Book Talk: Me Before You & A Giveaway for YOU!

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes is one of the best books I've read in quite some time.  It pulled me out of my reading doldrums and started me on a book feeding frenzy.  I have to warn you ahead of time that some of the words used by others to describe this novel include:  "heart-wrenching" and " weepy."


The story is one of Louisa Clark, an intelligent, working class, yet somewhat aimless young woman who stumbles upon a job caring for Will, a 35 year old quadriplegic.  Louisa has no nursing or care giver experience yet is still hired by Will's mother, the very stiff and cold Camilla. They have a rough start of it seeing as Will is incredibly angry and bitter, and Lou is snarky.

What follows is a love story of Love Story proportions.  This isn't a book of surprises, it won't take many turns that are unexpected.  But the writing is lyrical, the story is compelling, and the characters are completely relatable.  And it's British, so of course that makes it yummy.

Let me end by saying when I got to the last page I wiped my eyes and hugged the book to my chest and sighed.  There was nothing else to do.












"What is in this blog for me?" you might ask yourself.  Well here is the answer!  You can win an ADVANCED READING COPY of soon to be released title!  Oh yeah!  You can be reading a new book before anyone else can read it!  Just comment on this blog and I will enter your name in a drawing to win!  You must enter before March 8, 2013- because without rules there is just chaos!

A Crying Jag

I'm not sure what's going on, but lately I've been on a crying jag. Really strange things have been setting me off. Some examples include

1. The Biggest Loser makeover week (well, DUH that one is gonna get anyone crying),

2. My daughter as an Oompah Loompah this past weekend during her high school musical. Really anytime she is on stage for anything I begin to cry. She is just so lovely and is clearly enjoying herself at that moment that I lose it.

3. While running a 5K, I cried when I saw the woman playing the banjo in her front yard. She was playing for us, I think. Maybe she just sits in her front yard every day and plays the banjo, but regardless, I felt that she was congratulating me on my mad running skillz by picking the banjo on her lawn. And at that moment, it was the sweetest thing ever.

4. My daughter invited 40 kids to our house. They were all doing their own thing in the pool house. Some were swimming, some in the hot tub, some snacking. Then a song came on and, as if it were planned, all 40 kids began singing the chorus: "Tonight, we are young. So let's set the world on fire. We can burn brighter than the sun." And because all that was true, I cried.

So to recap, I have been overcome several times in the past 48 hours by very random things: a pop song, a television show, an Oompah Loompah, and banjo pickin'. I might need some medication.