Town with Half the Lights On by Page Getz Goodnight, Kansas...much like Kansas town where I grew up. The author portrays small town life, the good and bad, as well as all its quirky characters quite realistically. Told in a unique style of written newspaper articles, emails, and journal entries which at first was confusing with the different email addresses, however the characters soon came into their own. A cozy mystery and family drama that at times is thought-provoking, heartwarming and has LOL moments. An entertaining and enjoyable read.

Thank you to the author, Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

A Town with Half the Lights On by @page_getz_
This was a cute story that reminded me of Fannie Flagg’s storytelling.
This book’s story is told from newspaper articles, emails and a journal. It tells the story of Goodnight,KS a little blip of a town that is almost nothing, hence the name. There is a great cast of characters that live in the town and the newcomers that are from Brooklyn. The family from Brooklyn plans to stay there just long enough make enough to go back to NY. However, as with a lot of plans, things begin to change.
I really enjoyed it!
Thank you to @netgalley for the arc. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this!
The epistolary format is so well done!
the small town accuracy and the characters
amazing all around

This is a charming story told in a format I particularly love - entirely through emails, notes, newspaper excerpts, etc (similar to The True and Outstanding Story of the Hunt Sisters). It reminded me in terms of plot of Lula Dean's Little Free Library of Banned Books, which is a compliment as that was a five star read for me last year.

A story about family, little town life, and surprisingly also about environmental concerns, this follows the story of the Solvang family as they retreat to Goodnight, Kansas, and shake up a small town, featuring a glittery girl who doesn't belong, going by the name of Disco Kennedy. As someone from the East Coast, I did find some characters really frustrating (Honey Bee, I'm looking at you) but overall I thought the way the characters grew into themselves was delightful.

Do you like books featuring small towns filled with off-the-wall characters? Then this one should be for you! I will note that I figured out every "twist" beforehand, but this isn't really a book that leans heavy on twists, but more on character development, so it didn't detract from my enjoyment at all. Definitely looking forward to reading what else Page Getz puts forth!

3 Stars
One Liner: Interesting but drags on forever!

Goodnight, Kansas
People don’t move to goodnight when everything in their lives is going well. No wonder the entry of Chef Sid Solvang and his family creates curiosity. Sid may not want to cook again ever, but he also doesn’t want to stay in his wife’s childhood hometown. He would find a way to go back to Brooklyn. However, with the local May Day Diner under the threat of being torn down, the citizens will have to work together to save their town.
The story comes in a series of clippings, diary entries, notes, emails, etc.

My Thoughts:
This was an interesting premise, and the epistolary format tempted me. With emails, handwritten notes, journal entries, text messages, and newspaper reports, there is enough variety to mix and match the presentation.
The book starts with the Solvang family entering Goodnight, a remote town in Kansas that relies on the tire factory to provide livelihood and keep the place alive. Right here, you can guess what’s coming.
Of course, there are other items on the checklist – small-town bigotry & bigheartedness, family feud, secrets, Christian zealousness, capitalism/ communism/ socialism drama, conspiracy theories, odd-one-out, down-on-the-luck guy saving a town, spunky teenagers, etc.
While there’s no denying the scattered bits of humor and entertainment, as a package, the book feels underwhelming, like a collection of social topics one has to tick off a list.
My favorite character is Disco, hands down. No one else can take her place at the top. She made the book a lot more enjoyable. Also, whatever emotions I felt were limited to her.
I didn’t expect the book to be so slow. By the time I reached 30%, I was tired and like I had read more than half the book, only to realize otherwise. The middle dragged even more. By the last 30%, I was more than ready to skim and finish it as soon as possible. It’s not really hard to guess most of the twists and reveals. They were very much apparent.
At the end, there’s an interview with the author. Here, she says she could ‘describe a raindrop for three pages’ but... I think this answers why the book feels heavier than it is. It is bloated. Also, the voices aren’t always distinct, and we have many since everyone communicates through emails or notes.
The ending is open and more like a slice-of-life story, so we don’t get answers to all the questions. This is a bit annoying after having to read so much. I’d have preferred a rounded ending with a little more development, at least for my favorite character. She deserves it!
There are a few quirky or experimental recipes mentioned, and quite a bit of food given, as it is one of the central themes. I don’t care for the other experiments, but tamosa… well, it sounds interesting, though I won’t be first in line to taste it.

