First, I loved this book. I’m unsure if I loved the book because it really was that good or because I’m just in a place in my life where it really spoke to me. I’m inclined to think the former, but I’ll tell you more about that later.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me give you a quick thumbnail sketch of the book.

In Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch, Jillian is unhappy in her marriage to Henry. They’ve been married for about five years (forgive my memory if I’m off by a year or two), have an eighteen-month-old daughter, Katie, live in a lovely house, and have gone from “ravag[ing] each other like wild beasts” to quietly drifting apart. When Jillian’s friend tells her that Jillian’s old boyfriend, Jackson, is getting married, she regrets her choice to marry Henry and wishes she had it to do all over again.

Jillian gets her wish to CTRL-Z her life and goes back seven years to when she was dating Jackson. She knows how her life ends up, and if she plays things a little differently, she can have what she thinks she really wants.

This is what I liked about the book: it’s not only about second-guessing your choice about who to marry. It’s about wishing you could have done things differently with a particular friend; wondering if you should have contacted an estranged parent instead of rejecting their overtures. This past weekend had an UNDO UNDO moment that will haunt me for a long time, and who DOESN’T have those experiences? Those experiences where it’s not even your fault, you just wish you could change things so you don’t have to see your friend in quite so much pain.

Allison Winn Scotch captured so many feelings I’ve had about marriage. Here’s a scene where Jillian is talking about how Henry proposed and how she felt right afterward:

The flight attendant brought us champagne, and I raised the armrest between our seats and tucked myself so close to him that not even a sliver of space divided us, and I was, for a moment at least, so soaked in contentedness that I could have pocketed up that feeling and coasted on it for years to come.

Even now, when I snuggle with Dave at night, it’s often that there’s “not even a sliver of space divid[ing] us.” I’m just so happy to be with him that I want to be as close to him as possible, and Dave’s like, COULD YOU GET ANY CLOSER? I’d like to, but it’s not possible!

And while I’m still ridiculously happy with my husband, this is what I fear:

In real life, most marriages don’t come undone with one big explosion. Unlike in the movies, most wives don’t stumble upon lipstick on a collar or discover a hotel receipt in a blazer pocket. Most wives don’t uncover hidden gambling problems or latent addictions or experience out-of-nowhere abuse that pops up one day and destroys everything. Some do, but most, no, not most. Most marriages unravel slowly, slipping drop by drop, like water ebbing through a curled palm, until one day, you look down and notice that it, your hand, is entirely empty. That’s how most marriages dissolve and run dry. And, in retrospect, it’s how mine came undone exactly.

Also? The author’s writing was very contemporary without being I’m-trying-to-be-very-relevant-can’t-you-tell. Instead, I was like, Dude, I would totally be friends with her. That’s how her writing made me feel. Allison, can we be friends? Don’t answer right away. Think about it.

Jillian evolved naturally and effortlessly. Sometimes she would realize something but shove it aside, ignoring it because, while it was true, it didn’t fit what she wanted right then.

So I pretty much loved everything about this book. I thought the character development was well done, I loved the writing, I loved the message, and I loved that *I*, a self-professed I-DON’T-READ-CHICK-LIT girl, loved it. I think a good test of a really good book is whether those who don’t normally read the genre like it. So hats off to Time of My Life.

I would recommend this book to any book club but mine. I think there are SO MANY things to discuss that the conversation could go on for hours. The reason I won’t be recommending it to mine (though I will bring it to my next meeting and tell people to read it!) is because I don’t have a filter between what I think and what I say, and I would end up revealing very personal feelings which I tend to prefer to keep to myself. So assuming you have a better filter than I do (that is, you don’t feel the need to say anything and everything that comes into your head), I would recommend it for your bookclub (yes, yours!). And it’s out in paperback, so no one can complain about having to buy a hardcover.

Rating: 95 out of 100

Buy Time of My Life from Powell’s | Amazon

I want to thank TLC Book Tours for letting me be a part of this tour. Check out the rest of the tour stops for Time of My Life.

You should also check out Allison Winn Scotch’s lurvely blog.

Also, I like to follow the Allison Winn Scotch on Twitter. You should too.

Other reviews:

Book, Line, and Sinker

S. Krishna’s Books

Planet Books

A few bloggers are going to do a Portland weekend. It’s mostly bloggers already in the area, but a few of us are traveling so we can see Portland (okay, for me, it’s mostly so I can see Powell’s) and meet up with other bloggers.

Date? August 21st and 22nd.

On August 21st we’ll be having dinner somewhere together. I have to admit, I’m a little nervous because it looks like we’ll be going someplace that doesn’t have hamburgers (which is a great standby food), but I’ve decided I’m going to be ADVENTUROUS and not even voice any of my food issues. I’m going to rely on those who really like that kind of food to steer us in the right direction, and then to recommend things to me that a newbie would like.

With all of my food issues, you’d never know I’ve worked in restaurants for TEN YEARS and have actually tried quite a few things, but it’s mostly been “American” food.

On Saturday we’re going to tour the Portland library’s rare book room, which I’m SO EXCITED about. Some of the books I’ll get to see include  first editions of Little Women and The Wizard of Oz and Beatrix Potter books. How much will I geek out? A LOT.

We’re also going to meet up with a couple of local Portland authors. So far, we’ve confirmed we’ll be meeting with Molly Gloss, which I’m really excited about!

Some of the people who will be coming include:

• Me! (dur)
• Wendy from Caribousmom
• Bethany from Dreadlock Girl Reads
• Gabe from Reading Local: Portland
• Gilion from Rose City Reader
• Ali from Worducopia
• SuziQOregon from Whimpulsive
• Teddy Rose from So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

You’re more than welcome to join us, but if you can’t, we’ll try to have fun without you.

