So I’ve realised that I’ve missed out a review, whoops! Don’t want you guys thinking I’ve read one less book than I’m meant to!

A while ago, I read The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories by Marina Keegan. If you don’t know about Keegan, she is best known for an essay she wrote called “The Opposite of Loneliness”. The essay went viral after Keegan was killed in a car crash just five days after she graduated from Yale University, aged 22. That essay and a few other pieces she wrote, both non-fiction and fiction, were compiled into a book. 

I don’t remember much of what I thought about the book, other than I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. I know some reading this will disagree with me, but I wasn’t hugely impressed by the first essay. I thought the fiction was much stronger and I did enjoy some of the short stories. However, the book didn’t leave a great impression of me so I think I’d only recommend it if you’re curious about the hype.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

It was a bit silly starting this tome of a book so late in the challenge! But, 580 pages later, I’m so glad I did. Whilst the theme of botany in nineteenth century America isn’t something I’d normally choose to read, Gilbert’s writing is just so exquisite and easy to read that I became enthralled with the protagonist, Alma’s, journey and research. 

The book covers almost of all Alma’s life, her travels, her heartbreak, her family… This is the reason why I like big books (and I cannot lie). I became completely absorbed in Alma’s life, as one of the reviews says in the cover, I felt like I had lived another life. 

I don’t want to talk too much about the plot as I think a lot of the book’s charm comes from the many twists and turns the plot takes, with secrets revealed and hidden. Likewise, there are many quotes I could pick out but to give you an idea of the poetic tone of the book, I thought I’d leave you with just the final lines:

“She clutched the great tree as if it were a horse. She pressed her cheek against its silent, living flank.

She said, “You and I are very far from home, aren’t we?”

In the dark gardens, in the middle of the quiet city night, the tree did not reply.

But it did hold her up just a little while longer.”

*sigh*

I would definitely recommend it to any Elizabeth Gilbert fans and really to anyone else who enjoys long, sprawling books.