2024 book #1: How To Stop Time by Matt Haig

Why Does This Post Exist?

I have started listening to books a lot.  This is a practice I was definitely not in 2 years ago.  In fact, if you'd have asked I would have said I can't listen to books, I always space out or start doing something else and miss what's happening.  That's still partially true, but I find I pay attention pretty well while driving, and am fine listening to 5 minutes of a book each way to the grocery store.  All of which is to say, I've started finishing a lot more books in the last year.  2023 included:

• The War of Lost Hearts trilogy, Carissa Broadbent (high fantasy, with a big love story and occasional sex scene)
• The Grimrose Girls, Laura Pohl (more fantasy, YA)
• King Maybe, Timothy Hallinan (heist, thriller)
• 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Breanna West (self help?)
• Calypso, David Sedaris (comedy)
• A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki (sort of fantasy)
• Euphoria, Lily King (I'm going to stop putting in genre now because I can't figure it out)
• In Ascension, Martin MacInnes (no, this one is definitely SciFi)
• Soul City, Thomas Healy (history)
• American Gods, Neil Gaiman (fantasy... guess I didn't stop)

and even read an actual physical book, Shinju, Laura Joh Rowland (historical fiction thriller, which was acquired because the used book store's credit card machine was out of order and I had $4).

Anyways, I want to keep reading and listening, and I don't want to lose track of what I've completed.  The above list took some research and thinking real hard, and my brain ain't made for that.  Being a man of the modern era, figured why not throw it on the internet for the world (or at least my mom) to see.

How to Stop Time, Matt Haig

I am not doing this to do a book report or necessarily even recommend the books I complete to anyone, so this "review" might be very short.  I more want to capture how they leave me feeling, and if I enjoyed them.  And this book made me feel. I would call this book part historical fiction, part scifi, part philosophy, part romance, part mystery, part motivational speech.  There were a million quotes from this book which I want to store in my memory banks.  At the end of the day, this book is a reminder to be present in your life.  And how a perfect moment might stop time and linger for a while.

High level, it's about people who live a very long time.  But it's more about what they experience, how that has shaped them, love come and gone (but never really gone), the power of music (a brief but poignant bit of the book), and relationships.

The book kept me interested, plot-wise, it wasn't all cutesy quotes about life and love.  It moved along at a good enough pace, I was constantly interested in what I would learn next about the main character's past, and what his next move would be. There were some twists and turns.  I was invested in the outcome.  But I definitely stepped away feeling a reminder to appreciate what I have, embrace the now, and live without fear.

So, there ya go.  I'm not gonna rate it, but my professional opinion is you'd enjoy it.  Go forth!

Parting Thoughts

"I could stay lost in this moment forever" - Aerosmith