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At Weddings and Wakes
Alice McDermott
★★★★★· Published 1992· 224 pages· read 2025
An Irish-Catholic family in New York, seen through the kids being shuttled to their grandmother's apartment. McDermott makes the ordinary ache.
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★ 5The Amateur Marriage
Anne Tyler
A story about a marriage that shouldn’t have happened. A gorgeous recreation of Baltimore from 1940s to present-day. I recommended it to Aliza, and she left me multiple voice notes about how much she loved it.
The Road to Tender Hearts
Annie Hartnett
An 80-year-old sets off across the country to win back his high school crush, then gets saddled with two orphaned grandkids and a cat who can predict death. Darkly funny and big-hearted at once.
★ 5Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Anne Tyler
The Tull family, wounded and prickly, told through the meals that never quite go right. One of Tyler's most bittersweet.