Comment As You Read: Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story by Isabel Gillies

[Sammee]

Leave your thoughts about Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story by Isabel Gillies as you are reading, just make sure you say what chapter & page you are on so that there are no spoilers. This way we can discuss as we read without ruining the ending for anyone. :)

[Erin]

I started reading July 1st and have gotten half way through the book. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I find the details and descriptions refreshing. I feel like I can picture each scene.

[Abby]

Just started reading today... I couldn't help myself. I'm at chapter 6 and really love it. Would have kept going, but I have a doc's appt today to get ready for. So far so good. Love the main character and how the author expresses herself. Her husband is a freaking jerk, but as most things she didn't see the red flags really clearly until it was too late.

[Lilybeth]

I love the John Ashberry she included. It pretty much summarizes how I feel about romantic love right now.

Also, on page 42 she wrote, "I'm not really sure he liked who I was on a daily basis." This is such a perfect post-divorce observation. She stole this from my own thoughts.

I like the book because she's not a victim, nor is she apologetic. It's what happened...the good with the bad. Only after moving on are you able to state the truth with no pangs of sadness.

[Sammee]

I downloaded the sample of this book & plan on reading the rest of it at Barnes & Noble on my nook since you can read any book for FREE for an hour at a time.

The sample cuts off at the part about how he married his 1st wife right out of Yale & how she moved to Dallas to be with her family once they split & how none of this set off any bells or raised any flags. I usually don't like reading non-fiction books with the exception of a few which are usually more about events than a person. it flows like a nervous person talking all over the place - talking about her family photos then growing up then jumping to how they met how they fell in love how he cook and is forceful how they had sex in the middle of the day then back to he's a better cook than her??? OK.

I did love the John Ashberry poem - so beautiful & honest.

[Abby]

That's what bothered me about the book too. I felt nervous reading some of it because of her style of writing. There are several parts where I wanted to smack her for walking into certain situations and hug her for some of the things she was going through. I hated the ending.

[Lilybeth]

I don't mind the going back and forth. A lot of her past helps explains her mentality in dealing with her life falling apart. For example, Isabel talking about how she and her brother would listen to the Snow White record all morning until their parents woke up is her way of saying how desperately she wanted this type of childhood for her boys and how now they would never have it.
My thinking is NEVER linear. I always look to my past, present, and future.

I went through the same thing.
Reading the part about her parents marriage, about losing weight, and the pancakes...ALL happened to me. Except mine wasn't pancakes. It was Justin Timberlake & Andy Samburg's digital short, "Dick in a Box". That aired December 2006. I was feeding my three month old daughter around 1am. And all of a sudden I was laughing so hard, I was crying. It was one of the first times in 3 months that I laughed. It was my wake-up call...if I can still laugh, I'm going to be ok.

Isabel's writing isn't great but just like there's different types of film and music, there's different types of books.

I appreciate the fact that this book was so raw. It was real. Think about something you've gone through. Something that's not so easy to talk about. Would you want to read a first person account on that subject where the author is being very clinical and superficial? Or would you want to read a book that presents the reality of what you went through in an honest format?
I'll take the latter every day.

Sorry if I'm coming off too passionate on this, but this is the first time that I've read something that really speaks to the depths of sadness, the boiling anger (although I feel Isabel should have allowed herself to be angry, then she wouldn't have done such pathetic things at times) the forced strength (life doesn't wait for anyone!) and the sheer hope that comes with divorce.

I love her ending...I'll get there too.
:)

[Abby]

I agree that there are different styles of writing and of books. There are books that have left me speechless and some that have been a disappointment. This book was something where I felt I was outside looking in.

I never look at my life in a linear way. Life is a multi faceted tapestry. Not that all books should leave you all happy go lucky. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Again, I don't think it was a bad book at all, just had a had time connecting to this particular author. Even if the subject matter was different her style is just not what I'm drawn too.

But I appreciate that you connected as passionately as you did. :)