A collection of short pieces she has written over the years, therefore although very good, it is not one of her novels.

Maeve Binchy once confessed: "As someone who fell off a chair not long ago trying to hear what they were saying at the next table in a restaurant, I suppose I am obsessively interested in what some might consider the trivia of other people's lives." She was an accidental journalist, yet from the beginning, her writings reflected the warmth, wit, and keen human interest that audiences would come to love in her fiction. From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter. ( )

I got this book for less than $7 in a bargain bin so that's a positive.

Now all of the cons.

I really wish that I had just skipped reading this and or borrowed from the library. I really do love most of Binchy's books. I honestly thought this were short stories or other writings she had that would have some type of theme. Instead the publisher just pulled writings and separated them by the year/decade they were written. The first two decades (the 50s and the 60s) at least seemed to have a theme with the writings that were provided to be read. You get to see an ever evolving woman and one that may not be as independent as she would like. You read about women who have their hopes built up and have to crash land back to reality. I was all for that.

The rest of the book the (70s through 2000s) were just nonsensical for the most part. I really wish the publisher had not included stories about Maeve in this one either. A few times I got confused and realized I was reading something that happened to the author and then we would go back to fictionalized writing.

I also really wish all of the writings on the Royal family had been left out. I guess people in the UK, Ireland, etc. would find it fascinating. I was just bored. It read like a fan fiction account of the Royal family and you get to read how everyone stopped to watch Diana marry Charles and then William marry Kate. There was nothing earth shattering about those stories to me. Frankly, they read like filler. ( )