In the true sense of the term, couple Audrey and Jeremy Roloff share a whirlwind romance. This wonderfully written account of their dating relationship and everything that followed sheds light on the beauty of a marriage that centers Christ above all else. I was so inspired by the morals and principles that Audrey and Jeremy follow in their marriage to keep a healthy and happy relationship that brings glory to the Lord. I'm single and the details of their wedding have me wanting to jot down notes to remember for some distant season of my life! What I believe is most important and admirable about this book is their sharing of ideals and how they strive to protect the sacred covenant of their marriage. The couple experienced three years of long-distance dating, a pretty heart wrenching break-up, and the demands of Jeremy's family's TV show in the process of their budding romance. Through it all, they both intentionally set amazing goals and principles to ensure that their marriage lasts and that God is glorified in the process. That is what this book is all about (as the title so beautifully states) -- living a love letter life. A romance that is tangible and long-lasting. A matrimonial promise that is a covenant rather than a contract. Overall, I would recommend this book to people in all walks of life: single, dating, and married. The wisdom that Audrey and Jeremy have to offer extends beyond situation and is profound in helping people prepare for meaningful relationships as well as work to mend struggling ones. Plus, their romance really is something out of a rom-com. 

A quote that really sums up the Love Letter Life that Audrey and Jeremy live:

"One thing we wholeheartedly agreed on was that love wouldn't just happen to us. We had to pursue it."

 This novel is the first real thriller I have decided to read. I am much more of a fantasy and romance kind of reader, as is quite obvious from my bibliography and bookshelf. But I enjoyed this strange tale of affairs, trains, and above all, murder. It all starts with Rachel, the girl on the train. An alcoholic struggling to get and stay sober, she suffers moments of blackout that cause her to have no memory of pivotal moments. One of these pivotal moments has to do with the disappearance of a woman she used to see everyday -- but only from the train. Megan was her name, Scott her husband, "Jess and Jason" in Rachel's mind. Suddenly her innocent people-watching throws her into the middle of a whirling mystery. Amidst all of this, she is struggling to come to terms with the fact that her ex-husband, Tom, has replaced her with a woman named Anna. He has moved on and yet still lives in the house they used to share -- a house you can see from the train. This novel is a classic example of readers having to be wary of unreliable narrators, whether those narrators be drunk, hysterical, jealous, or perhaps even mentally unstable. I enjoyed the constant question as to "whodunit" as well as the issues that Rachel has to deal with on a personal level in order to get to the bottom of Megan's disappearance. My only wish is that the plot would have picked up speed faster than it did; I began to lose interest, but held out till the end to see where the story would lead. 

Some of my favorite quotes from The Girl on the Train:

"...today he's a man ascending the scaffold. I just don't know whether he's the condemned man or the executioner."

"I have never understood how people can blithely disregard the damage they do by following their hearts."

"it's possible to miss what you never had, to mourn for it."

"I'm playing at real life instead of actually living it."

The concept of this novel truly stands on its own. It is brilliantly original, outstandingly complex, while also managing to be relatable in so many ways. I found it hard at times to believe that it is Audrey Niffenegger's first novel! This story follows lovers Clare Abshire and Henry DeTamble all across time. Henry, being a time traveler, lives a very complicated life; at times he doesn't know where or when he is, as he cannot control his time-traveling escapades. In his endeavors he meets his future wife, Clare -- as a child. As Clare lives her life like the rest of us -- in chronological order of events -- Henry jumps from place to place, time to time, before being spit back out into his present. This story truly is, as the Chicago Tribune put it, "A soaring celebration of the victory of love over time," as Clare and Henry learn to deal with the latter's disappearances, the former's miscarriages, and everything in between. Just as heartfelt as it is heartbreaking, their story may very well endure time in this wonderfully written novel (my only drawback is the amount of unneeded sexual description/scenes).

Some of my favorite quotes from this novel:

"Absence can be present, like a damaged nerve, like a dark bird."

"Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by absence?"

"It's living up to being happy that's the most difficult part."

"When we met I was wrecked, blasted, and damned, and I am slowly pulling myself together because I can see that you are a human being and I would like to be one, too."

"Very few people meet their soulmates at age six. So you gotta pass the time somehow."

"My apartment is basically a couch, an armchair, and about four thousand books."

