Book Review: The Wednesday Letters

I've been trying to take J to the library once a week. When I was growing up, I hated to read! It just never interested me at all. My senior year of high school I took a Teen Lit class and began to realize I actually loved to read--I just needed to find books that interested me. College came and I never had time to read anything but textbooks. Towards the end of my college career I started to crave books (or was it just the time to read a book?). Now days, I have to be very careful when I read books because I have the ability to shut all else out and, lets be honest, neglect my family :). I'm hoping that if I help J have a love of reading early on then it will carry with her for the rest of her life. Plus, my roommates that loved to read could read so much faster than I could. Faster reader = more time for fun when you get into high school and college.

This week I decided to read a book that my good friend, Randi, had recommended to me right after college. It's called The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright.

The book is about three children that, after their parents' death, find out their father had written a letter to their mother every Wednesday of their marriage. Through the letters, the children begin to gain a better knowledge and understanding of their parents and their family dynamic.

I truly loved this book! I am so incredible fascinated by family make-up and dynamics. I love books that write about families because my family is such an integral part of my life. Whether a person is close or distant with their family, that dynamic plays a significant role on who they are as a person. It's awesome! I wish there were some socially acceptable way for me to ask people right as I meet them, "Tell me about your family, where you fit in, who are you closest to, who are you not close to, spare no detail, tell me everything!" I feel like you can learn so much about people based on their relationship with their family.

Sorry, a bit of a tangent. But that's why I loved this book! Wright opens the backdoor into the most personal pieces of the Cooper family's puzzle. You grieve with them, you go into shock with them, and you learn the last lesson their parents wanted them to learn--forgiveness--right along with these three siblings. I was constantly picturing my brothers and I as I read this book. I feel Wright did an incredible job at making his characters and their dialog seem so believable and real.

Go read the book...then come back so we can talk about it :)