The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride - Review

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Күн бұрын

A review of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.
The new novel from the bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Oprah Book Club-picked, Barack Obama favourite James McBride.
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows.
As these characters' stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town's white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community-heaven and earth-that sustain us.

Пікірлер: 40

@BethRabb 4 ай бұрын

I think the body in the well adds power to the values of the importance of community, love and relationships. A big shot dies but he is not missed; his murderer doesn’t even know he murdered anyone; and the people who cover the body have no idea that a body is there. The death has little importance. On the other hand, 9:07 Chona is deeply mourned by everyone.

@reneeshapiro7360 8 ай бұрын

I loved the book and loved the review. I agree that the skeleton in the well was unnecessary and easily forgotten for most of the book. The relationships in the community were heartening and not overly sweet. He clearly has understanding of both the Jewish immigrants and the black community. McBride''s "Song Yet Sung" remains my favorite. I both read it and listened to the awesome audio book narrated by Cecily Tyson.

@r.enee.morris 4 ай бұрын

I immediately forgot about the skeleton so it was a fun surprise when I realised at the end. Can definitely picture this as a film. I listened on audio and Moshe is pronounced Mow-sha and Chona was Shona.

@bandkh90 8 ай бұрын

Haven’t read it but, as your reviews never do me wrong, I’ve reserved it at my library. Thanks as usual for a great review and for tuning me into a book I may otherwise have passed by

@StigglyNYC 7 ай бұрын

such a great book!

@BJ-zl3rs 2 ай бұрын

The skeleton is the catalyst for the story. When these bones are uncovered, there is a reason to learn the history. The history, the journey is way more than the bones.

@thethe5912 8 ай бұрын

I love your little character on the thumbnail, haha. I’ll have to check this out! I live near Pottstown, so I may click with this in a deep way.

@tesark1 6 ай бұрын

Great review...thank you! LOVED the book. The skeleton was like background music to me. Mostly I was forgetting it was there but glad it resolved in the end. James McBride is one of my favorite authors!

@sapodilla25 19 күн бұрын

Regarding the unnecessary skeleton gimmick, I think it's dinned into every writer's head that there should be a conflict or a hook, but sometimes a book can really be just a beautiful reflection of human experience. I see this type of contrived "conflict" in Backman's books as well.

@joangavrilik3009 8 ай бұрын

This is without a doubt my favorite book of 2023 - by a country mile! Generally, I am not a fan of a large cast of characters, but McBride is the master of this technique & he did not disappoint. The skeleton did not bother me. I think it has a purpose (an unflattering commentary on the non-black & non-Jewish establishment connecting both time frames), but I’d have to go back & figure that out to argue my case. (And my copy is currently loaned out.) I was surprised that you did not mention the humor in this book - I thought it was endearingly funny throughout. I would also like to encourage readers not to skip the Acknowledgments at the end (as some of us tend to do). This book stole my heart!

@joangavrilik3009 8 ай бұрын

P.S. Great shout-out from KDBooks today - IMHO you have the perfect book review format!

@rororeads 8 ай бұрын

Your right. This book is very funny. Had it written down to mention and must have skipped over it. That’s what I get for filming late at night :)

@rororeads 8 ай бұрын

@@joangavrilik3009thank you. So kind of him to shout out the channel.

@HelenSchneider-tl3yh 8 ай бұрын

I am more than half way through this book (started part 3) and just now started to figure out whose body is in the well. Very enjoyable book!

@gwendolynpoindexter4468 6 ай бұрын

I loved the book. And love this review. As for the skeleton in the well, I liked the way he weaved in that storyline toward the in -even though I agree I forgot about it until later. But I found it satisfying to know that this character got his come uppance at the end.

@GemofBooks 8 ай бұрын

This one has been on my radar for a while. You’ve convinced me to get to it sooner rather than later 😁

@ameliabarlowbooks 8 ай бұрын

ordered this little beauty to my local bookshop, hoping to pick it up this weekend. definitely strong Pulitzer potential, can’t wait!

