Book Bingo Update

I completed my first book bingo square!

I just finished "In the Unlikely Event" by Judy Blume and I wanted to share some thoughts.

This was an interesting book and I have been pretty torn about how much I liked it. There were some things that I loved, like the Jewish references which reminded me of my own family. But it was a very emotional read. It centers around a New Jersey town in the early fifties when three planes crashed in their town within 58 days. The book follows a variety of characters who are all affected by the crash(es) in some way.

I had a friend who was in a plane crash and she was the only one who survived. I remember that event so clearly in my mind because the hospital called me and my mom about her. I still cry just thinking about it all. Not only that, but I was witness to how this crash affected (and still affects) the lives of her and her family. Having witnessed all of this first hand made me extra-sensitive to this book.

Possibly due to that and other personal experiences, I may have projected too much of myself onto one of the main characters. Her life changes in huge, scary, and sudden ways and she was only fifteen. Closer to the end of the book, she comes to terms with all of these big issues in a very short time frame. Maybe some people can do that, but it took me years to come to terms with similar situations in my own life. Because her "ending" wrapped up so quickly, it left me feeling very dissatisfied about how her story wraps up. Which is sad because I liked the way many of the stories found their endings.

Overall it was a good book, but be prepared: it's an emotional one. And be wary of triggers centering around plane crashes.

As for my Bingo challenge, this is my first square, not counting my free space. I am currently reading "The Hot Zone" and "The School for Good and Evil." You see, if I am reading an intense book like "The Hot Zone," I also need a lighter, happier book, hence the two books. I listened to "In the Unlikely Event" and therefore had to draw a new audiobook (three books at once is pretty standard, though it means I have to be creative about my Bingo game). I drew another audiobook: "The Book Without Words," so I will start that soon!

Thanks for reading!