Another Sunday. Another hike. Another book. The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan* was the book du jour as we nestled in on a ridge overlooking the Salinas Valley.
Let me admit this: I bought this book for the cover. Seriously. I did. Then, I noticed that it had received many, many accolades and I was excited about digging in. But, in the end, I think the best thing about this book is that gorgeous cover.
If you are looking for a fluffy, rambling novel, you might enjoy this. I am not against reading about ghostly shenanigans and failed romances; I can certainly keep dual plot lines straight in my head. But the seemingly unconnected flip-flopping between the Laura plot and the Eunice plot grew tiresome quickly. I felt that all of the characters were one-dimensional and caricatures of people who might have been interesting.
I loved the idea of this book: a man collects lost objects, stores them in his house, and pens short stories about the object's significance in its owner's life. In fact, had the entire book been Andrew's stories about the lost things, I would have loved it. But with his death early in the book, my interest also died.
Still I slogged through, hoping that the book would redeem itself. It didn't. But I will say that they could certainly sell a lot of tea with this book! The characters were always having tea. Interactions were punctuated with tea. Tea provided ellipses between scenes. Tea, tea, and more tea.
After the reading of the will...
Three expertly poured cups of tea and two custard creams later... (pg. 80).
To fill an awkward gap in conversation...
"Would you like a cup of team?" she asked.
He smiled gratefully.
"You're a diamond and no mistake. I'm proper parched. The last brew I had was at seven o'clock this morning. Milk and two sugars and I'm a happy man" (pg. 176).
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having tea with friends. I even love the nibbles you get when you have tea.
But I don't need to read a book whose every chapter includes two characters drinking a cup or two. This book was just not my cup of tea.
*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.
Here's what everyone else read in February 2018: here.
When you read as many books as we do, you are certain to come across a loser every once in a while.
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