@jaimee-kate 8 ай бұрын

Ooo I've had this on my TBR since B&N named it Book of the Year. I'm bumping it up since you liked it so much. I appreciate your channel so much because I love Lit Fic but there's a lot of the same bland stuff to wade through, and I thank you for doing it haha

@readandre-read 8 ай бұрын

I loved this book. If you enjoyed the nicknames you'll be happy to hear that the main characters in Deacon King Kong include Sportcoat anf Hot Sausage.

@rororeads 8 ай бұрын

Hot sausage! That’s fantastic haha

@BandysBooks 8 ай бұрын

Great review! The only book I’ve read by this author thus far is Deacon King Kong. It was a solid read for me and I enjoyed all of the nicknames. Sounds like HAEGS has a similar cast of character/community set up. I look forward to reading it.

@DaveNYC 8 ай бұрын

Great review! I loved this one too. It’s excellent all the way through and very, very funny as well. I agree to an extent about the skeleton bit. It certainly didn’t ruin the book, but I felt a little cheated that it was so easy to figure out. And come to think of it, the whole late-breaking storyline with the doctor and the parade all felt a bit gimmicky. But it was also fun and led to a neat resolution.

@SheriMaple 8 ай бұрын

I plan on reading for a book club selection in a few months. It’s not my first novel by James McBride, I read Deacon King Kong back in 2020. He writes great characters.

@Mokbin 8 ай бұрын

I just found your channel today and immediately subscribed ❤

@reneeshapiro7360 8 ай бұрын

me, too.

@janethansen9612 8 ай бұрын

I enjoyed this, the great characters and how the community functioned. I also thought the skeleton bit strayed into slapstick humour but I’d forgotten about it until the end so it didn’t bother my overall reading experience.

@sablestar1956 4 ай бұрын

I DNF’d the book because I thought it was going to be a murder mystery/who done it and how the community grappled with it, but After about 130 pages I realized that I was duped and stopped reading it.

@ToddsBookTube91 7 ай бұрын

Nice review!

@maribennasar 7 ай бұрын

McBride explains the concept of the squeleton in an interview - ill see if i find it again!

@KDbooks 6 ай бұрын

Stickman Roro is my favourite iteration of Roro ❤

@torodka 8 ай бұрын

I loved this book, it was my most anticipated read of the year and it didn't disappoint. My favorite of his is still "Deacon King Kong", if you liked the multitude of colorful characters in "The Heaven and Earth..", you'll love "Deacon" as well.

@terileekline 8 ай бұрын

One of my favorite authors.. please read his previous offerings, RORO 😊 (we call My nephew RoRo)

@Tensytheneedlesmith 8 ай бұрын

I love McBride's writing style, he often combines characters that are Jewish and Black which goes back to his own family history. His dad was Black and his Mother, Jewish (although she converted to Chrisitianity). He explores his family history in The Color of Water. And Jews normally pronounce Moshe as MO-sha.

@rororeads 8 ай бұрын

Thank you :)

@user-iu4ws6vh5s 8 ай бұрын

I also loved this book.

@SupposedlyFun 8 ай бұрын

This is such incredibly fortuitous timing because I finished this book last night! I told my husband I was going to have to sleep on it because I was grappling with he exact same thing you were about the skeleton plot--and when I woke up this morning, I thought to myself "Get over it, it was a good book." 😂 I'm willing to bet that a lot of people are going to steer you toward Deacon King Kong as a next read for McBride. I would instead recommend The Good Lord Bird. It's different from Deacon and Heaven & Earth in that it doesn't have a whole community of people, but what it says and does is absolutely incredible. I firmly believe McBride should have won a Pulitzer for Good Lord Bird. And if the Pulitzer Board makes it up to him by recognizing The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, I won't be mad about it at all. I've also heard really incredible things about McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, but I haven't read it yet.

@rororeads 8 ай бұрын

I might leave it up to fate and add all three to my Xmas wish list and see which one I get haha. Look forward to hear more of your thoughts in this one :)

@SupposedlyFun 8 ай бұрын

@@rororeads That's a great plan!