The Magic of Ordinary Days (2024)

3 "whimsical, delicate but sometimes (often even) off the mark" stars !!

2016 Most Disappointing Read (Tie)

Ms. Creel had a 5 star book here had she taken more time and care with this gentle historical drama romance.

This book takes place in Colorado in the 1940s. It is about an intelligent young woman who gets herself pregnant and then is sent to marry with a socially awkward but loving farmer who is willing to raise the child as his own. She befriends two Japanese sisters that work on her husband's farm as they have been sent to a camp for being Japanese during World War 2.

Ms. Creel is expert at letting a story unfold slowly, langourously even and is quite adept at describing shifting emotions and internal psychological struggles around love, desire, grief and gender and ethnic dynamics. If she focused solely on this she would have had a quietly moving masterpiece.

Ms. Creel wants to do more though. She wants to "tell" rather than "show" the ethical dilemas about the treatment of the Japanese during World War 2 in the U.S. as well as the treatment of women who had unplanned pregnancies. She also wants to infuse poetry into her prose and this is where she really loses me. It is amateurish, flowery and often does not fit. It took me out of the very interesting and beautiful story and made me shudder. Saccharine, artificial and contrived were many of these passages.

I find it really difficult to deal with a book that is so moving and important on one page that then leads to a horrible Hallmark greeting card on another page.

Very glad I read the book but I'm not sure I'll be back to read another of her books !

Addendum: So weird. My partner just looked up and saw that Hallmark actually makes movies and this book was adapted into a film. I will watch it and report back.

I loved this book! I picked it up after watching and loving the Hallmark movie version of the novel. It's even better than the movie! It's set in 1940's Colorado farming country, and Livvy is forced into an arranged marriage by her strict father when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. She marries a shy, simple farmer she's never met before her wedding day. This book taught a few lessons that I loved:

1. Love between a husband and wife is not just about physical attraction, butterflies in the stomach, etc, that is portrayed in the movies. It's about selflessness, kindness, and commitment. Livvy learns that through her saint of a husband, Ray.

2. Forgiveness is powerful. Throughout the book Livvy has a hard time forgiving herself for getting pregnant by some loser she thought she loved. Ray is patient and loving, and never judges her about her past. This allows her to forgive herself. She is also able to accept the consequences of her actions, and she realizes that this new life is even better than she could have hoped for.

3. I want to be a spouse like Ray! He is so kind, he is so patient, he is extremely selfless, doing anything to make her happy, even when she gives him nothing in return. That's what makes a good marriage!

I've said a lot, but I just thought this book was great! I must say, there were a couple sexy scenes, just so I said I warned you!

Happiness may be found in unexpected places and with unexpected people.
enjoyable warm novel, its events going on during the world war2
story of forgiveness, trust, love and starting over
ordinary days could be magic if you were with someone who really cares

I loved this. Reading each page was like rolling a chocolate around in my mouth. The words and images were that beautiful. The story was artfully and thoughtfully created and I ended up loving these wonderfully human characters with all their brilliance and flaws. As my friend Laura pointed out, it was so great to see the protagonist's attitude change over the course of the book. I think it was because she was surrounded by uncommonly good and kind people, whose words and actions brought me to tears several times. Maybe these kind of people aren't so uncommon though, because I know many in real life, and this book made me appreciate them even more.

There was a quiet sweetness to this one. I wouldn't dare to offer a synopsis. Maybe I would say a woman ends up on an unexpected path. But she finds surprises and learns lessons along the way. Finds love where she least expected it to creep up on her. She is worldly minded, but by the end she learns what wisdom is. It is a bit about growing up.

Re-read 2019
Audiobook narrated by Justine Eyre 7hs 43 minutes 19 seconds

Originally I read this book many years ago after watching the 2005 Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie. Over the last few days I decided to take a second look and realized that I loved the main characters of Livy and Ray because of the way they were portrayed by Felicity Russell and Skeet Ulrich in the film. Livy in her book format is harder to love as she spends much of the book stuck in the past. Ray, though is a beautiful man but I wished he was able to take over narrative at times.

Set during WWII, Ann Howard Creel does offer readers of glimpse of opinions and events during that time period. But sometimes the book read more like a history lesson than making me feel invested fully in the characters.

My original rating falls from a 4 to a 3.

Goodreads review published 29/08/19

3.5 Stars

I first 'saw' this book as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on TV. I was so impressed with the story that I had to get the book. Olivia Dunne is the oldest of three sisters. She is the only one who is single and she is also pursuing her master's degree in history. Intelligent with goals to better her life, she wants to become an archeologist. At the opening of the story she is taking care of her mother who is ill.

