Between the stories of the different characters and the different timelines, I was lost fairly quickly after beginning this book. There are some redeeming qualities in this novel with themes of community, friendship, love and loss.

I’m not sure I’d compare this to Lessons in Chemistry or Remarkably Bright Creatures. Those were both five-star reads for me, and I ended up being disappointed with this one. I found the writing difficult to follow for such a simple storyline. There were also too many characters to keep track of for my liking. It’s a quick read, otherwise I would have DNF’ed.

Set in 1976 in Hanley, Minnesota we find Crystal, Coralene, and Sheila are former lunch ladies, now working in the Nutrition Services Department of the Hanley School District. In this story we are given insight into each women's personal history - and the life experiences and losses that shaped them. This novel, in a way, reminds of books written by Fannie Flagg; it is sassy and has pizazz! It was a joy to read. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC for an honest exchange.

The story is set in Minnesota about Crystal, Coralene, and Sheila that work in a school district's lunch ladies in 1976. They are tasked to set up food stands for the Bicentennial parade on July 4. Their boss is a bumbling idiot who does not help the cause.

This book is well-written, and the character development is on point. I enjoyed this book very much. It was an easy read, well organized, and funny at times. I will recommend this to my friends.

As other reviewers stated, this reminds me of a Fannie Flagg novel. And that's a good thing.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a different book for me. And it's exactly why I wanted to read it. I like sprinkling in ones I'd never usually choose. And it's lucky because then I get to come across gems like this one.
It's witty and dry but at the same time so tender and snuggly.
I love reading about these very different and yes often flawed characters.
How they are so so so different but come together like opposing magnets to make such a force and group of strength for their community. Sheila made me laugh out loud. And I had so much time for her, Coralene and the other ladies of Hanley.
This is the type of book you could have in a book club. Because it's perfect writing for discussing later. Perfect for finding other people insight and views of these very quirky characters and the town events.

Set in Hanley, Minnesota, the story is about lunch ladies Crystal, Coralene and Sheila, their friends and families. The "Lunch Ladies" are busy planning food for a Bicentennial Parade and are working hard to achieve their goal. This book weaves the family and friends thru the lives of these ladies to provide a beautifully written story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Century House Press for allowing me to read this book.

At the outset, it seems that is book is about 3 Lunch Ladies who were promoted out of cafeterias, into an office. They are overseeing the food choices and menu planning.

But it's also about a whole town planning the Bicentennial Parade in 1976. The three Lunch Ladies are in each in charge of different food tables at the the end of the parade. They work hard to achieve their goal.

And, it's also about community, family, friendship, compassion, loneliness and so much more. It's not all happiness and fun. While some moments bring a smile into the reader's mind there are moments of sadness too.

The story takes place in Minnesota. A fellow reviewer mentioned that the characters remind her of those in Fannie Flagg's books. She is right. They are unique and quirky characters.

The events at the end of the book were a total surprise for me.

I do have one negative about the book. There are too many similar names and names that start with C. I found that confusing at times. They are:
Coralene (sometimes called Cora or Cory)
Decora
Coravelle (sometimes called Velly)
Crystal

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

If you love quirky characters that make you smile, you’ll like this book. But don’t let the funny fool you, there are themes of forgiveness, grief, loneliness, and friendship that hit the heart.

It's 1976 and the school district’s “lunch ladies”—Crystal, Coralene, and Sheila—are tasked with planning food stands for the town’s Fourth of July parade. But each woman has something else she’d rather concentrate on. Crystal likes to match people who have died with a living soul to guide them. Coralene is focused on her family, especially a nephew who needs saving. And Sheila? Well, Sheila’s past is a weight she can’t seem to shed.

With tender strokes, the author paints distinct portraits of lives that can be easily overlooked. Witty, insightful, and humorous, Lunch Ladies’ power comes from its ordinariness, those familiar absurdities that middle-aged, non-celebrities negotiate daily.

Thank you to Century House Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy.

This is one of those novels where you are led to keep reading even though it seems like not much is happening. There's no mystery involved here, just the lives and emotions of 3 middle-aged small-town women and their friends and families (or lack thereof). However, as you keep reading, you realize that there is a LOT going on, that the story is about way more than three former lunch ladies planning food booths for the town's annual bicentennial celebration. It's about family, grief. loneliness, small town life, and the ways that we either welcome and invite friendship in, or build walls against it (and the results of each). I found Sheila's story profoundly sad and also very real.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was refreshingly unique. It had the flavor or southern authors, but it's set in Minnesota (who have some of the nicest people!)
Three lunch ladies are tasked with creating a role in a celebration for the bicentennial.

As the event planning proceeds, we learn about the lives the women have led, their history, and what they hope for their futures.

This is told with all of them experiencing grief, of different kinds. We see that everyone is shaped by their past and present.

This book has humor. made me reflect, and had a calming factor as I read. I loved it.

