Sensing Dan’s anxiety, his old friend Gene invites the couple to a monthly event called ‘The Dinner Party’, held at friends’ homes. “ There’s someone I want you to meet.”At this monthly gathering of food and friendship, they meet Ralph, a retired doctor and recent widower who forms a bond with Dan and shares his story and life wisdom. Sam and Cindy, a 40s couple who are trying to figure out how to make it all work and keep up with their busy lives. Finally, the couple meet Shawn, a financial planner with a unique process which starts with a simple, but provocative question. I don't know what I was expecting - but a contemporary novel involving a Jewish family prepping for Pesach! I wanted to read it. I had a soft spot for Beth whose indignation at life and herself was very funny but also very touching This fast paced psychological thriller hooks you from the very first sentence. The story so well told I gave up trying to figure out who did it and just enjoyed the twists and turns and surprises with an I did not see that coming ending which will make you think...wait what?? Wow!

Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin | Goodreads Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin | Goodreads

It’s Halloween 2018 and Kate Gleeson has a dinner party planned for her family to mark the anniversary of the loss of her twin sister Elaine. Her brothers Peter and Ray attend but not their mother. At the end of the night Kate has unraveled and not for the first time. The story is told in several timelines from 1999 at the family farm in Carlow, in 2006 when Kate attends Trinity, Dublin and in 2018 and 19. The synopsis for this book was great and I really thought it was a nice change from the other genres I’ve been reading. Because it takes place in a country that is foreign to me, I had a hard time with some of the figures of speech and vocabulary. The main characters are three best friends but if I had a best friend like either one of them I’d find a new one. All three ladies were snippy towards each other and didn’t seem very supportive. The way they talked to each other and about each other was a turn off towards the characters and the type of book I thought I was reading based on the synopsis. There was far too many references to “dips”. I think it was supposed to be funny but that joke must have slipped past me and I found it silly.

Brenda Janowitz has woven together a beautiful tale about family, secrets, and forgiveness in a manner that only a master storyteller can do. This was a disappointing read for me as I expected more from it. Perhaps it was because it was billed as a ‘laugh out loud comedy’ I was wanting a lot more humour. Don’t get me wrong, it was an okay read, but I didn’t laugh all the way through as I had wanted to. It was a good read but not excellent. It did grip me at the beginning and I was fully engaged. I started it before going to bed and thought I could just read through some chapters. Instead I read the first quarter in one sitting and had to go to bed because of work and continued the next day. The three couples are friends due to the women Beth, Sarah and Marie who have known each other since school. The husbands, Chris, Tony and Duncan tolerate each other for the sake of the women. When Chris announces last minute that he has invited Simon to one of their regular dinner parties, its sets off a chain reaction of events that had me gripped. Firstly I found the characters difficult to like or even relate to with the exception of Simon and Duncan. Beth, Sarah and Marie have been friends since secondary school although Beth and Sarah grew up together. Their husbands although not friends seem to go along with the monthly dinner parties for the sake of their wives

The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner - Plainview “The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner - Plainview

They are expecting a fun evening of wine, food and pleasant company. But then they start to play the game… This story revolves around 3 couples who take turns in hosting a monthly dinner party. Beth, Sarah and Marie have been friends forever, but now they are grownup with busy lives. A cozy, comfortable gathering of happy couples - Until one night, a last-minute guest arrives with floods of tears in their eyes, leading to a dinner party no one will ever forget! From this deceptively simple story of a family gathering, Long Island author Brenda Janowitz scaffolds a big-hearted, universal tale taking place in the suburban home of Alan and Sylvia Gold, who are hosting Passover Seder for the Rothschilds of Manhattan. Apologies to readers who love this book, and to Janowitz who surely put work into it. it's just not for me. I might soldier on, given the season. If later chapters win me over, I'll recant.Most likely memories will surface for many Jews... from years of Passover dinners themselves... it did for me.... This story gives readers a very close-up and personal view of how unexpressed individual failings, desires, perceptions, and general boredom with routine can lead to a sudden, and sometimes irreparable rending of the group as a whole. If and when said hidden "room elephants" are ever given the means, opportunity, and time, that it would take for them escape their not so comfortable prisons. And make for the shops of Main Street as fast as their little destructive legs can carry them. I did think the format of the chapters was enjoyable with one of the characters point of view alternating chapters. I also enjoyed the journalist asking questions and someone answering at the end of the chapter that might make the reader want to push on to find out what lies in store for this group next.

The Dinner Party Cookbook: 200 Fabulous Main Dish Ideas The Dinner Party Cookbook: 200 Fabulous Main Dish Ideas

F or people beginning the process of creating ‘a plan’, “ The Dinner Party” will help the reader to understand that ‘it’s the start the stops most people’ and take the all-important first step to begin the planning process. I enjoyed this one. It didn't blow me away or anything, and it was quite far-fetched, but it kept me entertained throughout. 👍 The protagonist, Ted is a multidimensional character. He’s kind, conscientious, and a good father and husband. He reminds me of a therapist. I could imagine him talking you out of a bad situation. A warm voice that can be a support.The interloper causes choas, of course and people start to question things they hadn’t previously questioned

Dinner Party by Tracy Bloom | Goodreads Dinner Party by Tracy Bloom | Goodreads

Simon: The unintentional guest. Broken-hearted at his wife’s affair. Seeking solace from married woman nearly as old as his mum. To Dublin in 2018 just before the Dinner Party and the dissolution of a relationship Kate is having with a married man (which is still haunting her at the Dinner Party) as well as section session immediately after the Party

The interactions and overreactions that ensue in this sophisticated yet light-hearted novel weave a highly comic yarn that is part comedy of manners, part social parody, part morality play.