To summarize, A Town with Half the Lights On sounds intriguing but doesn’t actually present anything new. It’s a decent read if you enjoy such themes, but the writing style can be a hit or a miss.
Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Told through diary entries, email, school notes and newspaper paper posts. The format was really interesting and it definitely pulled me in when I read the synopsis but in reality I felt it didn't fully let you connect with the characters and therefore I just wasn't as fully invested as I could have been.

I felt like every issue that arises throughout the story is resolved so easily, with very little hardships which made it feel a little unrealistic. However, what did make it feel realistic were the crazy brain washed folks who don't believe anything even when the evidence is in front of their face. Everything just felt a little obvious to me and this was a very surface level book.

That being said I did enjoy the two girls and their relationship. The culprit of all the wind chimes did make me laugh as well.

With their New York dreams (and funds) in shambles, the Solvang family find themselves taking a bit of a forced time out from the hustle and bustle of the big city. This is how they wind up in the small town of Goodnight, Kansas, a place Scarlet Solvang never thought she’d ever return to, but as good as place as any to recharge.

Inheriting an old home after Scarlet’s father passes, the family awkwardly settles in, but fitting in is another issue entirely. Once up and coming chef, Sid Solvang has lost his mojo, but still struggles to find any type of employment in the dying small town. Meanwhile Scarlet can’t seem to escape the snarky judgment of others. Then there is their teenaged daughter, Brooklyn who is equal parts enthralled with unearthing her grandfather’s presumed big secrets and returning home to New York.

But as time passes, connections are made and new paths are formed. With Sid taking on the town’s beloved yet dying, May Day Diner, both the Solvang family and the residents of Goodnight experience an unexpected rebirth. Before long, the black sheep Solvangs find themselves becoming the town’s unexpected salvation.

A Town With Half the Lights On is a delightful debut from author, Page Getz. Fans of small town charm and shows like Gilmore Girls are the perfect audience for this cast of quirky characters and quiet charm. More than just a story about second chances, the novel always serves up a hefty helping of standing up for what’s right mixed in with a finish of found family. I look forward to seeing what other colorful characters Getz cooks up in the future.

A town is boosted by a few plucky residents who come as outsiders but become family. I enjoyed the story of these caring and determined people who help to raise up those around them and make sure credit goes to all.

I enjoyed the found media format. It was an interesting way to tie the narrative together!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

This was compared to books by J. Ryan Stradal, whom I love, so I was excited to read this. While I prefer Stradal's novels, this one had plenty of quirks and cooking and was told in a wonderful epistolary way! I liked the different emails and newspaper bullentins and found that the book was super interesting. Give it a try!

A Town With Half The Lights On comes out next week on April 22, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.

"Everything's wrong with Reno. That's what I like about it," said Bailey. "Ain't no Branson, but it ain't no Vegas neither."

When Sid fails in a big way in NYC, his family has no choice but to move to the home his wife’s father left her in Kansas. From he second they arrive, he and his wife and daughter are trying to find ways back to the city. When he impulsively purchases the local diner from being turned into a Burger King, Sid begins to find a new purpose. Suddenly all three Solvang’s are finding a new life in Goodnight Kansas.

This book was written in emails and messages in a bottle, which was different and fun since you got to read what each character was thinking. Having spent a week working at my companies plant in a small town in Missouri, I felt this book so hard. Most of the people in that town work for my company, so it truly reminded me of Great American Tire Company and how reliant the town was on their factory. I really loved how much the Solvang family grew over their time in Kansas, and honestly, this book hit a on a lot of current political issues. This is one of those books I went into skeptical but really ended up fully enjoying!

