Must Love Books
By: Shauna Robinson
Nora Hughes has been at her editorial assistant job for five years and has become frustrated with her lack of upward mobility and her measly salary. All of her favorite colleagues and mentors have moved on to other positions, and Nora has become disillusioned with the publishing industry, which is unfortunate, as books have always been her FAVORITE thing. When Nora receives a pay cut, she chooses to take on some freelance work for a competing publishing house and her web of lies and deceit begins to take its toll. Eventually, everything comes crashing down and Nora is forced to take a good hard look at herself and begin to figure out what she truly wants to do with her life.
I think most of us can identify with the feeling of being a young adult and not quite knowing what career path you want to take in life. I know I certainly can. I started as an elementary school teacher and ended up deciding it wasn’t for me, went to law school and now practice law. The feeling of hopelessness as you’re floundering around trying to figure things out is all too familiar. The author did a wonderful job of capturing that feeling of despair and the panicked feeling one feels when half-truths (or full-on lies) explode in your face. I thought this would be a light-hearted read, but for me it turned out to be a novel that really made me consider, even now, what additional things I might want to do with my own life. There were points in the book where I literally broke a sweat and bit my nails as I empathized with Nora and her plight. There were also some dark points where I wasn’t sure where this book was going to end up. This was a poignant, realistic story that I truly enjoyed.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.