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May 08, 2008

E rated it:

For unknown reasons, probably just coincidence of book pile-up, I seem to have read several books about grief in the last few months. While this one is not characterized by any particular depth of insight or profundities, I found tears running down my face several times as the middle-aged protagonist learns to cope with the early days and months after her husband's death from cancer. The focus is on her decision to move to a new town and begin a new life, which she does very quickly after his de More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2007

Lain rated it:

Over the past few years, there have been some standouts dealing with women rediscovering themselves. Lolly Winston's "Good Grief" comes immediately to mind, as does Sue Monk Kidd's "The Mermaid Chair." Going back a bit further, Berg's own "Pull of the Moon" is a classic in its descriptive realism -- one of the author's many strengths.

Unfortunately, "Year of Pleasures" comes nowhere close to Berg's best. It is shallow, even with its topic -- th More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2008

JoAnn/QuAppelle rated it:

This book by Elizabeth Berg was lovely. It follows Betta, a 50-something widow, along her path of grief following the death of her beloved husband. The book, however, was a bit too "enchanted" for me....even though Betta was suffering from the loss of her husband, somehow things just fell into place too easily for her. Finding the perfect house the first day in a new town, and having friends rush to her aid after not corresponding with them for 30 years --these were things that were ju More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 09, 2007

Kate rated it:

This was sort of a wimpy novel. Not bad. Not that good. I didn't hate it. It's a hallmark card of a book. Newly single woman makes a life for herself kind of a book. Not much tension. Not much deep insight. Just sort of blah, but a sweet blah. Twinkies are a sweet blah. So is "The Year of Pleasures."

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2009

Beth F. rated it:

Elizabeth Berg has a way with words, that’s for sure. Although I’m not entirely convinced that the appeal of her stories have universal draw for all women. I was 22 or 23 when I read Open House by Elizabeth Berg and I didn’t particularly care for it. I couldn’t identify with the main character and so the emotional aspect of the book fell flat for me.

After the passage of several years, my life at the time of reading my second Elizabeth Berg novel is dramatically different and I s More...

5 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2010

Jacqueline rated it:

Elizabeth Berg writes like she is your girlfriend and she is telling you the story about someone she knows and cares greatly about.

As with all of her books, they touch upon the real human side of life. Betta Nolan's husband dies and she is faced with the propect of living alone. She decides to drive until she finds a place where she would like to live and sell her house in Boston and move to the new property.

She does find this little town and decides to look for a place More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 07, 2008

Sue rated it:

From my blog:
I couldn't quite get into The Year of Pleasures, written by Elizabeth Berg, although the subject matter was important - how a woman begins life again after her husband unexpectedly dies.

This story was just too neat, and Bette Nolan's life during the year after her husband died just doesn't ring true to me. Nothing is so easy.

The book might be a good summer read, when one doesn't want to concentrate too much on anything. I would say it ranks very high u More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 28, 2008

Holli rated it:

I really enjoyed reading this book, could hardly put it down, but after it was over I did feel a little dissatisfied. The review below has some good points, the plot does wander a bit, but the story kept me interested. I enjoyed reading about their marriage, a marriage that was happy and fulfilling (like mine) and I could easily put myself in Betta’s place and experience what it would be like to grieve the loss of a soul mate. I liked the fact that she had all the money she needed, at leas More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 11, 2008

Janice rated it:

I loved this book! It's about resilience, forgiveness and getting a second chance at happiness. It's about a woman in her 50's who looses her husband and best friend. Although I am lucky enough to still have my husband with me, I do know what it's like to have your world turned upside down and go from being a married couple to being alone. I could also relate to Betta's reluctance to accept help and support from family and friends at first, but then she begins to recognize God's hand in thei More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 11, 2008

Annie rated it:

This novel was a quick read for me but I really enjoyed it. The premise is simple; a middle aged woman, in order to keep a promise to her recently deceased husband, sells their home and moves to a small town in the midwest. The book tells of her grieving process, new friends she makes, old friends she reconnects with, and the possibilty and pleasures of life. The funny thing about this novel was that nothing drastic happens in the story, but the author made the main character and people aroun More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 29, 2011

Jen rated it:

I can't decide how to categorize this book. I think I'd say it's chic lit-ish, but it's a bit different than your usual chic lit in that its pretty serious - the story of a woman who has lost her husband to cancer and is now trying to fulfill a promise to him in moving on with her life.

