Kellan Publishing Reads discussion
Last Best Thing reading event
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The Last Best Thing reading event
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Hello, Readers!I hope you're as excited about the prospect of discussing this compelling and controversial book as I am. I welcome any and all comments or feedback, and will do my best to answer any questions you have for me, the author.
Happy reading! ~Kate Sebeny
P.S. Please feel free to post reviews of the book to the publisher's website, http://www.kellanpublishing.com/, my website, www.KateSebeny.com, Amazon or Goodreads. Thank you in advance for your participation.
Is there a due date? Like read chapters 1-5 by...?
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Right. Not to worry, Andrea. This is a fun thing, not an obligation. If the story speaks to you, go with it. If not, not. Readers and reviewers have reported losing sleep over the book, they get so caught up in it. But, luckily, it's short, so you can't lose more than one night's sleep. The takeaway here: Simply enjoy!
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Do you have any challenges or questions for the readers?
Would you like to discuss characters, plot or something other first?
Yes, I know, I'm throwing it all at you, but this is our maiden voyage so we will ride the waves together :)
Hi Kate,Just wanted to let you know that I will start the book this weekend and add some comments soon after. Looking forward to reading it!
Hello all!One question I have for readers is this: If you were [pick any character in the book], what would you think or do in response to the dilemmas that arise in the narrative? That is without the benefit of hindsight, based only on the information available to the character at any given point in the story.
While I will be keen to get readers’ impressions of character development, plot, continuity, etc., it’s still too soon to engage in a very meaningful discussion of these topics so early in the reading period. But I’d be very interested to learn your opinions of how the setting and pacing do or don’t contribute to the story, elements readers can get a sense of as they go along.
I’m also curious to know if you consider the story a mystery. And, if so, what is the mystery (aside from “who done it”—and why, how, when and where—information received right up front)?
Most of all, I want to encourage readers to enjoy this book. (I sure wish I could be reading it for the first time along with everyone!) And to please feel free to offer any and all commentary, observations or questions you might have.
Many thanks and happy reading! ~Kate Sebeny
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Hello folks, I've never participated in any sort of book club, online or otherwise, but I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this book. It really did touch me and has made me contemplate a lot. Actually, while reading, I felt pretty sad sometimes. Having watched my parents grow old, decline, and ultimately not be able to do the things they loved really bummed me out. And I don't look forward to that happening to me. So it was really all about me thinking about me for much of the time! But I guess that's good too!
I realize the question of the day was about the prologue and opening chapters, but I will have to go back and review them in order to have something half-way intelligent to write. But thanks for listening to me wander thus far. :) - Joyce F
First off, I just want to mention that I read The Last Best Thing in one sitting and was bummed when I finished because I wanted to keep reading more about these folks. Just a marvelous piece of work!The book also made me a bit sad too, Joyce, as my grandparents are suffering from Alzheimer's right now. It's never an easy thing :(
The prologue and opening chapters really grabbed my interest, not least when Sam mentions in the prologue that his wife Sarah killed their good friend Joe! I didn't think it was cold-blooded murder or anything like that, as I knew there had to be a lot of layers to this story, and I was now eager to see what they were. The first chapters also introduced the characters well. I perceived it in a sort of wistful and sad way, because they are all now elderly (save for Libby of course). It's funny because just the other day my Dad, who is 71, mentioned that the older you get the more you look back on your life because there's not much to look forward to in your future, and I thought about that as I was reading because that's kind of the sense I got about the characters here. That also made me want to know more about them, more about how their lives used to be, and what was still to come. That's just my interpretation, though.
Many thanks for your heartfelt initial impressions, Joyce and Colin. I certainly do know where you’re coming from. I was only in my forties when I first wrote “The Last Best Thing” (many rewrites ago), so the story speaks to me in different ways now, too. You know how it is when you re-read a favorite book: The book is the same, but you come back to it as a different person and see different things in it. So, too, with this story. My folks are on-deck for jumping off of this world and I’ll be up next. Without children or other family, what will my last years be like? I hope that I, too, can contrive a “home away from the old folks’ home” so I’m not forced to leave my firm physical place in the world. Who knows? This “geezer commune” model might be the wave of the future. That said, do either of you think the inherent humor is any sort of mitigating element? Does it temper the seriousness of the subject matter or somehow highlight it?
