What Are You Reading?

(In full disclosure, when I write about the books, I am counting library books with pages that I can touch, and Audible books that I listened to.)

I have recently gone through some heavy books. (They seemed heavy in my mind.) “Mao”, by Jung Chang, was a deep dive into how Mao created Communist China. Then, I went back to “Dare to Lead” by Brene’ Brown. The second time was more impactful than the first, and I loved that it was an OLS Book Club book. Because I wanted to learn more about the relationships between, China, Taiwan, and Japan, I read “Three Tigers, One Mountain” by Michael Booth. You can learn about it in my previous blog: https://mondaymorningwithmona.com/2022/11/26/three-tigers-one-mountain/?fbclid=IwAR2mH4r6xNWYJqw7Y2pF61dFZtAC0F1sOfFHQlO66-GuUvDb5rB5l4Un328 . I may create a blog about “Originals”, by Adam Grant. I needed to read it because I am exploring what it takes to think outside-the-box and what happens when you go against the grain. It was the last of my good books before I took the deep dive into studying. After enjoying all of those books, I took two weeks to go through the math sections of both the GRE and GMAT books. (Think: hundreds of pages of math problems with written instructions on how to do them.) After those two weeks of mind-blowing arithmetic, I needed an escape.

When I was doing my recent stroll through the isles of the library, all I knew was that I needed easy reading. I didn’t want a personal or professional development book, and I sure didn’t want history. I have begun an online training course for the GRE, so I didn’t want or need anything that had to do with math. I would have considered a historical novel, but it would need to be heavy on the novel and light on the history. I didn’t have an author in mind, and the options at the Hansen library were limited.

I randomly found “Every Summer After”, and I really enjoyed it. Would I recommend it? I’m not sure. I guess it depends on if you are looking for a very light, easy read. You also have to be comfortable with reading about S.E.X. There were a couple of heavy scenes that I wasn’t expecting. (I am a prude.)

There were a few things that I really loved about it.

First, I love young love. I met my guy in the seventh grade, and I never believed in love-at-first-sight, but I was highly intrigued by him and his friends. He had swagger – even as a kid.

As for me, I was a very late bloomer, so I didn’t really “like” guys until later. In the 7^th grade, I had boobs, so I knew that I was growing up, but I still liked Barbies. Other seventh grade girls had crushes on boys, and knew that I was “too old” to like dolls, so I avoided boys and toys, and I studied all the time. It made for a very boring life, but I made excellent grades so it wasn’t all bad.

Why do I love young love so much?

As I shared, my guy and I met in seventh grade. We went on our first date in high school. We dated on and off through college. We got married right after I graduated from college, and we have been married almost twenty-five years. As much as I think that it is crazy when young people fall in love and get married, I am one of those people.

What else did I like about the book?

Another thing that I loved about the book was the water. I loved that it took place on a lake, and I loved that they spend a lot of time running and swimming. In the book, the male character is the runner and the main, female character is the swimmer. In my real life, I love running, and my husband would always prefer to be in the water. There are not many other similarities between us and their characters, but I could see how their relationship evolved, and I think that the author did a lovely job with her character development.

I also liked that the book jumped back and forth in time. We would spend time with the characters as kids, and then we could see them as adults. As kids, everything was good in the world. As adults, things got complicated. I feel like that’s how real-life works. I loved that it had a happy ending, and I loved that I stayed up too late reading the book, and I loved that it took my mind off the complicated stuff that keeps swirling around in my brain.

I get to go back to the library again today, and I get to decide if I want another easy read or if I need to get back into some personal development. I may have to see if there is a book about the holidays, because it IS that time of year.