REVIEW: “TWENTY-ONE TRUTHS ABOUT LOVE,” BY MATTHEW DICKS

 

 

Daniel Mayrock’s life is at a crossroads. He knows the following to be true:

1. He loves his wife Jill… more than anything.
2. He only regrets quitting his job and opening a bookshop a little (maybe more than a little)
3. Jill is ready to have a baby.
4. The bookshop isn’t doing well. Financial crisis is imminent. Dan doesn’t know how to fix it.
5. Dan hasn’t told Jill about their financial trouble.
6. Then Jill gets pregnant.

This heartfelt story is about the lengths one man will go to and the risks he will take to save his family. But Dan doesn’t just want to save his failing bookstore and his family’s finances:

1. Dan wants to do something special.
2. He’s a man who is tired of feeling ordinary.
3. He’s sick of feeling like a failure.
4. He doesn’t want to live in the shadow of his wife’s deceased first husband.

Dan is also an obsessive list maker; his story unfolds entirely in his lists, which are brimming with Dan’s hilarious sense of humor, unique world-view, and deeply personal thoughts. When read in full, his lists paint a picture of a man struggling to be a man, a man who has reached a point where he’s willing to do anything for the love (and soon-to-be new love) of his life.

 

 

My Thoughts:  While I am also a list maker, I did not connect that well with this book of lists. The narrator’s lists were intriguing, but after reading just a few chapters, I was feeling overwhelmed and a little bored.

I recommend Twenty-One Truths About Love for those who might enjoy this format. Perhaps I would love it at another point in my life, but right now, my own life is about lists and appointments. Need I say more?  3 stars.

***I received my e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.