A wonderful story of second chances. The title provides an apt description of the time spent with our heroine as she prepares for her daughter's wedding. Upon first meeting, the narrator seems dejected, flat and lacking; however, appearances in this case are deceiving as the story unfolds showing the depth of character. I very much enjoyed learning about the character's flaws and strengths. Overall, a beautifully told small story.

Three Days in June
Anne Tyler
February 11, 2025

Gail and Max Baines divorced twenty-some years ago. Each were teachers. When he abruptly left he found a job in Delaware teaching. It was a drive to see their daughter, Debbie but together he and Gail worked it out. Now after Debbie has graduated from college and become an attorney, they plan to spend the weekend celebrating her wedding. Although his plans to stay at Debbieś house fell by the wayside as she was gone when he arrived, Gail made the best of it and showed him to the guest bedroom.
This wedding journey gives readers a step by step look at Gail´s struggle of hoping to take on a new job at her school. Her boss felt that hiring someone younger than her 60 years worked out best for all involved. Now her Ex is staying with her. Next would come the job of entertaining and hoping the wedding would come off successful.
Three Days in June will be published by Alfred A. Knopf on February 11, 2025. I was able to read the digital edition of Tyler´s latest novel via NetGalley. It is a marvelous tale of women's fiction. It flows easily and successfully gives us a clear picture of the Baines lives, a very enjoyable read.

This was not one of my favorite books by Anne Tyler. It really wasn’t much of a story and I found all the characters except for Max unlikable. I kept waiting for the story to turn around with a wonderful conclusion, but unfortunately it never did

3.5 stars-Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book, releasing February 11th!

I requested this ARC because I thought I had read Anne Tyler before and liked her work-turns out after looking into it I've definitely never read one of her books before, BUT I did enjoy this one! It's a quick character study (my Kindle ARC didn't have page numbers but I suspect around 150-175 pages total) and her writing was easy to read. I liked Gail, the main character, quite a bit-we get a bit of her ex-husband but most of the characters aren't too fleshed out since it's a short little book. Not sure I loved some of the conclusions characters came to, but overall I enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend if you're looking for a quick. reflective read.

I adore Anne Tyler and her quirky characters. I thought this story was well-written and I liked the structure. It was composed of 3 chapters: the day before the wedding, the day of the wedding, and the day after the wedding, all with flashbacks to fill you in on the back story. I found Gail's insights into herself and her life to be spot on and very relatable, however I didn't really fall in love with any of the characters and found the pacing to be a bit on the slow side for my liking. My favorite aspect of the story was Gail and Max's friendship. It was very sweet and kept me reading.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for an honest review.
This is my first time reading anything written by Anne Taylor and I have to be honest, this just was not for me. I couldn’t get into the characters . I think if it was a longer book I could be drawn into it . I’m sure she’s a good author since I have heard good things about her.
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5 character stars

Anne Tyler is a master storyteller, there’s no doubt! This short novel perfectly gives us the perfectly fleshed-out character of Gail Baines. The story follows her over three days of her daughter’s wedding.

It starts with a bad day when her career as a school administrator appears to be over. Then, her ex-husband shows up at her house with a cat and states that he must stay with her for the wedding. And she’s not invited to her daughter’s spa day. How much worse can it get?

This story was the perfect length to make me invest in the characters and hope for second chances. It’s matter-of-fact writing that is also perfectly eloquent. Bravo, Anne Tyler!

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

I enjoyed this novella by Anne Tyler. Gail Baines has spent her life being much more than just functional despite the fact some in her life consider her to be lacking in necessary compassionate social skills. Gail gets a big lesson in this fact at her place of work when she finds an avenue of advancement is closed to her. Employing the very lacking social skills that will keep her from advancing at her job, she just walks out of that job. Why waste another moment there, nothing to talk about, just walk out.

Gail is busy anyway, her daughter is getting married, her ex husband, Max, is staying at her house without being invited, and he brought a foster cat. I had problems with the treatment of a cat in another Anne Tyler book but I decided to give this one a try and and I'm happy to say it's a cat friendly story. In fact, I adore Gail's ex husband, he's a really good guy and he volunteers at a rescue when he's not working at his school job.

Being with Gail and and Max was funny and fun for me. Gail does a lot of reflecting which is triggered by her ex husband, her daughter's relationship with her fiancé, and her daughter's wedding. I could relate to both Gail and Max and I loved the way the story ended.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf and NetGalley for this ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and sped through it. I immediately felt like I was in Gail's head and immersed in the story. I was rooting for her but also acknowledged her mistakes. Every character felt realistic and I was happy with the ending.

This was a very pleasant and quick read. I really appreciate how Anne Tyler makes the basic details of our lives so interesting and compelling. Her books are always very relatable and I like that loose ends don’t all get tied up. This one was maybe a little too short? I felt there was a bit more there that could have been explored. But overall a solid read.

Thank you to Knopf Publishing for my gifted copy and NetGalley for my gifted-copy of this book.

This was my first book by this author and I think I may have struggled with her writing style.

Three Days in June follows Gail, a socially awkward mother of the bride as she navigates the day before and the day following her daughter’s wedding.

This was the longest short book in the history of books 🤣. I had a really hard time connecting with any of these characters. Especially once Gail’s daughter reveals something about her husband to be.

