My book of choice today was One Day by David Nicholls. It's also coming out as a movie soon, which makes it one of my selections for goal #6, reading/watching 10 book/movie combos. Without giving anything away, it reminded me of one of my favourite books, Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahren, but with a very different ending. And because that warrants it's own side story...
When I was living in Japan (June 2005-April 2006) I came across a huge bookstore that had a very decent English novel selection. Since I was desperate for reading material (the library selection wasn't great and I could only stand so much Danielle Steel), I bought several books that may not have fallen into my usual repetoire, including Where Rainbows End. I loved it. The entire book is written in phone transcripts, email and letter correspondence, instant messaging, never in prose. Which sounds tough to get through, but it really isn't.
I had to suddenly leave Japan for family reasons, and quickly passed my books on to friends; one less thing to pack on the long journey home. But the book just stuck with me, so much so that I stole cheesy lines from it to use on Nick* (which we still use to this day, and yes he's aware I stole it from a book). Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the exact title, and had no guesses on the author whatsoever. I could have sworn it was called P.S I Love You, which you may know as the sad love story-turned-movie featuring Hilary Swank, but nothing I Googled came up with the right story line. All I could remember was the line "Love you lots like Jelly Tots" and the fact that the bed and breakfast in the book was called The Buttercup. Oh and that it was set in the UK. But that really wasn't much for Google to go on. I would randomly search every couple of months in hopes of new results, but I never found what I was looking for, nor could I recall any other specific details to help my search.
But then.... I was given a Chapters giftcard for Christmas a couple of years ago. I was browsing through the fiction section, looking for nothing in particular, when a title caught my eye: P.S I Love You (I was still adamant that that was the name of my long-lost book, and that it must have been an obscure novel and over-shadowed by the movie fame of the same name). But right beside it, was a pink and purple paperback that I recognized and knew instantly was the beloved book I had been looking for. It was like a novel love story. I've never been happier to see a book in my life. Seriously. That's how much I love the book. (Obviously I bought it that day). Oh and the reason it was beside P.S I Love You? Same author. The reason why I thought my cherished book was called P.S I Love You? Across the top of the paperback is "Best-selling Author of P.S I Love You". The reason Google failed me despite these connections? I don't know. For years I had been so close, and yet it took a random stroll in the book store to find exactly what I was looking for.
Where Rainbows End is a story of two best friends who love each other, but are never quite in the same place at the same time to actually have a relationship. One Day is a story of two best friends who love each other, but are never quite in the same place at the same time to actually have a relationship. Where Rainbows End, as I mentioned, occurs solely by various forms of correspondence. One Day gives you each chapter as July 15th, over 20 years. Both novels take place in the UK. Despite the similarities, these are two very distinct books, and I highly recommend both. If you can find a copy.
Here's the trailer for One Day; it looks surprisingly true to the novel, so I am looking forward to seeing it when it comes out.
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