I appreciated the honest depiction of grief ... its complete irrationality and the way it can change from hour to hour. Elizabeth Berg chronicles all of it - the sadness and the despair, the happiness an More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 31, 2011

Nicki rated it:

There is something really comforting about this book and in they way that the author has written this. I know its about death and new beginnings which is emotional, but its also like putting on your favourite snuggly clothes. I really like the way Elizabeth Berg describes the ordinariness of life in such a sumptuous way. I think I could read this book more than once and that I'd feel satisfied every time I read it. The characters and situations are so real and easy to like and get involved with. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 24, 2011

Susan rated it:

This exquisite novel was so well-crafted and beautifully written, filled with memorable characters. I found a lot of myself in the main character, Betta. She loves her husband deeply, almost too much if there is such a thing, as do I. They did not have children; neither do we (although that is still a hopeful possibility with us). One thing that Betta had that I do not is a group of friends from her college days with whom she lost touch, but reunited with later. I don't have a close-knit bunch o More...

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Apr 27, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

Betta Nolan loses her beloved husband, John, to cancer. Betta and John were perfectly matched companions, neither finding the need to have many close friends. After John's death, she doesn't know quite what to do with herself. So, she decides to honor John's wish for her to go for one of their dreams without him: to live in a little midwest town. She sells their Boston brownstone and hits the road.

Betta stops at one of the first towns she comes too, and buys a house immediately. She More...

1 comment like

Jul 26, 2009

Darlene rated it:

In spite of my wariness in the first few pages, this book captured me heart and soul.

Elizabeth Berg does have a way of expressing YOUR feelings. In the first few pages, she describes death as a ride you’re not prepared for.

“Someone had to die first. It turned out to be John. Nothing more. Nothing less…In a way my situation reminded me of a little girl I’d once seen exiting a roller coaster at a state fair, all wide eyes and pale face and shaky knees. When her brother aske More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 26, 2009

Nalana rated it:

I received a complimentary copy of this book from readinggroupguides.com. It also had a preview of her new book coming out next week.

I have never read a book about the grief of a widow on such a personal level. It was overall a good book - heartwrenching parts and other less believable parts. There were lines in the text that were worthy of writing down and refecting upon, especially for those of us who are not widows. Quotes about life, about living, about marriage; all well writte More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 12, 2009

Ronnie rated it:

Elizabeth Berg’s newest novel, The Year of Pleasures, finds its central character, Etta Nolan, devastated by the death of her husband. The two of them had been so devoted to each other, so compatible and so self-contained. “Complete unto yourselves,” in the words of Sheila, her neighbor, who found this off-putting. Unable to have children, Etta and John decided not to adopt, although they both loved children. She lost touch with her college roommates, from whom she had been inseparable, and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2009

Kristen rated it:

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Goodreads, and finished it two days after I got it. Really interesting tale of Betta Nolan, who upon the death of her husband takes off on the adventure they had always intended to do together.
Throughout the book you learn that her relationship with John was so incredibly insular that she lost touch with all of those who might have made a safety net around her. In this way, the book serves as a warning to those who do not push beyond the More...

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Jun 04, 2009

Donna rated it:

It must be admitted I had some good reasons to be predisposed to like this book. Firstly, I won the book in a Goodreads give away. What's not to love about a free book!? Then it came in the mail, and it was by Elizabeth Berg, an author I've actually met & conversed with, not to mention read & enjoyed previously. All that being said, I actually loved the book.

Sometimes, not often, you come across a book that seems to be all about your life. The protagonist is speaking with your inner More...

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Apr 30, 2009

Ann rated it:

This was an okay book -- not terrible but not great either. A sort of "chick flick" kind of book. It was an easy read -- but very superficial -- although you do get involved with the main character -- a woman who is seeking to survive after her husband's death from cancer.

Her story seems somewhat implausible -- she moves across the country, finds a house to buy on her first day at the first little town she stops in, reconnects with her college friends she as had no contact More...

