This is why I read—what a lovely book.

I devoured it. Not like I would a suspense or thriller but simply because the story was so good. I wanted to have it all as soon as possible.

It's a sad and unfortunate story but one that works out for the best. Not in a fairy-tail sort of way but in a real-world sort of way.

It's a reminder that a little bit of care can go such a long way in the hardest of times.

Unconditional love—it's very important so that people may develop into their true selves and then flourish.

It was also a reminder that self-care and self-love are important too. It's so helpful to talk to someone—anyone—about how you feel.

I didn't relate to Eleanor at first, so it was hard for me to get into this one. But I think that was deliberate on Gail Honeyman's part. A lot of people have a hard time relating to Eleanor—and to people like Eleanor—in the story and in real life. But if we just take the time to get to know them we see that we all need connection, love.

I admire Eleanor. Her unapologetic determination to be herself. Like is too short not to be. She sees the gift of being alive, of the little details.

“I wasn’t good at pretending, that was the thing. After what had happened in that burning house, given what went on there, I could see no point in being anything other than truthful with the world. I had, literally, nothing left to lose. But, by careful observation from the sidelines, I’d worked out that social success is often built on pretending just a little. Popular people sometimes have to laugh at things they don’t find funny, do things they don’t particularly want to, with people whose company they don’t particularly enjoy. Not me. I had decided, years ago, that if the choice was between that or flying solo, then I’d fly solo. It was safer that way. Grief is the price we pay for love, so they say. The price is far too high.”

She also has a love of grammar and language—a girl after my own heart.

“Emily Dickinson’s beautiful poem is called ‘Wild Nights—Wild Nights!’ and combines two elements of which I am inordinately fond: punctuation, and the theme of finding, at long last, a soul mate.”

This gem is littered with lovely quotable moments and beautiful descriptions of everyday details:

"Such small coincidences can pepper a life with interest."
"The light was soft and gentle—summer was drifting ever onward and the evening seemed delicate, fragile. We walked in silence, the kind that you didn't feel the need to fill."
"The air was grassy, with a hint of flowers and earth, and the warm, sweet outbreath of the day sighed gently into our hair and over our skin."
"Noticing details, that was good. Tiny slivers of life—they all added up and helped you feel that you too could be a fragment, a little piece of humanity who usefully filled a space, however minuscule."
"Everything was there, obvious to us both, but it all remained unsaid. Sometimes that was best."
"Sometimes you simply needed someone kind to sit with you while you dealt with things."
"The moment hung in time like a drop of honey from a spoon, heavy, golden."

Read if you like stories about friendship, resilience, and the persistence to be truly oneself.