I received a free copy of, Something to Look Forward To, by Fannie Flagg, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I usually have something to look forward to, it helps get through a long day of work. Fannie Flagg has 30 short stories about normal American people. doing the best they can, with what they have. This was a n enjoyable read, at American Culture, everyone is so different in different parts of America.

A simple collection of somewhat linked stories, this was occasionally sad, sweet and filled with Fannie Flagg's charm, although not quite as charming as Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, along with her others.

Overall, this wasn't my favourite of her books, although I haven't read more than a few of her books, but I did enjoy reading 'Something to Look Forward To.'


Pub Date: 10 Aug 2025

Many thanks for the opportunity to read Fannie Flagg's 'Something to Look Forward To'

Another amazing book from Fannie Flagg, and this has many short stories that as you read they intertwine, The short stories are interesting, encounter a vast array of topics, and it was something to look forward to, because we didn't know what was coming in the next stories. I enjoyed them all,
I received an ARC from Random House through NetGalley.

Love, love, love this Fannie Flagg's most recent book Something to Look Forward To! So much fun!

A bit of an accumulation of short stories, but some story lines repeated and wove through the book. Such quirky characters. Fannie Flagg writes the way we think, but are afraid to say. So many times I laughed out loud with this book! I'm planning to buy one book for my mom and one for my mother-in-law. I think they would enjoy it tremendously and then circulate among their friends.

I reread several sections many weeks after finishing and this is a book that I wouldn't mind re-reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for approving my request to read Something to Look Forward To in exchange for an honest review. Approx 288 pages. Publication date is Aug 19, 2025.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book. When I started reading, it felt like a collection of short stories about people across the U.S. navigating different life situations. But as I kept going, I really enjoyed seeing how the stories started to connect. It was wonderful to discover all the interwoven relationships and the different ways people’s lives intersect.

I loved how it showed that you never really know the impact you might have on someone. It could be a brief day, a week, or even just a short time spent together, but that connection can leave a lasting impression and shape a person’s life in unexpected ways.

This is a nice collection of thought provoking short stories. Many of the stories are intertwined. If you like Fanny Flagg you will love this collection. The characters are quirky and the small town setting is enjoyable. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Some of these were cute! Most were meh, the throughlines didn't really work and it seemed to intentionally flout inclusion with hero characters who just don't understand it but it wasn't the worst thing I've ever read.

This is a collection of short stories and funny anecdotes. I really enjoyed some of the stories, but some of the included material was so short that I honestly didn't see the point in including it other than to add to the total page length of the book. I would have loved if several of the stories, which were only a couple of pages long, would have been combined to become a story with more depth.

These thirty short stories, almost vignettes, offer insightful observations of American life as it unfolds. Many of the stories are interconnected, and all are written with Fannie Flagg’s signature blend of insight, pathos, and humor. I particularly enjoyed the clever twists in many of the stories and the colorful and endearing characters.

This book is a delightful read that serves as a refreshing palate cleanser. It evokes a sense of humanity that I believe we all desperately need right now. While it’s possible that you won’t love every story, I highly recommend this fast-paced read.

I've always loved Fannie Flagg's books -- she manages to tell engaging stories about wonderful people. It's so good to remember that most people really are caring, helpful, and nice to know -- you wouldn't get that from reading the news. I always treasure her releases.

A wonderful, hopeful book. Flagg is best when she is in her wheelhouse, writing about small towns and about the beauty and profundity to be found in everyday life. This book is like a spiritual hug, especially in these turbulent times.

I have fond memories of reading Fanny Flagg when I was younger, so this book felt like a big hug. Nothing earth shattering or new here, just a fun story that I was in the perfect mood for. I’m so happy to have been given the opportunity to read it.

Fannie Flagg can do no wrong in my eyes. Welcome to the world baby girl is still my favorite but this one was pretty good as well. Everything she writes will make you laugh, cry, and be so heartfelt. This one was like a bunch of short stories I feel that was the only different thing.

I cannot recommend Something to Look Forward To enough. While Fannie Flagg always writes the best stories, including the very aptly named Something to Look Forward To, she is one of the writers who will get me through the nuttiness of the current world. .

I start again to tell a big thank you to Penguin Random House for being invited to read thanks to NetGalley the latest book by Fannie Flagg.



"Something to Look Forward To"



opens with the Special Agent William Frawley, an U.F.O. sent on Earth by the Chief Galactic Observer of Planet 8626.
Of course the name and shape of that U.F.O. is not similar to the one of a human being so it was necessary a transformation.

Apart the story of William, our U.F.O. who once arrived on Earth will make good friendship, what I absolutely find great is the story of Darla Womble for example.

