This book wasn't exactly what I thought it would be about. That being said, it was a delightful memoir(ish) book about a southern woman and how she has lived her life.

Reading this was instantly calming and yet opened up a new world to the reader. I even tried to see if the author had written any other books (but couldn't find any - she should though).

It was a story about staying - staying with places, with friends, with ideas, with ideals. And about the leaving that goes on around us everyday all the time. Staying isn't for everyone just as leaving isn't for everyone - there needs to be a balance.

Read this and learn about yourself as you compare and contrast yourself with the author.

I was provided this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review - all opinions are my own.

I listen to Annie’s podcasts weekly and enjoy them greatly! She is so easy to listen to, and I could hear her voice coming through the page as I read this book. Ordinary Time was anything but ordinary and I flew through this in one day. Love getting to learn more about her, her family, and life growing up in the south. Look forward to her book tour and hope she will come to a bookstore near me!

I loved this book and not just because I have followed Annie for years. She is an excellent writer and the way she describes her everyday life is engaging, charming and delightful. I also appreciated when she talked about the struggles she’s had with her faith and when deciding if motherhood is for her. After reading Ordinary Time you’ll leave feeling like you’ve gained a new friend in Annie B Jones.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Ordinary Time by Annie B. Jones. I know Annie B. Jones from her book podcast From the Front Porch, and as the owner of The Bookshelf, a bookstore in Thomasville GA (no I’ve never been there!) This is a collection of essays on life, friendship, faith, and relationships. She is a beautiful writer, and the book is very thoughtful and thought provoking. She talks about hard choices she has made in life, and how things have impacted her. Really nice read, glad that I read it. #ordinarytime #advancedreadercopy #netgalley #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #booknerd #whattoread #readingtime #bookaddict #ilovetoread #ilovebooks #needtoread #readallday #essaycollection

I am grateful to the publishers who shared an advanced copy of "Ordinary Time" with me through NetGalley. Annie's exploration of faith and her church community resonated deeply with me, as I have experienced a similar shift in belief while remaining close to my childhood church. I also appreciated her reflections on sibling relationships, the unexpected adventure in staying put, and the power of literary community. This book would be a perfect book club selection, inviting readers to reflect on how we build community through reading and shared experiences. You can read my full review on my blog: https://brittanydahl.com/blog/ordinary-time-book-review/

I didn't know who Annie B. Jones was before trying out this book. I just knew what the blurb said: that she owns a small independent bookstore, that she is a "stayer", that she finds joy in a quiet life. I didn't know that she does a podcast that is widely loved and that this podcast helped her store through the pandemic. A lot of the chapters in this book feel like reworked podcast transcripts.

In this book, the author comes across as sunny, relentlessly nice, and definitely Christian (she devotes a whole section of the book to musings on the development of her faith). She doesn't get into the darknesses of her soul nor do her introspections cut very deep for me. I might have liked this book better 25 or 30 years ago, when I was younger than the author, instead of older than her as I am now. Her wisdom is more for folks who are still figuring out who they are and how to accept that. Not that I'm a finished product by any means, but Annie B. Jones feels a bit like a more rural version of Elizabeth Gilbert. She is also a woman who feels to me like she's privileged, isn't afraid to put it all out there privilege and all, and who has come to be an icon to women who would like to be like her. Instead of traveling the world to Eat Pray Love, Annie B. Jones was in the right place at the right time to buy a small independent bookstore.

I've worked in and managed a small independent bookstore and once upon a time thought I might buy the one I worked in too, so I'm very lucky in that way. What Jones says about bookstore work rings true to me. And clearly she's a genius at marketing because to keep a small town bookstore alive through COVID is no small feat so she deserves full credit for that.

And there are a lot of women who will relate to her life. Jones grew up in a small Southern town, tried moving elsewhere but ultimately ended up not very far from where she started. She is nourished by small town things: knowing your neighbors, sitting on the porch in a swing, walking a couple of blocks to get pizza, seeing fireflies in the summer. She knows that she's a "good girl" who internalized what her church taught her to the point that she picked a small Christian college instead of going to a bigger school and more secular student body. She met her husband during her first week of classes. Her trials include watching good employees leave, finding that not everyone likes her, internal struggles with the desire to explore instead of settling in.

I never had to figure out how to be a stayer. In a military family, you move repeatedly. You learn who you are independent of a constant social network or clasmates. You learn that you can change everything and remain yourself.

So in the end, this author seems perfectly pleasant and I'm happy for her success. A lot of people may find that she has insight that they can use. She didn't have wisdom for me and she seems a bit privileged and naive.

this book really spoke to me and was unlike anything I have read! I am a huge fan of Annie and The Bookshelf and this short story collection did not disappoint.

I’ve been an Annie B. Jones for years, ever since I started following her on Instagram in 2020. I now subscribe to her private Instagram channel to read her book reviews and I love her taste and her book recommendations. Needless to say, I was thrilled when she announced she was coming out with her own book.

In “Ordinary Time” Annie writes in essays about her life as a small town independent bookstore owner. As a mother, daughter, sister, and friend. As a reader. As someone who has stayed and planted roots in the same corner of the world where she grew up. And as a person of faith. So much of that identity resonated with me. So many of those topics interested me.

And I really enjoyed this book. That said, I did, at times, wish she had gone a tad bit deeper? But also, that may have been my bias as someone who already feels like she knows Annie thanks to social media. Readers coming to this book fresh may feel differently.

