A BARACK OBAMA TOP BOOK OF 2021 'A heartfelt and witty collection of essays on everything from marriage and knitting to the inevitability of death' Guardian 'A pitch-perfect collection ... She can turn a sentence like no one else: her writing is clear, honest, witty, and just full of unsentimental humanity' Nigella Lawson 'Profound and clever and funny and wise' Meg Mason, author of Sorrow & Bliss ______________________ An irresistible collection of essays and memoir from the internationally bestselling, Women's Prize-winning author of The Dutch House 'Any story that starts will also end.' As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this as she explores family, friendship, marriage, failure, success, and what it all means. Ranging from the personal – her portrait of the three men she called her fathers; how a chance encounter with Tom Hanks led to one of the most important friendships of her life; how to answer when someone asks why you don't have children – to the sublime – the unexpected influence of Snoopy; the importance of knitting; the pleasure to be found in children's books – each essay transforms the particular into the universal, letting us all see our own worlds anew. Illuminating, penetrating, funny and generous, These Precious Days is joyful time spent in the company of one of our greatest living authors. 'Patchett's essays are both sharp and humane ... like a hugely enjoyable conversation with a particularly brilliant friend' Sadie Jones

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I have married twice, and my sister three times. None of us set out for this. We meant to stick our landing on the first try, but we stumbled. My parents divorced when I was five, and my mother married Darrell when I was twenty-seven. #2 The Three Fathers died in the order in which my mother had married them, and they died in the inverse order of their health. My father went first, even though he had made a religion of the elliptical trainer, the treadmill, and the NordicTrack. He spent four slow years dying of a neurological disease called progressive supranuclear palsy. #3 My father had grown up the third of seven children. He was born in 1931, the first of the Patchetts to have been born in America. His parents left England to find work in California, and after a long stretch of nothing, his father landed a job as a machinist at Columbia Pictures. #4 My father, as a writer, believed that childhood development rested on the ability to play volleyball. He wanted me to be athletic, join clubs, and start clubs. But I believed I would be a writer, and he didn’t understand that.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 I have married twice, and my sister three times. None of us set out for this. We meant to stick our landing on the first try, but we stumbled. My parents divorced when I was five, and my mother married Darrell when I was twentyseven. #2 The Three Fathers died in the order in which my mother had married them, and they died in the inverse order of their health. My father went first, even though he had made a religion of the elliptical trainer, the treadmill, and the NordicTrack. He spent four slow years dying of a neurological disease called progressive supranuclear palsy. #3 My father had grown up the third of seven children. He was born in 1931, the first of the Patchetts to have been born in America. His parents left England to find work in California, and after a long stretch of nothing, his father landed a job as a machinist at Columbia Pictures. #4 My father, as a writer, believed that childhood development rested on the ability to play volleyball. He wanted me to be athletic, join clubs, and start clubs. But I believed I would be a writer, and he didn’t understand that.

Each generation has more childfree women than the one before. For many, it is an active decision made for a wide range of reasons. Despite this growing trend, we continue to live in a society where women are often judged for deciding to remain childfree - for not conforming to narrow expectations. For being a Harpy. In this timely and thoughtful book, Caroline Magennis looks beyond the often-divisive conversation around women who choose to be childfree and offers an alternative message of hope and celebration. With humour and intelligence, she explores why motherhood isn't right for everybody and how any woman - whether a parent or childfree - can live a full life, while also reminding the reader that your freedoms and the right to autonomy should never be taken for granted.

'A heartfelt and witty collection of essays on everything from marriage and knitting to the inevitability of death' Guardian, 50 biggest books of autumn 'Profound and clever and funny and wise' Meg Mason, author of Sorrow & Bliss An irresistible collection of essays and memoir from the internationally bestselling, Women's Prize-winning author of The Dutch House Any story that starts will also end.' As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this as she explores family, friendship, marriage, failure, success, and what it all means. Ranging from the personal – her portrait of the three men she called her fathers; how a chance encounter with Tom Hanks led to one of the most important friendships of her life; how to answer when someone asks why you don't have children – to the sublime – the unexpected influence of Snoopy; the importance of knitting; the pleasure to be found in children's books – each essay transforms the particular into the universal, letting us all see our own worlds anew. Illuminating, penetrating, funny and generous, These Precious Days is joyful time spent in the company of one of our greatest living authors. 'Patchett's essays are both sharp and humane ... like a hugely enjoyable conversation with a particularly brilliant friend' Sadie Jones