This book has become one of my most read and my favorites. It isn't fast paced and its not stuffed full of romance or drama, but there is something so endearing about it. I think its very realistic in that people don't always fall in love immediately, and sometimes it takes awhile, especially if you don't even know the person beforehand. If you're looking for something that keeps you glued to your seat and that makes your heart race, this isn't the book. However, if you're looking for something simple, lighthearted, and cozy (is that even an acceptable adjective for a book?), I would definitely recommend it! ( )

I just finished reading this amazing book, The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel. It is also a Hallmark movie of the same name, but goodness they are both amazing. The book delves into the intricacies of life in the 1940s, specifically nearing the end of WWII.

The protagonist, Livvy, is pregnant put of wedlock and send to marry a farmer to preserve her reputation. She learns about farming, about life in the middle of nowhere, friendship, love, and life. ( )

“Sometimes you do find what you're looking for closer than you think”
― Ann Howard Creel, The Magic of Ordinary Days

This was a beautiful exploration of love and self. I read this because I had previously seen the movie which was outstanding. It's rare when a movie does a book justice but this one did. And I read the book AFTER seeing the Hallmark film.

I liked the character of Olivia. It was wonderful to watch her emotional growth throughout the book. The relationship between the two main characters felt so real and the book does not take any shortcuts. It's a poignant read filled with lush descriptive writing of the characters and their surroundings in a sleepy Colorado town.

The friendships depicted here are realistic and there is just nothing here that I did not love. I kind of wish I'd read the book BEFORE seeing the movie but it was still a wonderful and stirring read anyway and I highly recommend it to all Historical Romance fans. ( )

A warm, easy to read but very enjoyable book. The characters come to life in their simplicity and "ordinary days" which yield so much. Well researched and developed. Strong recommend. ( )

I was browsing for new books to read or listen to when I saw this book, The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel. I've loved the Hallmark movie for years and really wanted to read the book behind the movie. Thankfully, I was able to find the audio-book version on Audible.

As usual, I can honestly say the book is so much better than the movie (and that is saying a lot as I still love that movie). The narrator for this audio book was excellent and I was riveted by this beautifully crafted story.

The Magic of Ordinary Days is one that I will read/listen to again and again throughout my lifetime. I highly recommend it! ( )

This lovely little book has been waiting patiently for 12 years (!) on Mount TBR to share its beauty with me. I'm glad I finally read it.

This is a quick read but it contains a lot of detail and emotion. I learned some things about the World War II era - I don't recall previously having read anything set in the American heartland during that time. There is some romance and some drama and some heartache, and we are even left with a few unanswered questions, but the story feels real. Olivia learns that sometimes plan B is acceptable if we can let go of the bitterness of failing at plan A. There is a larger theme in this story of naïveté and its consequences, and Olivia finds that her outcome is not as harsh as the punishment life metes out to others.

I love the title of this book, as well. In our quest for adventure and visible success, we sometimes forget that ordinary days, routine tasks, and familiar people have their own magic.

Excellent story! ( )

This is a short book, but it is filled with so much history of WWII. The author weaves such a great story and her descriptions are wonderful. Olivia's personal story is woven in with the story of her new husband, and with the two girls she meets from the containment camp. Olivia's emotions come through so strongly in this book and it is interesting to watch her relationship with Ray grow and change. Not only for fans of WWII, this is also a great read for those who love good storytelling. ( )

This was a very short read for me, I read it in about 2 sittings. Don't let the size of this book fool you, though coming in at 274 pages, this baby packs a punch you would not believe!

This book takes place during the middle of WWII. Olivia Dunne, Livvy, is the daughter of a minister from Denver. She's quite intelligent, dreaming of someday becoming an archeologist in Egypt.
Being the oldest of three sisters and the only one to be unmarried, she is left with the charge of taking care of her mother during her last days. After her mother's death, Livvy in her heartbroken state, finds herself pregnant and abandoned by a man she hardly knew.
Her father, being a minister, is disgraced and arranges for Livvy to marry a man she has never seen nor met.
Ray singleton is a lone farmer in rural Colorado. He is simple and plain. He was happy to marry Livvy and give her child a namesake. He believes Livvy coming into his life was Gods plan and wants to show Livvy love and respect.
Livvy's days on the farm are not what she is used to, to pass the time she befriends two Japanese American girls living in a nearby entrapment camp. Unbeknownst to her, she becomes an accomplice in a crime, that leaves her with the same feelings of distrust and betrayal she has worked so hard to overcome. This remarkable story is filled with forgivness, restoration and hope.

"Ray, I don't know what this is.
I could hear him say, "it's a beginning."

When first reading the blurb for this book I immediately thought it would be a romance. And while there is some romance. It's so much more than that.

This book had a lot and I mean a lot of history in it. If you don't know much about WWII, I garuntee you will by the time you finish. I really enjoyed being taken back in time. I found this book to be an fairly easy read, everything played out like a movie in my head!

The love story was lite and refreshing. Ther love, while fragile, grew into something stronger and loyal over time. This book reminded me that sometimes in love its not all butterflies and fireworks. That somethings grow from a connection or friendship.