This is a simple story of love-gone-wrong during the early days of WWII. Olivia is a minister's daughter who does the unthinkable; she gets pregnant after a one-night stand with a soldier that she thought would love and marry her. Unfortunately it is war time and he never returns.

Her mother passes away and her strict father sends her off to marry a farmer. A stranger. A lonely man. A gentle man. Someone who has known heartache in his own way.

Journey with these two isolated individuals who eventually earn the respect and then love, from one another. Deep in scope, this is a powerful story with interesting characters. Besides the warmhearted romance you will learn what was expected of farmers during this era. There is also a secondary story between Olivia and two Japanese sisters she meets.

THE MAGIC OF ORDINARY DAYS moves slowly but not in a bad way. This is one of those romances that you will be sad to end. Ann Howard Creel normally writes young girl fiction but this adult fiction is oh-so-sweet. The movie follows the book but takes some liberties. Read the book first.

I really did not like this book. I found the plot and the writing to be too simplistic, the characters to be too one-dimensional, and the relationships between characters to be poorly developed. The choices made by the characters felt contrived and I did not find myself caring in the least what would become of them. I especially disliked the main character, Livvy, and found her to be self-centered and lazy. You live on a farm during WWII and you complain that you don't have enough to do? Really? I would imagine that taking care of a home without all the modern conveniences must have been a full-time job in and of itself, not to mention farm work and maybe contributing to the war effort in some way. But no, she instead spent her time on leisurely driving, using the gasoline which they were allowed only because it was necessary for farm work. I guess I should have realized that a book which was the inspiration for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie might somehow miss the mark in terms of literary quality, but I was sucked in by the promise of Livvy's unwitting involvement in some type of crime, which I thought must contribute some intrigue. Unfortunately, the crime occurs only in the last 30 pages of the book and was a big let-down in the intrigue department. Did you ever wish you could get a couple of days of your life back and do it all over again? Maybe read something good? Sigh.

“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.

I really liked this book. I was a bit disappointed in the ending--not how it ended, just that it was wrapped up a little more quickly than I would have liked.

That said, please don't let the slow beginning turn you off. Trust me on this. Don't give up on it. This book is a love story that kind of sneaks up on you. Contrasts true love with what so many girls think love is and in the end I loved it! It's not an exciting book, but a good book that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.

I was really touched by this book. I especially loved the characters. Although Livvy is the main character, my thoughts of Ray lingered for several days. I know there will be many out there who would call this story cheesy or predictable whereas others would criticize Livvy for conforming to society's expectations of her at that time period. As a stay-at-home housewife with kids to tend to, however, I found that I could relate to Livvy's sacrificed dreams. Having said that, I, like Livvy in the end, wouldn't change a thing which is probably why this book touched me so much.

My favorite thing about this book, however, is the title. That is absolutely a 5-star title! It's so evocative, and it's the reason I picked it up in the first place.

I wanted to read this book after learning about the movie starring Skeet Ulrich and Keri Russell. Recently my library purchased the movie, and I decided to move the book up my TBR.

This book tells the story of Livvy, a young woman who gets in trouble with a soldier and has to enter a marriage of convenience with a young farmer. Ray is very shy and set in his ways, and Livvy feels stifled by the isolated community. She befriends two sisters from a nearby Japanese internment camp, and their friendships helps pass her days, as well as her amateur archaeological discoveries on the farm. Although Ray's feelings for her are quickly apparent (he was very lonely before her), it takes Livvy a while to warm up to him.

I ended up watching the movie first and liking it much better than the book, and I think that would have been the case even if I'd read the book first. I found the book boring, and I didn't like the writing. The story was pulled much tighter for the movie, and to me it flowed better. There wasn't much emotion in the book—it was a read-between-the-lines sort of thing—and this quiet kind of love story was more adequately conveyed by being able to see actors' faces (and better storytelling on the movie script's part).

Plus, the movie had Skeet Ulrich, who was so adorable I wanted to die.

So while I don't recommend the book, I do suggest watching the movie if this is the kind of story you like.

1.5 stars

I loved the idea of a female protagonist who is getting her master's degree during the 1940s. But everything else about this fell flat.

I am someone who loves "ordinary days" and believes that there is nearly always magic in them if one chooses to look for it. Sadly, this book didn't show how the magic of the ordinary days can be found. Olivia and her husband have zero emotional connection almost till the end of the book. The worst disappointment is, the reader does not get the opportunity to see Olivia and Ray develop feelings for each other. Instead, the author ruins it all by simply telling us, all of a sudden that there are feelings. I read this because I thought the book would be better than the movie, but it did not. It also did not go into as much depth as the character's issues.