Thank you, too, Colin, for the writerly commentary on the story’s presentation.
I think the humor was well-placed. Indeed, I liked it because it adds some levity. Looking at it from the point of view of the characters, if all they did was focus on their life circumstances it would be easy to get depressed. By joking around and maintaining the same camaraderie as before, they can still laugh and enjoy the time they have.I also liked the story idea of elderly people who are life-long friends living together and helping each other out rather than living in retirement homes. One thing that Renee picks up on real quick when she visits them is how happy and relaxed they seem. That really stuck with me.
Hmm. That's a thought-provoking comment, Colin. I think Renee does envy these folks' life together, fraught as it is with end-of-life trauma. She seems quite alone in her own unsatisfactory situation. The camaraderie and levity, as you say, certainly are comforts Renee doesn't have access to before meeting these people. I know I've cracked jokes and laughed at the darkest times of my own life and the end of others'. Cried, too. (It's a real fine line there; strong emotion can cut either way.) And aren't these things everyone needs in times of trouble? A loving community, for sure, and a sense of continuity. A feeling that, if worse comes to worst--which it surely will--somehow all that love and jest will make everything "all right." Or at least as right as can be: the last best thing after, hopefully, a whole lifetime of good things.
Happy Valentine’s Day, all!Whether you’re young or old, in a new relationship or a decades-long one, I hope you’ll enjoy reflecting upon the romantic aspects of “The Last Best Thing” as much as I am.
After being married for more than half of my adult life, I’m not currently in a relationship of this sort. But I do know that romantic love can happen at any time. Movies are geared toward new love, fresh romance and the intoxication of discovery. Love is not, however, for the young alone.
Just look at the chapters “Still Pearls” and “Viagra Falls.” While the love interests in these scenes aren’t exactly spring chickens, the developing relationship between Betty and Henry, and the further deepening of the relationship between Sarah and Sam are every bit—if not more—romantic as young love, built as they are on decades of shared experience.
But that’s just my impression. What’s yours?
Yes, I liked the romantic aspects of the book. It shows that one can fall in love at any age, and I would venture to guess that someone would appreciate being in love more as an older person than a younger one because they know what they want from experience. My ex-brother in law, for example, enjoys his life with his second wife exactly because of the negative experiences he had in his first marriage. Now he knows what he really wants and doesn't, and he was able to find that special person that he can really appreciate.
As someone who has been married to the same great man for 38 years, I found it very pleasing to find a story that featured some characters that had stayed in love over a lifetime together, as well as older characters who were falling in love. Ageing has its hysterically funny aspects because you get to look back on your younger self. I am 62 and can now laugh about the fact that there was a time when I thought anyone who was 65 must be nearing death, they were so ancient. This book does a wonderful job of highlighting the fact that, while age may impact you in a negative manner physically, one's zest for life on all levels is not diminished. Valentine's day with my husband involved a marvelously romantic date that was deeply enhanced by the fact that I am safe with this guy; he has walked with me through the ravages of cancer and never wavered. It is extremely romantic to look across a candlelit table at a man who is not only your lover but your hero as well. Time is a seasoning to love that cannot be duplicated. Kate's lovely prose portrays this well.
That is so well put, LaVonne! And so encouraging. "Time is a seasoning to love that cannot be duplicated." That is just wonderful! You are testament to the fact that such abiding love not only exists, but also thrives--even under adverse circumstances. I'm delighted to hear that you're blessed with a partner to see you through the vicissitudes of life, even so far as cancer and beyond. It sounds like you had a very splendid Valentine's Day indeed. I wish you many more!
Hi, there!I'm still on the first chapter, so there's not much I can say yet. I do enjoy the writing itself, it is quite lively and to-the-point, makes it an easy and enjoyable read. Characters thus far seem balanced and well thought-out, although I need to read more to truly make a final statement about that.
I'll go onward for now!
Onward, Francisco! Your initial impressions are spot-on, and I don't imagine your expectations will be disappointed. Do let me know your subsequent thoughts. But, above all, enjoy!
Welcome to the first day of our event. We will be spending the month of February reading and discussing Kellan Publishing Author Kate Sebeny's literary fiction, "The Last Best Thing"
If you haven't done so already, (unless you're a KP author), please pick up your copy to follow along.
https://kellan-publishing.selz.com/it...