From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

These Precious Days: Essays

Ann Patchett

Start date: December 15, 2022

Finish date: January 15, 2023

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Lyn Dahlstrom

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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
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last updated Sep 06, 2025 04:48PM

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What Members Thought

Apr 22, 2022 Clifford rated it it was amazing

Shelves: essay-collection

Three of these essays had appeared first in The New Yorker where I read them, and they are the primary reason I bought the book and read it. I've enjoyed several of Patchett's novels, so it was wonderful to get to know her a little through these very personal essays. ...more

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Aug 16, 2022 Carole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars, very moving essays. Recommend the audio version; listening to her read makes you want her as a friend!

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2022 Jane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, womans-story, memoir, essays, friendship

I absolutely loved this book. I love Ann Patchet's novels and also read her memoir Truth and Beauty. This is a book I will give as gift. Utterly moving, provacative, tender. I'll share a few quotations, but if you like this author's work, you don't need much of a review. I just need to have some passages close at hand.

I have Eudora Welty's Collected Stories and I've never read them all. Her collected stories was a gift from a parent when I was teaching. I wish I remember which parent. It isn't ...more

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Dec 25, 2021 Kate rated it it was amazing

A stunning collection. I loved these stories, most especially the title story. Ann Patchett is a national treasure.

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Jan 17, 2022 Katy rated it really liked it

Shelves: memoir

This is a pleasant collection of essays. Some of them were published previously; some have been reworked; and some are brand new. There is nothing earth shattering, but all are carefully conceived, honest and heartfelt. She includes a touching memoir of her three fathers, her natural father, and two step fathers, and what she learned from each. Another one that is particularly compelling, is about her friendship with Sooki who was an aide to Tom Hanks. When Sooki was diagnosed with cancer, Ann's ...more

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