Sweet Reading
This book defies description. Certainly the jacket copy does not do it justice. The summary talks about three women: Melinda, Lauren, and Olivia…and a baby. To whom does it belong?
This description is like offering chocolate cake, but only letting us taste the scattered crumbs left after taking it out of the pan. It’s a part, yes–and contains the barest essence–but it doesn’t come close to the richness of the cake.
The Sweet Spot is where we learn to give and receive help, to accept our own and others’ crises, and to find the space where our dreams touch the reality of life. Here, in no particular order, are things I loved about this book.
The funny eccentricities of the characters. Phillip leaving the house the way his best friend did before she died. Leo’s delightfully astute breaks in his cluelessness. Melinda’s devilish attempts at revenge. Evelyn’s certainty that Phillip was hitting on her. This entire family home with a bar named The Sweet Spot in the basement. The humor was natural, constant, and delicious.
Forgiveness. This is a book about confession, openness to the stranger, open doors, and open hearts. It’s also a unique take on hospitality.
This quotation: “Each and every one of us will land in a crisis at some point, and that’s when we need to accept all the help we can get.”
The New York setting. Perfect New York novel.
The writing. Amy Poeppel is hilarious, lyrical, and utterly relatable. I put down this book and immediately googled everything she had ever written.
This theme. The book makes me think of the biblical injunction to be kind to everyone because any person could be a visiting angel. This book also shows that the angel could sometimes be your lousy ex-husband, a terrible customer at work, your mother who has never understood you, or a true and total stranger, bent on revenge.
For a book that defies description, I have managed to gather a lot of words about it. This book itself is my sweet spot: fantastic characters, a snappy plot, a favorite setting, writing I hated to put down. If you read this one, let me know. I’d love to hear what you thought.