Book Club - "Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie"

I was really excited for our honeymoon for many reasons, including:

No more wedding planner
Over-water bungalows
Dolphins
BOOKS

The Monday after our wedding, my HS BFF/bridesmaid (I had seven b-maids and a b-man) and her fiancé were still in town from Baltimore, so we met them for happy hour and took them on a walk around our neighborhood. I raved and raved about the Little Free Libraries and we came upon one right as we were about to get back to my apartment. In it, I found Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie. I grabbed it to add to my honeymoon reading pile. I already had #GIRLBOSS and a western novel from Papa, annnnd a whole stack of magazines, but I can never have too much to read. When Raz and I were on a flight from Romania to Germany last summer, I buckled my seatbelt and realized I didn't have anything to read. And this wasn't a problem that could be solved with Skymall. My panic attack drove Raz into the overead compartment to dig for something - ANYTHING - to satiate my need. Oh, and I don't do tablet reading, so there's that. Tried it. Not for me.

So!

Back to Drums. I ripped through #GIRLBOSS in a few days and it was good enough. I really appreciated Sophia's stint in Olympia to be what my friends and I all call a "Greener," (women with braided armpit hair, dandelions in the bathroom, make-your-own-major #hippies at Evergreen State College), but beyond that nothing truly earth shattering.

I derailed again. Drums. I'm not going to give a book report because I think that dulls the sparkle of diving in yourself. But if you've read A Fault in Our Stars, consider this a second cousin once removed. They share some genetics (cancer, hormones), and this is a love story, but more about brotherly love, which can be even sweeter than traditional romance in my world. Maybe because I lack sibs. But I really don't think so.

And if you squished your face to "cancer" like I probably would have when I read that last paragraph, believe me that it's worth it. I have a personal, aching vendetta against the Big C and I didn't know this book included it when I picked it up. I'm glad I didn't because I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise. It's still very raw and personal for me. And there were parts that made me want to throw a vase against the wall just so something else could hurt as much as I have, but those feelings were fleeting and the story is worth it, cancer or no.

Also, read the note from the author at the end. It brought me to my knees. There are people doing real good in the world. This book is bringing a sense of connection to kids and families who may often feel very, very alone. I know because I've been one of those kids.

I finished this book in hot, cathartic tears on the balcony of our bungalow. It was a sweet reminder of how far we've come in the almost two years since we lost my dad. I took a shower and cried a little more and then a tiny yellow gecko crawled out of the drain so I squealed, laughed and chased it around trying to take its picture (too fast, too blurry).

But read the book. I'm about to order and tear through the sequel myself.