I also felt the side story about the Japanese girls didn't even belong here. It added nothing to the main plot or character development. I think this story could've turned out much better if the author didn't try to do too much.

RATING JUST BASED OFF OF THE MOVIE!!!! I KNOW THIS IS A BOOK PLACE. BUT I KNOW I'LL NEVER READ THIS BECAUSE OF THE MOVIE AND PEOPLE SAID THE MOVIE WAS PRETTY ACCURATE.

For one, I HATED the heroine. She was ungrateful, and treated the hero badly when all he wanted to do was help her and love her. She planned to leave after practically mooching off his money, food, and home for like 8months.

The hero was perfect. Like literally. He said such sweet things.

There were moments of too much history. His brother died in the war and there was a sort of clear animosity he had with Asian people kinda.

Why did she help the Prisoner of war only to turn him in?

At the end, I didn't feel like she change any. Maybe the book will prove to be different. But just from the movie alone, I'm gonna prob stay far far away from this.

I love the setting because it is very close to where I grew up. She is a great story weaver!

I thought this book was okay. But if you like novels, you probably would like it more than I did. (My reader friend who suggested it to me said it was the BEST BOOK EVER!!! But she also loved Twilight and all the other books that I am ho-hum on.)

My problem is, when I am reading a fictional book I keep thinking, "This is so dumb. It didn't even happen. These people are fake. It's not even real. Why am I even reading this?" I just love awesome non-fiction, where the stories are true and you could actually meet the people involved!

This book moved slow for me, and nobody survived a natural disaster or invented something or almost got ate by a shark. What did happen was this: the main character meets a handsome young man named Edward, who is not a vampire, falls in love, and sleeps with him the night before he ships off to war. He says he doesn't write letters much, and that he won't be able to send a letter at all for at least a couple weeks. A month passes. No letter. And she's pregnant. But month two, she knows he never cared about her and slept with her only as a conquest. Her dad arranges a marriage for her with a farmer in the country, and she meets him the same day she marries him, 3 months pregnant.

At first the farmer is boring, then she gradually decides she loves him. Plus another subplot, but that's the basic story.

Seriously, though - did she even TRY to get ahold of her Edward lover? Maybe write and tell him you're pregnant? Maybe find out if he was killed at war? Call his parents?

IMO, a better ending would have been Edward coming to find her after he heard she was pregnant, but after meeting him again she realizes that she actually loves the farmer. Edward doesn't want the baby, so they go their separate way and she chooses farm guy. And then they should escape a shark attack.

3.5 stars

a word of caution: this review might be the most biased review i ever write on goodreads.

the magic of ordinary days (from here out TMOOD) is a quiet story of learning to love when you've been betrayed badly by those you've trusted, loved, and lost. i knew i was in trouble when the back cover "applause" included the line "gentle but powerful" - any turn of phrase that could easily grace the box of some feminine cleansing product as it does a book jacket probably isn't ideal. know what i'm sayin'?

the story itself isn't terrible. livvy is a free-minded, "educated" daughter of a minister who, after the death of her mother, gets herself in a spot of trouble, zygote-wise, when she falls for a smooth-talking history buff-cum-soldier named "edward". okay, tragically, the name edward has been ruined for me by the "twilight" series, and while this book came out first, it still made me giggle every time i read his name. her shamed and distant minister father calls on one of his "minister buddies" and arranges a marriage between independent livvy and reticently stoic bachelor-farmer ray. here's my thing: i liked ray. i didn't really love livvy. and ray being SO good, made it harder and harder to like livvy.

the plot itself is fairly quiet - a lot of awkward dinner conversations as livvy learns how to be a farmer's wife and love her hubby. there's a strange twist with japanese internment prisoners - rose and lorelai - who made me think more of the gilmore girls than the plight of the asian during this time period. they, like the unfortunately named edward, abuse livvy's loneliness, to the point where she commits treason for them (unwittingly...but considering livvy has to analyze ray's entire genealogy before she'll hug him, i'm sort of shocked she didn't crack that caper long in advance). the end, like the rest of the novel, is quiet...and strangely ray-free. the last few pages deal more with livvy's quiet transformation than the quiet man who helps her to love again. i thought that was a particularly sad choice, actually.

by now, you're probably wondering where the bias comes in. here you go: the whole book reminded me of this unfortunate class at tufts i took when learning to become a teacher. the english MAT students paired up with the history MAT students and we read "snow falling on cedars" - another literary glimpse at japanese interment. i loathed it with the fire of a thousand suns. the real kicker? livvy, her temperament, her words, hell, even her major and college remind me of this awful girl in the program...so self-righteous, so not-as-smart-as-she-thinks-she-is,so artificial...i could go on but i won't. i probably dislike livvy partly because of her startling similarity to the one i went to school with, and that's not really fair.