"I wanted to understand his love, to see it clearly before me, to put it into a form I could roll around in my palm and examine it like molding clay. Or I wanted to write it with words of reason and illustrate it with romance. I wanted study it as once I'd studied my books."

Livvy is strong character, at times she doesn't realize her own strength and capability. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her grow and heal. It seems at every turn she being abandoned and taken advantage of. First by the death of her mother, the betrayal of her lover, the renouncment of her father and later the hurt inflicted on her by two friends she thought she could trust. Watching her struggle and rebuild structure in her life is what this book is about. It's about learning ones self worth, seeing yourself through someone else's eyes and overcoming obstacles and learning to let go and trust.

"Mother first told us the Greek myth about the origin of the sunflowers in the midst of a midwinter night, spellbound by her every word and dreaming of summer to come.
The sunflower is the Visage of Clytie, a water nymph who died of a broken heart when her love for the sun god Helius was not returnes. Clytie pined away for Helius until she died. Then her legs and arms dissolved and took root in the earth, her body metamorphosed into a stalk and her face into a sunflower that followed the path of the sun, day after day."

Honestly I have no complaints about this book. The writing style is phenomenal, the author made sure to go into detail just enough to paint a clear picture, but not so much as to get the reader lost. I loved the flow and pacing. And I loved the way everything was tied together at the end. All in all I would give this book 4 stars. It's definitely worth the read :)

"As a child, when I first heard the story of creation, I'd closed my eyes and pictured the earth as a ball rolling off the palm of God and into a dark space, then drifting around until it found its home in sunny orbit. Never perfect, but ever spinning, and holding on to her course, despite it all." ( )

I stumbled upon the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie of this book and was smitten with the story. The movie, as it turns out, deviates from the book, most noticeably in the ending. The book's ending is not pretty and happy, as the movie. And, while I enjoyed the happy ending of the movie, the book's ending means more. With depth and complexity, Creel tells a story of loneliness, redemption, betrayal, and what makes a heart and home.
Her prose is surprisingly descriptive, but without being flowery - somewhat like the desolate beauty Olivia finds in the country. With deft language, Creel sets us in rural America during WWII, and shows us what it was like to be behind the scenes, to farm, to live, to work, to exist, when all the world was focus so far away.
Watching Olivia change into who she didn’t know she wanted to be, was magnificent. I enjoyed the subtle growth in her character. Told in first person, Creel really lets us see the turmoil inside this girl. As for the secondary characters, each was complex, distinct, and well-written.
There is a bite to this romance that comes from the true-to-life mistakes and frailness of the human condition. I highly recommend this work. It was a fantastic read. ( )

I saw the Hallmark movie adaptation first, so I was eager to compare it to the book. I found that several plot twists in the movie aren't in the book. I have to say I loved the book even more than the movie, but that shouldn't be a surprise! I thought the ending/epilogue could have been more detailed (and Ray-centered!), and there is one unnecessarily inappropriate scene. Other than that, The Magic of Ordinary Days is a perfect novel. ( )

I love this book. I was first inspired to read it after I watched the Hallmark Movie, and I was so thrilled to discover that the book is even better! Creel does such a good job at making the characters real and having the reader care about them. I think that the author spent too much time on Livvy's friendship with the sisters. The friendship was important to the story, but there were pages and pages of interactions that could have been left out with no change to the story. However, that is not enough to make me lower my rating. I love this book and have suggested it to most everyone I know. ( )

I first saw the made for TV movie and fell in love with Ray and Livvy. The book delved deeper into Ray and Livvy's relationship. It was so sweet how Ray opened up his heart and took Livvy in. I will definitely read this book again. ( )

I read The Magic of Ordinary Days first because I had seen the movie. It was pretty much disappointing. Although the writing and storyline were interesting, I didn't like itbecause of it's content. You could flag the objectional chapters and work around them, but in the end the good of the book didn't outweigh the bad.

Boring; poor characters. ( )

Oooh Shelby has been reading! This book was really good. It was turned into a hallmark movie that they showed on CBS. Since i'm a sucker for contract/arranged marriage stories, i wanted to watch it again. That's when I found out it was a book and got the book from the library.

The story is set during World War II in .. um.. Colorado or somewhere. The protagonist, Olivia, got pregnant and so she won't shame the family, she's put into an arranged marriage with Ray Singleton, a lonely and boring farmer. Olivia is very smart and likes history and so she doesn't like being cooped up in a farm the whole day with some guy who only likes to talk about seeds and crap. She explores the farm's history and makes friends with some Nisei girls who work on the farm and live at a camp (the camp is really lax, they let them go into town and everything).

Although Olivia is very uncomfortable at first she grows used to the farm, and being pregnant, and Ray and everyone. This is a really nice book to read. Olivia is a great protagonist, and the characters are likeable, even the ones who turn out to be assholes in the end. And even though Ray has a bald spot he is a good unlikely heartthrob type character i guess. Yup. It's a good book... read it and watch the movie too! A real nice heart-warmer...er... whatever. ( )

Quiet but engaging. Interesting look at what things were like in CO out on the plains, particularly the Japanese internment camps. Didn't know they were out here in CO. Interesting exploration of love. Olivia seemed a little too modern, although it did work in terms of Olivia wanting to see things as she wanted them to be, not as they really were. ( )

Would not have read it without saying ( )