june book report.

"It was good to walk into a library again; it smelled like home." - Elizabeth Kostova

These are all the books that I read in June. The first four I read in Beijing (and on the plane home), and the last four I read since being home. Have I mentioned I love libraries and vacation?

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty / I really liked this book. It was fun and light, but also serious: Will Alice get her memory back? What will happen to her marriage? The rest of her family? It was a little predictable, but also felt refreshing, if that makes sense.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins / I think because of all the hype and rave reviews, I was expecting great things. Maybe my standards were too high, but I didn't love it or even like it that much. It was too slow for me, I think, and a little boring. That being said, I did speed through it because I wanted to know what happened.

Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova / I read this book so fast. It was one of those ones that I would think all day, I can't wait to read when I get home! It's about a family struggling with Huntington's disease and the characters are so real. They aren't perfect or unimaginable; I ended up feeling like I knew them. The ending was a little disappointing, only because I wanted to know exactly what would happen. I've read all of Genova's books and I think this and Still Alice are my favourites.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty / This is the third book by Moriarty I've read. I hate to say it, but I didn't like it that much. It seemed like there were too many characters and we didn't get to know any of them very well. It just didn't feel like a very rich novel. I finished it because I had to see how it ended (I liked that we find out what happens to everyone), but it wasn't as good as her other novels I've read.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel / I borrowed this book from the library based on a review by my favourite blogger Elise. When I picked it up and read the description, I told my Nan, "This is not the type of book I'd usually pick for myself, but Elise and I have similar tastes, so I'll try it." It's set mostly in Canada, which is cool. And it was well written. Bottom line, I liked it but didn't love it.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes / I read this in just a couple evening hours, a few jet-lagged early morning hours, and then a couple more late morning hours. It was so good. This is the third book by Moyes that I've read, and although I've enjoyed them all, this one is my favourite so far. It takes place during World War I and current time, telling a rich story of people connected by a painting. Read it; you won't regret it.

We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride / This was an interesting read told from the points of view of a few different people who all end up being connected somehow. I really liked it and recommend.

The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand / I don't think I've read a book by Hilderbrand that I didn't like. This one is set in a restaurant on Nantucket and it was a fun, quick, and easy read. Great for summer!

spring book report.

My friends (and most people who know me) know I love to read. Because of that, a lot of people ask me for book recommendations and I am happy to give them! If I know you also love to read, I'll sometimes give recommendations without being asked. Book lovers unite! 

I've had a few people ask for recommendations in the past couple of weeks, so I thought I'd share what books I've read recently-ish and some quick thoughts/reviews. Maybe it's something I could do regularly. 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion / I really liked this book. It's a love story, but not your typical love story. I remember I was excited each time I had a chance to read it because it was fun, made me smile, and I wanted to know how Don's project would work out.

Someone Is Watching by Joy Fielding / I've loved Joy Fielding's books since high school. This one wasn't my favourite, and I thought it was a little boring at times, but it kept me guessing, as any good thriller should. (I remember staying up all night years ago to read Charley's Web.)

Graduates in Wonderland by Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale / I think any twenty-something woman who isn't sure what she wants to do with her life would like this memoir. I especially liked it because one of the authors lived in Beijing and I found myself highlighting entire paragraphs that she wrote, thinking, "Yes! Exactly! Beijing is like that!" I also found myself wishing I was friends with Jessica and Rachel. Beijing aside, I felt like we had a lot of things in common. 

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty / I'd been seeing this book all over the internet so I figured it was about time I read it. It was good! It was the first book I'd read by this author and I had a feeling I'd want to read all her books, like I do with Sophie Kinsella or Jennifer Weiner. I think part of why I liked this book so much is because I work with little kids at a school with rich parents. I think I read a review somewhere that said the characters and plot aren't realistic and I mean, it is a novel, but I don't think it's too far-fetched. 

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion / Yup, this is the sequel to The Rosie Project, above. I didn't like it as much as I did the first, but I had to know what happened to Don and Rosie. 

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes / This is the second book I've read by Moyes, and I liked it better than Me Before You. For some reason, I felt so connected to the characters. The ending is predictable, but I think it's worth the read. 

I just started reading What Alice Forgot and I have a feeling I'll be done pretty soon. I was reading The Emperor's Children but I gave up. I wanted to like it but I just couldn't get into it; I'd fall asleep after a few pages no matter when I read it—morning, afternoon, or night. 

Tip: I've always been a big fan of libraries, and even now that I'm living in China, I borrow books from New Brunswick's electronic library. Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card ;)

Have you read any of these books? What did you think?

read a book instead.

