Appropriate Reads

Anyone reading this knows that our well loved dog, Angus, died last week. He had cancer and even though he'd had two rounds of chemotherapy, in the end the cancer won. It has been a very emotional time - and as happens whenever I experience loss, I think about life - and what it all means. A couple of books lately have helped me in this process:



Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coehlo (book #57) is a very interesting story written from the perspective of Veronika, a young woman who attempts suicide - and survives to find that she has damaged her heart and will die soon. Changing perspectives on the meaning of life and love and a number of interesting twists make this a good book, especially for me right now.



Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (#58) is a wonderful story about a boy growing to adulthood. Jason is a stammerer and an undercover poet. His thoughtful observations on people and life and his management of the transition into young adulthood and the bullying he experiences was really well done. Loss is a recurring theme in the book, which makes it another appropriate read for me this week. This book was up for the Man Booker prize this year but didn't make the cut. I can't imagine why.