Oh happy day! It's time for another batch of books to read together! We have another round of voting completed and we have another batch of great books to read together. The book for July 2024 is The Women by Kristin Hannah. Feel free to read our book club books in any order that you choose and when you've finished reading, come back here and tell us what you think. Please label spoilers. We have a new trick for hiding spoilers. Type whatever you want and then highlight the spoiler portion and click the + button above and select Spoiler. If that doesn't work (seems to be funky on Macs) just highlight your text and change the color to white >>>This is a super secret spoiler alert!<<< like I did right there. Spoiler I've never been in a helicopter Just a note, anyone is welcome to join in with our book club reading at any time and join in the discussion! The more the merrier! Happy reading!
Wow! You are fast! A couple of my IRL book club friends have read this already and said it was really good. I have a lot of waiting on the hold request list left to do before I can get this one! I'm #59 on 7 copies. That means I have to wait about 16-17 weeks still.
This was the first Kristin Hannah book I ever read....and was granted the ability to read it last fall before it was published. I was hooked! I've since then read the Four Winds and can't wait to add more of hers to my "read" pile! I won't post much for now, but will have to refresh my memory before July. lol
Oh lucky you to get it as an arc! Feel free to add your thoughts now if you'd like! You can label spoilers and that way you don't have to remember all the way to July! I know I forget details from books pretty fast myself. Lol. I know these are labeled with a month, but anyone can read and comment anytime as you read a book. I read them whenever I can get the book from the library, so I'm all over the place sometimes too.
LOL. To refresh my memory I'll need a copy of the book and I can't access it anymore. hahahaha. I'll see if I can hit a bookstore up to just browse through it.
Ok, my basic and quick reaction without a copy in front of me... I know that I loved the first half. <spoiler It was exciting and action packed because Frankie is over in Vietnam. The second half gets depressing and sad and tough to read at times because she's dealing with all the emotions of what she dealt with. There are shocks, twists, and all sorts of struggles. I got mad, I got sad, I got mad again, I got sad again, > but I ended up loving this book so much!!!!!!!!!! I have a terrible memory for names so everyone's names are escaping me. When I have them I'll put more about <spoiler my mad, sad, mad emotions. >hahaha This was my official review: The Women by Kristin Hannah. Run to your nearest bookstore and grab this book when it’s released! This book tears at the heartstrings! Written from the perspective of “Frankie” McGrath, who wants to join the heroes wall in her parents house. She leaves her safe home and enrolls in the Army Nurse Corp during the Vietnam War. The first part of the book is written with her time in Vietnam. Whereas the second half of the book brings to light the grief and the confusion and the challenges of being home after ending her time in Vietnam. This is a timeline and setting that I haven’t found often and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will recommend this book to everyone! Thank you to NetGalley and Kristin Hannah and St. Martin’s press for the opportunity to read this book. I can’t wait for everyone to experience this incredible book.
Drat! I just posted the suggestions thread, so I was poking around in here and realized I never came back to discuss this book! This was so good. A lot of the last half was so hard to read, but just really compelling. My Dad served in Vietnam and has talked about his experiences some. When he came home it was awful. People spit on him and made fun of him for enlisting after he finished college. So those parts of this book really hit home for me. Also, I just couldn't believe that as bad as those Vets had it, the women had it worse and kept hearing "there were no women in Vietnam". Double slap in the face for sure. I love the friendships Frankie made with her fellow nurses and doctors. Spoiler: LOTS of spoilers I wanted to choke that jerk Rye that got her pregnant and lied about being married while they were together in Vietnam. I was also so mad at her Dad for shunning her just for going to Vietnam especially after all his talk about the heroes wall, then when he didn't put her picture on the wall when she got home, I was even more mad! I know it was his shame that he'd never served and that she did, plus the media and controversy around Vietnam not being popular also made him ashamed of her going too. He just angered me so much when Frankie got home and really needed support and didn't find it anywhere! I wonder if her treatment at the VA was factual too? It probably was and just awful too! I know a lot of veterans who returned from Vietnam had PTSD and that it was really understood then as much as it is now, but that part of the book seemed awkwardly written to me sometimes. Not that I don't believe she had PTSD at all! I don't know how the people serving in those medical units could ever not have PTSD in the conditions that they worked in. I felt so awful seeing her spiral with the pills and the drinking. I couldn't believe her Mom gave her the pills just to basically get her to stop acting out. Neither of her parents really supported her at all! Grrrrr! Man I had a lot to say! I also didn't like the shrink that she started seeing and almost married. Why wasn't he doing more to help her deal with her trauma either? I loved how she started the support house for other women and how they had their own wall of heroes too!
