Before I Fall

I mentioned at the beginning of the month that I was starting on Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and that I'd been led to believe I'd either love it or hate it. I loved it. It seems weird to call a book that is clearly not set in reality as we know it realistic, but that's the best descriptor for it that I can come up with. It was really real. For all that it was about a girl stuck in the worst Groundhog Day loop ever, it somehow rang true for me.

Before I Fall is the redemptive afterlife story of a mean girl. Sam has a great life as one of her high school's most popular girls. The thing is, she's not a very nice person. She's shallow and bitchy and way too concerned with what people might think vs. what she really wants. All that changes when she's killed in a car accident. That's when she starts living the last day of her life over and over (and over) again.

Sam starts to realize that she hasn't always been the nicest girl and that her actions have had consequences. She begins trying to live each repeated day as a better version of herself, partly because she wants to find a way out of the loop and partly because she seems to finally want to be a better person. Sam is a deeply flawed character who is simultaneously likable and unbearable because of those flaws.

I'd recommend this one for anyone who was a mean girl, was victimized by mean girls or who just likes well-written young adult fiction.

Me Before You

It turns out there are some definite upsides to being sick. Example: lots of reading time. Lots of Netflix time too, but let's not get into that.

I've been sick a lot lately. Nothing serious, it just seems like this is going to be one of those years. I don't know about you, but I feel like my susceptibility to viruses comes in waves. One year it feels like I catch every. single. cold. that goes around. And then I'll have 3 or 4 good years where I hardly get sick at all. This year is shaping up to be a sick year. So I have that to look forward to.

Because of feeling like crap, I took Monday and Tuesday off work this week and mostly stayed in bed, reading. Word to the wise? Me Before You is so not a book to read when you have a cold. You're already all mucus-y and when the tears start to fall? It's just disgusting. I learned this the hard way. You're welcome.

Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes is one of those books I resisted for a long time. It's been all over my Instagram feed as a must-read, OMG, this book changed my life, seriously you guys - you have to read it, overly hyped up book. I have this perverse tendency to shy away from hype. So every time I'd see an artfully arranged copy of the book, posed with a fern or some river rocks or whatever, I'd roll my eyes and scroll past. After all, some of the people recommending this book liked Twilight, so... yeah.

Somewhere along the way though, I started to get curious. And then I stumbled across the movie trailer and that was it:

I can't tell you how embarrassed I am that it took a movie trailer to get me interested, but there it is. 

Over the weekend, I picked a copy up at my local Half Price Books and proceeded to devour it. It's been a long time since I've been so totally absorbed by a book. I was almost glad to be sick because it meant that I didn't have to have such long gaps between bouts of reading.

Me Before You is the story of Lou Clark and Will Traynor. Lou's a bit of a mess. She's newly employed and directionless when she gets a job as Will's caregiver. Will is a quadriplegic who has given up on life and is waiting to die. Lou brightens Will's world and Will introduces Lou to the possibility of more. And then it's over and I'm a sobbing mess. 

If you liked The Fault in Our Stars or Bridge To Terabithia or My Sister's Keeper or any other book that made you ugly cry, you'll love this one. I loved it so much I gave it one of my rare 5-star reviews. 

Now, on to the sequel!

January Wrap-Up and February TBR

Ok, is it just me, or is this year FLYING by? I swear, it was just Christmas and now it's the middle of February?  No. Stop.

That said, I'm behind. I know I'm behind. I know that this is, what, the third month in a row that I'm behind on my wrap-ups and TBR lists?  So this month things are going to be different. I've overextended myself and I'm going to attempt to simplify.

In the last few months both my book reviewing commitments and my yarn-dyeing business kind of started blowing up all at once. Funny how that works, isn't it? One day you have all the time in the world, the next you have 10 books to read by the end of the month (and you don't want to blow it because you want the publisher to take you seriously the next time around) and you have shop commitments you hadn't anticipated. Yarn dyeing takes a lot of time y'all.

Plus there's my day job which I won't talk much about here except to say that it's about 4 times more stressful than it needs to be. So that's awesome.

All that, coupled with some health problems over the last year have led to one very stressed out blogger.

I'm getting better though. I'm making a dent in my to-do lists, I've applied for another (lower stress) position inside my current company, and my health issues are getting better by the day. This week I finally feel like I can catch my breath and as though all those commitments aren't quite the chore that they have been. Now the key is to not overload myself again!

So. Despite the title of this post, there is no January wrap-up other than to say that I finished all the original Oz books and have now moved on to finally (!) reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It's been on my TBR list for.ev.er. and I'm always a little embarrassed to admit I haven't read it yet.

February's TBR is that I'm working through a pile of books to review - most are due to publish in early March, so those reviews are coming soon. I managed to get to the library tonight for the first time in a long time and picked up Did You Ever Have a Family and Before I Fall; both of which I have been assured I will either love or hate.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to snuggle up in bed with an advance copy of Peter Straub's new short story collection. It's called Interior Darkness and it comes out tomorrow, February 16. I hope you'll check it out. It looks like it's going to be a good one.

The Case of Lisandra P.

The Case of Lisandra P. by Helene Gremillon is yet another book hyped as "the next Gone Girl", so of course I had to read it. 

Lisandra P. is dead and her psychoanalyst husband, Vittorio, has been arrested for her murder. One of his patients, Eva Maria, doesn't believe Vittorio could have killed her and sets out to help him prove his innocence. Her investigation takes the reader through fascinating taped sessions with Vittorio's patients and into the lives of people who knew Lisandra and who may have had motive to kill her. The taped sessions offer some of the novels best moments and show off Gremillon's ability to give each character a unique voice. 

This book is more than just a murder mystery - it is also a history lesson on some of the darkest moments in Argentinian history. The stories told are heartbreaking and chilling and the book is worth reading for the Miguel section alone. I will definitely be seeking out more by this author and am most likely going to find myself completely sucked into reading about the more recent history of Argentina...

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.