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Member Reviews

*Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I adore Anne Tyler’s writing and I couldn’t wait to read Three Days In June and devoured this simple yet elegant novel all on a single Sunday.

With Anne Tyler we know exactly what to expect. A seemingly simple story about (in this case) a mundane, three day weekend with a not-so-great-at-being-social mother of the bride with layers upon layers of depth. You will think you have Gail Baines all figured out in her simplicity at the end of the first chapter or so. Slow down. There is more to her than you think and only a brilliant writer like Anne Tyler can take you there.

This wasn’t a long novel. There is a lot within these minimal pages but there are enough pages to leave caring about Gail. You will understand her when she asks herself, “oh, why am I so bottled up?!l. You will have compassion for her. Read it. You’ll be touched.

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This was my first novel by Anne Tyler, and after only just a few pages of reading, I honestly felt certain I’d discovered a new favorite author. This book flew by, in the coziest, most emotional and engaging way, and not just because of the shorter length. I was immediately charmed by the characters, their backstories, and their futures.

I’m already planning how I will dive into Tyler’s backlist, and I’m looking forward to recommending this book to my audience on Bookstagram.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read an eARC of Three Days In June.

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Not my favorite Anne Tyler. For quite too many pages, I was unsure of the time period in which the story took place. The characters were all unlikeable and the story was too short to really have much character development. I

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Thank you's go to the Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage catalog for the DRC of Anne Tyler's new book "Three Days in June".

"Three Days in June" is a quick and delightful read. We are brought into Gail Baine's world, starting on a Friday in June, going on through the weekend.

Day one starts with Gail learning some uncomfortable and hard truths about herself. In the next breath Max, her ex husband, arrives on her doorstep, foster cat in hand, needing a place to stay as they head into their daughter's wedding weekend,

As the weekend progresses, the daughter tells her parents a surprise revelation about the groom-to-be. Gail struggles with the choices her daughter makes, her place in her daughter's life, feelings of insecurity with in-laws coming into her daughter's life. Meanwhile Max offers his grounding perspective on this new stage in their lives as parents. After he reminds Gail of their wedding day, she thinks about the early days of their relationship and what led to its demise.

The book had laugh out loud moments, head nodding in agreement "I get that" moments, I'm rooting for you, get out of your own way Gail moments

Anne Tyler is a wonderful wonderful writer, she makes life events so relatable. "Three Days in June" is sure to be another best seller!

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Thanks to Netgalley for gifting an electronic copy of the book in exchange for review.

The book is typical Anne Tyler. A family story, told with bits of grief, happiness, trials and resolution. The book is about Gail, and three days of her life where she simultaneously gets fired, her daughter is getting married, and her ex husband shows up for an extended stay. While the book takes place over 3 days, much of Gail's life is told through memories and contemplation. As expected, the book moves gently, slowly (sometimes too slowly), and gives you multiple perspectives on life questions. An easy read. If you are an Anne Tyler fan, here's another for you, if you're not familiar with her work, this isn't a must read. But if looking for something easy and low key over the holidays or vacation, it's reliable entertainment.

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This is my favorite Anne Tyler book in recent history. Gail is having a bad bad day. She loses her job, her ex shows up with his dog needing to stay with her the weekend of her daughter's marriage to someone who might be cheating on her.

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What a perfect short novel! Anne Tyler has a way of writing about ordinary people in an extraordinary way. I loved this story about a divorced mother of the bride in the 3 days surrounding her daughter’s wedding. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

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Anne Tyler is able to make the ordinary extraordinary. This happens again in Three Days in June, which focuses on three days in Gail Baines’ life.

Gail is told she lacks people skills and encouraged to move on from her job. What’s next for her?

Gail’s ex-husband, Max, has to stay at her house ahead of their daughter Debbie’s wedding. He comes with a cat. Will Gail keep it?

Debbie learns a secret about her fiancé and needs to make a tough decision. Does the wedding happen?

These are just a few of the plot points. Along the way, you begin to identify with the characters and their idiosyncrasies. Don’t miss Tyler’s latest, character-driven book. Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the eARC.

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A Slow & Thoughtful Story
As soon as I started reading this book, I felt like I had reconnected with an old friend who I was comfortable with. In this case, Anne Tyler is the old friend. There's such a feeling in her books & it was very much here in Three Days In June. Each person in this short novel have their quirks, their history, their short comings. I felt that even though several of these people could be viewed as difficult or odd, there was no judgement & over the course of the story we find out more of their back stories. I loved that there seemed to be empathy, even though at times it was slow to show itself. This was a true Anne Tyler story & I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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This was a very short book compared to others I've read in the genre. As such, I felt we lost some character depth and often had to take the narrator's word for things we would've learned more organically in a longer text.

That said, I thought this was a sweet story. It's billed as literary or women's fiction but has a little bit of a second-chance romance vibe to it. My favorite scenes were between the main character, Gail, and her ex-husband, Max. Max is kind of hapless, but ultimately a good guy with a big heart. I feel we get to know Gail through her interactions with and memories of Max more than anything. He also adds a thread of humor that buoys the whole story.