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Apr 17, 2009

Judy rated it:

After reading a lot of what my high school English teacher called "beach trash," I was in the mood for something that would actually engage my brain. I found that with A Year of Pleasures. This is a wonderfully written book that I found very enjoyable to read. It was a pleasure to read Elizabeth Berg's exquisitely crafted sentences. Several times over the course of reading the book, I went back and re-read sentences simply because I thought that they were so nicely worded.

T More...

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May 06, 2011

Jean rated it:

Very disappointing -not the usual realistic, authentic writing that one normally enjoys from Elizabeth Berg. Betta Nolan is a grieving widow who moves to a small town because she promised her dying husband - who by all accounts seems to have been a saint from her description of him. She struggles to come to terms with his death as they were insanely in love (bearing in mind they are both middle-aged). Conveniently, a number of characters enter her life - a perfectly well behaved 10 year old boy More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 19, 2010

Mainon rated it:

I would have given this one three-and-a-half stars if I could, I think. It was sweetly written, with well-balanced doses of happiness and sadness. For what it's worth, it's one of the few books I've been able to read since my dad's death (four-and-a-half years ago) that deals with the loss of a loved one in a way that was touching but neither offended me nor overwhelmed me with new feelings of loss.

The one thing that bothered me, just a little, but fairly consistently throughout More...

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Apr 11, 2009

Robin rated it:

This is a book that I won from Goodreads but I didn't realize it when I received it in the mail until I saw the letter inside the book. Although it's a paperback edition of the novel, it doesn't look like it is because it's packaged as "Come home to Elizabeth Berg" which made me think it was excerpts from a few of her novels. It turns out that it contains the entire novel but also contains a preview of "Home Safe," her forthcoming novel. It's been a number of years since I've More...

0 comments like

Apr 05, 2009

Allison rated it:

A very enjoyable read, despite the author's tendency to tell rather than show. I haven't experienced the kind of loss and grief the main character experiences, but the book reminded me of the importance of good friends and relationships based on honest connections. The focus on life's simple pleasures - morning coffee, a homemade pie, a warm bath - and the book's beautiful imagery left me feeling nourished and inspired. The story lacked depth for me, but I'd recommend the book all the same. More...

0 comments like

Feb 26, 2009

Natalie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 05, 2011

Candice rated it:

This was not my favorite of Elizabeth Berg's books, but it had a lot of good points nonetheless. Having just lost her husband to cancer, fifty-something Betta Nolan sells their home in Boston and buys a house in a small midwestern town. She and John had planned to do something like this, and he told her as he was dying that she should do it on her own. Gutsy move on her part. I have been thinking lately that I would like to live in a town where just about everything I need is within walking More...

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Jul 07, 2011

Anne rated it:

There is something very comforting about reading a book like this, like slipping into warm flannel pyjamas after a long soak in the bath.

We only experience a slice of Betta's life at a time when she trying to come to terms with the death of her beloved husband and if I had a criticism to make, it would be that there just wasn't enough.

This isn't a book about dramatic revelations, but it is a story about learning to live again and finding the unexpected in a painful situat More...

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Apr 14, 2009

Ellie rated it:

I was disappointed in this book, which I "won" from a first reads giveaway. The story follows writer Betta Nolan in the months following her husband's death from cancer as she moves from their hometown to a rural city in the Midwest and reconnects with old friends. While I was immediately drawn into the storytelling and Berg's gift of describing the emotional turmoil one feels after the death of her spouse, halfway through the novel I felt the story became rushed and formulaic. As th More...

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Mar 07, 2010

David rated it:

Aqui está a primeira pequena desilusão do ano em questão de livros. Uma história e uma capa atraente que tinham quase tudo para ser para serem perfeitas mas cheguei ao final e fiquei a sentir-me como se tivesse lido algo demasiado superficial. Vamos por partes.
O Ano dos Prazeres conta a história de Betta Nolan depois da morte do seu marido John. Muda-se para uma pequena vila, disposta a seguir em frente, apreciar as pequenas coisas da vida e cumprir as promessas feitas ao falecido marido. More...

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