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Phoebe Stone feels eerily familiar.

Two holds became available at the same time and I chose the tagged book over Project Hail Mary.
#currentread

This Chick Lit book was a 4-star read with relatable characters and good prose. There were some funny moments but had a surprisingly sweet and honest outlook on such heavy subjects as grief, suicidal ideation, divorce, and death of a spouse. The relationships that were formed between Phoebe and the wedding people were quirky but positive and respectful. It was an uplifting experience and was very enjoyable.

Phoebe is an amazing protagonist, and the book is full of characters who are hiding behind façades, and Espach lets us see that so that they don't become caricatures. The initial premise doesn't seem like it would be very funny--and it isn't--but the story is so very human and redemptive in that the characters get to be real people, making real choices. A delightful read. #TOB2025

Haven‘t enjoyed a central character as much as Phoebe Stone in a long time. This book made me laugh out loud and brought me close to tears in equal measure. It tailed off a bit in the middle but drew me back in for the ending. Worth a read for Phoebe‘s narrative voice alone.

“Maybe this is just what it means to be a person. to constantly reckon with being a single being in one body. Maybe everybody sits up at night and creates arguments in their head for why they are the loneliest person in the world.”

Very good. Follows one woman who thinks her life is over but she gets involved in a stranger's wedding and finds a way to reinvent herself. Very life affirming.

#PhoenixBooks
#OrionPublishibgGroup
#HachetteUK

4.5⭐️ I really liked the book and it really lived up to the hype. I thought it might be a bit too schmaltzy, but I really liked how the characters were drawn and felt like the story ended well. #2025 #fiction #contemporary #wedding #literaryfiction

My final #weeklyfavorites for August was The Wedding People.

August was a little bit of a slower reading month for me. I finished The Wedding People last night and it was my favorite book I read in August.

August felt weird, temporally.

Glad to be in a new month, though I hope there are still a few beach days left now that we‘ve entered the quieter off-season here in Rhode Island. 🌊

I had a few writing projects this past month, which diverted my focus away from reading. Now, it feels like a slump may be looming. But anything‘s possible! We‘ll see what September brings.

#AWreads2025
#personalreadingtracker

This was a good page turner. Interesting plot and characters. A good light-ish read. I loved the Mrs Dalloway and Jane Eyre references

Not quite the long weekend for me yet; I work tomorrow. But I am starting this book tonight.

Finished this wonderful book last night when all the guests had left collapsed with my teddy 🐶and used my new reading light - isn‘t it fantastic to sit out on warm evenings (don‘t get many in the uk 🇬🇧 😆) this book is now in my top ten of best books of the year , it is laugh out loud funny, it is 💔 heartbreaking & equally heart warming, sums up weddings perfectly, I adored Phoebe & knew where the story was going but still adored it

“Every wedding, even a successful wedding, is a waste…But…”

I‘ve been thinking about weddings a lot, as I write my sister‘s wedding ceremony, with my side hustle as an officiant & my husband‘s profession as a photographer, in the full swing of wedding season. It‘s also our 10th wedding anniversary next week! And let me tell you, the above quote is 100% true. But so is the “but.” At least, that‘s what I tell myself to justify the waste. 😅👇🏻

Now this is more like it ! Oh I love 🥰 Phoebe I wanna take her out for cocktails 🍸 and talk all night , I sat up way way past my bedtime 🥱 reading this and had to give up when my eyes were closing - loving it 🥰 and highly recommend; Alison espachs writing ✍️ reminds me of the brilliant Katherine heiny

This was a unexpected gem of a story loved it!

Caution… unpopular opinion ahead… I didn‘t love this book as much as everyone else… I didn‘t hate it either… it was just kind of blah for me…

A high pick! It‘s just as good as I hoped it would be! I‘ll say the beginning was starting to feel like a slog-the parts where we learn about why Phoebe went to the hotel to end her life. But I think that‘s because I was busy and stressed myself. Once I sat down to read with an open mind, I really appreciated Phoebe‘s story. The author really nailed some of the same thoughts we all have about womanhood, mental health, family. Felt very true.

“Life is strange. Always thinking that this one thing is going to make you happy. Because then you get it. And then you‘re maybe not as happy as you imagined you would be. Because every day is just every day. Like the happiness becomes so big you have no choice but to live inside it. Until you can no longer see or feel it. And so you start to fixate on something else.”

