Coastal Horizons... books, beaches, and backroad adventures: Elizabeth Bergs Books Read by Me

July 25, 2025

Looking Back - Durable Goods

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg

Katie Nash #1

Fiction
1993

Finished on May 10, 2002

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

"Sometimes life is so hard and then, bingo, it's like happiness is pushing at your back, waiting to come out your front..."

In the sweltering heat of a Southwestern summer, on a small army base in rural Texas, Katie waits impatiently for her life to change. These are uncertain times--a mix of pleasure and pain, of girlish confusion and adult discovery. Though battered by the recent death of her mother--and by a distant, abusive father driven to near madness by inner pain and rage--Katie's spirit remains miraculously strong. For she knows one day soon she'll be a woman. One day soon she'll understand.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

A quick, easy read. Berg's first novel. Not nearly as good as those that follow, but enjoyable the second time around.

My Current Thoughts:

I've read close to two dozen books by Elizabeth Berg, and have over a dozen on my "keeper" shelf, but it's been a few years since I've read anything new. Whenever I write one of these "Looking Back" posts, I think about re-reading so many of my old favorites. I'd like to carve out time to read one each month, especially some of the shorter books like this one.

Below are links & ratings of all of Berg's books that I've read to date (2025):

Talk Before Sleep (4/5)

Range of Motion (4/5)

The Pull of the Moon (4/5) and (5/5)

Joy School (4/5)

What We Keep (4.5/5)

Until the Real Thing Comes Along (4/5)

Open House (5/5)

Ordinary Life (4.5/5)

Never Change (4.5/5)

True to Form (4/5)

Say When (4.5/5)