This novel has exceptional narration. The story has so much life, so much history, so much political education for me as a reader. I really enjoyed each of the characters in their own unique way. I felt like there were parts that dragged and pulled me out of the story and characters at times (especially when the writer was narrating what was going on) but that’s only because the other characters were so rich and so deep that the difference was noticeable. It’s a great book that is both relevant and richly told with unforgettable characters.
I really had fun reading this sweet story of a woman who basically has put her whole life on hold, living in a routine life and dead-end job that comes with an expiration date. She then meets a man who slowly but deeply starts to wake her up and change her life. And, of course, she changes his, too. Sweet, fun, lovely.
This is a beautifully told character-driven story of a detective who goes back home to recover from her own tragedy and then is recruited to help with an ongoing case. It’s not your typical twisty thriller that goes at a breakneck pace. It’s slow, intentional, deep and well-written. I enjoyed my time with it.
This was a heart-wrenching portrait of Gigi who loses her brother during 9/11 and then moves to London ten years later to be with the man who helped her on that fateful day. Even though the story starts with 9/11 and the grief and shock of losing her brother, almost all of this story is about post-partum depression. She is far away from her family, her culture, her support system, her husband is working all the time and she is coming undone.
One day, she decides to walk out and check herself into a hotel which is where the story is told from as it unwinds back to the steps that make the story unfold. It was angry, devastating, and a raw portrait of life.
One of my sweet, wonderful nephews graduated from college today. I feel like just yesterday my pregnant sister was visiting me in NYC and just yesterday I was playing with her toddler boys and just yesterday they were little kids.
And today he graduated college.
Life passes by in the blink of an eye. And I am using this reminder today to ensure I am living the life I want for myself. Life is too short to live by others’ rules and priorities. Life is too short to be worrying about ephemeral things. Life is too short to be wasting a moment of it.
I want to spend my remaining moments being the kindest person I can be, helping others, lifting them up. I want to be inspired. I want to be in nature, to create art, to tell our stories. I want to be present and calm and patient and content. I want to go on adventures. To be brave.
I want to have my soul dance inside my body.
In the blink of an eye my own kids will graduate from college and in the blink of an eye, I will be old and my minutes here will start getting fewer and fewer.
I love looking a the open sky, wide ocean and super tall redwood trees. I love being immersed in the vastness of nature because it reminds me of how big the world is and broadens my perspective.
It’s easy to get caught up in the noise and hustle of daily life and it’s easy to let that shrink your outlook.
Being out in nature this way helps me remember that my worries are small and transient. That there’s a big world out there full of possibilities.
And they are all mine to seek.
Yes to possibilities. Yes to nature. Yes to living life full and deep and wide. There’s so much to life, yes to sampling it all.
I don’t have anything pithy to say today. Except for maybe one thing: it’s always worth it to be honest, open and vulnerable. Not with everyone and not all the time but in the right amount, with the people who matter, at the appropriate times.
I find that authentic connection in nearly impossible without it and so much wonderful connection happens with it. It makes us all feel less alone in the world.
I wish more of us did it more of the time.
Yes to being honest and connecting with each other through vulnerability. It’s a superpower.
