a woodworker who has an ex-wife he's still pretty close to and who has also slept with many women in town. Jane's mother is eccentric to say the least, while Jane has a soft spot for Jimmy, the intellectually disabled son of an older woman in town.

While this book is getting raves I, unfortunately, could not get into it. I've never read Heiny before, so maybe it's just a matter of author preference? I do enjoy "quiet" novels that celebrate the beauty and fun of ordinary life, but I couldn't connect with the characters in this one, particularly Jane. She seems to only show true emotion when she's feeling put-upon, upset, or frustrated...which is often. And yes, that can be true-to-life, but I think when it comes to creating a character for me as a reader to "root" for, I need someone who's a bit more hopeful. I also thought Duncan wasn't a compelling love interest. Yes, he's sweet, helpful, and handsome, but his strong feelings against marriage and his aversion to marriage didn't endear him to me. And, I know she provides some humor, but Jane's mom grated on my last nerve.

Again, I think my lack of enjoyment might just be that even with ordinary novels set in small towns, I need more oomph, from both the characters and situations. If you're looking for a soothing, easy-to-read, small-town character piece, this might be it.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully written novel with realistic characters. The novel depicts the interesting juxtaposition between what characters think and later what is realized to be truth.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A dose of sheer cheer and exactly what I didn't know I needed it until I got it. Authentic, heartfelt, with a quirky cast of realistically and lovable in their own individual way - Jimmy alone is worth the price of admission. I kind of loved it and will definitely be recommending it to my library friends.

I wish there were more than 5 stars to give because I would give this book ALL THE STARS. This is my absolute favorite kind of book: ordinary people, living ordinary lives in ordinary places. But it’s in this ordinariness that you find something special: love, loyalty, hurt and always a fair amount of dysfunction. There is plenty of wit and humor running throughout this quiet story but it’s coupled with a nice amount of tenderheartedness, making the whole thing absolutely perfect.

Fun story about living and loving in a small community. Engaging characters to follow over the years.

Characters you'll fall in love with populate this charming, big-hearted novel which is exactly what we need during this tumultous time. An absolute gem.

Jane is a second grade school teacher in Boyne City, Michigan. In chapter one she falls in love with Duncan — the town playboy — and spends the rest of the book following an unexpected path through her own life. Each chapter (carefully labeled with the year — thank you!) is a mini-story that captures the essence of Jane’s personal story in that time frame. Story and personal evolution proceed apace with humor, insight, and poignancy as she becomes deeply involved with a set of characters she might not have voluntarily sought out: Jimmy, Duncan’s sweet and intellectually slow colleague; Aggie, Duncan’s bossy ex-wife; and Aggie’s flat out strange husband Gary.

I love Heiny’s writing style — her precise language perfectly captures internal thoughts and external behaviors. Jane possesses a biting interior commentary and the descriptions of second grade classroom life are pointed and hysterical. The characters are real — some times you love them and sometimes they irritate you completely. Good for fans of Anne Lamott.

Some random quotes:

“In fact, she had not only stopped being the maid of honor, she nearly stopped being human and became just a help desk in a giant green dress. She had to tell the caterers to start serving, and direct the florist on where to put the arrangements and the staff which table to designate for gifts.”

“It all reminded Jane that having a baby was not that miraculous. Any two fools could do it.”

“Worst of all were the mood swings. Although, actually, could it be considered a mood swing if it only swung one direction? Maybe it was more like a mood acceleration. Like the needle on a speedometer that whipped straight from ZERO to ANNOYED and stayed there. Because it seemed like the world was in an unkindly conspiracy to irritate Jane.”

“Endless rolling nausea without vomiting, nausea that spun out before Jane like a curving country lane meandering through a hilly green landscape, the end always just out of sight.”

“Jimmy was always there. He lived with them, and sometimes Jane thought that spontaneous adult conversation had fled her life forever.”

“Little insights into the murky liquid that sloshed around in the fishbowl of Gary’s mind.”

“She felt a sort of cellular-level sorrow and wondered if she loved more deeply than other people. Or was everyone else just more mature, more rational? More realistic?”

Elementary teacher, Jane, has just moved to small town Michigan. At the welcome teacher event she becomes friends with the music teacher who she thought was hired to play the event. Of course the music teacher was only one of 3 teachers who came. Within the first month, Jane locks herself out of the house and the locksmith, Duncan, gets her inside and then stays for the weekend. It was easy for Jane to fall in love with Duncan. Not so easy to deal with his continuing friendship with his ex-wife and numerous other previous girlfriends. Told over a number of years, readers will fill a part of this fascinating small town full of interesting people as well as Jane and Duncan and the family they create.

This book is lovely. It’s character driven with eccentric people you like and people you just want to bop over the head, but they’re all very real.
Jane, a second grade teacher meets Duncan, who has slept with everyone in the town and still mows his ex wife’s lawn. Their relationship falters but when they pick up again they seem to form a “found” family, Jimmy, who needs them, Aggie and Gary, Jane’s best friend and Jane’s painful to take mother, as well as a few others. This book is about their relationships with one another, and days that string together to make a life.