Happy New Year dear readers and writers!
I have been struggling with anxiety and post-Covid heart issues, so I have not been able to post for some time. But with medicine and acupuncture, I am finally feeling some improvement. Thank you for your patience these past few weeks that I have posted less often or not at all.
Today I’d like to briefly review a recent book I gulped down, Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins. I had never heard of this author or book before, but simply was drawn to pick it up at the library. I’m so glad I did!
Recently I’ve been disappointed in myself for reading less and doing more TV, videogames, etc. But after a bit of beating myself up about it I realized, maybe it’s not that I like to read less. Maybe I’m just not finding the right books. Maybe I’m even attracted to a different sort of book than before?
For example, I tried to get into Terry Brooks’ Shannara series, which I read part of as a teen. But I found it tedious, difficult to recall names and cultural aspects of the races in the story, etc. There was just so much to remember.
So I decided to just be more open to trying out books that aren’t fantasy or sci-fi. Obviously I read books that are not just those genres, and have done so far years. But I decided to try and be even more flexible about it. That’s how I came to pick up this book.
What I liked
Pack Up the Moon is about a happily married couple, Josh and Lauren. But when Lauren gets suddenly diagnosed with a terminal lung disease, their whole life flips upside down. Now they have to go to appointments. Lauren can’t walk up the stairs or do a lot of things she used to be able to do. As her condition deteriorates, we get to see how it brings the couple closer.
Yes it sounds like a depressing topic, but way, the way it was written! We follow Lauren from the day of her death, back through her life, to the very moment she met Josh. It’s a series of letters that she writes to her deceased father, and it’s very moving.
We also follow Josh every-other chapter, as he struggles to navigate life as a widower.
I have not read any book which so accurately and sensitively depicted grief. It is so moving to see Josh’s journey. He struggles with an insensitive friend’s boyfriend who talks about mystical cures that, if Lauren had taken them, she wouldn’t have died – and gets so furious at the man. He struggles to remember to eat and buy groceries, and sits around watching TV with his dog. Only letters to him delivered each month and written by Lauren to him before she died, gets him going again.
Lauren’s letters give a different idea for Josh for each month of grieving her, from month 1-12. Some of her ideas are simple, like go get yourself some healthy groceries. Other ideas challenge Josh, like “host a dinner party at our old apartment”, and “get new furniture that doesn’t remind you of me.”
I found myself crying almost the whole time I read this book, haha. Maybe that will scare you off, but for me I found it so enjoyable. I love it when a book really moves me. And during these difficult times we’re in right now, reading about someone struggling, even a fictional person, helps.
What I didn’t like
Some of the side characters were a bit boring or cookie-cutter for the first part of this book. I found it annoying how they rarely stopped by to visit Josh at first, but maybe this was done to give us more sympathy towards the main character. After some time more side characters came in though, and the original side characters got more interesting, too.
Another thing that bothered me was one particular “assignment” that Lauren gives Josh in one of her letters. Not much time has passed, perhaps a year after her death, but she suggests that he give up the apartment they lived in, and get a new home.
Josh feels compelled to do so after the growth he’s experienced from her other suggestions. It ends up working out. But having experienced grief myself, I found this one difficult to swallow. Grief passes by very slowly, and even one, three, five years after it can still be very strong and sad within you. The idea of being able to give up a shared home a mere year after your loved one passed away, just seemed too harsh to me. Not necessary. So I wish Josh had just said ‘no’ to that one and kept the apartment.
Anyway I don’t want to give away anymore about the plot or story.
Conclusion
This book really grips you, keeps you engaged chapter after chapter. You don’t wan to stop turning the pages. Yes it’s sad but there are also happy portions, and lessons to be learned within the novel.
If you want a page-turner that is moving and has deep life lessons in it, this book is for you. If you want something more light and lively such as a romance to read on the beach, then this book may not be your style.
What are your favorite books that moved you, or made you think deeply on life? What are some lessons you’ve learned from books you’ve read?
Until next time,
Chaitanya
Typing Madly 