The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
I LOVE the premise of this novel: in 1996, two estranged best friends sign up for AOL and see their Facebook profiles – fifteen years in the future. The profiles start to change based on decisions they make in the present, some intentional and some unintentional. It wasn’t quite as awesome as I hoped, but still great. I love plots involving time travel/telling the future via current technology (see also one of my classic 80s faves, Rewind to Yesterday by Susan Beth Pfeffer).
Heaven Is Here by Stephanie Nielson
As a follower of The Nie Nie Dialogues, I was excited to read Stephanie’s memoir. For those who don’t follow her blog, Stephanie and her husband suffered severe injuries in a plane crash in August 2009, and have been bravely putting their lives back together ever since. I appreciated her honesty, and related to her struggle over being thankful and appreciative of her good life, but losing it anyway. I had a hard time putting this down even though I already knew the major details.
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
My friend Maria loves this memoir, and I’m sorry I waited so long to take her recommendation! Through a year of intense study and practical application, Gretchen Rubin learns what makes her happy and how to spread that happiness. In fact, she establishes that trying to increase your happiness isn’t selfish, because happy people make other people happier. I relate to her in many ways, and some of her personal happiness commandments – “Be Gretchen,” “What is fun for others may not be fun for you,” etc. – are things I want to start applying to my life now. I plan to write a whole post or maybe a series of posts about what I learned from this book, once I get my own copy and take some notes!
God Loves Broken People: And Those Who Pretend They’re Not by Sheila Walsh
I reviewed this for Booksneeze, so a full post is forthcoming.
How To Save A Life by Sara Zarr
After Jill’s dad dies, she feels adrift in the world, no longer sure who she is. When her mom decides to adopt a baby, and the teen mom, Mandy, arrives, life gets even more confusing. This novel alternates between Jill’s and Mandy’s perspectives. Sara Zarr is always great at writing strong, true voices, but it’s even more striking here because Jill and Mandy are such opposites. I’ve never been in the same position as any of these characters, but I found a LOT to relate to in this story. There was a deeply insightful line about the multi-dimensionality of grief that struck me especially hard. (Someday I’ll learn to copy down quotes before returning the book to the library.)
Books for April: 5
2012 year to date: 21
I agree about The Future of Us. Premise was A+ but the execution wasn’t as good as I had hoped. Alas, I still enjoyed it. It could have been longer for me though, really.