Thank you to @bookmarked for my gifted copy of this book!

🅐🅛🅛 🅣🅗🅔 🅥🅘🅑🅔🅢

Out This Week!

😆QOTD: What’s a book that made you laugh in 2025?

All the vibes of Lula Dean are echoing in my mind as I read about 𝘼 𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙊𝙣 by Page Getz. @pagegetzwriter
@page_getz_
@bookmarked

What’s similar?
🏘️ slice of life small town America
🏠 a theme of home
👧🏼 colorful characters
🪧 people uniting for a cause
💞 makes your heart happy

Am I in love with another debut? Yes!

This epistolary novel told through passed school notes, journal entries, gossipy newspaper columns, lost and found clippings, emails and letters in a bottle, tells the story of the Solvang family, as they have fled Brooklyn, NY for Goodnight, Kansas and take over Pop’s alpaca populated Victorian on Emporia Road.
Soon we learn why Scarlett’s the only chef cooking, and why Sid is content making birdhouses as their daughter Harlem passes school notes to the town’s wildest child, Disco Kennedy, at the local middle and high school.

A story with so much heart, I have not put it down & watch for more in a more final review soon, I have to also recommend you travel to this town - I think we ought to get all those lights turned on. Please pick it up so we can chat.

Thank you to the tagged author and publisher for allowing me to read this- I will be doing a better review but couldn’t wait to recommend and share this title & get more readers to pick it up!


#bestbooksof2025 #epistolarynovel #epistolaryfiction #currentlyreadi̇ng #newbooks #atownwithhalfthelightson

When Scarlet's father passes away and she inherits his old home and plot of land, her and her family find themselves treking from Brooklyn to a small town called Goodnight, Kansas. Her husband Sid just recently ran the diner his father and grandfather had before him into the ground and is looking for some time to distance himself from that fiasco, while saving up money to begin again in Brooklyn. What the family doesn't expect is for the city and people of Goodnight to change their lives in the way that they do.

A TOWN WITH HALF THE LIGHTS ON by Page Getz is a small town contemporary focused on love, loss, community, and failure.

It's an epistolary novel, meaning it's told entirely through emails, journal entries, newspaper articles, and letters, which I truly loved. It poses quite the challenge for the author when it comes to presenting us with a full story through these pointed views, bur Page did a wonderful job.

I laughed, I cried, I wanted to eat some really good food, and I just really enjoyed my time in Goodnight. The cast of characters was fun and sometimes kooky and I loved seeing them rally around one another when the going got tough.

At this point in writing this review, I'm realizing this is A DEBUT - I can only begin to imagine what Page might have in store for us next!

Thanks to NetGalley Sourcebooks Landmark for an early copy for review - out now!

1.75/5 stars! The format of this book was really cool: diary entries, newspaper articles, etc. Sadly, it just didn't flow well to me. It felt very disjointed and I couldn't get in to the story at all.

This was good, but I also felt like there was too much going on? Perhaps that was a me thing though. I ultimately enjoyed it but it took a bit to really feel engaged. I did like the way the book was written, through letters written by the town people.

Page Getz’ A Town with Half the Lights On took me by surprise! I was intrigued by the synopsis, but I missed that the story is told through diary entries, emails, articles in the local newspaper, etc. I don’t usually like stories presented that way, but it totally works in A Town with Half the Lights On! In fact, the story presentation/layout brought a whole new layer of fun to what could have been a story of the downtrodden in a soon-to-be ghost town.