So! This is a quickie.

Raych has a sister, Rebekah, who draws the most beautiful pictures. They speak to me. They inspire me…and then I cry into my Cheerios because I will never create such beautiful art.

In fact, I was siddling up to Raych to ask her about this one:

because I wanted to, well, you know, BUY IT, and she’d already GIVEN IT AWAY. I think I fell off my chair and clutched my heart, because I’m melodramatic like that.

I LOVE Rebekah’s illustrations, and when I have a kid of my own, I think I’ll ask her to draw me something.

But that’s a long ways away. Right now, if you click over to Raych’s blog, you can win an autographed copy of the first children’s book Rebekah has illustrated. I wasn’t going to tell you about this (because I’m competitive and like to win stuff, especially stuff I really like), but I’m really sad that only 19 people have entered. Really, really sad. Because there should be hair pulling and name calling and nail scratching for this book.

So I’ll make you a deal. Even if you don’t want this book, go enter, and if you win, you can pass it on to me. Totally fair, right?

At my last book club meeting where we discussed The Gathering  by Anne Enright, I mentioned that some people whom I consider to be very literary really liked this book, and since I didn’t like the book, I feel like I’m not literary enough and that I should have liked it but I didn’t. I said something along the lines of, Why don’t I feel okay to just not like a book?

My friend (Hi, Becky!) pointed out that when we discussed Interpreter of Maladies  by Jhumpa Lahiri a few months ago, we discussed some things people who weren’t at the meeting didn’t like about the book (but who’d sent us their thoughts via email), and I said, “What they don’t get  about the book is…” I basically dismissed their not liking a book because they didn’t “get” it. Why do I feel the need to explain what someone didn’t “get” about a book?  

I came to the conclusion that it’s not that I’m purposefully being judgemental, but I just want them to like the book as much as I do! Maybe if I explain to them what I think they missed or misinterpreted about the book, they’ll change their minds and like the book more!

It’s hard  when someone doesn’t love a book I thought was fantastic! My mind has a hard time wrapping itself around the fact that not everyone thinks this book is great. If I think a book is great, why wouldn’t anyone else?

From now on I’m going to let people not like a book, even if I loved it.

It’s not like this is unique to books and readers, though. I don’t understand how anyone couldn’t like pasta…or garlic bread…or Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Ice Cream. That stuff is so good! How could your taste buds not like that stuff?!

Is there a book you don’t understand why others haven’t liked it? Have you ever tried to convince others about why they should have  like a book? Has someone ever tried to convince you of a book’s merits?

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is a book you MUST READ. I know I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but I’ve just been lucky with the books I’ve been choosing, so it’s not like I’ve lowered my standards. Promise.

Wintergirls is about Lia, a 17-year-old girl who cuts herself and is anorexic — still anorexic even though her family thinks she’s recovering after recently being hospitalized. She’s struggling because her best friend, Cassie, was recently found dead in a hotel room. Cassie was alone, but what only Lia knows is Cassie had called her 33 times before her death, begging Lia to talk to her. Lia is wracked with guilt and does what she does best: continues to lose weight and keep control over at least one thing in her life, her weight.

When I was in high school, there was a girl who was anorexic, though we didn’t know that at the time. The heartbreaking part is that she was valedictorian and the one who could have gone farther than any of us. She was the one whose papers were held up in English class as brilliant writing, excellent analyzing. Last time I heard, she was doing better, but I’m sure this is something she’ll struggle with for the rest of her life.

The part that I find so frustrating about anorexia is that as much as the body wants to live, as hard as our bodies fight to stay alive, when a person has anorexia, there comes a point in the disease that something changes in the brain and the person really sees and believes that they are fat, that losing just a little more weight will make them happy. Essentially, their brain kills them, and to me, that is the most tragic part of the disease. That as hard as our bodies fight to live, when someone is anorexic, the brain changes so the person will starve themselves to death.

Laurie Halse Anderson has somehow made it into the head of teenage girls and seems to really understand anorexia. She utilizes strike throughs so the reader can see how Lia’s brain is overriding what her body needs:

He tosses the toilet paper roll on the pillows, flips opens the box, and takes out a slice of pizza. “New Jersey.” He takes a bite and the cheese strings like a suspension bridge from his mouth to his hand. “Want some?”

One bite, please, and then another and another, crust and cheese sausage sauce another and another empty is strong and invincible. “I already ate.”

Lia has gotten to such a low weight that she’s hallucinating. She sees her friend Cassie encouraging her to stay strong in not eating, because soon they will be together again.

Since Lia’s an unreliable narrator with her hallucinations and suppressing her true feelings, it’s up to the reader to figure out reality. I think this is fantastic for teenagers, because the strike throughs and hallucinations make it obvious how out of whack Lia’s thinking is.

So let’s go through this one more time: You MUST READ Wintergirls. The story is heartbreaking and wonderful, all at the same time. The writing is fantastic and top notch. This is one of those books that transcends age and gender and will speak to whoever picks it up.

Rating: 94 out of 100

Buy Wintergirls from Powell’s | Buy Wintergirls from Amazon

Laurie Halse Anderson’s website

Follow Laurie Halse Anderson on Twitter

Other reviews:

Books. Lists. Life.

A Comfy Chair and a Good Book

So Many Books, So Little Time

Booking Mama

Book Addiction

Devourer of Books

Necromancy Never Pays

Bookalicious

Write for a Reader

reading is my superpower

The Story Siren

State of Denmark

Presenting Lenore