Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel
by Elizabeth Berg
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
Chicagoans, Historical fiction fans
I picked up this one for our summer reading program. Of course it's fun to read about the city I live in during a different time period. This is Chicago in 1943 during the second world war, when so many young guys were being shipped overseas. Three Irish sisters, Kitty (the glamour girl), Louise (the sensible one), and Tish (the youngest and flirtiest), deal with life at home while their boyfriends go off to fight. Louise is in the most serious relationship. Her boyfriend proposes before he leav...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Ellen,Jamie, Elizabeth Berg fans
I listened to this on CD. It was one of the most delightful books I have listened to. Elizabeth Berg narrated it, and she has the perfect voice for this story.
From the moment I began to listen, I was hooked. The story begins with two sisters seeing their boyfriends off to World War II. It made me think, I wonder how my parents felt when my dad left for the war. Although I have thought of him in the war before, I never thought of this aspect of it in quite the same way as the book made m...more
From the moment I began to listen, I was hooked. The story begins with two sisters seeing their boyfriends off to World War II. It made me think, I wonder how my parents felt when my dad left for the war. Although I have thought of him in the war before, I never thought of this aspect of it in quite the same way as the book made m...more
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Read in May, 2007
Berg's latest offering of cozy, snuggled-up-with-cocoa reading is a flawed but still beautifully written story of an Irish-American family in Chicago homefront during World War II. The three enchanting Heaney sisters spend every night writing letters to soldiers – stoic Louise to her fiancé Michael, caring Kitty to the man that she hopes will propose, and flirty Tish to the many men she meets at USO dances. The central character is redheaded Kitty, who longs for the cocky Julian to marry her,...more
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I like Elizabeth Berg's books, and I didn't plan on reading it because I heard the ending sucked. My grandma liked it and told me I should give a try anyway. She grew up in the era Berg writes about in this book, and told me her mom and stepdad were so happy that she was old enough to qualify for coffee stamps because they couldn't get enough of it. It's hard to imagine having to ration anything, let alone coffee.
After reading it: The ending pissed me off way too much to enjoy it the wa...more
After reading it: The ending pissed me off way too much to enjoy it the wa...more
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Read in March, 2008
Yet another good find from the "Books To Go--No Renewals" display at the front of my beloved neighborhood library. This was an engaging novel about three sisters and the men in their lives (ranging from flings to boyfriends to fiances to husbands) as the men head off to WWII. I enjoyed the variety and uniqueness of the different romantic relationships portrayed, and especially loved experiencing the way the sisters related to one another, something I have never experienced. My overa...more
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Read in August, 2007
I wanted to like this book so much. It's set during WW2 Chicago, for heaven's sake - my favorite era, in a city I know well. And the cover was so promising!
This was clearly meticulously researched. (In the author's notes, she says she did research at OPL with librarians I knew, which was cool.) The setting was perfect, and the entire time I was reading, I felt like I was in 1940s Chicago. The problem came with Kitty, the narrator - I don't know if the character was just too shallow or if th...more
This was clearly meticulously researched. (In the author's notes, she says she did research at OPL with librarians I knew, which was cool.) The setting was perfect, and the entire time I was reading, I felt like I was in 1940s Chicago. The problem came with Kitty, the narrator - I don't know if the character was just too shallow or if th...more
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Read in April, 2008
This book was SUCH a disappointment. I'd heard of the author, kept seeing the book around, and decided to give it a shot. It started out okay and got better as the story moved forward. Some of the period references got old (for example, instead of just mentioning rations, the author went on and on, describing the different ways this affected their lives), but I was willing to overlook that because I was drawn into the lives of the main characters. When I neared the end, I thought how much I ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2007
recommended to Jana by:
My momrecommends it for: People who know little about WW2
Okay, it is a nice beach read, but here is my beef with this book.
1) In order to take the reader back to the 1940's WW2 era, they threw in every random fact about life on the home front into this book. (Not actual quote...) "I left my victory garden to go bake the sugarless cake I would be sending to Bud in France for his birthday. I had better bake this cake now so I don't miss Roosevelt's Fireside chat tonight, and I don't want to miss the USO dance tonight either! At the dance I am s...more
1) In order to take the reader back to the 1940's WW2 era, they threw in every random fact about life on the home front into this book. (Not actual quote...) "I left my victory garden to go bake the sugarless cake I would be sending to Bud in France for his birthday. I had better bake this cake now so I don't miss Roosevelt's Fireside chat tonight, and I don't want to miss the USO dance tonight either! At the dance I am s...more
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Read in November, 2007
This book takes place in Chicago during WWII and tells the story of 3 sisters who correspond with friends and lovers who have gone to war. Lots of description of what it was like to live in the times and you do get transported into the era.
