Is It Just Me?

 Of course it is. Although reading (definitely more so nowadays) can be social it is also very personal. The kinds of subject matter/genre which appeals to one may not resonate with another. One might like to read about trains because their grandfather was an old timey conductor on the Erie Lackawanna railway. One might shy away from novels with divorce as a running theme for reasons of their own. One might like road trip novels. It can be exciting to go where it’s scary or to places we’ve simply never been, or probably never will be, but it’s also okay to not go there. Whatever floats your boat. Recreational reading is something no one can force upon you. No one can tell you what you like or don’t like. Reading is all you. That’s great, isn’t it?

All of that said goes to justify my decision to put down The Wedding People for now. From the comments I’ve read about this book it seems like I’m in a very small minority of readers for which this book did not hit the mark. It just was not my cup of tea. Again, I’m not saying that it’s not a good book. It was just not for me. My fault for trying to read something I knew probably wasn’t my usual fare. Not to say we shouldn’t, try something different, this one just didn’t work out for me. To actually quote a line from the author in this book, “… a story can be beautiful not because of the way it ends. But because of the way it’s written”. 

Okay, so, on to the next. I’m gonna talk about the book I read before that one, which I liked a whole lot. It was called Happy Land. The author is one which I’ve only recently become acquainted. Dolen Perkins-Valdez. I also liked Wench by this author.   Which we can talk about another time. 

Happy Land is a multi generational, historical fiction story. It begins with a grandmother calling her grandchild to come visit her in North Carolina after years apart.  The story unveils a past the young one (in her late 30’s?) had no idea about but which gradually becomes known to her, and is eventually understood and appreciated. The story’s past and present weave back and forth through the book giving it purpose and a great depth. I didn’t know about the history of Happy Land before reading this book but am glad I do now. It’s an important part of history that reminds us all that we stand on the shoulders of those who’ve come before us. We should respect them and appreciate what they went through in order for us to have a better time of it than they may have. The characters in this book, especially those who pioneered Happy Land show us not only courage, strength, and perseverance, but what community means and how together we all prosper.  Perkins-Valdez’s writing has warmth and feeling without knocking you over the head with it.

I probably liked this book because historical fiction is something I really enjoy reading. (Jane Kirkpatrick is one of my very favorite authors.)  I tend to like stories with some kind of meaning or purpose to them - real or imagined.

With this blog I’m hoping to intersperse my opinions of the books I’ve read, am reading and are looking forward to reading while also sharing thoughts on various other literary-adjacent things such as genres, authors writing styles, series, print or e-book?, favorites of all time, etc, and hopefully I’ll improve over time to provide an enjoyable and informative experience for those who love reading books like I do.