From the Bookshelf of Retro Chapter Chicks …

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

Fannie Flagg

Start date: July 1, 2015

Finish date: July 31, 2015

Discussion: Past Book Discussions 2014-19

Discussion leader: Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu

Why we're reading this: Our Bestseller Eclectic Book for July and August 2015.
[close] Our Bestseller Eclectic Book for July and August 2015.

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Past Book Discussions 2014-19

Dec 2019: The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
By Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴… , Founding Retro Chick · 51 posts · 18 views

last updated Nov 30, 2020 08:05AM

December 2017 Buddy Read: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
By deleted member · 45 posts · 23 views

last updated Oct 29, 2020 11:12AM

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What Members Thought

Feb 28, 2014 Book Concierge rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, wisconsin, family, texas, funny, concierge, women-writers, world-war-ii, library, southern-lit

Mrs Earle Poole Jr – Sookie to her family and friends – is having her usual challenges. The blue jays are monopolizing the feeders, leaving the little birds without sustenance. At least she’s managed to get her third daughter safely married and off on her honeymoon, so maybe now Sookie can rest for a bit. Well, except for managing her mother, Lenore, who is as wacky and demanding as ever. Sookie can’t seem to live up to her mother’s expectations that she “behave like a Simmons” – polishing the f Mrs Earle Poole Jr – Sookie to her family and friends – is having her usual challenges. The blue jays are monopolizing the feeders, leaving the little birds without sustenance. At least she’s managed to get her third daughter safely married and off on her honeymoon, so maybe now Sookie can rest for a bit. Well, except for managing her mother, Lenore, who is as wacky and demanding as ever. Sookie can’t seem to live up to her mother’s expectations that she “behave like a Simmons” – polishing the family silver weekly, attending the right club meetings, dressing appropriately, and tending to the graves of her ancestors. You’d think a 59-year-old married woman, with grown children, could stand up to her own mother, but Sookie has been trained to be accommodating. So she dutifully handles Lenore’s affairs – from paying the bills to hiring a nurse. Until the day Sookie opens a registered letter addressed to Lenore from the Texas Board of Health, and her whole world is turned upside down.

What a delightful read! I just fell in love with Sookie, and enjoyed going along on her journey of self-discovery. Are the characters eccentric? Yes, of course. You might even say some are over-the-top. But Flagg never lets the minor characters take over the plot; rather, they add color and provide a framework for Sookie’s story. Whatever the situation, Sookie’s reactions are very real and understandable. Anyone would be thrown for a loop after receiving such a shock. What’s so fun about the book is watching her come to grips with what she has learned, figuring out how to cope, exploring her options, and growing into an even better version of the person she has always been – kind, tenderhearted, courageous, inventive, giving, steady and loving.

I also really enjoyed the historical background and storyline set in the WW2 era and exploring the women who flew planes for the Army Air Corps with little fanfare or even recognition. I liked Fritzi and her sisters, and the descriptions of the gas station had me waxing nostalgic for my father’s auto-parts business; I still love the smell of rubber and oil because it brings back memories of being with my Daddy at the store.

I’ve been a fan of Fannie Flagg’s for some time, and I think this is one of her best books.
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Jun 19, 2014 Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu rated it really liked it

Shelves: tbrhchallenge

To begin, the story was quite good, Ms. Flagg really does have a laid back hometown way of weaving a yarn. I was fascinated by Fritzi Jurdabralinski and her family, especially when the women of the family had to take the horse by the reins and run the gas station and then sign up for duty with the WASPs. Fritzi was a real spit fire of a character and I had a difficult time believing she could be Sookie's mother. Lenore was also a colorful character, very persnickety and living a life of grandeur ...more

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