Notes from the Porch consists of vignettes that the author shared on social media during the pandemic. Apparently, he received a great response to them back then, hence this book.

The tagline is Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better about the World. I think that part was too ambitious a title.

I didn’t think much of the first vignette, but gradually I began to warm towards them.

Some were cute but most were forgettable. A few touched my heart. Neighborhood Boy, all six vignettes of it, was adorable. It presented an image of the innocent childhood of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

The book needed to be proofread better. Purest is spelt as purist. Also, what’s a gauntlet of waiters supposed to be?

My favourites were Cinderella; On Baseball; Magic; The Ghost in You; Quarantine; Romance Is a Gentleman, and Neglected Gardens #2.

Number 43, Our Girl Jane, threw it out of the ballpark. The story of baby Jane and her response to her Dad’s reading of the story broke my heart with the quote, The sentience of it, how much more a baby knows than we think they should.

Master storyteller Thomas Christopher Greene returns following The Perfect Liar with his latest, NOTES FROM THE PORCH —Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better About the World — a beautiful, thought-provoking, and witty short collection of life essays —written from the porch by the author during the pandemic, COVID.

“Covid-19 stole so much. But one of the things it couldn’t steal was the power of stories.”

Greene writes a delightful collection of short stories while sheltering in place from his Vermont home porch. While doing so, he observed life and everything around him from his front porch.

From the elderly, a neighborhood boy on a bike, and various other stories about his life as an author, book events (which were hilarious— John Grisham and Marley & Me—John Grogan), gardening, simple things, family, community, and life.

NOTES FROM THE PORCH is an example of the extraordinary power of storytelling! Reminding us that telling stories is one of our greatest powers—creating a sense of connection. A Chicken Soup for the Soul vibe.

Stories are powerful because they mirror our experience of moving through the world – how we think, plan, act, and find meaning in our thoughts, plans, and actions.

I loved the fun and charming short stories and reflections! Compelling, insightful, thought-provoking, heartwarming, exploring human nature, love, belonging, and joy that can be found amid darkness and life's challenges.

NOTES FROM THE PORCH is ideal for fans of the author and Richard Paul Evans fans.

Thanks to Rootstock Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced reading copy.

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@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Feb 20, 2024
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“Covid-19 stole so much. But one of the things it couldn’t steal was the power of stories.”

A wonderful collection of short stories contrived by author, Thomas Christopher Greene, during a time where the world was in panic and disarray. But Greene proves the enduring life of stories. The folksy tales are endearing, overwhelmed with feelings of community and love.

Overall, Notes from the Porch was an endearing read that I highly recommend for those who love folk tales that want a new collection of tales for a world forever changed.

Thank you, NetGalley and Rootstock Publishing for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved all the folksy tales. Well written and uplifting. Always liked this author and wondered where he'd been. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Notes from the Porch for an unbiased review.

I really wanted to like this book as I felt the author seemed like a genuinely nice person, through the stories and the prose. However, I really didn’t enjoy it. The stories were bland and meaningless, aside from a few. There are some books that shouldn’t be any more than personal diary entries, and that was this book for me.

Aside from a deeply personal story in the book, it was the only one that had heart and authenticity to it. The rest felt, I’m sorry to say, pointless. Again, I really wanted to like it, but I just didn’t.

Notes from the Porch is a truly heartwarming collection of stories and essays written during the COVID-19 lockdown. During this time, Greene sits on his porch and writes stories about his encounters with neighbours and stories from his childhood and family memories. True stories that remind you that the world is not that bad after all.

A short, quick, pick-me-up read.

"The funny thing is that we don't know our capacity until we're asked to use it. It's always greater than we think." - Thomas Christopher Greene, Notes from the Porch.

This concise collection of short stories is a quick and delightful read, easily consumed in an hour. From reflections on a seven-year-old neighbour to encounters with blue herons and the poignant theme of losing a daughter, the stories cover a spectrum of emotions and brevity. Penned during the pandemic, they bear the imprint of adjusting to reduced human interaction, yet maintain a charming and heartfelt quality.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Wonderful short read of little stories as told by the author about his time spent sheltering in place during covid observing his neighborhood and neighbors and a little more. A really nice enjoyable book that has all the feels. I will definitely check out this Authors other works.
Thank you to Netgalley, Rootstock Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and the Author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Short, sweet, heartfelt and heartbreaking. Was an easy read that tugs at your heart strings and reminds you to sit back and enjoy the little things in life.

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick little read of the author’s Facebook posts during the pandemic lockdown. Some were better than others, but none were earth shattering. Sweet though.

