Palisades Park

pick

Well written and well researched, filled with facts and true stories, this historical fiction novel is steeped in a strong sense of time and place. I loved it! Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey no longer exists, but it comes to life in rich detail in this story. The main character‘s pursuit of a daring career in an age where women were not encouraged to do such things deftly ties the book‘s many narratives together.

#ReadOrDonate for July

MemoirsForMe Are you from NJ? I remember going to Palisades Park when I was a kid. Great fun! 3mo

julieclair @Memoirs4Me Yes! I was born in Paterson, but grew up in Wyckoff, in Bergen County. I don‘t remember ever going to Palisades Park, but I can still sing the jingle… it was running through my head as I read this book, lol. 🎶 Palisades has the rides, Palisades has the fun, Come on over… 🎶 3mo

Aims42 I loved this book so much! It‘s one I like to re-read every now and then to revisit 😄 3mo

41 likes1 stack add3 comments

julieclair

Palisades Park | Alan Brennert

My July choice for #ReadOrDonate is Palisades Park, historical fiction about a legendary amusement park near where I grew up in New Jersey. What will everyone else be reading and/or donating?

Julsmarshall, BarkingMadRead, Cuilin, kspenmoll, TheBookHippie, OriginalCyn620, BethM, gossamerchild, Booksblanketsandahotbeverage, Read4life, rmaclean4, BookwormAHN, CoffeeNBooks, Allylu, TheAromaofBooks, PuddleJumper, willaful

AmyG I grew up near there, too…in Bergen County. 4mo

Amiable I read this one —I don‘t think I enjoyed it very much. I think I was disappointed because I liked this one so much:

Moloka'i

4mo

Read4life @AmyG I grew up in Passaic County. 🤓 4mo

See All 16 Comments

AmyG @Read4Life I was born in Paterson! 4mo

TheAromaofBooks I'm going to try and clear out another Nora Roberts backlog

Legacy

4mo

Read4life @AmyG me, too!! 4mo

AmyG @Read4Life Ha! Barnert Hospital. 4mo

julieclair @AmyG @Read4life I was born in Paterson, too! At the old Paterson General, which no longer exists. And I grew up in Bergen County, In Wyckoff. But our church was in Paterson - in the Totowa section. So I kind of grew up in both places, Wyckoff and Paterson. 4mo

Read4life @julieclair @AmyG I was born in St. Joseph‘s. I lived in Prospect Park which borders Paterson. 4mo

AmyG My parents almost bought a house in Wycoff. I grew up in Fair Lawn. Small world @julieclair @Read4life 4mo

julieclair @AmyG My dad's best friend & his family lived in Fair Lawn. He was the superintendent of schools there for many years. @Read4life I lived in Hawthorne, right next to Prospect Park, until I was 4. Small world indeed! Now I'm craving Texas weiners, lol! And Taylor ham. 😘 4mo

AmyG @Julieclair Too funny! 4mo

gossamerchild I'm still working on Cryptonomicon :-D In my defense, I haven't picked it up in a while. My plan is to get back to it this month. I WILL finish it! 4mo

julieclair @Amiable Moloka‘i is on my TBR, but I don‘t own a copy. It‘s interesting that you liked one so much more than the other. I‘m predisposed to like this one because of its link to my childhood. 😉 4mo

julieclair @gossamerchild You will finish it for sure. I have faith in you! 4mo

Read4life My grandparents lived in Hawthorne in the house my grandfather and great grandfather built. I spent many summer days in the Hawthorne pool!! 4mo

39 likes1 stack add16 comments

Aims42

Palisades Park | Alan Brennert

pick

When everything just syncs up👌 I loved “Palisades Park” so much! It gave me very similar feelings as “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” so if you enjoyed that, you would maybe like this too! I‘ll give you the warning nobody gave me though…. do not read it if you‘re hungry. The French fry descriptions were too much for me and I found myself salivating several times 🤤😜 I‘d go so far as to give it five stars 🤩

Susanita French fries are one of my favorite things to eat! 🍟 3y

Aims42 @Susanita I never really knew how much I loved them until reading this book 😂 It got me thinking which restaurant has the best ones? Which led to more salivating 😂 3y

48 likes3 stack adds2 comments

Kshakal

Palisades Park | Alan Brennert

#fair #savvysettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Eggs Beautiful cover 🎡❤️🎢 4y

28 likes1 stack add1 comment

IamIamIam

Palisades Park | Alan Brennert

I love when my Facebook memories are about reading! This was 3 years ago, pre-Litsy, but this book has stuck with my and I remember it clearly, which says a lot for me! I pulled it off the shelf because I was doing authors alphabetically from the library (inadvertent #LitsyAtoZ) and the spine was gorgeous!

42 likes1 stack add

Amiable

Palisades Park | Alan Brennert

pan

I wanted to love this book. After reading “Moloka'i” and “Honolulu,” I was expecting another home run from Brennert. I was wrong. The writing in this book is pretty flat. The plot reads more like separate vignettes designed to list a lot of historical references in the order in which they happened. The narrative just moves from one vignette to the next, with no real emotional impact or understanding of the characters‘ motives or thought process.

MayJasper 😞 7y

59 likes1 comment