Lucky Boy

Ricky Ricardo, my Lucky Boy

I just finished reading Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran.  SO GOOD.  Although, the title is slightly misleading.  But it's also thought provoking to think about that title after you finish reading it. 

It's a well told story, with great characters.  The main charactors are two women who's lives intersect by one "lucky" boy.  Soli is from Mexico and she illegally immigrates to American, and becomes pregnant during her journey to get here.  Kavya is an American citizen who decides to foster a child, in hopes of adoption, once she has given up on the idea of having her own biological child. 

Lucky Boy was long (just under 470 pages), but didn't feel that way.  There was no clear side you were necessarily rooting for, and you knew that in the end, someone was going to be heartbroken.  But as sad and as hard as this story is, it's based on many stories that are TRUE.  And it probably is one of the "luckier" ones. 

Such a current topic, and one I loved really delving into and seeing it from a few different angles.

This is the author's first book.  I'm always amazed when someone's first book is something this brilliant.  But like I recently heard Liz Gilbert say on her "Magic Lessons" podcast, your first book didn't just take the 2 years (or whatever it took to actually write)- It took all that time of all the years of living and cultivating that idea in your subconcious before you ever started the actual writing of it.  So if Shanthi's next book takes anything less than something like 32 years, well, then she's really blowing and going.  I can't imagine what it would feel like to begin on the next project after one so masterful as this.  Yikes.

Anyway, I loved this book.  I was lucky to have found it.

My Book Journal

Year after year, I resolve to keep a list of all the books I read. I've kept a scattered ongoing list in journals, and online at Goodreads, my Instagram account, on the Litsy app, and on my blog. But it's pretty disorganized because it is so scattered. And I lose track of what I've read. Sometimes, I can remember that I've read a book months after finishing it, but I can barely remember what it was about, or if I liked it and why or why not.

I want my reading to not only be interesting and fun in the moment, but meaningful in it's after effects.  So, I want to journal about my reading.  And not necessarily online.  Just for me.
I decided to buy a journal to motivate me do this in a more organized fashion.  Not just a blank journal, as I've tried that before, but one specifically for keeping and easy record of books I've read.

I asked a salesgirl at the counter of the Half Priced Books in my neighborhood if they had any book journals, "...for keeping track of the books I read." She looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "We have an entire section of blank journals."  We had a quick conversation about what I specifically was looking for, and she let me know that no, they didn't have something quite like that.

But guess what?  Amazon does! 

The Book Lover's Journal.  Hey! That's ME! And this is MINE!

I read the reviews about this journal to make sure it was what I was looking for, since I couldn't see the inside of it.  A few reviewers complained that it only had enough pages for 70 books, because 2 whole pages were dedicated to each book.  Um... yes.  That's true, but why is that even a complaint?  Shouldn't it take at least 2 pages to jot down just a few highlights from a book that someone spent months and possibly years writing, and I spent hours reading? So that complaint didn't stop me from ordering this journal.

The layout inside the book journal. 

And I'm so glad it didn't, because I LOVE IT.  For each book, there's a spot to write the title, author, what type of book it is, and the number of pages.  Then, a little spot to fill in what was noteworthy, when/where I read it, and I discovered it in the first place. There's a little grid to rank the writing regarding different aspects like pace, plot development, etc.  Then you've got a whole page to jot down anything you want about the book-- the basic plot, how this book made me feel, important lines in the book, etc So it gives me just enough room to write a quick summation of my personal experience with the book, but not too much room that I feel overwhelmed by the blank space.

I've only read 3 books since getting this journal, but so far I'm 3 and 3 for recording what I read in this journal.  I am super excited to fill this thing up.  And to keep track of what I've read.  I'm expecting this to be the first of many "Book Lover's" journal.