March 19, 2017 BE HAPPY

Expectations. Although I still have HIGH expectations for myself--some of which are a little KOOKY I admit-- I've learned to lower them for others. It was either lower my expectations or be disappointed. Think about it--when you have ZERO expectations--you're always happy.  It's funny how we impose our  expectations on other people--it's really silly because ultimately we make ourselves happy right?? No cake, bouquet of flowers or jewelry can really do that. I used to have this discussion with my running friends. Mother's Day would roll around--NOT sure what we were expecting--but we were all generally disappointed. I guess we imagined a day that revolved completely around us!! Who knows?? Then one year we decided to make a change and it was  THE BEST MOTHER'S DAY EVER. We took off in the morning to run this great race and had a ball because we spent the day doing what we wanted and it was ALL ABOUT US. Expectations are silly--I'm gonna AGAIN blame it on the media. They shove images of perfection down our throats--it's such a farce. Make yourself happy and then everyone else will be happy. This is exactly what Nina Redmond, the main character of Jenny Colgan's new novel succeeds in doing in The Bookshop on the Corner.

First of all, Nina Redmond has my dream job. She is a "literary matchmaker"---she's basically a librarian who loves finding the perfect book for her readers. It's her passion--mine too--hence this blog. Nina is devastated when she loses her job--the library has decided to cut the budget and go digital. Since she loves books, Nina gets this crazy idea to buy a van and transform it into a mobile bookshop. If that's not crazy enough, she decides to move from the big city--away from all she knows-- to a small Scottish village to shlep her wares to the book starved communities. I absolutely loved the village and the community she moved to. The description of the people, landscape, farms, and traditions was so interesting--I actually wanted to get on a plane and attend their Summer Solstice. The Scots really know how to throw a party. I loved her roommate from the UK and all the interesting people she meets along the way. Find out what happens to Nina--will she fall in love with the mysterious man from the train or will it be the Scottish farmer when you read this charming, easy to read book that I thoroughly enjoyed.  It's about 350 pages--an easy 4 mile run--that will warm your heart during the cruel month of March. Enjoy!