A lot takes place in 3 days that has Gail reminiscing and telling us about years prior and how she ended up divorced. Which was all bad …

Gail was just so - unhappy - in fact everyone was unhappy. ☹️ Even when the book wrapped up, I couldn’t help but feel the characters didn’t really learn anything and were bound to repeat their mistakes.

Bottom line…if you’re looking for something feel good - this isn’t it

Three Days in June is set over a weekend in June when the main character's daughter is getting married. On day one, Gail loses her job and her ex-husband, Max, shows up at her house (with his cat) to crash for the weekend of their daughter's wedding. Gail and Max are awkward. The weekend is awkward. But Gail and Max stumble through. The dialogue is funny and clever. The characters are flawed, but loveable. They are forced to work together, to look deeper into themselves and each other, to support their daughter through an emotionally charged time. I enjoyed that this book was short and to the point. It very simply is broken up in structure as Day One, Day Two and Day 3.

I would recommend this book to fans of: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Hello Beautiful, Evvie Drake Starts Over.

It’s not a great day … Gail loses her job, AND her ex-husband and his foster cat arrive - unannounced - to spend their daughter’s wedding weekend with Gail. The story takes place in the days surrounding Debbie’s wedding, with flashbacks to the past. It’s a short read and a quiet story filled with relatable marriage and adult child reflections, moments, and issues. The ending left me wanting more, but I enjoyed this quick read.

I enjoyed this little slice of life story that follows a family over the course of three days as they prepare for their daughter's wedding. It has a bit of humor, a bit of heart and leaves you with a question of forgiveness? Given the same circumstances, would you be able to forgive?
It would make a good book club book because it is short and there are wonderful discussion jumping off points!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read it in advance!

A wedding is coming up soon or us it? Debbie’s parents are divorced but can they make it through three days together? To make it more interesting Dad, Max, shows up with a cat and no place to stay so ends up staying with his ex-wife, Gail. Gail also needs a job and Max encourages her to apply where he teaches, though she is not sure she wants to move away from their daughter.
A great read; I enjoyed it very much. The characters have their struggles and issues to work through and do so in a realistic manner.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Great short novel, Anne Tyler has the gift of giving the reader characters with such humanity, flawed, but doing their best.

I have been reading Anne Tyler for most of my adult life because she was one of my late mother’s favorite authors. I often read her books with my mother in mind and imagine what my mother would think of the book. She would have loved it just as much as I did. The conversations between mothers and adult daughters were perfection. It is such a delicate balance of a mother letting go of managing a daughter’s life and Anne Tyler gets this so right.

The book is a snippet of the main character’s life spanning the day before her daughter’s wedding, the day of the wedding, and the day after the wedding. This isn’t a Father of the Bride family. This is a messy complicated loving modern day family. And it’s written as if you are catching up with an old friend and you ask her, “so, how was the wedding?” and you learn so many new things about your old friend.

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler didn’t resonate with me. The book is brief and quiet. I found the slow pace and subtle storytelling unengaging, and the characters felt distant and hard to relate to. While Tyler’s writing is sharp, the plot didn’t hold my interest, and I struggled to connect with the themes of personal reflection and reconciliation. For readers who enjoy quieter, introspective narratives, this might appeal, but it wasn’t the right fit for me.

A new Anne Tyler book is always cause for celebration. Three Days in June tucks itself between Elizabeth Berg and Anna Quindlen on your bookshelf filled with novels that address the beauty of an ordinary life. It’s what you expect in a Tyler novel—an intimate, character-driven story that explores the ordinary aspects of life with perfect prose.

The protagonist, Gail Baines, is sixty-one, divorced, and socially awkward—not extremely so, just enough to keep her daughter’s future mother-in-law from inviting her to some pre-wedding plans. Ouch. Then, when her ex-husband shows up for the wedding with no place to stay, she reluctantly lets him stay with her—despite the fact he’s brought a cat but no suit.

With gentle humor and poignant insight, Tyler guides the reader through three ordinary days in June that turn out to be pivotal for one small family. It’s a sweet story about a seemingly simple woman, quietly and beautifully told. There’s a reason Tyler won a Pulitzer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advance reader copy.

One Liner: Great writing, different story but not a great ending

Synopsis: Gail Baines walks out of her current workplace after being overlooked for the position she has been aspiring a day before her only daughter's wedding. Her ex-husband Max shows up at her place unannounced with a Cat right before the wedding. He was supposed to stay with their daughter but he ends up crashing at Gail's house. Debbie, their daughter shares a huge secret with them in a moment of vulnerability. Is this going to affect the wedding? How is Gail going to handle that and also having her ex-husband home? Read on to figure out. The story is written in Gail's first person pov

My thoughts:
The story has a very different format. Its divided into 3 sections, day before the wedding, day of the wedding and day after. This story travels between past and present but at no point was this confusing. The flow was very good and story sailed well. I loved the writing.

Gail is quite judgmental jumping to conclusions without giving a second thought. Max, her ex husband is more level headed, calm and composed. Debbie, their daughter hardly has any space except for delivering the big secret. There are a few easy going moments which makes you chuckle.

As I progressed through the story, I empathized with Max more than Gail but I did not like few attributes of this like lacking an ambition in life and being too casual with everything including his own upkeep. I also felt that he could be little more assertive. Gail is created as a very judgmental and a selfish person. Almost felt like author used her pov just to make the reader dislike her.

The biggest let down was the ending. I wish there was more open heart to heart conversation before thrusting the conclusion to the readers. This felt bit rushed.

My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, for the digital ARC. The review is my honest opinion of the book.