I particularly enjoyed her essays about intergenerational community, about the joy in loving things in big loud ways, about staying in one phase of your life far longer than you and those around you thought you would. And as a millennial with similar cultural taste and touchstones to Annie, I loved so many of the pop culture references she made. I felt seen when she talked about the way that she was so touched by Ringo Starr when she fell down a deep, deep “Get Back” rabbit hole in 2021.

Note – there is a lot more talk about Annie’s Christian faith, a lot more pages dedicated to that, than the book’s description lets on. So if that would not resonate with you, this may not be the book for you.

This is a book that readers, old souls, Southerners, and sentimentalists will love. It’s a book that was a comfort to read. And I hope it is not the only book we will ever see from Annie.

As someone who was never the one to “stay” I was hoping for some perspective in this book and I think a few of my friends I’ve made along the way could truly related to this book and I felt compelled to share it with them. While I found the book easy enough to read, I struggled to see the point of some of the chapters and the way the author referred to them herself as essays made it feel less “put together” in my opinion.

She talked of her podcast multiple times and how it included books and small business content which I was particularly interested in but when I went to browse the episodes, it didn’t seem there was as much business content as I was hoping for.

Either way, this was an enjoyable, relaxing read with an interesting perspective on life.

Ordinary Time is a collection of essays that are about an ordinary life in an ordinary town. This book started and ended very strong for me. I related to these essays the most, so I was disappointed when I found myself struggling through the middle. I don't want to speak too negatively on it since this is truly someone's lived experience, there were just large sections that weren't for me...and that's ok! Because I know there is someone out there who was nodding and saying "YUP" the entire way through. On the whole I found it enjoyable and would rate in the low 3s.

I enjoyed this memoir in essays, but found the flow a little stilted. It didn’t feel as seamless as I would like and the theme of “staying” didn’t feel like it wove its way effortlessly throughout all of the essays. I would have preferred it be marketed as a reflective memoir without trying to emphasize staying. Overall though it was thoughtful and well-written!

It's been a long time since I highlighted as many passages in a book as I did while reading Ordinary Time! Such a cozy read, full of lovely musings about friendship, family, faith, home. It was light enough to read over the course of 24 hours, while profound enough to keep me thinking about it after I finished it. I read it while visiting a childhood friend and shared passages with her from the chapters on friendship, and she decided she's going to read it once it comes out!

A lovely memoir all about place, home, and finding contentment where you find yourself. Loved hearing about how Annie B. Jones became a bookseller, and the twists and turns her path has taken.

I have listened to Annie B. Jones’ podcast for years, and this is exactly what I wanted her book to be. I have enjoyed hearing her stories in her podcast, but the opportunity to read them in a manner where they had time to be fully explained and thought of so introspectively was a treat. As a reader, I enjoy books that take me out of my mundane life and on grand adventures, but it was refreshing to read a book about an ordinary woman doing ordinary things—just like me. The short story set up of the book served Jones well & has me longing for more from her in long form format!

I will cherish this book dearly! It felt like chatting with your closest friend with a cup of coffee! I can't wait to purchase a hardcopy for my forever shelf.

Reading memoir should be like you're sitting with the author over a long weekend swapping stories. Ordinary Time is like you're sitting with Annie on a front porch swing listening to her share her life with you. It's personable, funny, and life-giving. I loved it! Thank you, Annie for sharing your stories with us!

Thank you, NetGalley & HarperOne for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Enjoyable and helpful read! In Ordinary Time by Annie B Jones, the author tells us about her journey in adulthood and touches on some very helpful and thoughtful provoking themes. These include our need to constantly adjust our expectations of what our lives are “supposed to” look like and the importance of community. In her story about running a small town book store, Annie touches on the topics of friendships, careers, locations. She also shares her story of intentionally seeking out friendships and community while also learning to let go of people when their season of friendship ends. I also appreciated her perspectives on learning to be a boss, changing faith journey, and the sheer beauty of a simple life. Highly recommend!

I am a faithful listener to From the Front Porch, and am pleased to say that the author's first foray into writing is even better than expected. I see a young Ann Patchett in her, and hope she will write more in years to come.

when we’re younger, the idea of moving away, wiping the slate clean, and starting again is so appealing. you can shed the skin that held you captive from birth through high school graduation and start fresh, reinventing yourself at every turn. the world is yours!
in annie jones’ book, ordinary time, she explores the (groundbreaking) idea of staying put. staying in your hometown (or very close to it), staying married to the man you met the first year of college, and staying true to the things that light you up. through a series of essays, annie examines her life and the factors that led her to stay. how she’s proud of the life she’s built even though it meant a lot of loss and loneliness at times, while those she loved spread their wings and left her.
this book is a gentle reminder that the cozy familiarity of home can be just as awe inspiring as the bright lights of the big city.

thank you to harperone for providing this book for review consideration via netgalley. all opinions are my own.

The author has a popular podcast (which I've never heard of) and has run a small, independent bookstore for the last decade. She talks about growing up in a small town, watching many of her close friends and classmates move away to larger cities, then herself moving away to another lovely small town existence. In her new surroundings, she made the effort to acquire and keep new friends that enrich her life. Another topic was the lifelong importance of church in her family's life, where circumstances led she and her husband to explore alternative churches. Another difficulty was navigating the unpleasant role of being boss at her bookstore, and the painful experience of having to demote or fire people (it seemed to hurt her more than the employee).

I really thought I would connect with this being a quiet, introverted person who lives in a small town and finds refuge in reading. However, I was increasingly bored with the content and decided to DNF @ 50%. Maybe these chapter entries are more attractive to people who listen to her podcast, but for me they were too "ordinary" and did not engage me.

Thank you to the publisher HarperOne who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.