The wedding of Max and Gail's only child provides context for their reunion, such as it is. Max shows up on the doorstep (with a rescued cat!) and an exasperated Gail accommodates him to keep the peace on her daughter's wedding weekend.

I struggled with the wedding. Gail, mother of the bride, is almost completely uninvolved. There's no clear rift between mom and daughter, they just don't seem close. But even so, I found it weird Gail would seem so excluded. It's possible her daughter is just way to taken with her husband-to-be's family of snooty jerks. It happens. However, the wedding -- and the secrets and crises revealed in its leadup -- ended up feeling too much like a device to reveal things about Gail and serve her story. The wedding of one's only child feels a little heavy to be used this way. Weddings are so full of social norms and expectations, it was harder to take the author/narrator at her word than it would've been for another uniting event.

That said, I always appreciate an offbeat, socially awkward female main character, which Gail is. She so often just doesn't get it. In some ways Max is the more emotionally perceptive of the two of them. I related to her feelings of being an outsider even among her own family and not knowing quite how to show up the way she wants to. I just wanted to see more to back up the relationship we see between her and her daughter on the all-important wedding weekend. It's possible the shorter format wasn't the right fit for me as a reader. I like to get to know characters through their interactions, and being told the family dynamics around this wedding weekend left me wondering, "But why?" a touch too often. However, for someone who didn't want to get bogged down it all that, this story may be just the thing.

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I received a free ARC ebook of <i>Three Days in June</i> from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Anne Tyler's novella concerns a 60ish female school administrator and the weekend of her only child's wedding. Gail has spent her life without much personal contemplation. Her marriage, her divorce, her professional life have all just happened. She views her life from a distance; her daughter's wedding and the loss of her job force some introspection.

It's tough for anyone to realize that their life has just kind of passed without much joy

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What a delighful little novel. This was my first (I know, right???) by Tyler, so I can't compare to her others, but this was such a little gem of a book. Very character driven (and what characters they were!), moving, and extremely well written. Tyler has a new fan, and I've got a HUGE backlist to explore.

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THREE DAYS IN JUNE focuses upon a weekend wedding and the mild inconveniences and myriad worries that surround it. Our protagonist, the bride’s mother, Gail, is an introverted woman whose awareness of other people’s feelings is minimal. She’s a little ‘on the spectrum’ and her social skills and abilities to navigate interpersonal interactions are minimal. We are aware of all of Gail’s internal fears, judgements and modest hopes. This is a short book with an unlikeable protagonist that may not be the easiest of author Tyler’s works to enjoy. The slice of life is accurate, though, and the characters are memorable. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

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The many complications of a wedding, divorced parents of the bride, pushy mother of the groom, delayed delivery of flowers, and so many other “character-building challenges,” as a friend calls those days. My sympathies are all with Gail, accused of “lacking people skills” at work and feeling left out of the “Day of Beauty” wedding plans, then having to allow her ex to stay at her house, with his cat, because the groom is allergic to cats (at which point I also sympathized with him; I know how miserable that can be). I’m not sure I could handle all that with such grace and consideration.
It’s a sweet book, seemingly simple, but with layers of complexities, much like real life, and people I’m glad to know and for whom I wish all the best.

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I normally devour Anne Tyler's books when I'm in the mood for a good character driven novel. This new book by her was quite slow and I think if I had warmed up to Gail more then I would've been rooting for her during these big life changes. Book fell flat for me. I appreciate the advanced read as this author is one I normally keep an eye on.

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*Three Days in June* is one of those quiet, character-driven stories that really pulls you in, even though not much "happens." It’s all about Gail, a woman facing a lot of life changes in just three days—her daughter’s wedding, a sudden job loss, and the return of her ex—and Tyler does a fantastic job making you feel all the little emotional shifts. It’s slow and reflective, but if you like stories that focus more on relationships and personal growth than big plot twists, this one’s a solid, heartfelt read.

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I really liked this book. You could feel all of the emotions and how it impacted her life. I thought the mention of the groundhog day movie was also perfect because it kind of felt like that was going in that same direction. I am also extremely happy she kept the cat!!

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First I want to thank NetGalley and Knopf publishing for the opportunity to read this novel. I had never read anything by Anne Tyler prior to this. The characters are fleshed out,and likable. It reads like a story of every day life, no one is too over the top, its is full of humor and love. I was rooting for the ending to be what it was. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be reading more Anne Tyler in the future.

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This book follows Gail for three days surrounding her daughter's wedding. I'm not sure if there is a plot -- it is simply Anne Tyler sharing the ordinariness of one person's life. It was a quick, easy, and enjoyable read.

Thank you, Knopf, Pantheon Vintage, Anchor and Net Galley for the advanced reader copy of this book.

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This is about three days in Gail's ordinary life told in three acts (alright, three chapters.) Through Gail's first person stream-of-consciousness narration we learn her thoughts and concerns, her expectations of her daughter and her ex (or her lack of expectations), and her self-doubts. I found it very easy to relate to Gail's quirks and insecurities. A fast and enjoyable read.

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