As a book-lover who hasn't been reading too many books lately, I love this phone wallpaper by Austin Kleon.

Also! I think I'm going to join a book club this year! A real-life one, not an online one! Hooray! It's been on my Life List forever.

Are you in a book club? What should we read?

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett is probably one of the best books I've ever read.

I wasn't sure when I started reading it. I'm not a science-y person and there is some science-y talk, but the funny thing is, I ended up liking the science-y talk. It was so interesting!

To me, this book was about a big adventure that Dr. Marina Singh goes on to find out what happened to her colleague and friend. It was about going somewhere new, and how you survive, and figure things out, and make things work. It was about persevering and not giving up. It was about finding truths.

It was about people and how strong they (we) are.

I got so caught up in the story and the characters, and I was rooting for every single one of them, even the ones I didn't like that much.

I think part of why I liked the book so much is because I read it in November, not that long after I moved to Beijing. I'm most definitely not living in a jungle with killer everything, but there were a few lines that I just got:

"...her nearly mad desire to be home in time to see the lilacs."

One of the things that I've thought about is that if I'm teaching in China, I won't get to see (and smell) lilacs in the spring. Or the leaves in autumn. And that kinda breaks my heart a little bit.

"'We always feel better heading home,' Dr. Swenson said."

This was in response to Marina saying, "Beautiful" as they were heading into the jungle, although her home was in Minnesota. Perhaps we can feel at home anywhere? Or we have homes in places we don't yet realize?

"The woman lifted her face and shook her head at Marina as if to say, Kids, what can you do?"

I understand now how much can be understood through facial expressions and the smallest gestures. We don't necessarily need words to understand each other.

I think I'd like Francie.

"'Dear God,' she prayed, 'let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry... have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere -- be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.'"

- Francie, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

(Peggy Ann Garner in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, via Horses Think)

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan.

I bought The Lover's Dictionary not long after reading Maggie's thoughts about it and I finally found the time to read it this week. I couldn't put it down and hurried through it in just a couple of hours, but I found myself flipping back to re-read and re-read passages. I also found myself holding the book against my chest, thinking of my own relationships, past and future. 

I turned the page corners down* on my favourite "definitions" and after a few, I realized I was favouriting the happy ones, that spoke of giddy, wanting-it-to-last love. I smiled and hoped that this said something about me. And then I turned the corners down on some that were sad, that spoke of annoyed, desperate, wondering-if-it-should-last love. I sighed and knew that this said something about me. 

The pages I turned down -- both happy and sad -- do say something, about all of us. They say that we are not alone in our feelings and our experiences. Although they feel unique to us (and they are in some ways), the ups and downs of love are universal. Levithan does a remarkable job of capturing that. 

Here are excerpts from a few of my turned-down pages:

aloof, adj.

It has always been my habit, ever since junior high school, to ask that question: 

"What are you thinking?"

It is always an act of desperation, and I keep on asking, even though I know it will never work the way I want it to.

blemish, n.

The slight acne scars. The penny-sized, penny-shaped birthmark right above your knee. The dot below your shoulder that must have been from when you had chicken pox in third grade. The scratch on your neck -- did I do that?

This brief transcript of moments, written on the body, is so deeply satisfying to read.

buffoonery, n.

You were drunk, and I made the mistake of mentioning Showgirls in a near-empty subway car. The pole had no idea what it was about to endure.

covet, v.

They are so happy on such a base level that they don't seem to understand that it's possible to have anything other than a base level of happiness. I catch you desiring that. For your past? For your present? Your future? I have no idea. I never know what you really want, if I can give it to you, or if I'm already too late. 

exemplar, n. 

It's always something we have to negotiate -- the fact that my parents are happy, and yours have never been. I have something to live up to, and if I fail, I still have a family to welcome me home. You have a storyline to rewrite, and a lack of faith that it can ever be done.

ubiquitous, adj.

When it's going well, the fact of it is everywhere. It's there in the song that shuffles into your ears. It's there in the book you're reading. It's there on the shelves of the store as you reach for a towel and forget about the towel. It's there as you open the door. As you stare off on the subway, it's what you're looking at. You wear it on the inside of your hat. It lines your pockets. It's the temperature.

The hitch, of course, is that when it's going badly, it's in all the same places.

*I know. You're not supposed to turn page corners down. And I don't usually. Promise. But this was a special case where I was enthralled and had nothing to mark the pages with -- no sticky notes, no bookmark, not even a kleenex. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I just finished reading Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus and I am at a loss for words. But not feelings. I can feel a grin flitting around inside me. A smile tugging at my lips. I believe in magic.