Darla once discovered that her body and face was not as fresh as in the past, but she wanted to hook up with a guy: so she booked several plastic surgeries in a clinic in Mexico, telling this just to a good friend. Once disappeared, a lot of relatives thinking that she was dead started to depredate the house, the garden: just a niece started some researches without to pretend anything, but seriously worried for her aunt.

When people will discover that their beloved relative was alive, panic!!!

Darla would have then understood who would have deserved her things, once gone.

The Honey Bee Café will tell us something else: how precious can be places and what people can do for not lose them.

But it's Welma that permitted me to rediscover the warm of the South of the USA, letting me show also, thanks to these chapters, the profound differences existing in the USA.

We all know that the South of the USA is conservative: life goes on with calm. Welma's problems were some animals, that sometimes entered in her kitchen. She had her own habits and she lived a satisfying existence.

She had a niece in Hollywood, Cathy. Cathy was modern as the rest of people of her age are. She ate only vegan, she taught yoga, living in an environment in which perfection was normality. So Welma didn't understand the profusion of modernity she told her, like speaking by FaceTime for example.

The biggest problems experienced with Cathy?

When Cathy wanted to afford to Kansas after that COVID had kept everyone distant by her family. Her daughter joined a movement in which the nana had to call her Gandalf, not anymore Julie-Ann.

The opinion of Cathy regarding her granny was that she hadn't never had the possibility to change her existence, and that she was absolutely alone, when Welma was conducting not just a beautiful life, but satisfying, with a lot of people caring her her, supporting her, loving her...forever.

So powerful, shocking, absolutely stunning! a gem, a masterpiece, the story of Helen, devoted wife of a doctor. She sacrificed her career for following him. They had had two daughters and life sounded good enough. Then the crisis of middle-age, the doc. fell in love for a 20 and something girl new secretary. Helen started to following them, to be present, although they were separated, with affection: too much affection. I thought that this woman was wonderful in doing this...I cannot spoil too much. Oh, read it, it's simply enchanting! One of the best stories of this book. I think, the best one!

What I found in particularly fascinating in the latest book by Fannie Flagg?

It kept me calm, it let me re-enter in connection with the South of the USA, their traditions, their customs, their way of thinking and believing, their food: it relaxed me. This book, in particular in this moment so difficult for the world can be good to understand that life can be simply different, can be...normal, and that, after all, it's just a story of...perspectives.

A book that will tell you discover that there is a lot of goodness in this world! And that we can be part of it.

Reading Fannie Flag''s books, in fact, will permit to readers to understand how to live a satisfying and honest existence in little and big places, as well observing the differences and concepts existing if you live in a big and modern city or in a rural center somewhere in the profound South of the USA.

Fannie is a person in grade to paint every situation with goodness and wonderful knowledge of the human soul, teaching us integrity, honesty, good feelings.

Highly recommended book! To everyone.



Many thanks Penguin Ramdom House and Netgalley!



Anna Maria Polidori

A series of connected short stories - although I loved Fried Green Tomatoes, this one felt a little silly to me, and very light. Not sure if it is the present state of the world that affected my enjoyment of this book, or the subject matter, but it missed the mark for me. Many of the themes in the book felt a bit forced, and some of the characters were just one-sided. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy.A series of connected short stories - although I loved Fried Green Tomatoes, this one felt a little silly to me, and very light. Not sure if it is the present state of the world that affected my enjoyment of this book, or the subject matter, but it missed the mark for me.

I am thankful for the book from NetGalley, however, I found this book boring.
I really don't have a hundred characters to say about this book.

Something to Look Forward To by Fannie Flagg is another hit for this talented one of a kind author. Pure entertainment. Read and enjoy. Thanks NetGalley!

Last summer my husband and I stumbled upon a TV game show from the 70’s called Match Game. Each episode we would end up googling actors and actresses to see who they were. We found Fannie Flagg and were immediately impressed by her and her story of her dyslexia and then realizing she wrote Fried Green Tomatoes. I vowed to read her.
When this showed up as an available ARC I quickly hoped I would get it. Once gifted I couldn’t wait to read it and boy was I not disappointed by her charming short stories that seemingly had a message in them designed for me and how I was feeling that day. Fannie’s empathy is a gift that all readers would love.

Something to Look Forward to, by Fannie Flagg, is a collection of short stories set in a small town. I have read all of her novels and was looking forward to this new one. I was a bit disappointed to find it a compilation of stories, but that disappointment soon left as I made my way from story to story. While it wasn't my favorite of hers (you'll never top Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe), it should not be dismissed. I'll continue to read anything she writes!

I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC ebook that I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.