Simple and poignant. Puts into words succinctly how most of us felt during the pandemic. Good read, good flow, easy read.

Notes from the Porch
Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better about the World
By Thomas Christopher Greene
Rootstock Publishing
Montpelier, VT
Review by Glenda

Moments of memories. This is the entirety of the book from the front cover to the back cover.
I had never heard of Thomas Christopher Greene before I picked this book out of a lineup of Memoirs on the virtual NetGalley shelf. I had just finished a bland novel and I was in no hurry for another.
I like porches, I want one, maybe there was one inside. There was, and Tom invited me to spend an afternoon with him as he introduced me to his neighborhood, his family, and his dog.
Like a nosey neighbor, I sat quietly absorbing the conversation Tom was carrying. I laughed out loud, I scoffed, I smiled, I mourned and then there were the parts I HAD to gossip about.
“This, here, listen to this…” I sat further up in my armchair, took a sip of water, and cleared my throat.
“Oh for goodness sake put you’re f’n phone down and listen to this…”
My husband looked up with one eye while the second one strangely stared down at his phone. I don’t know how he did that. It was enough. I proceeded…
Tom’s voice is uncluttered and a pleasure to hear. I truly love when an author can use few, poignant words, to completely draw the reader into their space. It was a complete pleasure to read this mighty mini. I was sad when I turned the last page, well… Happy to meet Tom’s face there, but damn sad it was done.
While the cover is nothing fancy. The title did draw me to read it out of all the other memoirs I was flipping through so that says something, and I was curious. Would these stories make me feel better about the world?
They did 😀
I rate Notes from the Porch a solid 4 out of 5 and I would recommend it for anyone who needs a break from, well, life. Tom’s life was nice to escape into. This book would also do well on your shelf or as a gift for visitors and friends who love a quick entertaining and enjoyable read. It’s definitely a book I will recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. it was a pleasure to read, and it's a pleasure to review.

The authored was sheltered in place during Covid in his tiny Vermont home town. He shared some really interesting stories and got to be close friends ith the lady who use to live in his home. She missed the yard work and landscaping so he allowed her free rein of everything. He made friends with a child that lived on the street and shared many fun stories of him. This was a really interesting read.

Sweet stories that range from laughter to heartfelt tears (“Our Girl Jane” made me a puddle). To steal from the author’s allusion to Raymond Carver, I found this collection to be a small good thing that served as a great reminder of taking a good look around & cherishing humanity, kindness, & community in your own little world. Definitely worth a quick read! Thanks to NetGalley & Rootstock Publishing for access to the ARC.

I really enjoyed reading the short stories in this book. There were happy stories, tear inducing stories, and random ones that were somewhat silly, somewhat serious. This book connects so strongly with everyone who has went through the pandemic- all the uncertainty and unknowns that we’ve now survived through. Highly recommend.

Notes from the Porch was a delightful book. Essays written while the author, and the world, was on lockdown. Mr. Greene took that opportunity to look around him, see his neighbors, and write it in a manner that just touched me with its inherent kindness.  I espcially loved reading about the young boy in his neighborhood.
Thank you to Rootstock Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I Pray For the Night Notes from the Porch is Released
Written By: Sable Quinn
Sable’s Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Review on Thomas Christopher Greene’s Notes from the Porch, a collection of essays from the pandemic that not only helped Greene survive the pandemic with his sanity intact but also helped himself and others through some of the lowest of the lows. Release date: February 20, 2024.

I’m going to be honest with you. I’ll tell you my secret. I’m not the biggest fan of reading nonfiction. I am no scholar. I am simply a girl who reads fiction. However, something about Thomas Christopher Greene’s Notes from the Porch had my attention in a chokehold.

Maybe it’s this nonsensical idea of the future and love that his essays were able to connect and relate with my reader’s brain. The entire book, after reading it and sitting with the stories and his voice for a few days, just emanated a house that is filled with warmth like the peak of the sun when you’re tanning. The entirety of your skin feels freshly baked and incredibly good, filled with laughter that makes your abdominal muscles clench with pain the day after, filled with a love that wraps around your entire being – his book embodies the sense of what home feels like.

Thomas Christopher Greene, you, sir, have compiled one hell of an essay collection. A pandemic essay collection, no less. The undertone that is present throughout each of his essays, the soul that lives in these stories, is love. He expertly weaves an all-encompassing sense of whole and genuine love within each essay. It’s as if this man has a prized custom-carved loom that weaves all of his gorgeous tales for him.

I adored the essays that Greene picked to include in Notes from the Porch. Unfortunately, a girl has to leave some of the mystery for you to uncover yourself. Alas, I will only share and discuss my sappy thoughts, big feelings, and outrageous opinions regarding my top two favorite essays with you, just to give you a little taste of the magic.

