From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

James McBride

Start date: June 15, 2024

Finish date: July 15, 2024

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Gina Whitlock

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 434 topics — 16,973 comments total

Reading List

* The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
By Lynn · 1 post · 49 views

last updated Jun 20, 2025 08:37AM

Call for Nominations — Classics Corner Jan–June 2026
By spoko · 1 post · 6 views

last updated 2 hours, 22 min ago

showing 6 of 6 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Feb 18, 2025 Linda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio, cultural, fiction, historical-fiction, chcpl, own, hardback, 2025, ill-chcpl, book-discussion-read

Excellent. Loved the characters enough to cry when some died and rejoiced when others were victorious on their pursuits. There's much love even through not understanding exactly where someone came from, but is that necessary if one is treated well?
Was startled when a company that I used to work for became part of the script. Probably helped that I listened to it while I read it. Narration was marvelous. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2024 Harold rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

I don't give five stars unless a book is exceptional. I give four stars often, three is lukewarm and when it comes to two or one I probably couldn't finish it. This book is exceptional. It has characters that you grow to love (or hate) and it has drama, mystery and humor throughout It is fiction but it tells a very real story almost with the atmosphere of relating a fable. Do yourself a favor and read it.

...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 26, 2025 Roy rated it really liked it

Shelves: african-american-fiction, literary-fiction, race-relations, african-american-subject-matter, historical-fiction

When you pick up a work of literary fiction such as The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, there is no guarantee of a happy ending. People who need one of those to feel satisfied by time spent reading a book should grab something off a genre shelf, perhaps a sweet natured RomCom. Literary fiction makes no promises. The ending of such a novel may be heartbreakingly tragic or bittersweet or ambiguous or any other type of end note description that exists. I try to avoid spoilers in my r When you pick up a work of literary fiction such as The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, there is no guarantee of a happy ending. People who need one of those to feel satisfied by time spent reading a book should grab something off a genre shelf, perhaps a sweet natured RomCom. Literary fiction makes no promises. The ending of such a novel may be heartbreakingly tragic or bittersweet or ambiguous or any other type of end note description that exists. I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but I will cheat a bit here and let you know that this wonderfully written book finishes off on a feel good note. As for what comes before that, I'll trigger warn that there is no shortage of pain and suffering. The story starts off with discovery of the remains of a corpse at the bottom of a well. Over the course of the rest of this book, we meet the Jewish and African Americans who peacefully co-exist during the 1920's and 1930's in the neighborhood of Chicken Hill, which is in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. They are separate communities sharing the same soil, meaning that relationships forged between some of them is inevitable. A third demographic, non-Jewish whites, makes up the balance of the community. As the narrative unfolds in a variety of directions that may seem separate but ultimately manage to merge, it is only a matter of reading on until the book's final pages for readers to learn the identity of the dead person, how they got at the bottom of that well, and what the incentive was for leaving them there. But The Heaven & Earth Grocery Story is not a murder mystery so much as it is a story of place, of the people who inhabited it for a spell, of what eventually gets washed away by water and time, and what is left behind as legacy. Chona and her husband Moshe, Nate and his wife Addie, Paper and Fatty and Soap and Miggy and Dodo and Doc and Son of Man and Monkey Paws. These are a few of the more notable, colorfully named characters who populate the pages of this excellent novel. Some of them are good people who judge neighbors not based on skin color or religion, but content of character. Some are plain evil for reasons that have nothing to do with racial ethnicity or houses of worship. Worlds collide as they tend to do for various reasons small and big. The characters of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store don't all live happily ever after, since this isn't that type of tale. But some of them that we come to care about courtesy of James McBride's masterful prose manage to pull off the trick of living long, fulfilling lives in spite of various obstacles to their happiness. As usual, this is accomplished by finding the people they are meant to love and be loved by. We should all be so lucky. Believe the hype. Read this highly praised book. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 18, 2024 Laura Kump rated it it was ok

I kept trying but I couldn't get into this book. There were moments I thought here it is. But it just never grabbed me. Disappointing
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2024 Rosana rated it liked it

Shelves: audio-books, para-2024, 2024

There a a great cast of characters but maybe too many which doesn't allow for a bigger engagement with any. And the plot just gets lost in the myriad of personal stories. Yet, it was ok. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 30, 2024 Tensy (bookdoyen) rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

This is my third McBride book. I loved the memoir of his mother and Deacon King Kong. While McBride brings his usual brilliant cast of characters in this novel, they did not coalesce into a linear narrative. I found the plot meandering. The story begins in 1972 when a body is discovered after a hurricane in Pottstown, Pa (and that's the last we hear about it until almost the end), then moves back in time to the 1930s where we meet the Jewish owners of the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and a hug ...more

Like · see review

Jan 28, 2024 William rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2024

Not much can be said that hasn’t been said already. This is a great book and a great read (not always the same thing). Themes of justice, equality and acceptance are woven into a plot with many threads and a huge cast of characters. Those characters are often somewhat fanciful, representing a cliche or an idea rather than just being a character in a story. This is masterfully accomplished with physical descriptions and language. The themes, while serious a treated with a lightness of touch, ofte ...more

Like · see review