"There's magic in [telling stories]. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words."

I enjoyed getting lost in the magical world created by Morgenstern. The entire novel was splendid, and along with the passage above, I'd like to share the snippets of magic that jumped off the page at me (don't worry; there are no spoilers!):

"We must put effort and energy into anything we wish to change."

A character, in reference to her tattoo: "It is part of who I was, who I am, and who I will be."

"The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones."

"They sit over their drinks smiling like children and they relish being surrounded by kindred spirits, if only for an evening. When they depart, they shake hands and embrace like old friends, even if they have only just met, and as they go their separate ways they feel less alone than they had before."

"You're in the right place at the right time, and you care enough to do what needs to be done. Sometimes that's enough."

(As I read this book, I was already looking forward to the next. I want to read more. I always want to read more.)

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

This Nora Ephron classic had been on my list of books to read for a long time. A really long time. When Nora died almost a month ago, I went to the library the very next day. It was time to read I Feel Bad About My Neck, the book that so many people have raved about. I knew I would probably love it. And I did. 

Below are the passages I would have highlighted or underlined as I was reading, had it not been a library book:

On the magic of reading:

"Reading is one of the main things I do. Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making contact with someone else's imagination after a day that's all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss."

"The state of rapture I experience when I read a wonderful book is one of the main reasons I read, but it doesn't happen every time or even every other time, and when it does happen, I'm truly beside myself."

"When I was a child, nearly every book I read sent me into rapture. Can I be romanticizing my early reading experiences? I don't think so. I can tick off so many books that I read and re-read when I was growing up... I wanted so badly to be Jane Banks, growing up in London with Mary Poppins for a nanny... Little Sara Crew in Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic A Little Princess was my alter ego... I wanted to be... Anne Frank, and Nancy Drew... and Anne of Green Gables -- and in my imagination, at least, I could be."

"Every so often I look up from the book and see a roomful of people waiting for me to make a decision about whether the music is too soft or the thunder is too loud, and I can't believe they don't understand that what I'm doing is Much More Important. I'm reading the most wonderful book."

This passage made me want to move to New York City:

"I'm in a rowboat on the lake in Central Park. Fortunately I'm not rowing the boat. I'm still in college, but soon I won't be, soon I'll be living here, in New York City. I look up at all the buildings surrounding the park, and it crosses my mind that except for the man rowing the boat, I don't know anyone in New York City. And I barely know the man in the boat... I vow that someday I will know someone in New York City."

P.S. Marta's valentine to Nora Ephron.

wisdom from Dumbledore.

When Cara was here a few weeks ago, we stayed up late every night, talking about important things, like life (and Friday Night Lights).

One night, we were talking about our families, where we come from, where we're going. Our what ifs, our if onlys, our dreams, and our fears. I told her something along the lines of, "I'm afraid I won't make it. What if I end up like them and not where I want to be?"

Her response was to ask me if I had a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I got it from my bookshelf, she found the page she was thinking of, and began reading:

Suddenly, something that was nagging at Harry came tumbling out of his mouth.

"Professor Dumbledore... Riddle said I'm like him. Strange likenesses, he said..."

"Did he, now?" said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Harry from under his thick silver eyebrows. "And what do you think, Harry?"

"I don't think I'm like him!" said Harry, more loudly than he'd intended. "I mean, I'm -- I'm in Gryffindor, I'm..."

But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind.

"Professor," he started again after a moment. "The Sorting Hat told me I'd -- I'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a while... because I can speak Parseltongue..."

"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort -- who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin -- can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure..."

"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry said, thunderstruck.

"It certainly seems so."

"So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it --"

"Put you in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue -- resourcefulness -- determination -- a certain disregard for rules," he added, his mustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."

"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin..."

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

I felt lighter because of what I had just heard, and Cara turned to me and said, "It's the choices we make that make us who we are. It's your choices that make you who you are. That's why I love you, because of the choices you make, the person you choose to be." 

I need to remember that it's my choices that show who I am. And I'll end up where I choose.

P.S. I think I need to reread all of the Harry Potter books. It's been a few years and I could use more wisdom (and magic) in my life.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I've finally finished reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Here are the parts that I highlighted:

"I wanted to change myself but accept myself. I wanted to take myself less seriously -- and also more seriously. I wanted to use my time well, but I also wanted to wander, to play, to read at whim. I wanted to think about myself so I could forget myself. I was always on the edge of agitation; I wanted to let go of envy and anxiety about the future, yet keep my energy and ambition."