I actually listened to this book, and glad of it, as there was a lot of description and daydreams that I would have skimmed thru to get to the "meat" of the story if I had read it. At first with the flowery and long descriptions (read surprizin...more
I actually listened to this book, and glad of it, as there was a lot of description and daydreams that I would have skimmed thru to get to the "meat" of the story if I had read it. At first with the flowery and long descriptions (read surprizin...more
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Read in March, 2008
I've never been over the moon for any Elizabeth Berg book I've read, but sometimes they hit me at the right time and they're the perfect light read. This was not one of those books, and I really wanted it to be. It's set in Chicago, on the home front, during WWII. if nothing else, I expected to like the details that emerge in the background of these types of stories--the music, the dances, the clothes, etc. But those details seemed canned. The story revolves around the three sisters in the ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Sisters Louise, Tish and Kitty Heaney are living in Chicago during World War II. As Kitty and Louise see their boyfriends off to war, their lives become intertwined and their daily thoughts, chores, and prayers revolve around the war. The girls go to work during the day, USO dances in the evening and their nights are spent writing endless letters to servicemen overseas, as it has become their patriotic duty. Louise longs to see Michael again and loves him more and more with each letter written b...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who loves stories about the 'greatest generation'
This book takes you back in time to 1943 and into the lives of three Irish sisters living in Chicago. It gives you a good insight of what life was like back then. How much America pulled together to support the soliders fighting the war. It also tells you how important families were back then, how curtious and respectful people were to one another and made me wish we could return to a time like that (these days). Many parts of the story reflect the innocence of that generation. When children res...more
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Read in October, 2007
I liked this account of WWII from the perspective of a young woman living with her large family and dealing with having loved ones overseas fighting. Initially, I didn't like the ending. I had to read it several times over to make sure I understood what had happened and so I could come to grips with it. I thought about it alot after I finished it. At first, I didn't understand why Kitty (the main) made the decision she had made that led to the ending. After alot of thought, I realized (and ...more
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Read in February, 2008
OK, this book was good, it is one of those books that leaves you not only awake until 2 am to finish but at the same time wishing the story would just go on and on. As I turned the pages I occasionally glanced at how few were remaining and I wished their were more. And then the last two chapters. Wow, it's a loopy-de-loop. This whole momentum of the story, the feelings you have invested in these characters and you are shocked and you are thinking "how could she do that?". Then you fin...more
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Read in April, 2008
I've read several of Elizabeth Berg's books and I can't think of one I didn't enjoy. Dream is set during WWII. The focus is on a family living in Chicago. The story is told from the POV of the eldest daughter, Kitty. She has a boyfriend who has enlisted in the Marines. Her sister's boyfriend has enlisted in the Army and they both ship out on the same day. The setting is on the homefront as the family deals with the stress of rations at home, worry about what's happening to their loved ones...more
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Read in April, 2008
I've been meaning to read Elizabeth Berg for quite some time now, and when I saw this on a display at my library I was between books and thought I'd give it a try.
I'm so glad I did. The description of life on the homefront during WWII is probably not original, but the characters are very compelling and I did enjoy reading about the impact of the war on their day-to-day activities. The characters struggle with conflicting issues about the war, and it is interesting that some of their though...more
I'm so glad I did. The description of life on the homefront during WWII is probably not original, but the characters are very compelling and I did enjoy reading about the impact of the war on their day-to-day activities. The characters struggle with conflicting issues about the war, and it is interesting that some of their though...more
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Read in January, 2008
This was a different kind of book from Elizabeth Berg. It takes place during WWII. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by the author. She doesn't have the best voice for audiobooks, but it was ok.
I did like the book. It centers on 3 sisters in a Chicago Irish family, and their relationships with each other and their boyfriends who are away at war. It made me wonder what I would sacrifice for my country, my general family, and my sisters in particular. Sorry, I don't think I measure ...more
I did like the book. It centers on 3 sisters in a Chicago Irish family, and their relationships with each other and their boyfriends who are away at war. It made me wonder what I would sacrifice for my country, my general family, and my sisters in particular. Sorry, I don't think I measure ...more
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Read in April, 2008
I really enjoyed this book. I knew little about the homefront during World War II, and enjoyed picturing some of my grandmothers, who were between 20 and 30 during this time going through some of the same experiences as these women. It made me want to ask them what World War II was like for them. I also really enjoyed comparing the sacrifices they had to make. It seems nothing like the war we are in now. If you don't have a friend or loved one in the war, sometimes it doesn't even seem like we a...more
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Read in April, 2008
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Read in February, 2008
Sweet and sad. Love doesn't follow the formulas that screenwriters and novelists typically depict; it is gritty, confusing and painful at times. Love is a struggle and that is what this novel portrays.
There were definitely predictable aspects to the story line, but the author managed to put in a few twists. The WWII setting with a perspective of single unwed women waiting at home was quite intriguing. The pressure they felt to willingly make sacrifices to show support was eye opening. ...more
There were definitely predictable aspects to the story line, but the author managed to put in a few twists. The WWII setting with a perspective of single unwed women waiting at home was quite intriguing. The pressure they felt to willingly make sacrifices to show support was eye opening. ...more
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