I’m going to start with our runner-up, a very close second-place recipient: “Strangers.” I am particularly attached to the balance of descriptors that help the audience orient themselves with our setting (i.e. warm enough to work on the porch, having our setting be the infamous porch, the neighborhood of old Victorians, downtown Montpelier, VT, a “front porch culture,” women pushing strollers, our former garden designer, our favorite neighborhood boy, etc) and his setting scene for a smooth inclusion of his thesis. Within this particular essay of his, he is reminiscing and sharing with us his memory of witnessing two older strangers basking in the spontaneity of life and two souls finding one another again.

These two older runners, the man with the thick gray hair and the brunette woman, both of whom are running a route that passes by Greene’s porch, are both running a relatively fast past. Suddenly, they both stop dead in front of each other in the middle of their supposed paths, almost as if the world stopped right then and there with them. They embrace in a quick but passionate kiss before they break apart and resume their separate journeys.

All the while, Greene has been witnessing this encounter with a front-row seat on his porch. He cannot let go of the strangeness of this situation he has just witnessed, wondering if they somehow knew each other and coincidentally ran into one another or if they were strangers and it was meant to be kismet. His curiosity gets the best of him as he shouts after them, ‘I thought you were strangers!’

To which both the man with the thick gray hair and the brunette woman responded, ‘We are!’

This became my runner-up because not only does Greene’s writing translate into this beautiful poetry that will affect and inspire thousands of people across the world, spreading a little good at a time. However, Greene helps show his audience that love is everywhere, no matter who these two characters were in their current lives, their souls recognized one another. Soulmates in another life who happened to run upon each other and pause the world for one second to be able to connect, even ever so briefly.

What interpretations did you get from “Strangers?”

My champion, my favorite essay of the entire collection: ‘Regret.’ I believe that this particular essay is one where Greene excelled the most with his craft. His gorgeous way with words transported me directly into the scene he painted. I can feel the faint artificial cool breeze from the fridge door leaning open, I can hear the addictive crooning of the Bahamas playing from his phone ‘I’m lost in the light/I pray for the night/To take me, to take you too…” I can so clearly watch Greene and this willowly, beautiful, brunette looking as if their two bodies were sinking into one. Ever so slowly, they sway to the beat right where the sharp fridge light with a hint of yellow melts with the stark white moonlight on the hardwood in the kitchen.

Greene stealthily coats his words in grief, heartbreak, and longing. As you read, his words emanate the pain we experience alongside these two slow-dancing in the kitchen. Pain because their love is showing the audience the right person, wrong time, type of love. A tragic situation of two beings barely missing each other in their lifetimes.

Whenever “Lost in the Light” by Bahamas pops up on my Spotify now, I will always think of Greene’s gorgeous essay, “Regret,” and the art of dancing in the dark, with only the refrigerator light shining on things we take for granted.

I hope I helped you gain a vivid idea of what a fantastic literary voice Thomas Christopher Greene has revealed in his latest work. His latest collection of essays, Notes from the Porch, is a collection of essays that he wrote during the worst of the pandemic that helped him and others survive and cope. These short essays will make your heart jump with joy, make your inner child laugh, and make a tear or two escape at least once. Greene created a great work that is sometimes nostalgic, sometimes brings forth great memories, helps you remember to see the good in people, and also helps you feel a little bit better about the world. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did!

Notes from the Porch, a collection of essays by Thomas Christopher Greene, will be released on February 20, 2024! Greene might be familiar if some of you have read and/or heard of his award-winning book: The Headmaster’s Wife. Enjoy it curled up with a steaming cup of your favorite coffee (or tea! I don’t judge!). My favorite coffee is a hot hazelnut (or maple if I’m feeling adventurous) oat milk latte. Curl up with your favorite beverage, grab the warmest cat, and enjoy this lovely read!

I loved these really short stories. The author can convey so much in such a short read. The stories can be read in a couple of minutes, but you are there in the story with him. They are lovely whether you binge read them or just dip in and out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rootstock Publishing for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.

I've read and really enjoyed all of Greene's novels so I knew I would enjoy this. It was fantastic. At less than 150 pages, this will take you no time at all to read, yet you'll savor each line. My favorite chapters were the baseball ones (lifelong Red Sox fan here) which brought a smile, and the poignant and heartbreaking Jane chapters which brought tears. This man sure can write.

A nice collection of short stories. I liked the authors style of writing and the details was perfect to get into stories that were so short. I struggled with the way the stories were organized though. These stories made me laugh and cry. #JaneWasHere