From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

A Spool of Blue Thread

Anne Tyler

Start date: November 15, 2015

Finish date: December 1, 2015

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Portia

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 428 topics — 16,892 comments total

Reading List

* The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
By Lynn · 1 post · 41 views

last updated Jun 20, 2025 08:37AM

Circe - discussion with spoilers
By Jane · 17 posts · 23 views

last updated Sep 06, 2025 04:48PM

showing 6 of 6 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Oct 08, 2015 Katy rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

I have read many of Anne Tyler’s novels and usually enjoy them. They are part of my reading comfort zone: generous, reassuring - stories that tell us something is right in the world. The quirkiness of her characters conveyed a credible authenticity. I really enjoyed The Clock Winder, Searching for Caleb, and Digging to America, but others not so much. This one moved so slowly that I almost gave up, but gradually it picked up. However, there were too many unexplained situations and actions that s ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 01, 2015 Dree rated it really liked it

Shelves: the-south, women-s-prize-long-short, booker-long-short, 2015-reads

4.5 stars

I love a good family saga, and that's exactly what this is.

Tyler gives us something a little different though, as we move backward through the generations.

First we have the elderly Red and Abby, with their adult children and grandchildren. Their perfect house, their perfect family. Almost. But not everything is as it seems.

Then we have young Red and Abby, before they are a couple. And Abby learns that Red's family is not as perfect as she thought.

And then we have older and then young J ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 08, 2015 Kirsten rated it really liked it

Very much enjoyed this novel. I felt that reading through the sequence of the four generations was much like walking through the rooms of a house. It is this feeling of walking through the house and stopping into rooms to talk with whoever is there; Merrick entertaining on the porch or Linnie Mae in the kitchen. We get to know Stem and Denny better than their sisters, Amanda and Jeannie, as the brothers move back into the house.

Some of the personalities stand out more, Junior being one of them. ...more

Like · see review

Jun 03, 2023 Ricki rated it it was amazing

I loved it. The story of the family wound back and forwards in a beautiful way- revealing more about each character. Thoroughly enjoyed the construction of the story as well as the story itself.

Like · see review