"Hugging relieves stress, boosts feelings of closeness, and even squelches pain. In one study, people assigned to give five hugs each day for a month, aiming to hug as many different people as they could, became happier."

"'When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.' -C. S. Lewis"

"Eliza said to me, 'You know what I was just thinking? 'I'm in the pool, it's summer, I'm seven years old, I'm wearing a very cute bathing suit, and my grandmother is asking me if I want anything to eat or drink.'' By which she meant: Life doesn't get better than this."

"When I made the effort to reach out for them, I found that the ruby slippers had been on my feet all along; the bluebird was singing outside my kitchen window."

call me crazy.

Melissa, Sara, and I were wandering around Chapters on Saturday. While we were there, I spotted a display of novels by Sophie Kinsella.

Me: "Guys! I just remembered that Sophie Kinsella's new book comes out this month!" 

(I run over to the display.)

Me: "It's here! Guys, this is it!" 

(I grab the novel and hug it to my chest.)*

Teenage Boy (standing nearby and shooting nervous glances my way): "Some book people are really crazy!"

*Despite loving the book enough to hug it, I didn't buy it. I'm a big fan of libraries.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

I've been meaning to read this book for quite a long time now and I just finally got around to it. Boy, am I glad I did. 

Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is about a nine-year-old boy, Oskar Schell, and his search around New York to find the lock that fits a key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Oskar is so, so smart, and emotional, and sensitive, and loveable, and relatable. I wish he was real so that I could sit and talk to him for hours. 

And, oh my, the other characters. The other characters are complicated and tragic. They are oh so human. 

The entire time I was reading the story I was thinking that it was a carefully woven blanket and that the author was an artist. A real, true artist who should be incredibly proud of his masterpiece. 

I laughed. I cried. My mind was blown. 

Go. Read it. And then let me know what you think. 

all I ever really want to know.

- Miranda July, It Chooses You

A couple of days ago, Maggie posted what she thought were the best parts of It Chooses You. I haven't read the book myself but my God, this line really resonated with me. I am constantly wanting to know the same thing!

Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

I've wanted to read this book since it came out in June and I finally got it from the library a couple of weeks ago. I just finished it last night and wow, it did not disappoint. (I would have finished it sooner but I've been tired lately, so I've only been reading a bit each night.) 

Sisterhood Everlasting is the fifth book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series and it is every bit as wonderful magical as the first four. Full of wisdom, love, sadness, and happiness, I want to hug it. Or read it over and over. Instead, I'll return it to the library so that someone else can fall in love all over again with Tibby, Carmen, Lena, and Bridget. 

Here are some of my favourite bits of magic: 

"Growing up is hard on a friendship. There's no revelation in that. I remember my mom once told me that a good family is built for leaving, because that is what children must do. And I've wondered many times, is that also what a good friendship is supposed to be built for?"

"I wish I could make you feel as strong and as loved as you are. You'll find your way, because of that, and because you have the thing that so often wavered in me. You have faith. Not in God necessarily, but in the thing with feathers. You are brightness... You are hope. No matter how far down you get, you'll always have it." 

"It was frustrating how when people loved you they took an interest in you and sometimes worried about you and personally cared what you did with yourself. Lena wished that love were something you could flip on and off. You could turn it on when you felt good about yourself and worthy of it and generous enough to return it. You could flip it off when you needed to hide or self-destruct and had nothing at all to give... It was probably good you couldn't flip the love switch, because sometimes it was what you needed, even if you didn't want it." 

"They were tranquil tears, even philosophical ones, but deeply sad as they slid down from the corners of her eyes into her hair and ears."

"You get older and you learn there is one sentence, just four words long, and if you can say it to yourself it offers more comfort than almost any other. It goes like this... 'At least I tried.'" 

"I've got a heart that appears to have broken open. I feel hopeful where I am."

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower had been on my "books I want to read" list for a long time before I finally read it. I was worried I wouldn't like it and that it wouldn't live up to all the hype. Guys, it lived up to all the hype! I love this book. I want to marry this book. (Or maybe I should marry Stephen Chbosky, since he is the genius who wrote the book I'm in love with. Amanda Chbosky. Hmm...)

Anyway, here are some of the best parts (it seems like a lot but really, these are only some of the best parts, the book was that good!): 

"And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be." 

"One thing I do know is that it makes me wonder if I have 'problems at home' but it seems to me that a lot of other people have it a lot worse."

"'Do you always think this much, Charlie?'

'Is that bad?' I just wanted someone to tell me the truth. 