"Now I wonder if it means that the future is a place, or like a place, that I could go to; that is go to in some other way than just getting older."

 Wow. I haven't been hooked on a book like I was on Dry in a long while. I can't say that I am particularly surprised; Neal Shusterman is an exceptional writer. But above this, he holds the title of storyteller (he just knows exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to say it!) Paired with Jarrod Shusterman, this novel is a truly gripping piece of fiction. I simply couldn't put it down. I think the most intriguing part of it may be the curiosity it elicits from it's readers as it asks "what if..." What if Southern California actually did run out of water when its sources were cut off? What if the water in all faucets actually ran dry? What would happen to society? To humanity as we know it? It is an amazingly genius subject for an amazingly written and developed story. I found myself caught up in the subtly complex yet simple prose, engrossed in what the next series of events would bring for characters that found new strength around every unexpected turn. The characters themselves were so well-developed, I couldn't help but also root for the "evil" ones. In a way, every single one of them was "evil" -- or at least had their evil moments. I honestly think that may be what's the most intriguing about this novel: the sense of humanity its characters draw out of its readers. It questions the "good" or "bad" of one's actions when faced with the duty to merely survive. It sheds light on the monstrous things a person will or could do for a drop of water. And it puts the beauty of hope and sacrifice on a pedestal far above the hopelessness of a dry terrain void of the source of life. 


Some of my favorite quotes from this novel:

"...and I realize that this is the true core of human nature: When we've lost the strength to save ourselves, we somehow find the strength to save each other."

"People can be monsters. Whether it's just their actions, or whether it's who they really are, it doesn't matter. The result is the same."

"The worst part about doing something inexcusable is that you can never take it back. It's like breaking a glass. It can't unbreak. The best you can do it sweep it up, and hope you don't step on the slivers you left behind."

"...[s]ometimes doing the right thing means doing the wrong thing first."

"How can you choose the lesser of two evils, when both evils are too great to measure?"

"Wasn't it Jacqui who told us the human body is sixty percent water? Well, now I know what the rest is. The rest is dust, the rest is ash, it's sorrow and it's grief... But above all that, in spite of all that, binding us together... is hope. And joy. And a wellspring of all the things that still might be."

This book made me think hard. It challenged my comfortable perspective of the world, destiny, and love. And I really really liked it. While I can't say that I agree with all of the sentiments of the characters, I appreciated their unique viewpoints presented to me as a reader about how the universe functions, how people meet each other, and, essentially, the nature of love itself. This story spans over a single (yet eventful) day, full of what could be called coincidences, or fate, as Daniel and Natasha meet and fall in love. These two are opposites in terms of their opinions of the world, Daniel the poetic optimist, Natasha the cynical science-lover. But I relished in the perfect irony of so many of their moments. I adored the deep and thought-provoking metaphors on every page that added to the enrichment of the theme of fate. And I loved how this book ends in an open-ended way, full of hope and possibility and a magical sense of people being in the right place at the right time. This story makes you marvel at young love, question if people are really 'meant to be,' and furrow your brow when everything seems to go perfectly wrong... or maybe perfectly right. I highly recommend this novel to someone looking for a love story on the complicated side -- a dash of reality amongst the innocence of attraction. 

Some of my favorite quotes from The Sun Is Also A Star (there are so many!):

"Maybe part of falling in love with someone else is also falling in love with yourself. I like who I am with her."

"We are capable of big lives. A big history. Why settle? Why choose the practical thing? The mundane thing? We are born to dream and make the things we dream about."

"I didn't know you this morning, and now I don't remember not knowing you."

"Desperation translates into every language."

"I think all the good parts of us are connected on some level. The part that shares the last double chocolate chip cookie or donates to charity or gives a dollar to a street musician or becomes a candy striper or cries at Apple commercials or says I love you or I forgive you. I think that's God. God is the connection of the very best parts of us.”

"It's not up to you to help other people fit you into a box."

“Do you think it's funny that both of our favourite memories are about the people we like the least now?" I ask.
"Maybe that's why we dislike them," she says. "The distance between who they were and who they are is so wide, we have no hope of getting them back.”

"We're kindling amid lightning strikes, a lit match and dry wood, fire danger signs and a forest waiting to be burned.”

"Having dreams never killed anybody."

"I know there’s no such thing as meant-to-be, and yet here I am wondering if maybe I’ve been wrong."