I loved the feel of small town in Goodnight, Kansas. From “big businessmen” to oddball teens to religious zealots, the town is filled with hilariously quirky characters. The New York transplants, the Solvangs, stick out like a sore thumb. Sid Solvang, a failed chef, fled Brooklyn after bankrupting the family deli that had been in his family for three generations. Sid’s wife, Scarlet, the youngest daughter of Alpaca farmer Pops Bannister, is also a chef. Scarlet left Goodnight 20 years ago and never looked back. After she and Sid failed miserably, Scarlet drags her family back to Goodnight after learning she was the sole beneficiary of the family farm.

The story is filled with failed dreams, poverty, and hardships of not only the Solvangs but their fellow residents on Goodnight. I felt each of their hardships and losses, and I was thankful for the humor in the book that balanced all that heartache.

The character development, plot arc and story layout are great. I love small town stories and stories of chefs and kitchens. A Town with Half the Lights On hit both marks and left me hungry for kugel and more of Ms. Getz’ writing.

#NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #TantorAudio #ATownwithHalftheLightsOn

This was not quite what I was expecting. It was a bit long for an epistolary novel and I expected some fantasy elements, I guess based on the cover but that's my mistake. It was still a cool book.

A Town with Half the Lights On by Page Getz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A five-star epistolary novel that feels like your favorite comfort food. If you’re looking for a read to bring you comfort, community, quirky characters, and humor, among other equally important things, check this out as soon as you can.

Told through emails, newspaper clippings, personal journals, passed notes, and a lost and found clipping, this novel brought to life the town of Goodnight, Kansas. I laughed, I teared up, I cheered, and I shook my head. It was an expert blend of all the emotions, enough humor to lighten the load, and characters that will stay with me for a long time.

While I’m not saying I want to live in Goodnight with the Lake Flu and missing wind chimes, I am saying that I could read a hundred more books with these characters and love every minute.

✨ ARC Review ✨

To be honest, I was drawn to the beautiful cover. I had no idea what the book was about. I love going in blind and seeing if I vibe with a book. Boy, did I vibe with this one!

It’s set in 2002, and is purely epistolary. We see the stories unfold through emails, newspaper articles, journals, letters, etc. It’s quirky small town, but with a heaping helping of Erin Brockovich.

The Solvang family have to relocate to Goodnight, Kansas from NYC due to losing everything including Sid Solvang’s chef dreams. Scarlet Solvang’s father has just died and left her the ol’ homestead including a Victorian house and three alpacas. Harlem Solvang is distraught about leaving everything she knows in NYC. And what’s there to love about Goodnight? It’s a town with half the lights out. 🤷🏻‍♀️

But there’s the May Day Diner which is the beating heart of Goodnight. If someone doesn’t buy it, the town developer will and he’s gonna turn it into a Burger King. Disco Kennedy has a great idea! 💡 Sid and Scarlett are both chefs. Why don’t they buy the diner?

Y’all this is honestly just the beginning of this story. Buying the May Day is just the start for these transplanted New Yorkers. And all the town’s characters? I want to hug them as if they were real. This is how to be a good neighbor. What’s that saying? You should only look into your neighbor’s bowl to make sure they have enough? Something like that.

In these troubled times, it’s good to remember that most people have beautiful hearts.

I received this eARC via #netgalley and @bookmarked. All thoughts are mine alone.

#fiction #fictionbooks #contemporaryfiction #smalltownfiction #thetownwithhalfthelightson #pagegetz #bookrecs #bookreview #bookstagram

A Town with Half the Lights On is a bit Fried Green Tomatoes (cozy, tight-knit small town vibes) and a tad Erin Brockovich (environmental hazards). A couple and their daughter have just moved to Goodnight, Kansas, from New York, both to claim their inheritance, but also to get their lives back on track in hopes of returning to New York soon. There is just something about Goodnight, though. The residents are charming. The town is quaint. There's a cafe set for demolition that seems worth saving. The story is told through text messages, emails, newspaper articles, and more, so it sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one either in ebook or audiobook format.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark, Tantor Audio, and NetGalley for review copies of the ebook and audiobook versions of A Town with Half the Lights On.