After the Parade
By Lori Ostlund
Scribner Book Company, Hardcover, 9781476790107, September 22, 2015, 352pp.
The Short of It:
With pain, comes growth.
The Rest of It:
As a young child, Aaron Englund had no idea how his father’s death after a fall from a parade float would affect him in the years to come but when his adult relationship with his beloved Walter ends, he’s forced to take a look at his past.
After the Parade is exactly what I look for in a good read. It’s a quiet story with interesting, quirky characters and unusual situations. When Aaron realizes that he can no longer maintain a relationship with Walter, he moves out and meets a host of people who, although flawed, serve a purpose in his healing.
This is truly a book about relationships. Mother and son, father and son, colleague to colleague, innocent bystanders, etc. I loved how open Aaron was to all of it. He’s a sensible guy and takes his hits as they come but he learns from them too which makes him so relatable. This book is filled with quite “aha” moments. I found myself rereading sections just to let the ideas sink in.
If you are like me and like quiet, meaningful reads then you will enjoy this one. It will be on my list of faves for the year because to me, this was the full package as far as reads go.
Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.
Book Chatter 
This sounds excellent and I just checked and have the eGalley from Edelweiss….so happy
You will love it and the writing is such a treat.
I admired this book very much. Lori is a writer’s writer.
That is a great way to describe the author. Truly.
Wow! The full package – I must read this one! I have it on my kindle, but wasn’t too sure if I would get to it. Now, it sounds like I need to get to it. I’m so glad you posted about it. I really do enjoy these types of books more and more lately. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much 🙂
Oh yes, this was a very satisfying read.
On another note, did you see American Horror Story last night? It comes on so late here so I plan to watch it tonight.
Wow, this sounds like a good read.
It was very good. I need to see if the author has written other books.
Ti,
Your review just popped up in my Google Alerts, and I wanted to leave a quick note here to thank you for this review. It is so appreciated.
Sounds great, Ti. My kind of book, I think.
This sounds just wonderful. You are definitely on a roll with your reading lately!
Oh yes. I’ve read some good books lately. I am so very happy with my reading this year.
When you reread passages, that says to me this is a book well worth picking up.
Oh yeah, for sure. I don’t have time to reread stuff so when I do it’s something special. Or something very complicated that I can’t wrap my brain around. In this case, the former.
Hello, it’s been awhile. This sounds like a good book! Happy Monday.
It has been a long time but at least I catch you on FB 😉