The oldest of three sisters, Livvy insisted that her life was meant for exploring the world and making new discoveries. As she watched her sisters marry young soldiers, Livvy was certain she could accomplish more than love. However, all plans were put on hold when Livvy's ailing mother took a turn for the worse. Livvy drops everything to see her mother out of this world. Sturggeling with grief, Livvy makes a decision that will change her life. Now, she finds herself in rural Colorado, married to a stranger, and searching for friendship with two internment camp prisoners.

This was a very quiet love story. The vivid descriptions glided along at a gentle pace. All of the hustle and bustle of life was left behind and I was able to breath for a few moments. So much humanity and selflesness tied up together with a little bow.....All of the indgredients for a Hallmark movie! I loved Creel's style. Her writing had a way of rocking me to sleep.

This is a gentle, thought provoking story of a young pregnant woman who is sent away to marry a farmer before her child is born. Its a story of acceptance, forgiveness, and a slow building love. Life doesn't always turn out the way one envisions but that doesn't mean it cant turn out well. Ray (her arranged husband) is so sweet and tenderhearted that your heart aches for her to accept him. Overall a very good read and I enjoyed it.

CONTENT :

SEX : There is one sex scene (one paragraph) where she thinks back on what it was that brought her to her present predicament.

PROFANITY : None

VIOLENCE : None

MY RATING PG -13

Because of the sex scene I cant recommend this to YA readers. It was a short reference but fairly descriptive. If viewer ratings are anything to go by, the hallmark movie is supposed to be wholesome and family friendly.

A tantalizing read. I had a hard time putting it down, because I had no idea where the story was going or what the main character was going to do. A wonderful period piece that brought up topics of racial discrimination, gender roles, WWII, and what it truly means to be happy.

"And we couldn't have flowers around again, although at the time of her death, the gladiolas were up, their tall stalks stabbing the sky and their blooms open, silently screaming." pg. 31

"Every day now, I wore maternity clothes, and there could be no doubt as to my condition, but most people chose to ignore it. Speaking of pregnancy acknowledged that women were sexual beings, after all. I was reminded of the Spanish word for pregnant, embarazada, meaning embarrassed." pg. 227

This books is the cutest thing ever. It deals with hard topics, but with a feeling of hope. Also, Ray is the best.

Recommended 12+ for premarital sex and the pregnancy, racism, and World War 2 backdrop of the setting.

I watched the Hallmark movie with Keri Russell and Skeet Ulrich first and absolutely loved the story, so I was eager to read the book that the movie was based off. Aren't books always better than the movies? In this case, no, for while it is a strong book I actually preferred the movie.

Livy, a young woman living in Denver, unexpectedly becomes pregnant when she has an out of character fling with a WWII soldier, for she has been bereft and lonely since her mother's death. Her pastor father is scandalized and arranges for her to marry sight unseen a rural farmer on the CO plains. Her new husband Ray is a plain spoken man who is very kind and never judges her for her unplanned pregnancy. Lonely out on the farm, she befriends two Japanese-American sisters who are working in the farm fields while they are interned nearby. When given a chance to go back to the city, Livy needs to decide if she wants to go back to her empty but cosmopolitan life, or stay with Ray and his extended family.

This was an engaging book, with a slightly different ending than the movie. The themes of God, family and duty were represented in a loving manner, and the title was a wonderful reminder that life doesn't have to be extraordinary to be beautiful.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The author generally writes for juvenile audiences, and I think that shows through a little in this book. I felt there were a few parts that were weaker in terms of the writing; at several points the author gives factual detail about farming or the war that almost reads like a textbook, for example, but these did not dominate the story for me. I found the plot to be engaging, perhaps because the crisis the main character faces is one so many women have faced throughout the ages: if, to marry and have a family, means you must drastically change your original plans for your life, are you comprising yourself too much? What really is the value of love and family? Can one love someone who is significantly different in education and outlook than oneself? Is being a "good" man enough to win a woman's love? and so on. The writing is very simple and direct, but drew me in. The substory about the young Japanese women is also interesting and expands on the themes of love, loyalty and honor.

