Sampling

Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins

The unreliable narrator leads the reader through some interesting twists and turns in the telling of their tale. I thoroughly enjoyed the book when I read the story last summer, and planned to refresh my memory before heading to Laura C's for the book club discussion. I didn't get the opportunity for a refresh, but five months later, the lasting impression is definitely the voice of the narrator. 

As the five of us started talking, details came back quickly. The psychological thriller has been on the NY Times best seller list for almost a year. Highly entertaining and well-crafted. 

The reader only needs to get a few pages into the story to understand the narrator is seriously twisted, and it is easy to jump to faulty conclusions. Early judgements lead to false assumptions, and to me that is the neat trick of the book, its reminder that we are not immune to faulty reasoning that can easily lead us into treacherous places and relationships. 

Although it was a small gathering, it was a very nice evening spent with Laura, Pat, Virginia and Nicki. Munching on homemade stilton shortbread cookies & mac and cheese with the Christmas decorations all set out, and a fire burning in the hearth. Cozy.



O's Little Book of Happiness

A compilation of bite-sized articles about happiness, and how people find it in simple moments and joyous epiphanies. Fairly sweet and rich, so it's best not to take in more than one or two at a time.

 

- Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.

Margaret Lee Runbeck 

- We notice that the moment to be happy has already arrived. It's here, now.

Martha Beck

- It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.

Agness Repplier

Perfect bathtub reading! All except for the quiz, which needed a separate pen and paper. What women's magazine doesn't have a quiz lurking somewhere? I couldn't resist taking this one, which congratulated me for being a happy person. There are days it aint necessarily so, and happiness becomes a conscious choice. The mini-essays were useful reminders for those kind of days.



Let's Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson

Checked this one out from the Toronto Public Library Overdrive app, as an audio book. This was one of the first audio books I've listened to start to finish. Excellent medium on the subway, when it is so crowded coming home there isn't room to hold a book open in front of you, and your eyes are too tired anyway. Although when you nod off or attention wanders, listening to an audio book, it's hard to find your place again.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened is read aloud by the author, who has a bit of a high, squeaky voice that sounds as though it has been sped up. Parts of the memoir were hilarious, and there were some tragic chapters that seemed dropped in out of the blue (to make the author more lovable and less whiny?). Not sure if I would classify this as a great book to curl up with, but as an audio book it was a good listen.