Thank you to Century House Press and Net Galley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #CenturyHousePress #LunchLadies #JodiThompsonCarr

Lunch Ladies by Jodi Thompson Carr contains all the ingredients for the perfect book. Not only did it grip my brain and heart within seconds but it held me captive until the last words. It's been percolating in my thoughts since and (thankfully) won't let go. In fact, it feels as though the author wrote it for me! It is THAT phenomenal. Carr insightfully writes a rich cast of fascinating characters with real traits and foibles as they live their moments in sorrow, joy, illness, disappointment, fear, wonderment, weighty loneliness, love and hope. The writing is sweet, kind (yes, that is possible!), warm, funny, tender and original. The foods and social mores of the 1970s are vivid and evoke nostalgia and the flashbacks to 1948 are wonderfully incorporated. Human nature and emotions are exquisitely detailed such as the bus ride descriptions, various friendships, marriage idiosyncracies, snippets of the past, matchmaking and raw pain of deep sorrow. Oh, how I loved it! My heart felt the gamut of emotions along with the characters as I laughed and cried.

Set in Hanley, Minnesota, the story is about lunch ladies Crystal, Coralene and Sheila, their friends and families. Getting to know the endearing ladies plus Tanner, Caroline, Jasper, Leonora, Sheila, Lexie, Tom, Darcy, the other Coras...pure pleasure. They enjoy their quirky routines, independence and sometimes acknowledging their reliance on each other. They pull together to create a memorable Fourth of July parade, share special moments and check up on each other. Details such as clever life metaphors, charming physical attributes, recognizing when we've been less than stellar, chapter quotes, letters, memos and the author's notes elevate the story from a five star to a five plus!

If you enjoy reading about ordinary life through the lenses of others, this gem has your name on it. It is sure to top my favourites of 2024 list.

My sincere thank you to Century House Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this extraordinarily wise novel. Those who have yet to read it for the first time are in for a treat!

This book reminded me so much of Fannie Flagg’s writing style and I loved it. This one takes place in Hanley, Minnesota. We get different points of view from the three main female characters and some of their family. We also get different timelines from earlier in their lives as well which gives us the back story of important events in each main character’s life.

And just like Flagg’s writing the story is full of humour. It’s about the community as a whole and the individual community members. The author created such a wonderful story here with small-town charm and a few goofy characters, but more serious topics are also involved. There’s plenty of death and loss, but that’s just life and it doesn’t make the book depressing in any way.

The best part of this book was the author’s delivery of complex human characters and their various relationships. Thompson Carr’s book is written with compassion, and because of that, her characters are true to life. She writes an entertaining tale while taking on important social commentary. This is about working women in 1976 Minnesota and these characters will stay with me for a long time. I remember my mom going back to work in the 70s.

This book surprised me in the best way possible, it was heartwarming and enjoyable a wonderful debut that has me asking what will Jodi Thompson Carr come up with next.

Hanley, Minnesota is Adam Sandler’s ‘Lunch Lady Land’, a place where remarkably unremarkable things happen. Despite their recent promotion, Crystal, Coralene and Sheila, three lunch ladies from across the district, are the corps de ballet for Minnesota’s public school system.

Author Jodi Thompson Carr cautions us from disregarding their power or influence and highlights these three women and their role in pulling off a successful community event. Like the corps de ballet who are positioned behind the principal dancers and often overlooked, these lunch ladies play a crucial role in the community celebration. Each woman has experienced loss and is responding to grief in a different way. This response has shaped their choices and their relationships. In a school kitchen, they may all blend together in a sea of white, but in the spotlight, readers see them for who they’ve become as a result of this pain and value them for the important role they provide.

Despite the author’s reliance on the storyline rather than the storytelling at times, I appreciated an examination of how illness, aging and end-of-life affect us all. I was intrigued by the concept of “rescuing travelers from the obituary page and finding them suitable companions” and reached for my journal to record the picture the author painted when Sheila explained how someone ‘frequented a spare room’ in her mind, arrived unexpectedly, overstayed his welcome, and left a mess.” I took heed and will make an effort to banish these types of visitors in the future; they always take rather than give. I don’t need to make room for them!

In an increasingly self-centered world, this focus on community was a welcome read.

I was gifted this copy by Century House Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Lunch Ladies by Jodi Thompson Carr ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Century House Press
Pub Date: 12-1-24

Thank you @netgalley, @victoryeditingngc, and @jodi.thompsoncarr for this eARC.

The subtitle says it all: A story of love, loss, redemption...and a parade.

It's 1976 in Hanley, Minnesota.

Crystal, Coralene, and Sheila are former lunch ladies, now working in the Nutrition Services Department of the Hanley School District.

Hanley is preparing for a bicentennial parade - or a "big whoop-ta-do" as Crystal calls it.

The ladies are tasked with managing the preparation and participation of each school's food service team during the festivities.

There are A LOT of characters in this story - multiple families, multiple generations, the living, and the dead. It took a while for me to settle in and know who was who. Then I was fully engaged in the story of these three women, their friends, family, and community.

The story provides insight into the personal history of each woman - and the life experiences and losses that shaped them.

I loved Coraline and Jasper, Leonora and Darcy, Sheila and Lexie!

#lunchladies #jodithompsoncarr #centuryhousepress #netgalley

I have a picture in my head when I hear Lunch Ladies. I'm taken back to elementary school and the women with hairnets serving hot lunch and keeping kids in line. This book's description and premise was a lot more than the title! It was a glimpse into the lives of friends in a town that come together for each other and the community. I enjoyed it and thank NetGalley for the ARC. Well written characters!