I enjoyed this book. Sweet story of learning what love really is, and finding happiness in whatever place life takes us. Sacrificing good dreams for other good dreams. Engaging historical fiction. I do agree with other reviews (Arianne's) -- she ended way too abruptly and could've done a much better job with closure. Several ideas and storyline were left simply undeveloped at the end. But, overall a lovely, simple read.

4.5 Stars - I saw the Hallmark movie based on this book a few years ago and knew I wanted to read the novel. Finally got around to it. While different from the movie, I loved the book every bit as much. The characters are multi-layered. And I felt like I was living on that farm in the wide expanse of land with the wind for company.

Beautifully written with some thought provoking storylines, but kind of slow. Overall it was charming, but not life changing.

An unwed mother during WWII Denver, is sent by her minister father, to marry a bean farmer in the Colorado prairie. The excellent Hallmark movie, based on this book, lead me to eventually read the book. I loved Ray, the simple farmer who helped his wife, learn to trust again. He was the true star of this story. The movie followed the book pretty closely, but I will admit that I enjoyed the movie more than the book, which rarely happens.

1944, out in the countryside in Colorado. Olivia ‘Livvy’ Dunne arrives in a rural community, fresh from Denver, where she’s been studying history—and has gotten pregnant. Not a nice thing for the unmarried daughter of a priest, and Livvy’s father has taken steps to keep the family honour intact: Livvy is to marry a bean farmer named Ray Singleton. Livvy gets married, firmly resolved to soon leave Ray and pursue her own dreams—of going to Egypt to work on Akhenaten, for one—but war, a husband who is unexpectedly sweet, and history at her doorstep foil Livvy’s plans.

Although this sounds like a ‘marriage of convenience’ romance, The Magic of Ordinary Days doesn’t quite follow the pattern of the average romance novel. True, it is about Livvy coming to realize that her husband, even though he seems in so many ways so different from her—so insular, so rural, so uninterested in pretty much everything she holds dear—is still a good man, a man she can bring herself to love. But it is also about learning to forgive oneself, learning to adapt to situations and circ*mstances. It is about human nature and the resilience of our species.

And, there’s the history of it. Creel does a superb job of evoking not just the war years, but the years before as well: the earliest settlements by whites in Colorado, the coming of irrigation canals, what it must have been like to live in a dugout. I learnt a lot here through the history-loving eyes of Livvy: for instance, I had no idea that the 442nd Regiment was an all-Nissei regiment (or that it was so highly decorated). I had not known that after Pearl Harbour and America’s entry into the war, the country put hundreds (thousands?) of Japanese Americans in camps.

A lovely book, and aptly named: it really is about the magic, the abiding joy, of ordinary, everyday life.

I really, really liked this book. I was a bit disappointed in the ending--not in _how_ it ended, just that it was wrapped up a little more quickly than I would have liked.

Favorite quotes:

"I miss all the lively conversations, the sharing of ideas. A classroom of students may read the same piece of poetry or the same passage in a novel, and each person will interpret it differently."

"Perhaps someday, we could all make it back to the places where we started."

"Three months and I wondered, how much longer? Every time I asked myself if I could rein back my dreams and live my life as a farmer's wife, if I could just give up on what I'd once wanted so badly, if I could settle for something simpler like teaching history instead of rewriting it, something inside me screamed, No! But I couldn't picture myself walking out on Ray, either. I looked back at the calendar. At the end of 1944, I could never have imagined I'd end up here.

"Already, I knew much about him: that he awakened early before dawn, and nearly every morning he made up his bed. He read the Bible more than any other book, he could do card tricks, of all things, and this family farm was his life, his life's commitment. ... He had accepted me into his home without asking questions, had loved me despite the way I'd come to him. Once I'd thought such simple love could only come from simple people, or from those who didn't know better."

Eh. It was fine. Just didn't really grab me that much. I think I liked the Hallmark movie version better. And that's saying something, considering what a book-lover I am. I saw the movie first, and was curious to read the original book, especially after finding out from reviews that the ending was different than the movie.

It definitely was different. Less happy and perfect than the movie, but not a terrible tragedy either. Just sort of mixed emotions. There was nothing blatantly wrong with it, and I certainly don't think it was racist, as at least one reviewer bizarrely claimed. (The entire book kept pointing out again and again how unfair the treatment of Japanese Americans was, and how wrong it was to act like they were the enemy, yet somehow the ending of the book was supposed to be racist? Why? Because some Japanese Americans did something illegal? They did that in the movie too. I don't know what the issue was for that particular reviewer. Just weird.)

It wasn't a bad book. Just nothing to write home about. Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. The End.