This came in a subscription box and it was really not the right book for me. I liked the idea of it but it was way, way, way too corny for me to enjoy. ( )

An enjoyable light offering from a solid author. A bit of an unrealistic/heavy-handed character in teen boy, but this is a good, feel-good choice. And set in TGSITU so that’s a bonus! ( )

First off thank you to Bookish First for choosing me as a winner of this book in exchange for an honest review, as well as University of Minnesota Press for sending it to me.

This book, from the first impression I was allowed to read, looked interesting. Haze Evans is in her 80’s and has been a columnist for the past 50 years with the newspaper. She suffers a stroke and Susan (the publisher and a single mom struggling with her marriage) comes up with the idea to re-publish some of Haze’s work (some with “goodwill” recipes), hoping it will only be temporary until Haze recovers and can come back. The idea turns out to be a success.

In her day, Haze had some “trolls”, once such man deemed her liberal ideas as the “chronicles of a radical hag”, thus giving the book its title. It also becomes a running joke halfway through the book and on to the end when Haze’s fate is revealed.

Susan’s 14 year old son Sam is tasked with going through the articles, which he actually comes to enjoy. But, while reading the articles, parts of Haze’s secret past come to the surface – and part of that past has a connection to Susan.

Along the way, and once again with Haze’s wisdom – those in the town of Granite Greek start learning more about her and themselves.

While this novel held some promise – it went downhill fast for me before I was halfway into the novel. The writing was also disjointed – it was hard to place where/when I was in the story and how it related. I also felt there were far too many characters to keep up with and what their purpose/connection to the story or Haze was.

Another thing that slightly distracted me was the grammar. The story was told in third person as there was no one narrating it, but the verbs and descriptions were in first person (narrator-type).

Examples: “And, he is, holding under his arm a wooden box, which he sets on the iron-mesh patio tabletop” and “In downward dog, Susan’s view of Olivia Shelby is framed by her slightly bent knees”. That was another issue while reading. Who was the actual narrator of the story? Who was telling the story?

The BIGGEST issue was the not-so-subtle inclusion of “POLITICS” along with hot, divisive issues.

I get that politics are a way of life and for newspaper columnists I’m sure that is double. As one reviewer stated on another site – it’s like the writer infused her thoughts and political views as Haze and there was no attempt to disguise her views or her feelings.

Speaking honestly – I felt this novel was more of a one-sided, politically driven essay disguising itself as a non-fiction story. I would’ve liked that aspect revealed immediately or a warning somewhere in the novel’s description. There were too many agendas/statements in each chapter, which I am not going to spoil.

While I am an avid reader, and was an advanced reader as a child (I won several library contests), I struggled with trying to find the “point/plot” of this novel.

I read to escape politics, violence, and divisiveness on TV and social media. Unless the book is a “true-crime” or biography type novel; fictional stories; especially ones described as having “gob-smacking humor”, should either warn the reader or eliminate the element. That is where the book lost my attention. It seemed like every issue from recent years was crammed into the novel to supplement it, including a painful (and horrific) incident from 2017 that happened in my hometown.

One major incident that was skipped was 9/11 (2001). That was one I would’ve been interested to read about despite my own personal reactions. It had a profound impact on our country and society and I would think that Haze would’ve had something to say about it. Yet, there was nothing. It was completely excluded from the book.

With that said – if you enjoy “chronicles of a radical hag”, political views, agenda-driven stories, and recipes – this book is for you.

If you’re looking for a light-hearted, escapist, non-political read – I’d likely steer clear or borrow it from a library first to test the waters. ( )

Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with recipes) features a beautiful cover that immediately caught my attention. It's not exactly what I was expecting but in a good way. A long time newspaper columnist for a local hometown paper suffers a stroke. She is eighty years old, so imagine how many columns she has written. In her absence, the paper decides to rerun some of her old columns. I love this premise because my local paper reruns old articles, and they ran one of me from 1996 when I was a pageant queen. It's such a bittersweet thing to see now. It's interesting and entertaining to see the reactions of the people in town. What if a column painted someone in a bad light? What if a present day terrible person was painted in a good light? Do people ever really change? The story shows how, regardless of past feelings, the community still stands strong. It's eye opening and informative for some, maybe embarrising for others. Still, the past is done, and the future holds promise. History in these columns proves that people are fundamentally survivors. It's a warm hearted read that is both sad yet inspiring. A joy to read! Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This book soured from 4 stars to 3 due to what I thought were shoehorned elements at the end. The look into Haze's early columns was great, it had a poignant mix of nostalgia, bittersweetness, joy and sorrow, humor and depth. Seeing how her words brought the community together and inspired people to share and explore new things was comfortably heartwarming, nothing revolutionary. Once we hit the year 2000 in Haze's columns, her character voice, which I had enjoyed up until then, shifts to become what is clearly a direct reflection of the author's one political opinions. I know "everything is political," but I think it speaks volumes that the writer includes Haze's strong opinions on Bush's election, but nothing about 9/11, which I didn't realize until another reviewer pointed it out). That glaring omission (considering Haze reflected on war and death in many other columns), combined with the later hint of possible "redemption" for the curmudgeonly elderly Tea Party member when he speaks about gun control after the Las Vegas shooting, to me is a sign of getting too caught up in making a point and not allowing the character to include a column she definitely would've written, but perhaps did not fit the author's personal agenda. I don't think it's stretching the author's intentions to say that the very few non-Democrats are cast as the antagonists of this book, and it's an obvious, forced effect. ( )