We All Want Impossible Things: The funny, moving Richard and Judy Book Club pick 2023

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Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.

Everywhere, behind closed doors, people are dying, and people are grieving them. It's the most basic fact about human life---tied with birth, I guess---but it's startling too. Everybody dies and yet it's unendurable." I have heard nothing but good things about [ We All Want Impossible Things] and they were all quite right - it's so warm and funny and full of great observations ... it looks set for rip-roaring success, deservedly so! CLARE CHAMBERS, author of SMALL PLEASURES In her novel We All Want Impossible Things, Catherine Newman chronicles the final days of Edi's life from the perspective of her lifelong friend, Ashley. Though terminal illness and death can be tragic at any age, facing these realities at the stage of life Edi is in comes with a particular set of challenges, such as knowing she will miss out on watching her child grow up, and having to accept not being able to live out all the time and life goals she thought she would. Two best friends, Edi and Ash, one facing a terminal illness and the other trying to navigate an ever-changing life. Here it is! The holy grail of cakes! And it’s so lovely and moist and lemony that it doesn’t even need a lemon drizzle—though who knows what Edi would say.That aside, Newman is a solid writer and she handles the subject matter well. There are a few more gross/graphic parts towards the latter half of the book, so if you know someone who has gone through those sort of treatments (or obviously, if you've experienced them yourself) or you're just generally squeamish, you might want to pass them by. Although I didn't find this book OVERLY memorable or compelling, it had its moments that were quite lyrical and lovely, and those are my greatest takeaway. I would certainly explore other work from this author in the future (particularly if she keeps writing books for adults...for a first shot, this was so well done!) Add the butter and beat again until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time and—say it with me—beat until smooth. Rather a treat ... this novel is less about death than it is about life - the messy unpredictability, hideous unfairness and perplexity of it, as well as its one magnificent certainty: love. THE SUNDAY TIMES We All Want Impossible Things is a thing of rare beauty: sweet and sharp, to be devoured, then remembered and loved life-long. i I recently read an essay by this author and it was amazing. So I bought this book she just wrote, and it was downright appalling.

I was, until recently, the etiquette columnist at Real Simple for ten years, even though yes, I swear a lot and don't know what an oyster fork is. I edit the James-Beard-Award-winning nonprofit kids' cooking magazine ChopChop.Overall, this is a perfectly pitched and touching story which isn’t especially long which it doesn’t need to be. All the characters, even the supporting ones, are very well-developed and they ask have their own distinct storylines that all diverge with Edi and her illness.

No details are spared and at times it's rather hard to read, but the reality of it is portrayed with utmost candor and sympathy.

Full of humour, warmth, and raw honesty ... a beautiful, uplifting testament to female friendship that will make you laugh and cry WOMAN Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.