My very own book club

I surprised myself by reading six books this past month.  The fact that most of them were on the short side and "quick" reads helped the situation, as did a few extra long train rides.  (Side note: I always keep a back-up book on my kindle in case I'm stuck on the train for 2+ hours and finish the book I'm currently reading.)  Allie (the young reader) and I (the old reader) both read I Am Malala, and while it has a very powerful message, it's not an easy book to read.  I have seen some adults who have read both versions (young reader and regular, or old, reader) say that they wish they had just read the young reader version.  When I asked Allie why she likes Malala, she responded with, "Because she didn't fight with guns, she fought with words."  She then checked out the book below from the school library as she further collects research on Malala for a personal research project.



I ended up finding The 5th Wave in the library after seeing the movie advertised.  I had placed a hold on the second book in the series, The Infinite Sea, and it miraculously became available the day after I finished The 5th Wave.  I thought these first two books of the series were entertaining, but I did find them to be a little YA-ish.  They are YA so I can't really complain about that though.  If you enjoyed the Divergent series, you'll probably like these.

Did You Ever Have a Family will tug on those heartstrings.  I would definitely recommend it if you're looking to add to your reading list.  And then there was All We Had.  This book turned out to be a lot different from what I thought after reading the summary.  Not in a bad way.  I guess I thought it would be more serious.  But it was good.  

I mentioned last night how I recently finished reading When Breath Becomes Air, which was incredibly moving.  If you don't want to cry in public, read this at home.  This book was so emotionally charged but there was a sense of peace and calm throughout.  And then there was the part where Paul was working in the labor and delivery ward and a set of twins were born prematurely via emergency c-section and passed away.  As he's discussing this with the resident and internally processing the loss, the resident says:

"You think that's bad?" she continued. "Most mothers with stillborns still have to go through labor and delivery.  Can you imagine?  At least these guys had a chance."

Yes, I can imagine.

Can grief be measured?  Does hope or chance create more or less grief?  Is one situation better or worse than the other?  Personally, I've come to view grief as grief.  Grief doesn't care how it came upon you.