I have today off from work and what a glorious way to start my day! 🐾 📖 ☕️

It‘s my 27th wedding anniversary today and instead of a more traditional celebration, I am driving my husband to/from his dental surgery appointment 😂 Poor guy!

I‘m 1/4 into this book and I have high hopes for it based on so many positive reviews! I‘m taking it with me for reading in the waiting room.

What started feeling like light chic-lit was actually quite a sweet story. I came to love Phoebe, who arrived at the Cornwall Inn suicidal and left a different person. The description of how she contained her whole life by just wanting to be “normal” was very astute and gave this more depth than it initially appears, yet at the same it‘s completely silly - the combination worked for me.

Loved this one!

Such a good uplifting character focused fiction.

4.5⭐️/5⭐️

“Everyone” seemed to be reading this on Litsy a few months ago and loving it. I‘m so glad it was put on my radar.

A year after her divorce, Phoebe travels to an expensive hotel across the country to end her life. Once she arrives there, she discovers that everyone else is a part of a wedding and soon she is more involved in this wedding that she expected.

Today is the first day of my summer holidays and it is 30 degrees Celsius of perfection on my deck. Just finished this book which was 80% delightful and 20% 🤷‍♀️, which makes it a pick for me. We'll be discussing it at bookclub on Monday night.

I got this for free from #botm since it was the book of the year for 2024…I wanted to see what all the hype was about. At first, I wasn‘t sure if I was going to like it (it‘s character driven which isn‘t my preference) but I ended up enjoying it. I was entertained!

#bookspinbingo - got a bingo!

Just finished this and I hate that it‘s over!

✅ Read it

✅ Loved it

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

6-8-25: My 39th finished book of 2025! Phoebe, a divorced professor, travels to the Cornwall Inn in Rhode Island to splurge on herself. Depressed and at the end of her rope she encounters the wedding people. Gathered at the Inn for Lila and Gary‘s wedding week. When Phoebe and Lila encounter one another in the hotel elevator their lives become entwined for the better. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣3️⃣9️⃣

I found a main premise of this book ridiculous (the maid of honor thing), but the good writing and fun characters made me enjoy it anyway. Soft pick.

Up next

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This audiobook lives up to all the hype. After weeks on hold I finally got it on my Libby App. What happens when a suicidal English professor meets a possible Bridezilla in the elevator of a swanky hotel? You have to read this funny novel - I was listening in my car and snorted my soda out while laughing too hard. There‘s some serious stuff mixed in with the fun. I want to know what‘s happening to all these people now 😹👍👍🐉❤️

It really was a tough call this month between Fredrik Backman‘s MY FRIENDS and Alison Espach‘s THE WEDDING PEOPLE. I went with WP basically because it was the first book I‘ve read by this author, whereas I‘ve read several Backmans so I sort of knew what to expect.

#bookbracket #ReadingBracket
#ReadingBracket2025

February 2025 Book #7

Sorry, unpopular opinion here. I think this book was overhyped for me. That situation at the hotel was so unrealistic to me. Then, we have a character not only with suicidal ideation but also a plan to do it and it was ignored? I have read books with morbid humor like Hagman by Maya Binyam but from the beginning you see the absurd tone. I didn‘t see that in this novel. It was tragic so sad her situation but ignored⬇️

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. The Wedding People was my first book by Alison Espach and I loved it. I now have Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance on my TBR.

2. Tagged.

A woman who wants to kill herself gets stuck at the most perfectionist bride's wedding. Great setting but it just became toooo preachy at some points. Great characters though, them being the reason I kept on reading. I for sure know this is gonna be a great movie and I'd love it more than the book!
3.5/5🌟

Unsurprisingly, given all the Litsy love for this one, I loved this book! I love how Espach took contemporary comedic fiction tropes and found genuine humanity underneath. The day drinking mother of the bride, the uptight sister of the groom, the perfectionist verging on bridezilla? They are all wrestling with their own vulnerabilities and trying to get through their days.

Cont'd

4⭐
•The overall theme at work here was solid, but sometimes it went off on unnecessary tangents that pulled me out of the story entirely too often.
•Helen Laser‘s narration was fantastic.

It's a beautiful day to read outdoors!

The first few chapters I was skeptical but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Female friendships are complicated and adult life is hard!

Can't remember it that well, but at the time it was ok.