I was very pleasantly surprised by this book! To be honest, it sounded rather boring to me...what kind of excitement could be found in a book following a family living on a farm? But the format - each chapter covers a year - was intriguing to me, and we had signed copies for purchase at the bookstore I worked at, so why not give it a chance? I'm so glad I did. 
 While it takes a little while to sort out some of the characters, once you get to know the Langdons you can't help but feel all the same joy and heartache they are feeling as the chapters progress - readers become one of them. This is a story I would only trust in the hands of a writer like Smiley, who can make the seemingly ordinary become something extraordinary. I couldn't put it down. Immediately after finishing the book, I texted my sister telling her to read it. My quick snippet to convince her to read it is below: 
 "I just finished Some Luck by Jane Smiley (read it in 2 days, it's been really slow at work). I think you'd like it, it reminded me of Life After Life (minus the whole coming back to life thing) because it follows a family from birth to death (this is the first in a trilogy, the next two are already finished but supposed to be out within the year). You really get to know and love the characters which is nice. Each chapter is a year starting in 1920, apparently the trilogy will end in 2019." 
 Can't wait for the next book.