Federation Book Club Reads THE HEAVEN AND EARTH GROCERY STORE

When I said to my husband, “This book means well,” I meant it kindly. The novel depicts a community among diverse populations, uses authentic dialects, engages its readers with humor, and begins with a murder mystery. This would all seem like a winning formula, but most of our group found the novel tedious and agreed we’d prefer it as a well-edited film.

Comments included, “Too many different threads, characters, and names,” “Really boring, I almost stopped reading,” “Two important characters, Nate and Addy, weren’t developed enough,” and “It took too long to get to an ending which was too abrupt.” My own gripe was something I call “info-dumping.” The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store has too many long sections of endless dialogue used to pass information to the reader.

Sorry, James McBride. I really loved the part about Dodo and Monkeypants learning to communicate with each other. However, when our book club talks about how much we’re already enjoying the next book on our list (James, see reading list above), it typically means we didn’t favor the current one. Our average score was 2.5 out of 5.

Beth Buechler
Community Contributor

The Jewish Federation Book Club meets via Zoom at 4:00 PM on the second Thursday of the month.

Email info@thejewishfed.org or call the office at (574) 233-1164 if you would like to attend.

Upcoming Books (subject to change)

• October 10 - James by Percival Everett (click here)

• November 14 - The Women by Kristin Hannah (click here)

• December 12 - All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (click here)