'Not necessarily. It's just that sometimes people use thought to not participate in life.'" 

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." 

"I just listened to the music, and breathed in the day, and remembered things. Things like walking around the neighborhood and looking at the houses and the lawns and the colorful trees and having that be enough."

"I guess I could tell people about... walking home from school and things like that. Maybe these are my glory days, and I'm not even realizing it because they don't involve a ball."

"I just hope I remember to tell my kids that they are as happy as I look in my old photographs. And I hope that they believe me."

"It's like when you are excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to always feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means that you're happy, too." 

"Things change. And friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody."

"There's nothing like the deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons."

"She wasn't bitter. She was sad, though. But it was a hopeful kind of sad. The kind of sad that just takes time." 

"And nobody felt sad as long as we could postpone tomorrow with more nostalgia." 

"I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them." 

"Because it's okay to feel things. And be who you are about them."

"Please believe that things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough. And I will believe the same about you." 

Now, go and read this amazing book for yourselves and let me know what you think the best parts are!

on reading.

My friend has to read Nancie Atwell's book, In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning, for class. While reading the fourth and fifth chapters a couple of weeks ago, she looked up at me and said something along the lines of, "This all makes me think of you." Of course, I borrowed the chapters from her and read them myself.

In describing herself and her beliefs about reading, Atwell is describing me and my beliefs about reading: 

“For me, reading is the equivalent of breathing chocolate air. It’s pure, instantaneous pleasure.”

“I can’t imagine anything worse than not being able to read. I read all the time, whenever and wherever I can. I never sit down by myself to a meal without something to read. I read the backs of cereal boxes. When I’m standing on the checkout line at Shop ’n Save, I read the headlines of all the National Enquirers, Stars, and TV Guides. I always have a book or newspaper in the car, in case I get stuck at the Southport Bridge or to fill the minutes in a theater while I’m waiting for the movie to start. I haven’t gone to sleep without reading since I was in elementary school, even for five minutes when I’m dead tired. I read literature, and I read junk. I don’t know if I could go on living if I couldn’t read. And it’s not because reading is good for me. It’s because it makes me feel good: it makes me happy.” 

“There’s nothing better for you – not broccoli, not an apple a day, not aerobic exercise. In terms of the whole rest of your life, in terms of making you smart in all ways, there’s nothing better… It’s like money in the bank in terms of the rest of your life, but it also helps you escape from the rest of your life and live experiences you can only dream of. Most importantly, along with writing, it’s the best way I know to find out who you are, what you care about, and what kind of person you want to become.”

Tell me, how do you feel about reading?

P.S. A reading lover's guide on how to read more. 

About Alice by Calvin Trillin

Marta recommended a few books to her readers a while ago. Here's the e-mail I sent her after reading one of them:

"Dear Marta, 

I just had to write you a quick e-mail to thank you for recommending About Alice back in August. I immediately borrowed it from the library and ate it up! I think it is my favourite memoir that I have ever read. I'm recommending it to all my friends! 

One of my favourite passages was this, from a letter Alice wrote to her daughters: 

'As you get older, you will begin to understand that we love you not because you are perfect, but because you are decent and loving and honest and will always deal with what life brings you with courage.'

I'm left hoping that my parents love me for those reasons, that I will someday love my own children for those reasons, and that someday someone will love me the way Calvin loves Alice. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I really did love this book and finished it in just two sittings. (It would have been one but the first time I picked it up to read was late at night and I fell asleep). 

If you're looking for a quick, heartwarming read, About Alice is for you!

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

I just finished reading The Wednesday Sisters and I absolutely loved it!

It's set in the late 1960s and is about five women who become best friends when they start meeting at the local park every, you guessed it, Wednesday. All of them have husbands and struggle with trying to be the "perfect" wife and mother.

Despite the fact that I am 21, single, and do not have children, I felt that I could relate to Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett, and Ally. I know what it's like to have a group of friends, to gossip with each other, to fight with each other, and to become family. I know what it's like to be a woman, and it was interesting to read about what it was like in the 60s.

Two of my favourite passages:

"Linda asked Brett then what she liked about Breakfast at Tiffany's, why she'd chosen it as her model book, and Brett, after a moment, said she supposed she liked the way Holly just decides whom she wants to be and becomes that. 'And the way she so easily abandons her past without ceasing to love it,' she said."

"And I suppose it's worse to live life without expectation than to live through the pain of expectations crushed, but it never feels that way in the moment, it always feels as though life would be so much easier if only you could stop hoping for things that would never come."