Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Matthew Dicks for the opportunity to read and review this book. I'm sure this will be a divisive read - you will probably either love it or hate it. Put me square in the love it column!
The book is written totally in lists - Daniel saw a therapist once that told him to journal his thoughts. He took that advice and started writing down all this thoughts obsessively in the form of lists. He even adds lists from other people. This steam of consciousness in the form of lists spools out Daniel's story. He was a teacher which was where he met his wife, Jill. Tired of teaching and feeling he wasn't good enough at it, he quit and opened up a bookshop. Which is now losing money. Daniel doesn't feel he's worthy of Jill and is scared of losing her. Jill is a widow; her husband, Peter, died before they met and Daniel constantly feels inadequate compared to Peter. How do you compete with a dead guy? Afraid to tell Jill of their actual financial state, especially because she is desperate to get pregnant, Daniel lies to her and tries to come up with a plan to get money to rescue him so he doesn't have to confess to Jill that his life isn't working.
So many of these lists are hilarious and so real. Even when you may not approve of Daniel's lies and thoughts about getting money, you can still relate to his feelings. And so much of what he wrote should be taken out and memorized - there are great life and parenting lessons mixed in.
It may not be for everyone, but I adored this book and highly recommend it!
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