I loved this book! Spoiler: Spoiler The beginning was amazing (besides her family), the second part was so hard for me to get through. Between her actions, drugs, and how people treated her, I was fairly mad at the book. I really have a tough time when characters don't communicate to each other, aren't truthful or just take advantage of others. She has a way of storytelling that this happens every book. Her characters are so deep and real. So while I know I hit every emotion, I usually end up loving the book.
I also forgot to come talk about it when I finished it. I read it over 4 days, finishing it May 29. My review on Storygraph is just "hard to read because it’s a horrible topic but it’s very well told and important." I can't say I enjoyed it. It was compelling though, and excellent writing. I felt similarly as all of you described above, with regard to the emotions felt while reading. Currently I'm reading some much lighter fare. I'm almost done with a book called Atlas of A Lost World: Travels Across Ice Age America. I just finished a wonderful mystery, The Lavender House. And I'm rereading the Anne of Green Gables series; just started the 4th book.
I just finished this book a few weeks ago, I had forgotten this was July's pick! Perfect timing. I loved this book and really appreciated learning more about the Vietnam War and the issues surrounding it in the form of a compelling story. I had a pretty good knowledge of it but I felt the book just gave me so much more depth. I loved the writing style and thought she did a great job with the characters. SPOILERS: I too was so frustrated with how her parents handled her return, and the lack of support she had at home. I love the way the nurse friendships were portrayed and how they really remained close and supportive - however, I found it pretty unrealistic that Ethel & Barb could just hop on a plane at a moment's notice when Frankie needed them (but it was so sweet that they did). I also did not like that she wrote not only ONE but TWO surprise "dead to alive" storylines?! Felt a little soap opera-y to me. No way would both her love connections from Vietnam have "died" only to later find out they were alive. And if we're doing that I would have much rather had her brother be one of the "oops alive" storylines. Overall this book was so compelling, it made for a quick read since I couldn't put it down.
@Lynnette Yes! I agree with you on both things you said in your spoilers... >>> I thought the same thing about them jumping on a plane many times to rush to Frankie's side. Didn't seem super realistic, but I also loved that they did it. And yeah, the two dead to alive stories was a bit much. The first one with Rye being in Hanoi Hilton POW camp did surprise me, but then at the end when her doctor friend ended up alive and of course divorced and then super coincidentally at the war memorial in the same place and same time as Frankie was a bit much... but I just went with it and accepted the happy ending wrapped in a neat little bow. <<<
This one looks like a good read, but #1,133 on 115 copies. I’ll be waiting a while, but it will be a nice surprise when I get notified.
I know! It has gotten a lot of buzz and the waitlists are SO long everywhere! At least your library has a lot of copies! Hopefully it'll be your turn soon!
I always forget to come back here to comment after I finish reading! Kristin Hannah has been my favorite author since I read Firefly Lane when my daughter was a newborn (16 years ago!! ) and since then, I've read everything she has ever written. Each time her new book becomes one of my faves and this one is no different. I visited WA DC a few years ago & so it was touching to have the memory of the Vietnam nurses memorial in my head as I was reading this book. I agree with all the others- the first part was much more exciting- and the 2nd, just makes me thankful we live in a different decade & HOPEFULLY soon- we can get back to supporting our fellow Americans & humans again! Didn't mean to get political... just saying...
I read this book last month for one of my book clubs. I found it quite interesting because it brought back quite a lot of memories for me. I was in my teens (13 and up) during our active involvement in Vietnam. By active, I mean in the news. I remember the MLK and RFK assassinations, the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention riots, Kent State shooting, etc. My eldest brother was in the Air Force during the war. Luckily, he was a teletype operator stationed on Guam and that's the closest he ever was to the action. I remember every night watching the evening news with live coverage from Vietnam. As far as the book is concerned, I thought the best part of the book was the part when Frankie was in Vietnam. Once she came back home, I thought the endless repetition of the drinking and the pills went on too long. Given that the title of the book was "The Women", I think the author could have told a more powerful story if she had focused on all three of the women and their adjustments to coming back. Or at least to Frankie & Barb. I really wanted to know more about Barb's life, her brother, and how she dealt with the racial discrimination.
@bonnenuit I agree, I liked the parts when Frankie was in Vietnam best too and agree that it definitely got repetitive with the drinking and pills once she got home. I also hadn't thought about it, but I would have loved to learn more about the other two girls too! And you're right... she should have with a title like that!
It took a couple of months on the waitlist, but I finally got this one last week. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. I’ve read a few of Kristin Hannah’s books and typically find them well written with good character development and many of them seem well researched historically. That said, I find them overall sad and depressing. I might be done with them for a while. I was young during the Vietnam war and don’t really remember much about it. I have vague recollections of how the vets were viewed as they returned. The early part of the book made me remember an old tv show, China Beach and maybe even the long running MASH.
