Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal (2023) is my second read by this author.
The first, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, was a book group assignment. My group liked this book. I liked this book. But those of us that listened, found character and timeline switches were confusing in audio format.
I started Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal on a long flight with patchy WiFi.
The character and timeline changes were very confusing on this second title too. I very much needed a character list, but could not get one because of the poor inflight WiFi.
At my connection, I compiled a list.
Here are the characters with no spoilers -
Betty:
The matriarch of the family, known for her ability to find the good in difficult situations.Florence:
Betty's daughter, who initially struggles with her mother's optimism and later navigates her own challenges with her daughter Mariel.
Mariel:
Florence's daughter, who grapples with her complicated relationship with her mother.
Julia:
Mariel's daughter.
In summary - I liked this book very much, but it was confusing in the beginning. Once I got into it and had good WiFi to get a character list, it was much better.
I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized.
StoryGraph -
J. Ryan Stradal was not listed on my normal website https://www.bookseriesinorder.com
I think these are all his books -
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books in April 2023The Lager Queen of Minnesota, published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books in July 2019.Kitchens of the Great Midwest, published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books in July 2015.
