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337. Still Me

Rating:  ☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by:

Author:   Jojo Moyes

Genre:  Fiction, Romance

469 pages, published October 23, 2018

Reading Format:  Audio Book

Summary

Still Me is the third installment in the story of Louisa Clark.  Having recovered from the devasting loss of Will Traynor (chronicled in Me Before You) and still in thrall to her new romance with paramedic Sam Fielding (chronicled in After You), Louisa accepts a job to serve as a companion to Agnes, the much younger, new wife of uber wealthy New Yorker Leonard Gopnik.  Louisa tries to have it all, an adventure in New York while holding onto her transatlantic relationship with Sam whom she left behind in Britain.  When she meets Joshua Ryan, a man who reminds her of first love Will Traynor, Louisa must make decisions that will impact the rest of her life.

Quotes 

“I thought about how you’re shaped so much by the people who surround you, and how careful you have to be in choosing them for this exact reason, and then I thought, despite all that, in the end maybe you have to lose them all in order to truly find yourself.”

 

“Books are what teach you about life. Books teach you empathy. But you can’t buy books if you barely got enough to make rent. So that library is a vital resource! You shut a library, Louisa, you don’t just shut down a building, you shut down hope.”

 

“All this nonsense about women having it all. We never could and we never shall. Women always have to make the difficult choices. But there is a great consolation in simply doing something you love.”

 

“You always have one foot in two places. You can never be truly happy because, from the moment you leave, you are two selves, and wherever you are one half of you is always calling to the other.”

 

“If someone likes you, they will stay with you; if they don’t like you enough to stay with you, they aren’t worth being with anyway.”

 

“you can hang on to your hurt out of some misplaced sense of pride, or you can just let go and relish whatever precious time you have.”

 

“You had to seize the day. You had to embrace opportunities as they came. You had to be the kind of person who said yes.” 

My Take

I’m big fan of Jojo Moyes, especially her books featuring the down to earth, very likeable, irreverent Louisa Clark.  While not quite as good as the first two in the series (Me Before You and After You), I still really enjoyed this fun, escapist read.  Perfect for the beach.

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262. Paris for One

Rating:  ☆☆☆

Recommended by:

Author:   Jojo Moyes

Genre:  Fiction, Short Stories, Romance

106 pages, published February 5, 2015

Reading Format:  Audio Book

 

Summary

The main story in this collection by JoJo Moyes is an account of 26 year old, introverted Nell, who lives in the UK and has never been to Paris.  After planning a romantic weekend to Paree with her new boyfriend, she is bitterly disappointed when he fails to show and she is stuck in the City of Light by herself.  However, when Nell meets the mysterious Fabien, things begin to turn around.

 

Quotes 

“Nell looks at the label and comes to. “Oh, I’d never wear it. I like to buy things on a cost-per-wear basis. This dress would probably work out at like…thirty pounds a wear. No. I couldn’t.” “You don’t ever do something just because it makes you feel good?” The assistant shrugs. “Mademoiselle, you need to spend more time in Paris.”

 

“She is in Paris, in Parisian clothes, getting ready to go out with a Frenchman she picked up in an art gallery!  She pulls her hair back into a loose knot, puts on her lipstick, sits down on the bed and laughs.”

 

“Are you still with this man?

On no, She sniffed. I realized pretty quickly I couldn’t marry a man without a bookshelf.

No bookshelf?

In his house. Not even a little one in his loo for the Reader’s Digest.

Many people in this country don’t read books.

He didn’t have one book. Not even a true crime. Or a Jeffrey Archer. I mean, what does that tell you about someone’s character?”

 

“Because she knew already that this would be the thing that would end them. And that in the deepest part of her, she had known it from the beginning, like someone stubbornly ignoring a weed growing until it blocked out the light.”

 

My Take

Since starting my reading quest, I’ve read a lot of Jojo Moyes (After You, One Plus One, The Girl You Left Behind, Silver Bay) and have, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed her books.  While Paris for One is more a trifle than her other books, it was still fun to spend time with it.  Perfect for a quick escape.

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19. After You

Rating: ☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by: 

Author:  JoJo Moyes 

Genre:  Fiction, Romance, Humor

Info:  400 pages, published September 24, 2015

Format:  Audio Book

Summary 

After You is the sequel to the best-selling book Me Before You, a tearjerker that I thoroughly enjoyed.  The sequel catches up with Louisa “Lou” Clark, coping with the aftermath of the death of Will Traynor, the invalid she fell in love with after caring for him during the last six months of his life.  

Lou is working a menial job as an airport barmaid and struggling to live her life without Will.  She ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group and discovers a new love interest in paramedic Sam Fielding, a strong, sensitive almost perfect man.  Along the way she develops a bond with Will’s daughter whom he never knew about.

 

Quotes

“There’s only one response (to losing someone).  You Live.  You throw yourself into everything and try not to think about the bruises.”

“That’s life. We don’t know what will happen. That’s why we have to take our chances when we can.”

“Life is short, right? We both know that. Well, what if you’re my chance? What if you are the thing that’s actually going to make me happiest?”

“You learn to live with it, with them. Because they do stay with you, even if they’re not living, breathing people any more.It’s not the same crushing grief you felt at first, the kind that swamps you, and makes you want to cry in the wrong places, and get irrationally angry with all the idiots who are still alive when the person you love is dead.  It’s just something you learn to accommodate.  Like adapting around a hole. I don’t know. It’s like you become … a doughnut instead of a bun”  

“You don’t have to let that one thing be the thing that defines you.”

“Mum, you’re not going to get divorced, are you?” Her eyes shot open. “Divorced? I’m a good Catholic girl, Louisa. We don’t divorce. We just make our men suffer for all eternity.” She waited just for a moment, and then she started to laugh.”

“None of us move on without a backward look. We move on always carrying with us those we have lost.  What we aim to do in our little group is ensure that carrying them is not a burden, something that feels impossible to bear, a weight keeping us stuck in the same place. We want their presence to feel like a gift.”

“No. Really. I’ve thought about it a lot. You learn to live with it, with them. Because they do stay with you, even if they’re not living, breathing people anymore. It’s not the same crushing grief you felt at first, the kind that swamps you and makes you want to cry in the wrong places and get irrationally angry with all the idiots who are still alive when the person you love is dead. It’s just something you learn to accommodate. Like adapting around a hole. I don’t know. It’s like you become . . . a doughnut instead of a bun.”

Read more

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